Deadly Fashion Read online

  Deadly Fashion

  by Kate Parker

  author of the Deadly Series

  and the Victorian Bookshop Mysteries

  About

  DEADLY FASHION

  Why would a man, knowing his life was in danger, turn his back on his killer?

  In pre-war London, Olivia Denis wins a plum assignment from her newspaper when she meets the glamorous French fashion designer, Mimi Mareau. Mimi has it all—wealth, talent, acclaim, and a British duke for a lover. But on her first visit to Mimi’s new Mayfair house of haute couture, Olivia finds something else—the body of an unknown man.

  Mimi and her three French assistants say they don’t know the man, but is that true? As Olivia spends time around the salon, she learns at least one of the women knew the dead man and all four women are lying.

  A British agent in possession of a terrible secret, an attempt on the life of a British leader, a fashion house in the middle of it all, and war marches closer. Can Olivia stop a murderer before he or she strikes again, or will time run out on the fragile peace and Olivia’s efforts?

  Praise for the Deadly Series

  You will be captivated by this beautifully written story and the characters come to life right from the start.

  Shelley’s Book Case on Deadly Wedding

  I love this series. The attention to detail, the well plotted mystery, and the burgeoning romance in the background provide a captivating look into a fascinating era.

  Cozy Up with Kathy on Deadly Wedding

  If you’re looking for an all-around good read, this one is for you.

  Booklady’s Booknotes on Deadly Wedding

  I loved Kate Parker’s Victorian Mystery Series. She has a great writing style and her stories feature strong women. I knew I would enjoy this book before I even started reading, but she exceeded all of my expectations.

  Escape with Dollycas into a Good Book on Deadly Scandal

  And I’m ever so glad to hear that this is part of a series. It’s hard to get enough of our favorite characters, and Olivia definitely ranks on my list. I can’t wait to see what she gets up to next!

  Back Porchervations on Deadly Scandal

  I’m so glad that this book is the first in a series and cannot wait for the next installment. Kate Parker has hit this one (out) of the park and I am eagerly awaiting the release date of the next.

  Kimberlee in Girl Lost in a Book on Deadly Scandal

  Dedication

  To John, as always

  CHAPTER ONE

  London, September 1938

  When the butler opened the door and announced “Mrs. Denis and Miss Seville,” I entered a drawing room that nearly took my breath away. I was certain it was one of the smaller ground-floor rooms tucked discreetly into the back of the palatial Mayfair house, since we were only from a newspaper and no one important.

  However, the use of satin fabrics in a restful green, along with priceless paintings and rugs thick enough to bounce on, left me momentarily speechless. Jane’s jaw dropped when she spied the Rubens on the far wall.

  The house belonged to one of the oldest titles in England, the Dukes of Marshburn. They’d had hundreds of years to perfect this room, and they’d used the time wisely.

  The blonde who rose to greet us was tall and slim like her father, the duke, and had inherited his unfortunate regal nose and weak chin. “Hello, I’m Lady Patricia Saunders-North. Come in, won’t you? I thought you might want to ask questions now while you set up the camera. Mimi should have been here by now, bringing my wedding gown and part of my trousseau.”

  I was startled by her nasally voice. I squeaked out, “Mimi?”

  “Yes. Mimi Mareau, my designer and dressmaker.”

  “Mimi Mareau designed your wedding gown?” I hope it sounded more like a professional question and not a screech of excited envy. I was going to meet the famous Mimi.

  My idol, Mimi Mareau.

  Meet and interview, I mentally added with crossed fingers.

  “Yes,” Lady Patricia replied. “Isn’t it too perfect to have a wedding gown designed by a leading couture house from Paris? Of course, she and Daddy are friends. He arranged it for me.”

  “And she brought the dresses over to London for your fitting?” Just how good friends were the duke and the Frenchwoman? If gossip was to be believed…

  “She’s over here doing the costuming for a play in the West End, as well as opening a salon here in London. Isn’t it too wonderful?” Lady Patricia dropped gracefully onto the sofa.

