The Mystery Guest: A Maid Novel

As Molly and Stark drive back to the hotel, Molly remembers her gran’s story about a maid, a rat, and a spoon. She explains the story to Detective Stark, who is amazed at her deductive powers but confused as to why the gardener insisted that she take the seemingly fake Fabergé egg. They join Mr. Snow, and everyone goes to the room of Beulah the LAMBS member. She isn’t there, and they go in. The room is filthy, and Detective Stark comments that it “looks like a rat moved in” (238). One of Grimthorpe’s Moleskines is there, along with Beulah’s journal, which records years of rejections from Mr. Grimthorpe and ends with him slamming the door in her face on the day before his death. Molly gets Lily to confirm that there was a spoon from the Social sticking out of the peanut butter, which Lily says is now on the bedside table. They see it there, open the drawer below it, and find the missing honey pot in a satin-lined box. The honey smells wrong because it is mixed with anti-freeze.