Kellar was feelinguncharacteristically indecisive. Having taken care of Juliet and the main issue, there remained the problem of her daughter. Of Silver and Grey, who were disconcertingly sharp and persistent. He should have taken that into account after Venice.
This was one of his failings, of course. Being so successful in all his undertakings, he would have to be more careful not to underestimateother people. It was a form of arrogance, and he despised that.
He mulled the problem during a leisurely luncheon and the remains of his glass of wine.
No, it was best he make a call at their office before Constance took it into her head to visit her mother, which was certainly not what he wanted right now. And so he should remove her perception of the threat he presented. A little honesty was in order. Or, at least, partial honesty, in the cause of his own eventual triumph. He hoped.
He rang for his manservant.
“I’m going out, Jaffer,” he said mildly. “And will dine at my club.”
He walked to the offices of Silver and Grey, mostly because he liked to remain fit. The weather was a little too close, with drizzle in the air, so it wasn’t a particular pleasure, but the brisk exercise did him good.
At first he thought the office was closed, for no one answered the door until his second knock, when it was opened almost at once by Constance.
“Your girl has left you in the lurch,” he remarked, taking off his hat and stepping forward.
It was instinct to move aside in the face of such self-confidence, and she did. “Of course she hasn’t. I sent her to buy cake, since I felt in dire need.”
She closed the door behind him and led him into the second office, which appeared to be her own. “If you’ve come for news, I’m afraid we still have no solutions or evidence to offer you.”
He wasn’t convinced she would tell him if she did. Their last encounter had left him with few doubts about their suspicions of him. It would take more than money to lift those. So…
“Actually, I came to giveyounews,” he said.
She took him not to the desk, where she had clearly been hard at work, for there were closely written sheets of paper scattered all over it, but to a group of comfortable chairs, where she invited him to sit.
“What news?” she asked with interest.
He smiled with as much boyish charm as he could muster. “More in the nature of a confession,” he admitted, lowering himself into the chair next to hers.
Her eyes—incredibly beautiful eyes, reminiscent of Juliet’s—remained veiled. “Why, what have you done?”
“I—er…started a fire where there was no fuel. I’m afraid I had no reason at all to believe Caterina’s death was suspicious. I had an ulterior motive in involving you, and quite candidly, since I never liked Montague, I didn’t mind in the slightest inconveniencing him.”
Constance stared at him. “He had just lost hiswife!”
“I thought you suspected him of murdering her?”
“I do,” she retorted. “I’ve had a certain sympathy with murderers before. Are you telling me you justpretendedto be suspicious?”
“Yes,” Kellar said ruefully. “Sorry.”
“But why?”
“I wanted to force an ‘accidental’ meeting with your mother.”
Constance parted her lips. It was the only sign of shock he could see.
“It didn’t work, of course,” he said with a deprecating wave. “She fled, and I was forced to make our encounter more deliberate.”
“You went to the shop, and to the house. Did that make the reason for her flight the first time any clearer?”
“Youdohave her sarcasm,” Kellar said, pleased. “Anyway, I wanted to apologize and prevent you wasting any more time on the matter.”
To his surprise, her lips twitched, as if she would laugh. That was like Juliet, too. Her eyes remained serious, though.
“Well, thank you for owning up. We will, of course, still charge you for this full day, too.”
