Apart in April, a Historical Mystery Novel

In Apart in April, Book 5 of Juliet Kincaid's Calendar Mystery Series, after a deep, personal loss, Minty Wilcox Price runs away from her also grieving husband Daniel. Yet this story of loss, love, and the healing powers of honest work is by no means grim. For unbeknownst to Daniel, his aunt has hired Minty on the sly as a detective to find out what really happened at the estate of the wealthy Lord Richard Nelson the night of April 13th, 1901, while he and his friend were away. (Or so he says.)

In the scene below, Minty, undercover as the spinster secretary/stenographer Miss Minerva Preston, accompanies her new employer as they visit David Hyde, the suspect in the case, in jail.

Just then the policeman LeClerc seemed to notice Minty still cooling her heels by the door for the first time because he said, "Who's that female over there? Is she with you, Nelson?"

"Indeed, she is. This is Miss Preston. She'll be taking notes when our lawyer interviews Mr. Hyde today."

"She can't go inside with you," LeClerc said.

"And why not?" Lord Nelson asked sharply.

"She might have a file up one of those big sleeves of hers, that's why. Or she might be carrying a gun under all of them skirts she's wearing. Females are sneaky that way. So, unless I examine her lower parts, she can't go in there."

"That's outrageous," Lord Nelson said. "You will do no such thing."

"I don't really like it either, sir," Minty said before she primly pinched her lips together. "But I will do it since it seems necessary." Carrying her handbag that held, among other items, her pick-locks, Price Agency badge, and two-shot Derringer under a false bottom, she scurried across the lobby. She set her bag on the desk next to the basket. "Feel free to inspect my handbag, Officer LeClerc, if you must, to make sure I'm not bringing in contraband of any sort."

LeClerc pulled the bag open, peeked in, rucked around inside it and closed it again. "Looks fine."

"And now for the rest of your inspection . . ." Grabbing hold of her left leg-o-mutton sleeve with her right hand, she pulled it tight against her upper arm. "See? Nothing hidden in there." She repeated the action on her right sleeve. "Besides, to get to a gun or file I might happen to have up my sleeve, I'd have to take my shirtwaist completely off because the cuffs are too tight for me to slip anything out of there." Minty glared at LeClerc. "I'm not about to do that in front of any gentleman, any gentleman at all since I am a business girl and never intend to marry."

Lord Nelson stifled a chuckle.

"As for my lower parts . . ." Minty lifted her skirt in the front as far as possible without revealing the front placket of her pantaloons with one hand and the back of her skirt with the other. Then she whirled around very fast and dropped her skirts as soon as she faced the policeman again. "Was that sufficient, sir?" she said.

LeClerc's eyes were wide. "Yes, ma'am," he said in a high-pitched voice.

As she goes about her investigation, Minty leaves letters to Daniel that contain clues (and sometimes false leads) about where she's gone. Will he figure out the clues and catch up with her in time to help her solve the case before a killer gets her, too? For the answer to that question, you must read Apart in April, Book 5 of Juliet Kincaid's Calendar Mysteries that tell the story of Minty Wilcox and Daniel Price from newly met to newlywed and beyond in Kansas City, a place that could get downright deadly a hundred years or so ago.

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