Two Birds with One Stone (A Marsden-Lacey Cozy Mystery Book 1) by Sigrid Vansandt

hall and walked by the door to Piers ’ study again secreting herself into the alcove behind the door. Helen
slipped over and squeezed in beside her.
    Martha peeked between the door and the jam into the study.
What she saw almost made her gasp out loud. Piers had walked over to one of the
bookshelves and pulled on a piece of the framing. A section of the book
shelving swung free and revealed a hidden passage. The entire house must have
secret passages, Martha thought. Excited by this, she filed the information
away to tell Helen later.
    Mrs. Thyme walked right past Helen and Martha, never seeing
them. She announced the chief and his sergeant to Piers. Johns walked into the
room with Sergeant Cross in tow and flashed his badge.
    “Mr. Cousins, I need to know your whereabouts yesterday,”he said, getting
right to the point of his visit.
    “I was here most of the day getting things settled for the
tournament and fundraiser. Mrs. Thyme might have some input. I was at some
point yesterday everywhere on the estate. So many details to finish up,”Cousins said.
    “Would you know of anyone who might have been angry with Sir
Carstons?”Johns
asked.
    “I thought you were treating this as an attempted burglary
or something?”
    “Well, Sir, are you aware of anything being stolen? If not
and since we have a dead man, we are treating it as the ‘something ’ and in this case, that ’ s definitely murder,”Johns said with a
hint of challenge in his voice.
    Piers studied the Chief briefly then replied with sincerity,
“Well, to be honest Chief Inspector, you won ’ t find too
many people who didn ’ t have a problem with Sir Carstons.”
    Louis Devry who had been standing quietly beside Cousins and
as if on cue, stepped forward and offered his hand. “Chief Inspector, Louis
Devry. I ’ m the curator at The Grange. I think you will
probably want to talk with me about what happened yesterday.”
    Johns raised his eyebrows. “The missing curator. I ’ ll tell you what, gentlemen, let ’ s take
both your statements. I promise to be quick. I wouldn ’ t
want to hold up your dinner guests.”
    Piers motioned for the men to sit down. As Mrs. Thyme left
the room, she closed the door, but not before Helen and Martha slipped out of
their hiding place and made their way to the main hall.
    “What do you think of that?”Helen whispered. “I think it ’ s odd they ’ re questioning Piers, don ’ t
you?”
    “Um, maybe not. I overheard him talking to Devry earlier and
Piers hated Sir Carstons. He had a grudge against him. One thing ’ s
for sure, the statement I ’ m supposed to get from Louis
Devry is necessary in a suit The Grange ’ s board brought
against Sir Carstons. So when you think about it, the problem is no longer a
problem, if you get my drift?”
    “Piers, a murderer? A squabble among board members and a
disgruntled owner doesn ’ t seem like a reason to kill
someone,”Helen
said.
    “Yeah, but, people have killed for less. There might be
other motivations we aren ’ t aware of…yet,”Martha said with a
twinge of drama in her voice.
    “What are you getting at?”A nervous Helen whispered.
    “Might be a good idea to keep our eyes and ears open. Maybe
there ’ s a crazy person running around and who knows who ’ s next.”Martha said a little too enthusiastically.
    “I think the only crazy person running around here is you
and I ’ m not getting involved. Let the police handle it.
They ’ re the professionals.”
    Martha made a “pphht”sound.
    “ Piers isn ’ t a
killer,”Helen
said. “He ’ s such a perfect gentleman.”
    “Perfect is right. He ’ s exactly that,”Martha said. “ Fine, but don ’ t come crying to me if he ’ s the killer. I promise not to say I told you so.”
    “How generous of you.”Helen sniffed.
    They sat in wingback chairs covered with intricate,
crewel-stitched fabric until DCI Johns and the others emerged from Cousins ’ office.
    “I ’ ll need both of you to