He sipped his coffee thoughtfully. “I am not keen on any crime going unpunished. It would unravel society if there was some sort of free-for-all where people who killed others who’d done them harm could get off without a question. It would be the Middle Ages again. But when I think about that child left alone in that freezing house . . .”

  She leaned over and kissed him softly. “I know, darling.”

  “There’s something that’s been mystifying me. You brought up the Snow Queen in relation to the mirror in the bathroom. What was the significance of that?”

  Lane was thoughtful and took several swigs of coffee. “It started, innocently enough, with those beautiful piles of snow we’d been getting. I had a very snowy childhood, and it reminded me of the beautiful Snow Queen I’d been told about. Then I remembered how horrible she really was.

  “It really, I’m embarrassed to say, goes back to an incident when I was thirteen. I don’t like to reveal what a horror I was at that age, in case you reconsider. I was a very unhappy child, and in a fit of anger on my birthday I smashed the mirror on my dressing table with my hairbrush. I thought I was terribly ugly and unlovable, and somehow seeing myself through that shattered glass seemed to confirm it. A broken mirror plays a pivotal role in ‘The Snow Queen’; I can’t remember whether she, or a devil, breaks a mirror into millions of shards of glass that shower all over the world so that anyone whose heart is pierced by it is made angry and unhappy. For some reason, ‘The Snow Queen’; kidnaps a little boy who’s been made miserable by one of the shards, and it takes all the wiles of his innocent sister, who is not affected by the glass, to save him. When I saw that broken mirror in the bathroom, I thought, or at least wondered, if the unhappiness of whoever did the smashing was central to this story.” She took a large bite of cake. “And in a way it was central,” she continued. “There was Miss Keeling, thinking she’d finally found a place of safety, and then realizing she wasn’t safe at all. I could see her blaming herself, thinking she didn’t deserve to be happy, and in an angry moment looking at herself and smashing the bathroom mirror. She endured a good deal of rejection as a child, is quite entitled to feel horrible about herself, yet she is a very loving person. Somehow in her growing up, she allowed the good person inside her to save her. I wonder if that is the point. Inside each one of us is the unhappy little boy and the good sister who tries to save him.”

  “I can’t help feeling the Snow Queen story is a bit obscure, and, like so many stories directed at children, essentially hectoring. What is a child meant to make of a tale like that except to go to bed and be afraid to sleep? As to Miss Keeling, broken mirror or not, I was actually struck by how much she reminds me of you. Terribly self-possessed and kind. I feel certain she could overcome any odds,” Darling said.

  “I’m sure you are exactly right. A Christmas Carol was a much better choice for the children. Only ghosts to keep them up at night, and a good clear moral lesson, not struggles with the eternal duality of good and evil. What more did Terrell have to say?”

  “I thought you’d never ask! Ames and his mother have invited Terrell for lunch. Now then, what do you think of that? Wait. There’s more. Among the guests will be Mr. Van Eyck and the lovely Tina. I’d call that pretty amazing, wouldn’t you?”

  She smiled warmly, not all that amazed, but happy. Happy for Ames, happy to be looking forward to Christmas lunch with Angela and David. Happy that it was her first Christmas with Darling.

  “Amesy!” she said, clinking her coffee cup with his.

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  THE GRATITUDE I FEEL IS especially great this year, because when there was so much else to be uncertain about everyone involved in the creation of a Lane Winslow mystery carried on without skipping a beat. To Sasha Bley-Vroman, Gerald Miller, and Nickie Bertolotti, the first readers, a special debt of gratitude, for it is they who are charged with the responsibility of telling me if I should even go on with it. For this book I am especially indebted to Canadian historian and educator Rebecca Coulter for the time and articles on one-room schoolhouses that she so generously shared with me. I thank Gregg Parsons for again sharing his deep knowledge of vintage cars and their workings.

  Editor Claire Philipson somehow magically can see the whole finished book through the weeds and undergrowth, and patiently walks me through with a pair of sturdy clippers to reveal the orderly garden underneath. And to Meg Yamamoto, for her meticulous proofreading. The TouchWood team: Taryn Boyd, for always believing in my books; Tori Elliott, who pushes the book out into the wider world with such unwavering enthusiasm; and Kate Kennedy, full of encouragement and an eagle eye.

  Each Margaret Hanson cover has become a star in its own right, exciting admiration wherever it appears. Thanks to Margaret, for giving the books the wonderful face they turn to the world, and to Sydney Barnes, who has made this book a perfect match to the whole set.

  And of course, there are not enough thanks in the world to adequately cover the support and belief in me of my wonderful husband, Terry, and the ready ear he always gives when Lane and I need it.

  I cannot end without thanking my readers. It is for you I write, and it is because of you that I can continue to do so.

  IONA WHISHAW was born in British Columbia. After living her early years in the Kootenays, she spent her formative years living and learning in Mexico, Nicaragua, and the us. She travelled extensively for pleasure and education before settling in the Vancouver area. Throughout her roles as youth worker, social worker, teacher, and award-winning high school principal, her love of writing remained consistent, and compelled her to obtain her master’s in creative writing from the University of British Columbia. Iona has published short fiction, poetry, poetry translation, and one children’s book, Henry and the Cow Problem. A Killer in King’s Cove was her first adult novel. Her heroine, Lane Winslow, was inspired by Iona’s mother who, like her father before her, was a wartime spy. Visit ionawhishaw.com to find out more.

  THE LANE WINSLOW MYSTERY SERIES

  Copyright © 2021 by Iona Whishaw

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. For more information, contact the publisher at:

  TouchWood Editions

  touchwoodeditions.com

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Edited by Claire Philipson

  Cover illustration by Margaret Hanson

  Cover design by Sydney Barnes

  CATALOGUING DATA AVAILABLE FROM LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA

  ISBN 9781771513531 (softcover)

  ISBN 9781771513548 (electronic)

  TouchWood Editions acknowledges that the land on which we live and work is within the traditional territories of the Lkwungen (Esquimalt and Songhees), Malahat, Pacheedaht, Scia’new, T’Sou-ke and (Pauquachin, Tsartlip, Tsawout, Tseycum) peoples.

  We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund and the Canada Council for the Arts, and of the Province of British Columbia through the British Columbia Arts Council and the Book Publishing Tax Credit.

  25 24 23 22 21 1 2 3 4 5

 

 

  Iona Whishaw, A Lethal Lesson

 

 

  Thank you for reading books on GrayCity.Net
Share this book with friends