Page 145 of One More Christmas at the Castle
‘Nancy told Mrs Powys she would have liked us to join them all in the sitting room tonight, but she was sure we’d be much too busy – which of course, we will be. I think she hates leaving us out of the fun – though, of course, you have your own unique idea of fun.’
‘Mm …’ I said absently, unpinning the next to-do list from the corkboard and spreading it out on the table.
And after that, I managed to put the whole worry about the ring to the back of my mind, even if it was reawakened later, when Henry shoved under my nose the printouts of what Charlotte had sent me.
‘All we have to do now is compare these – especially the hallmarks and maker’s mark – with Sophie’s ring to be sure one way or the other.’
‘Thatsoundseasy, but if either of us asks to borrow it she’s going to smell an enormous rat!’
‘There has to be a way round it,’ he mused, just as the baize door swung open and Nancy and Xan came in, followed by Plum.
‘We sneaked off on the excuse that Plum wanted to go out and we both needed a breath of air,’ Xan said.
‘But really we’ve come because I’m convinced, despite what you said earlier, that there’s something troubling you, Dido – and Xan thinks the same.’
Henry and I exchanged glances. Then he said slowly, ‘A trouble shared …?’
I nodded and he spread the printouts across the kitchentable. ‘Take a look at these. Does anything strike you as familiar about that ring?’
When they’d pored over the photographs, we told them everything we knew – or suspected – and that I was quite certain in my own mind that itwasthe same ring.
‘Well,’ said Nancy finally, ‘I expect you are right and, of course, it can easily be proved, one way or the other. But if itisthe same, then the girl might simply say she bought it in an antique shop – and perhaps she did.’
‘It’s possible,’ I agreed. ‘But in that case, who stole it in the first place? And why did she insist that she never saw me on the day it went missing, when I met her coming out of the house?’
‘There is that,’ agreed Xan. ‘And there’s something else that has bothered me: that business with the earrings earlier. I suspected Sophie had taken them and then put them in the other jar, possibly from malice, because Sabine has slapped her down a couple of times.’
‘Wewondered about that, too!’ Henry exclaimed. ‘They definitely weren’t in that jar a couple of minutes earlier.’
‘Then there’s the way Timothy keeps glancing at her, as if she’s a bomb about to go off,’ Nancy said, to my surprise.
‘You noticed that, too?’
‘You couldn’t really miss it,’ she said, then added practically, ‘So, we can easily prove if it’s the missing ring, though not how it came to be in Sophie’s possession.’
‘I don’t think Charlotte’s mum would be too concerned about that. She’d just be so delighted to have it back again,’ I said.
‘Then at some point, it must be compared to these printouts and, if it is, as we think, the same ring, we must face Sophie with it.’
‘At which point, she can say, “Oh, how very strange! I hadno idea when I bought it!” and offer to return it to its original owner,’ supplied Xan.
‘Yes, that would get over the matter easily,’ Nancy agreed. ‘But of course, this is Sabine’s house, and Sophie and her grandfather are her guests, so the matter must be laid before her, and what happens then must be her decision.’
‘Yes, you’re right,’ said Xan. ‘We can’t keep her in the dark about something like this. But must we tell her right away?’
‘No. I think we should strive to put it out of our heads until after tomorrow, so we can embrace Christmas with love and joy towards each other.’
‘As long as I don’t actually have to embrace Sophie, I think I can manage that,’ I said. I gathered the printed pages and held them out to her. ‘You’d better take charge of these.’
‘Of course. I’ll keep them for the right moment, if you’re happy to leave it to me?’
‘More than happy!’ I said with a sigh, feeling a huge sense of relief that any investigations or decisions would be taken out of my hands.
‘We’d better get back,’ Nancy said, and though Xan showed a desire to linger, I firmly shooed him – and Plum – out before metaphorically rolling up my sleeves.
‘Come on, Henry. We’ve got a lot to get through tonight!’
When I finally fell into an exhausted sleep that night, I had a nightmare in which Sophie, wearing Minnie Mouse ears, was pursuing me in a chariot pulled by a plucked and headless turkey.
