Raiders of the Lost Corset Read online

  Praise for the Crime of Fashion mysteries

  “Devilishly funny…. Lacey is intelligent, insightful, and spunky…thoroughly likable.”

  —The Sun (Bremerton, WA)

  “Byerrum spins a mystery out of (very luxurious) whole cloth with the best of them.”

  —Chick Lit Books

  “Fun and witty…with a great female sleuth.”

  —Fresh Fiction

  “[A] very entertaining series.”

  —The Romance Reader’s Connection

  Hostile Makeover

  “Byerrum pulls another superlative Crime of Fashion out of her vintage cloche…. All these wonderful characters combine with Byerrum’s…clever plotting and snappy dialogue to fashion a…keep-em-guessing-’til-the-end whodunit.”

  —Chick Lit Books

  “So much fun.”

  —The Romance Reader’s Connection

  “The read is as smooth as fine-grade cashmere.”

  —Publishers Weekly

  “Totally delightful…a fun and witty read.”

  —Fresh Fiction

  Designer Knockoff

  “Byerrum intersperses the book with witty excerpts from Lacey’s ‘Fashion Bites’ columns, such as ‘When Bad Clothes Happen to Good People’ and ‘Thank Heavens It’s Not Code Taupe.’…Quirky…. Interesting plot twists.”

  —The Sun (Bremerton, WA)

  “Clever wordplay, snappy patter, and intriguing clues make this politics-meets-high-fashion whodunit a cut above the ordinary.”

  —Romantic Times

  “Compelling…. Lacey is a spunky heroine and is very self-assured as she carries off her vintage looks with much aplomb.”

  —The Mystery Reader

  “A very talented writer with an offbeat sense of humor and talent for creating quirky and eccentric characters that will have readers laughing at their antics.”

  —The Best Reviews

  Killer Hair

  “[A] rippling debut. Peppered with girlfriends you’d love to have, smoldering romance you can’t resist, and Beltway insider insights you’ve got to read, Killer Hair adds a crazy twist to the concept of ‘capital murder.’”

  —Sarah Strohmeyer, Agatha Award–winning author of The Secret Lives of Fortunate Wives

  “Ellen Byerrum tailors her debut mystery with a sharp murder plot, entertaining fashion commentary, and gutsy characters.”

  —Nancy J. Cohen, author of the Bad Hair Day mysteries

  “Chock-full of colorful, often hilarious characters…. Lacey herself has a delightfully catty wit…. A load of stylish fun.”

  —Scripps Howard News Service

  “Lacey slays and sashays through Washington politics, scandal, and Fourth Estate slime, while uncovering whodunit, and dunit and dunit again.”

  —Chloe Green, author of the Dallas O’Connor Fashion mysteries

  “Killer Hair is a shear delight.”

  —Elaine Viets, national bestselling author of Murder Unleashed

  Raiders of the Lost Corset

  A CRIME OF FASHION MYSTERY

  Ellen Byerrum

  A SIGNET BOOK

  SIGNET

  Published by New American Library, a division of

  Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street,

  New York, New York 10014, USA

  Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto,

  Ontario M4P 2Y3, Canada (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.)

  Penguin Books Ltd., 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

  Penguin Ireland, 25 St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2,

  Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd.)

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  Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty. Ltd.)

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  New Delhi-110 017, India

  Penguin Group (NZ), cnr Airborne and Rosedale Roads, Albany,

  Auckland 1310, New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd.)

  Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty.) Ltd., 24 Sturdee Avenue,

  Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa

  Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices:

  80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

  First published by Signet, an imprint of New American Library,

  a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

  ISBN: 978-1-1012-1071-0

  Copyright © Ellen Byerrum, 2006

  All rights reserved

  REGISTERED TRADEMARK—MARCA REGISTRADA

  Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

  PUBLISHER’S NOTE

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

  The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party Web sites or their content.

  Contents

  Acknowledgments

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Lacey Smithsonian’s

  Fashion Bites

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Crimes of Fashion

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Lacey Smithsonian’s

  Fashion Bites

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Lacey Smithsonian’s

  Fashion Bites

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Lacey Smithsonian’s

  Fashion Bites

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  Writing a book is an amazing journey, and it never ceases to amaze me how generous people have been to me with their gracious support and special knowledge. And if I have taken that information and twisted it to my own ends, it is not their fault; it’s mine. It’s just fiction.

  I want to express my appreciation to Inara Apinis, Alex Braguine, Regina Cline, Jack French, Lloyd Rose, and Pat Ware, all of whom shared much information over many lunches. Rip Claassen at Backstage Books in Washington, D.C., gave me his time and insight into the costumer’s art, for which I am truly thankful.

