Samuel looked back at her, his eyes gleaming with expectation. “We’re on the trail of another murderer, m’m?”

“Ah.” Cecily edged around the desk and walked toward him. “I take it you have had a conversation with my husband.”

“I have, m’m. Mr. Baxter told me about Jimmy Taylor dying and then that other bloke, the shoemaker, being killed with Jimmy’s whip. Strange thing, that.”

“It is, indeed.”

“I was sort of surprised when Mr. Baxter told me you were going to look into it. I remember you telling me you promised him you wouldn’t do that again.”

“Yes, well, I did, but then I received a telegram canceling a booking because of the murders. Fortunately Mr. Baxter saw the necessity of solving this case before we endured more empty rooms for Christmas.”

“It’s not too late to invite someone else, m’m.”

Alerted by his tone, Cecily narrowed her eyes. “You had someone in mind?”

Samuel shrugged. “I got a letter from Doris the other day. She seemed sort of down-in-the-mouth. She was talking about how she missed us all at the Pennyfoot, and I just thought, since the room is going to be empty anyway…” His voice trailed off as he looked hopefully at her.

“Samuel! That’s a wonderful idea! I’ll have Philip send her a note before we leave.”

“She’ll like that, m’m. She misses the days when she was a maid here, and now she’s not on the stage anymore, she has more time to think about it.”

“Daisy will love to see her, too. I know she misses her twin. It will be good for them to be together for Christmas. Although Daisy has her hands full being nanny to Gertie’s twins. I hope she can find time to be with her sister.”

“I’m sure they’ll manage, m’m.”

“Good. Well, we’d better be off. I’m anxious to get on the trail of our murderer.”

Samuel gave her a sly look. “Mr. Baxter gave me all sorts of warnings, m’m.”

“I imagine he did.” Cecily regarded her stable manager, her head tilted to one side. Samuel had, at times in the past, been obliged to ignore Baxter’s warnings. “I trust we understand each other in this matter?”