  She didn’t offer us a seat. “Mimi’ll be traveling back and forth for the next few months, now that her fall collection has been shown in Paris.”

  “Will you want your photograph taken today in your wedding dress, or would you rather wear something more seasonal,” Jane asked, pausing just a fraction before adding, “my lady?”

  “Oh, I thought this frock would do, don’t you, Miss—?”

  “Seville,” Jane answered. “Yes. Your dress will photograph well.”

  “I doubt Mimi is ready for me to be photographed in my wedding dress. This is just a fitting. There will still be a great deal of work to do on it.” Lady Patricia spoke with a note of finality.

  “What made you decide to marry in November?” I asked the young woman.

  “Everyone will be in town for the Opening of Parliament. Makes it easier to gather all one’s friends together for the big day.”

  While Jane took Lady Patricia’s photograph, I asked, “It’s only two months away now. Are you getting excited?” I hoped she’d give me a quote that made her sound less like a cold fish. Daily Premier readers liked their subject matter in the society columns to sound wholesome and enthusiastic. There was enough bad news on the front pages, with Hitler making threats.

  “Of course.”

  No warmth. No excitement. This was going to be a difficult interview.

  “Miss Mareau,” the butler intoned like a tolling bell. I hadn’t thought there were any butlers left who wore a morning coat, a high, stiff collar, and breeches with silk stockings. My father had once told me all the impressive butlers had disappeared after the Great War. It must be the duke who required the butler to dress like a Regency specter.

  “Oh, Mimi,” Lady Patricia said, rushing over to give her an air-kiss, “let’s see what you brought me.”

  Mimi Mareau held up a cloth-covered gown in her free hand as she disengaged herself with the other. “Brigette is bringing in the others. We’ll have fun doing a fitting, yes?” she said in a thick French accent.

  I almost answered her and had to fight down a squeal of delight. I was excited to see the latest Mimi Mareau designs. The woman was a genius.

  Lady Patricia introduced us as being from the Daily Premier, and Mimi acknowledged us with a nod and a smile. Her relationship with newspaper reporters was uneven at best, according to gossip.

  She was her own best advertisement. She wore a curve-hugging linen dress in pale green with a long blue linen jacket and high heels. She wore a blue felt cloche over her dark, wavy bob. I was surprised to realize she was shorter than me in those ankle-breaking high heels and quite slim. Close up, she looked younger than her forty-plus years.

  Mimi managed to appear at once both elegant and energetic. She was everything I imagined her to be from reading the women’s magazines. As long as she was in front of me, I would hang on her every word. Her every move.

  She made me feel dowdy in my light-wool blue suit with a pale yellow summer blouse and sensible two-inch heeled pumps.

  With summer temperatures lingering into the middle of September and no one declaring war over the Sudetenland yet, we were all dressing in bright colors. Jane hadn’t shocked anyone in her Socialist-red blouse. Who knew what threat tomorrow w
ould bring?

  A girl at the end of her teens came in carrying a heavy load of cloth-covered gowns and I helped her put them down, spread out so as not to wrinkle. Mimi didn’t introduce her or pay her any attention.

  The bride said, “No one will come back here,” as she stripped down to her slip and tried on the first outfit in her trousseau.

  “Perhaps Madame Mareau could stand next to Lady Patricia while she’s wearing this outfit,” Jane said as she glanced at the Mareau-designed wool jacket and skirt. She raised her eyebrows, obviously impressed.

  As they obliged, I started my interview with Lady Patricia and, without waiting to be asked, took a front-row seat for this fashion show with my notebook on my lap. “Where will you go for your honeymoon?”

  “The continent. Switzerland, Germany, France.”

  “Oh, I would like you and your new husband to visit me in Paris,” Mimi said, her eyes on how the skirt hung. The hem was a little wider than had been popular of late. The drape was beautiful, and would work well on someone considerably heavier than this young woman.