  Many thanks go to Don Maass, Cameron McClure, and Rachel Vater at the Donald Maass Literary Agency for their support. I would also like to thank Martha Bushko, my editor at Signet.

  My thanks as well to the city of New Orleans and its friendly and helpful inhabitants. This book reflects a little of the gracious Crescent City as it was just before Hurricane Katrina, and as it
will someday be again.

  This book would not have been written without the complete support and help of my husband, Bob Williams, who will no doubt want to sweep me off to Paris (again) after reading this acknowledgment.

  Chapter 1

  “Find the corset!” the old woman gasped.

  Magda Rousseau was never more enigmatic, Lacey Smithsonian thought, than with death at her door. She lay draped in a profusion of gaudy jewels on her tattered old sofa, one of its broken legs replaced by several large books.

  The jewels were fake, of course. Anyone could see that. Yet the ropes of faux pearls and necklaces of rubies, emeralds, and diamonds gave the old Frenchwoman the air of regal hauteur she sought in life. Magda had a glazed look in her eyes, a half-smile playing on her lips, and a secret she refused to divulge: Who killed her—or rather, who had tried to kill her. After all, Lacey realized, Magda wasn’t dead yet. Perhaps there was still time to save her life. But all Magda cared about was the corset.

  “Magda, what happened to you?” Lacey reached for her cell phone. She dialed 911 for an ambulance. With her free hand she touched the woman’s forehead. A string of fake sapphires came loose and fell to the floor with a clatter.

  Magda’s skin was cool, her face looked waxy, and her breath was shallow. She kept smiling, arrayed in her false glamour. She was still alive, though barely, when Lacey arrived at Magda’s little theatrical costume and corset shop, Stays and Plays.

  The woman shook her head as if trying to clear her thoughts. “Poison.”

  “Poison! You were poisoned? How? Who?”

  Magda stared at Lacey, her brow wrinkled in concentration. “Don’t drink—the wine, Lacey. It seems to be a very—bad vintage. And it is not French.” Lacey saw the nearly empty wineglass tilting out of Magda’s loose grasp, its remaining red drops staining the pale pink rose of the sofa. She let go of the glass, but it stayed in position, held fast by the tangle of false gems.

  So that’s where the poison was, Lacey thought. Who would poison the eccentric old woman, and why? “Please try to conserve your strength,” she pleaded. “Help is on the way.”

  The dispatcher came back on the phone, urging Lacey not to hang up, reassuring her that paramedics were en route. Lacey feared it would be too little, too late. Could the paramedics make it in time? She heard an ambulance wailing in the distance, but in Washington, D.C., that was an ever-present background noise. It might be headed anywhere.

  “Do you know what kind of poison?” Lacey asked.

  Magda managed a wry smile. “The fatal kind.”

  “Let me get you some water; maybe it will dilute the poison. We have to do something.” Lacey reached out to take Magda’s hands. “Come on, I’ll help you to the bathroom.”

  “I can’t, Lacey.” She didn’t move. “He has my feet.”

  “What are you talking about?” She looked down. Magda was barefoot, the large purple veins contrasting with her bluish-white skin. Lacey knew she preferred to work in her bare feet and often kicked off her scruffy black shoes. “Who has your feet?”

  “Him. L’Ange de la Mort. Death, with his icy hands.” Her French accent became thicker. “My feet are already gone. He has taken them. I can’t feel them anymore.” Lacey put the phone down on the coffee table and grabbed a bolt of soft blue flannel. She knelt to cover Magda’s feet with the material. “So this is how he comes, the angel of death. He starts with the feet and puts them in ice.”

  “Good God, Magda, stop being so drearily European about this.” Lacey rubbed Magda’s feet vigorously to jump-start her circulation. “This is America. Dying is a last resort here. Try a little optimism. Concentrate on fighting this. There’s an antidote. Usually. Maybe.” Lacey’s efforts weren’t helping, and the chill was seeping into her hands. “You really must wear your shoes and socks. Warm socks. Or your slippers, Magda. Do you have any slippers? I’ll get them for you—”

  Lacey realized she was babbling out of fear and concern, and in any case, her advice was useless: Magda Rousseau seemed to be intent on taking the train to eternity with the icy angel. Lacey could feel the woman slipping away, but she carefully tucked the warm flannel around Magda’s feet. She was furious there was so little she could do.

  “Who brought the angel of death here? Who did this to you?” Lacey shouted. Magda was fading. The Frenchwoman merely shook her head. “We have to find a way—”

  “No!” Magda struggled for breath. “Find the corset! You promised me.” Lacey barely understood her slurred and accented speech. “The corset is more important than my feet. Find the corset!” she croaked in her thick French accent, running out of breath. “Promise me!”

