Free Shades of the Past by Kathleen Kirkwood Page A

slowly, he reached into his coat and withdrew an ornate piece of jewelry from an inner pocket. 
    He contemplated it, rubbing his thumb over the baroque pearl that formed the body of the gem-studded dolphin brooch—Leonine Marrable's brooch, once presented to her by her kingly lover but lost two-and-a-half years ago when Olivia escaped into the night with her lady's maid, taking with her the Marrable jewels.
    Adrian closed his fingers over the brooch.  He'd returned to Sherringham to lay more than his aunt to rest, but also his last viscountess and the mysteries haunting her death.  He wanted answers.  Once and for all, he wanted to know exactly what happened that fatal night after he'd left Sherringham, and who now possessed the Marrable jewels. 
    Slipping the brooch back into his pocket, Adrian began to pace the ground, picturing the sequence of events in his mind's eye.  At the time, Lawrence had been able to provide the most complete and reliable details.  Not only had he been the first to arrive at the scene, but prior to that, he'd actually seen Olivia and her maid make their hurried departure.
    Lawrence had been working in the study in the west tower at the time.  It overlooked the stables and carriage house and owned a superior view of the grounds and surrounding countryside as well. 
    Voices drew him to the window that night where he observed two women rushing toward the outbuildings, baggage in hand.  Both were easily identifiable—Olivia in her satins and velvet cloak and her maid, Bonnie Beckford.  Soon they reappeared in a small carriage, Olivia driving and whipping the horse to a swift pace. 
    Lawrence continued to watch the dim light of their carriage lanterns as they moved along the road and passed out of Sherringham's gates.  Being in the tower, he could still see the lights for a time.  Just when he expected them to disappear altogether, at a point the family called the Devil's Hairpin, he saw the light seemingly bounce to the left, flaring bright, then tumbling down the embankment.  Fearing the worst, Lawrence raced from the tower, secured a horse, and quickly rode out.
    Brave Lawrence.  He had scrambled down the hill somehow, to try and pull the women from the burning wreckage.  The palm of his right hand bore a wicked scar for that effort.  But his attempts proved hopeless from the start.  He found Olivia's body engulfed in flames, burned beyond recognition.  Later, only the ring she wore could identify her.  Bonnie Beckford, however, was not to be found.
    It was not until the following day that the jewels were discovered missing from Sherringham's vault.  Only Olivia could have procured them.  It was assumed the jewels had spilled out during the accident, or leastwise came to the maid's notice.  Discovering the fabulous fortune, she evidently seized the moment and the jewels and fled.
    Six months to the day after the tragedy, one of the pieces reappeared in an exclusive shop in Highbury.  Twelve months after that, Countess Hazelden attended a charity ball wearing a pair of Leonine Marrable's earrings.  She'd acquired them from a jeweler with an elite clientele in Brompton.  It cost Adrian a significant sum to reclaim them.
    Now, after another year's lapse, the dolphin brooch came into the possession of a jeweler on Kensington High Street.  This time, the store owner supplied a detailed description of the seller, which proved as startling as it was beneficial.  The woman, he recalled, possessed an abundance of flame-red hair, large golden-brown eyes, and stood to a height of, approximately, five feet, five inches.  It wasn't Bonnie Beckford he described, but Olivia!
    Cameron Kincaid, with whom Adrian had worked from the outset on the case, noted that the woman had likely worn a wig, and that Bonnie Beckford stood near in height to that of Lady Marrable.  Though no one could remember the precise color of the maid's eyes, brown—even golden brown—was fairly common.  That