  “We’ll have to see,” Lady Patricia said in a stuffy, aristocratic tone.

  Mimi’s gaze flew to Lady Patricia’s face for an instant before she looked down again.

  I’d have jumped at that offer.

  I sketched the lower part of the skirt as I asked, “Do you have any plans yet for the wedding breakfast?”

  “The usual. Eggs Benedict, champagne, bacon, cake—this frill at the cuffs chafes my skin.” This last was directed to Mimi.

  “Shall we try using a silk cuff and a silk bow at the neck? The white softens the brown and complements the buttons on the front and at the cuffs. Brigette.”

  “I have it.”

  I swung my head around. Brigette’s accent was English, even though the teenaged girl appeared to be one hundred percent French.

  I was still looking at the girl when Lady Patricia said, “I like this belt or whatever this is, sewn in at the waist. Makes me look like I have one.”

  “Oh, no, my lady. You have a good figure. A noble figure,” Mimi said.

  “No wonder Daddy likes you,” Lady Patricia replied.

  There was something about her smile that made me uneasy. I glanced over at Brigette to find her staring at Lady Patricia. I recognized that look. It was hate.

  Lady Patricia took off the jacket and skirt, tossing both on a chair in a rumpled heap. Brigette moved silently to the discarded clothes, straightening and hanging the fabric so no wrinkles or soiling could mar the outfit.

  The bride-to-be next tried on a light-gray wool winter frock. Large buttons ran in a single line past the belt, all covered in the same light gray wool. My eye was drawn, as it was supposed to be, by a dark brown and gray cape built into the dress.

  “These go with it,” Mimi said as she produced a pair of dark brown gloves with wide cuffs that spread to cover the bottoms of the sleeves.

  “Ooh,” Lady Patricia said as she pulled them on. “Now all it needs is a dark brown hat. I already have the shoes.”

  “I have a swatch if you’d like to take it to your milliner and have her design something to go with this.”

  Mimi Mareau was a terrific saleswoman, with a helpful suggestion when needed. Too much of that could be annoying, but not the way Mimi handled it. I kept sketching the frocks as I asked questions. “Where did you meet your fiancé?”

  “On the French Riviera.”

  “Is he British? I’m not familiar with the name ‘Frederiksen,’” I said, hearing the click of Jane’s camera.

  “No, Aren and his family are Danish. They are leaders in brewing, shipping, and cheese making. And related to the Danish royal family.”

  She made it sound like only a rich, royal family would be good enough for this daughter of an English duke. “So, you’ll be moving to Denmark?”

  “Aren is going to be the Danish ambassador to the Court of St. James. We’ll be living in London for the time being.” Lady Patricia walked off to change again, assisted by Brigette.

  “You have great talent for drawing,” Mimi said, looking over my shoulder.

  “Thank you.” Praise for my drawings from a famous designer was to be savored. Pride bubbled up inside me.

  “What is your name?”

  “I’m Olivia Denis,” I said, holding out my hand.

  She shook it. “I hope you won’t print your sketches in the paper. Your drawings are good enough to give away my newest designs.”

  Her snappish tone squished my pride. Hurt, my own tone was sharp. “Didn’t you show similar designs at your couture house last month?”

  “Ah, but that was in Paris.” She kept on a stiff smile. Behind it, I was sure she was gritting her teeth at my impertinence.

  “I’m sure there were many Englishwomen in the audience.” It didn’t take long to get from one city to the other, either by aeroplane or train and boat.

  “I will be showing my designs at my own show here along with the local couturiers on the twenty-second of September,” Mimi announced with queenly serenity.

  “So you’ll have your own salon here?” I knew I sounded eager.

  Too eager, apparently. She ignored my question. “I might buy your sketches for an advertisement, but otherwise I don’t want to see them in the Daily Premier.” Beyond her smile, the rest of her face was stern.