  “I promise. Please, Magda. Hold on, they’ll be here soon.” Lacey realized she had done everything she could do. Now she could only wait. She held Magda’s icy-cold hands.

  Magda Rousseau was a master corsetiere, one of the last practicing the not-quite-lost art of accentuating (or creating) the alluring curves of the female form with laces and stays. She created exotic special-order corsets and other fine and fancy underpinnings for an interesting set of characters, including Lacey’s brassy hairstylist, Stella Lake, the numerous local corset fetishists, and a select group of high-priced call girls. She also put her needle to work making costumes for Washington, D.C.’s theatrical community. Her work had graced elegant costume dramas at many of the finest theatres in the Nation’s Capital.

  The jewels covering Magda were just flashy baubles meant for costumes of kings and queens, jesters and fools, to make the illusion glitter in the footlights. The effect was startling, as if someone had emptied the shop’s entire inventory of junk jewelry over her, as if it were a set piece in an absurdist play, or a topsy-turvy robbery in reverse. Had she really been poisoned? Was she attacked by an enraged thief who didn’t find what he was looking for? And what was her assailant really after? Lacey didn’t want to take her eyes off Magda, but she glanced away quickly to take in the room. It was a disaster. Even at the best of times, she reflected, it was barely controlled chaos, but today it was chaotic even by Magda’s standards.

  Lacey glanced up uneasily at a row of wig heads that stared at her with sightless eyes under elaborate curled hairdos. No wonder I feel like someone’s staring at me. The workshop where Magda made her living occupied the second floor of a converted town house in Washington, D.C.’s Eastern Market neighborhood, over a storefront on the ground floor. Magda’s apartment was on the third floor, one of two tiny apartments. Near the sofa where Magda lay, Lacey saw the large antique oak notions cabinet, its many glass-front drawers open, their contents spilling out, a treasure chest of faux jewels, bits of gold braid, and chains like the ones that decorated her still form.

  A nearly finished corset in sassy pink satin with black lace trim was provocatively positioned on a dressmaker’s dummy, next to another dummy displaying a purple velvet Elizabethan corseted gown for The Merry Wives of Windsor. A third dummy, with a drape of blue silk for a fancy bustier, had fallen or been thrown to the floor. A profusion of corsets and bustiers in silk and satin and brocade in every stage of construction were strewn about. But Lacey knew that none of these was the corset Magda was talking about.

  “A corsetiere knows all your secrets,” Magda had often said to Lacey with a wink. “The secrets you keep and the secrets you give away, all the secrets you hide beneath your clothes.” But clearly she wasn’t parting with any secrets today. Perhaps, Lacey thought, she could keep Magda among the living by engaging her, by simply refusing to let her go.

  Keep her talking, she thought. She’s such a storyteller, maybe she’ll get started on a story and forget to die. “What’s with all the baubles, Magda?” she said. “You couldn’t decide what to wear tonight?”

  The old woman shook her head. “The corset! Nothing else matters. You must talk to my cousin—” The words were gasps of agony between shallow breaths.

  “Forget about the corset! Someone tried to kill you,” Lacey shouted, trying to get through
the woman’s fog of pain.

  Magda wasn’t listening. Even while losing her grasp on the material world, dreams of a treasure beyond imagining were never far from her mind. “At first, you know, I thought my grandfather had stolen a Fabergé egg, not a bloodstained corset. Did I tell you about all this?”

  Lacey could see her struggle for air, and for her thoughts. “Your grandfather, I know, the corset, you told me. But who did this, Magda? And why?”

  Magda summoned the last remnants of her strength and clarity and fixed her gaze on Lacey. She said very distinctly, “Promise me you will find the corset!” Then she closed her eyes.

  Oh, no, Magda, you can’t die, Lacey thought irrationally, you still have stories to tell! And it was so like Magda to hold a hasty promise over Lacey’s head as she died, to haunt her with this peculiar pipe dream. And where on earth were the D.C. paramedics?

  Find the corset. A spectral command. “Yes, the corset! Magda, whoever poisoned you, were they after the corset? Tell me, Magda!”

  It wasn’t just any corset, Lacey knew. It was a corset of rumor and legend, a corset that would be worth millions, a corset of in-famy sewn with hidden imperial jewels, lost for most of the twentieth century. More than enough motive for murder. That is, if Magda were to be believed. Lacey was never sure how much the old corsetiere might have embroidered her stories. Quite a lot, Lacey suspected, which would be appropriate for an expert seamstress. Perhaps some tales were even made up out of whole cloth. But the mythical corset was a treasure that Magda Rousseau had intended to recover, with fashion reporter Lacey Smithsonian of The Eye Street Observer at her side to document the search. It was a lunatic idea, which made it appealing to both of them.