Day 42: 19 December 2025

 Short Story -- Monkshood Manor: Part 12

Mr Drey and Teddy headed quietly towards the study, unaware of Mrs Winter's plan. When they arrived outside of the door, they could hear quiet rummaging. Through looks and gestures, it was decided that Teddy would fling open the door and Mr Drey would dash inside. And so they did. 

'Stop where you are,' Mr Drey said robustly upon entering the room. 

The man looked up, looked at Mr Drey, looked at the fire poker. He looked at Teddy who had also entered the room immediately behind Mr Drey with the small shovel. And held up a gun. Aiming it at Mr Drey. 

'Put your weapons,' he both instructed and questioned, 'Down, if you'd be so kind.' 

He was so focused on the two of them, that he didn't even think to look behind him. And, having quietly entered through the window, just as the man himself had presumably done, that was now where Mrs Winter was with her log aloft. 

The man crumpled to the floor after a swift pop on the head from Mrs Winter. Who calmly proceeded to use the rope like curtain ties to bind his wrists and ankles. 

'Who are you?' Teddy asked in awe. 

'Just a humble cook, my dear,' Mrs Winter said amicably. 'But we women can never be too capable of defending ourselves, can we? Never know what sort of brigands we may encounter.' 

Teddy looked in continued disbelief at Mrs Winter but didn't question her either. She just nodded in assent. 

'Now,' said Mrs Winter. 'We should call for the police. And by the way, my dear, does this potentially look like the man who'd been following you earlier?' 

Teddy looked -- actually looked -- at the man now that there wasn't a gun aimed at her and Mr Drey. 

'He has a moustache that's the right colour and the same hat,' Teddy confirmed. 'But is that enough?' 

'It's a start, dear,' consoled Mrs Winter. She looked at Mr Drey. 'George. You'll have to stand guard. We can't close the windows in case the police want to see the room as is. Teddy, dear, please ring the police.' 

Mr Drey and Teddy weren't sure when Mrs Winter had actually become the person in charge, but she did seem confident, so they set about obeying. 

'What will you be doing?' Teddy asked tentatively as she stood by the door. It would be best to use the phone in the drawing room to avoid tampering with any evidence in the study. 

Mrs Winter was also near the door. 'Going to make tea and fetch some cake, of course! Everyone will feel much better after some tea and cake,' she answered warmly. 

Teddy looked at Mr Drey with a look that asked: Is she for real? He shrugged in response. And Teddy headed out and to the phone. 

It was quickly established that an officer and a detective would arrive as soon as possible, which, given where the manor was located, would be at least 45 minutes. 

Teddy walked back to the study. The man was now sitting up, in a rather uncomfortable looking position, and glowering at Mr Drey. Mrs Winter had also returned and was pouring tea into three cups. 

Once that was finished, she looked at the man and said, 'Now. I'd guess that we have more than enough time to ask a few questions.' 

Teddy was a bit confused at how efficient and worried about the integrity of the break in Mrs Winter was but how she was equally happy to be serving tea and cake in it. She was also a bit confounded as to why Mrs Winter thought that this man would answer any of her questions. 

'First things first, young man,' Mrs Winter said briskly. 'What's your name?' 

He just stared at her. Not quite a glower. He, too, was probably astounded at the boldness of Mrs Winter. 

'We do have the upper hand here,' Mrs Winter continued. 'There are three of us. We all saw the same thing happen. We all feel very protective of this house. There's no reason to make things difficult.' 

'Make things difficult?' the man asked in disbelief. 

'Of course,' Mrs Winter said. 'There's still the fire poker. And, it'd be easy enough to say that we shot you in self defence. You did break in after all.' 

'Wait a minute,' Teddy said finally finding her voice in spite of the absurdity of the situation. 'Let's not shoot anyone.' 

'I'm just explaining his situation to him, dear,' Mrs Winter said reassuringly. 

Teddy looked at Mr Drey again. Who shrugged again. 

Mrs Winter looked back at the man who was also looking a bit taken aback now and a bit less feisty. 'If you don't want to give us your name, that's your prerogative, of course. I'm sure the police will get it from you. Perhaps you'd at least be so kind to tell us what you were looking for?' 

The man's eyes grew wide. 

Mrs Winter took a sip of her tea. 'Teddy, dear, please. Have some tea. You'll feel better. Tea always makes every situation, even the disturbing ones, better.' 

Teddy was dumbfounded but obediently took a sip of her tea. 

'Who are you people?' the man finally spluttered. 

'I'm just a simple cook,' Mrs Winter said gesturing to herself modestly. 'That's the butler. And certainly you must know who she is. Otherwise your employer has left you terribly ill informed.' 

'What makes you think I have an employer?' the man asked. 

'You're not from around here, so it can't be personal. And you're clearly in want of money, so that's your motivation. Well, what other reason could you have for breaking in and attempting theft of some sort?' Mrs Winter concluded. 

The man continued to stare at Mrs Winter. He then tried to give Mr Drey a look that said: Who is this woman? Mr Drey shrugged. He tried the same look to Teddy, but she had a similar expression on her face. 

'And what makes you think I'd give my employer up, saying I have one?' the man asked. 

'Well, he clearly didn't give you all the information, therefore he's not looking out for you by any means. And, although I hate to think unkindly of the sort of people wealthy enough to hire someone to break into the manor, they're all rather stingy, so presumably the pay isn't -- or shouldn't be, not as a reflection on you -- good enough to buy your loyalty. Certainly, you don't owe it to your employer to go down alone for this,' Mrs Winter deduced. 

There was a pause. 

And she said, 'Would you just nod if I'm correct? Because I can already guess who hired you and possibly what you were looking for.' 

The man looked at her in shock, but bewilderingly nodded his head. 

'Was it Lord Tottington?' Mrs Winter ventured. 

The man nodded. 

'The vile snake,' she said. 'And was it possibly a journal that you were sent to find?' 

The man nodded again. 

'A journal?' asked Teddy surprised. 'Whatever for?' 

'Don't know. He told me I didn't need to know the why-fores in order to do the job,' the man ceded. 

Teddy turned to Mrs Winter now. 'What exactly do you think this journal would look like? Certainly there must be many journals in a house this big and this old.' 

'True,' Mrs Winter said. 'But if I had to hazard a guess, it's light blue and old and belonged to one of the original family members who lived in this house.' 

Teddy was shocked but kept her mouth shut. It was probably the journal that she'd found while cleaning the Blue Room. It was sitting on her bedside table right now. 

'Precisely,' said Mrs Winter as though she could read Teddy's mind. 

Fortuitously, the bell rang. 

The police and inspector had arrived.