  “Don’t worry,” I told her. “Sir Henry would never print any of my sketches. I draw only to assist my writing.” They helped me figure out how to describe clothing for the society pages of the paper. Something I wouldn’t admit to her.

  “That’s a shame. They are very good.” It sounded like grudging respect. I probably glowed with pride, since the words came from Mimi Mareau.

  At that moment, Lady Patricia stepped before us in a stunning wool tweed suit with a sable fur collar on the long jacket. I had never seen tweed hang so gracefully before. It had to be the cut of the fabric. No wonder people paid so much for Mimi’s creations.

  “What do you think?” the aristocrat said to the designer.

  I interrupted with, “I’ve never seen tweed fall so smartly. You are to be congratulated. Everyone is going to be asking for this suit.”

  “Thank you,” Mimi said, obviously pleased.

  “Don’t print that in my story,” Lady Patricia ordered.

  Jane took more photographs.

  “Oh, no, I wouldn’t. By the way, my lady, have you chosen your bridesmaids yet?” I asked to get past what the young woman obviously thought was a faux pas.

  She had just reached the third name when she exclaimed, “Mummy!”

  I turned to see a horsey-faced woman of about fifty. The Duchess of Marshburn.

  “Hello, darling.” The woman marched past Mimi without a glance and gave her daughter a hug and an air-kiss. “How is the wedding coming?”

  “I was just telling the reporter from the Daily Premier who my bridesmaids are.” Lady Patricia twirled around for her mother to see the fabulous drape of the skirt. “What do you think of this?”

  “Lovely, dear, but wouldn’t it be better to go to her shop for a fitting? We can go over to Paris any time.” The duchess’s mouth turned down as if she’d tasted something bitter. She still hadn’t acknowledged Mimi’s presence in the room. Oh, the fascinating things I saw that I couldn’t put in my articles.

  I was frequently reminded by our society editor, Miss Westcott, and by Jane, that society columns were for people with a title or money to present themselves to the world in their best light. The boys in the newsroom reported any scandals.

  “There is no problem coming here,” Mimi said to the duchess’s back. “I’m opening a salon in London while I work on costuming for a West End play. You must come and see my salon on Old Burlington Street. Number thirty-one.”

  When she heard the address, the duchess spun around and faced the designer. “A play? Good. You’ll fit in among the actors.”

  Mimi’s coloring changed to a reddish shade. She ke
pt a smile on her face, but now it showed her teeth. “Your husband has been very generous in finding a location for my salon.”

  “That building belongs to the estate. And how is he collecting his rent?”

  I held my breath while Lady Patricia gasped, “Mummy.”

  Mimi turned a brighter shade and the smile slid off her face.

  “Pounds or francs?” With that, the duchess strolled out of the room with a smirk.

  This sounded like the gossip about the duke and Miss Mareau was true. And the duchess either didn’t like the gossip or the situation.

  “The French have a lot to teach these aristocrats,” Mimi murmured in French behind clenched jaws.

  “Madame,” Brigette replied in French, “I think it’s time to leave.”

  “I don’t have to make any adjustments to the last two outfits. Do you want me to leave them with you?” Mimi said in English.

  “Yes,” Lady Patricia said, her expression wooden as she stared at the now-closed door.

  “I’ll change the inserts on the first to silk. You have a lovely day, my lady.” Mimi packed up. “I think for your mother’s sake we should continue our fittings at the new salon. The suit will be ready next week, as will more of your trousseau.”

  “But my wedding gown.” Lady Patricia sounded like a four-year-old without her favorite toy.

  “Come to the salon next week. Let’s not upset your maman,” Mimi answered.

  Lady Patricia hesitated before she nodded.

  I had enough for my article. “I’d like to see the space where your salon is going. May I go with you, Miss Mareau?” I couldn’t hide my eagerness.

  “Of course. A preview before we open our doors. But not the photographer. Not until next week, when I will be glad to welcome you before my show.” Mimi smiled at Jane, who nodded. One professional to another.