6 Grounds for Murder Read Free Page A

firmer grip on the door and tugged harder. But Ian wasn’t here. He’d gone back to London with the wife he’d somehow forgotten to tell her about. And now she was left here all alone, to have his baby. The baby he’d never see, she’d make bloody sure of that.
    One last final heave did the trick. Groaning and creaking, the door opened, sending a shaft of moonlight through the partially open door. It caught the blade of the axe hanging from a hook on the wall, and the sharp edge gleamed with a cold, cruel light.
    Gertie stopped dead, unable to take her eyes from thesilvery blade.
She had no head. It was chopped off with an axe
.
    “Don’t be bleeding daft, girl,” Gertie muttered out loud. There had to be thousands of axes around the village, she assured herself.
    Even so, she shoveled coal into the scuttle as fast as her bulky frame would allow, and as she lugged her heavy load across the yard she made up her mind that from now on Doris could chop the sticks for the fire. She wasn’t going to touch that axe again if her bleeding life depended on it.

CHAPTER
2
    Cecily was inclined to treat complaints about Doris with a certain measure of restraint. “The child has had a regrettable background,” she explained to Mrs. Chubb when the housekeeper paid a visit to Cecily’s suite to voice her concern. “Doris’s parents are dead. They died within a month of each other. Pneumonia, I believe.”
    Mrs. Chubb clicked her tongue in distress. “Poor baby. No wonder she has a problem concentrating. Did she come from an orphanage, then?”
    Cecily plumped up a green velvet cushion on the chaise lounge. “No, Doris was being looked after by an aunt. The woman was unbelievably cruel, metering out punishmentthat would have been considered harsh even for the hardest criminal. Doris ran away to escape the abuse.”
    “Oh, my.” Mrs. Chubb covered her mouth with her hand.
    “I did contact the aunt,” Cecily went on, “although Doris begged me not to. I felt it my duty to inform her of her niece’s whereabouts, though of course I had no intention of sending her back there.”
    “So what did she say, then?”
    Cecily sighed, remembering the brief note she’d received in response to her letter. “She thanked me for letting her know, and expressed relief that the child was off her hands.”
    “Well, then.” Mrs. Chubb dusted the front of her apron with her plump hands. “In that case, mum, I shall do my best to put up with the child’s bungling, and perhaps if we have patience with her she’ll get the hang of things before too long.”
    She turned to go, and Cecily said gently, “I’d appreciate it, Altheda, if you would be patient with her. Perhaps my decision to hire Doris was based more on sympathy than on her abilities as a housemaid, but if you remember, James hired Gertie at that age for the same reasons, and look how well she has turned out.”
    Mrs. Chubb made a face, then smiled. “Oh, Gertie’s not so bad, mum, I must say. She’ll always be rough around the edges, that girl, but she means well and she’s a good worker, Gertie is.”
    “So she is,” Cecily agreed, returning the smile. “Perhaps she can help Doris learn the ropes.”
    “Don’t you worry, mum. If anyone can lick that poor little mite into shape, it’ll be our Gertie. You mark my words.”
    Cecily hoped profoundly that her housekeeper was right. The subject of Doris was still on her mind as she made her way down to the drawing room later. It had always been James’s contention that everyone deserved a chance, andDoris was no exception. Cecily rather thought that James would be pleased by her decision.
    It was just as well a large crowd was expected for the Guy Fawkes celebrations, Cecily thought, as she entered the drawing room. Otherwise the hotel’s financial situation would be even worse than it was at present. The hotel guest list was unusually short, this being so late in the year.
    The considerable bills that James had run up