“I think it is time.”
“Past time,” Constance said grimly, thinking of her mother’s agitation the day before. “I shall enjoy taking him by surprise.”
*
Kellar had neglectedto give them his address, which now seemed more suspicious than when they had first noticed the oversight.
“He might well be at the office looking for us,” Solomon pointed out as the carriage pulled up just off Picadilly. “He must want to be kept informed.”
“But does he?” Constance asked as Solomon reached forward to open the door. “He hasn’t come to us since Thursday night, and he could hardly ask much at the funeral luncheon. If he’s guilty, I can’t really understand his stirring up this investigation in the first place. Can you really see him climbing up to Caterina’s bedroom window and letting himself in?”
“Yes,” Solomon said frankly, handing her down from the carriage. He nodded to the coachmen, and Constance took his arm. “He is very fit for a man of his years, and the climb is not arduous. That there is no evidence of foul play fits his character and the skills we suspect him of possessing. And he could well be using us as we first suspected, just to prove his innocence. Then there is the reason for keeping his addresssecret. Simply the habit of a man who tends to make enemies?”
“Possibly. I’m certainly glad to know Francis Fanshaw. A man can’t apply for such a prominent position without an address, after all.” And Sir Francis, fortunately, had seen no reason to keep it secret. “Actually,” she added thoughtfully, “I doubt he wantsmeendangering his reputation by visiting him.”
“What a shame,” Solomon said, halting to knock briskly on what they believed to be Kellar’s front door.
It was opened by a tall, thin manservant with a face as veiled but considerably less friendly than Kellar’s.
“Mr. Kellar, if you please,” Solomon said, proffering his card. “The matter is urgent.”
The servant took the card without looking at it and made a very slight bow. “Please follow me.”
Constance suspected they would be abandoned in a reception room while Kellar nipped smartly from the house, but it seemed she maligned their host. The servant led them straight to a parlor, where Kellar himself stood in front of the empty fireplace.
“Mr. and Mrs. Grey, sir,” the manservant announced, still without apparent reference to Solomon’s card.
He saw us arrive, Constance thought,and he’s quite prepared for us. The man was annoying.
Kellar advanced upon them, smiling, hand held out, quite the consummate diplomat. “You will join me for luncheon, won’t you? I am about to sit down, and there is plenty for three.”
“In that case, thank you, we will,” Constance replied, and they followed him through to the cozy dining room, where Kellar was an attentive host, holding Constance’s chair and waiting for them both to sit before he assumed his own place between them at the head of the table.
The same manservant brought in a tureen of soup and several other dishes, which he left on the table before withdrawing discreetly.Kellar himself served the soup and offered Constance a glass of wine.
“Thank you, no,” she said. “We have more to do this afternoon.” And one needed all one’s wits around Kellar.
“Ah. Then you doom me to drinking alone, unless I can persuade you to a small glass, Grey?”
“No, thank you,” Solomon said.
Kellar let them appreciate a mouthful of excellent, creamy vegetable soup and a bite of delicious herb toast before he said, “Well, how does your investigation progress?”
“Interestingly,” Solomon said. “It seems you could well be right that Montague had something to do with his wife’s death.”
Kellar paused for an instant with his soup spoon halfway to his mouth. “You have evidence?”
They didn’t answer immediately. Instead, Constance said, “Why didn’t you tell us that Montague’s betrothed had died in similar circumstances?”
This time, Kellar laid his spoon in the bowl. Constance could have sworn he was surprised, though whether by the news or by their discovery of it, she could not decide.
“I didn’t know,” he said slowly. “I merely sensed something about him that I did not care for. Caterina told me nothing about an earlier betrothal, merely denied that he had been married before.”
“It does not appear to be a secret. The servants speak of it openly.”
Kellar picked his spoon up again. “When you say similar circumstances, what exactly do you mean?”
Constance told him the little she knew.
