Chapter 11
The Cordial Jar Turned Inward
June rebuilt the drinks table with six glasses, two jars and Mabel's furious supervision.
Arthur had taken elderflower cordial with his medicine. The jar's label faced the wall in Elsie's photograph. A right-handed server would lift it with the handle toward the body and leave the label outward. A left-handed server turned it inward.
"Beatrice is left-handed," Mabel said.
"So is half the choir."
They repeated each movement. To replace Arthur's capsule, the person needed the bottle, a spare capsule and privacy lasting less than a minute. To make sure he swallowed it, the person also needed to serve his drink.
Elsie's frames showed Beatrice at the raffle stall wearing an apron tied in front. Five minutes later, the knot sat at her back.
"She took it off and retied it," June said.
Mabel found a stain on the apron pocket. Elderflower cordial.
Asha collected it, unimpressed by amateur choreography but interested in the trace.
That evening June received an anonymous envelope. Inside was a photograph of the greenhouse timer and a note:
YOU ARE READING THE CLOCK THE WRONG WAY.
On the back, someone had stamped WITHDRAWN in purple ink.