“I expected nothing less.”
He waited for her to say more, to announce they were ending thecase and would present their account. That she did not made him uneasy. He was uneasier still that he could not read her expression or her intentions.
She seemed to be waiting for him to take his leave.
“If you have nothing to add,” she said eventually, “I’m afraid I have too much work to do to be able to entertain.”
“Ah. Talking of entertainment, thank you for your invitation. I should be glad to come on Friday.”
Constance rose. “I shall look forward to seeing you then.”
It was rare enough for Kellar to lose control of any meeting that he was able to find it amusing.Those Silver women.“I too.”
He rose, and a cushion tumbled to the ground. He bent and picked it up, gazing at it thoughtfully. He felt Constance’s sudden tension and raised his eyes to hers.
He knew then. She didn’t care whether or not he paid Silver and Grey. They would keep investigating. Unless…
“It’s me, Hat!” called a voice from the hall.
Poor timing…
“I’m in here,” Constance called, and one of the girls he remembered from his previous visits stuck her head around the door.
“Beg your pardon,” she said. “I’ll put the kettle on.”
“Do that,” Constance said, “but Mr. Kellar is not staying.”
Apparently, he was not. He bowed gracefully and allowed himself to be conducted to the door.
*
Describing Kellar’s visitto Solomon a couple of hours later, Constance shivered again.
“You didn’t believe him?” Solomon asked, frowning.
“I don’t honestly know. He seemed sincere enough. He always does. I just found myself wondering why he was telling me, and whynow. Is he trying to stop us investigating at all, because our inquiries will eventually lead to him? Or does he just want us to believe that he is so devoted to Juliet that she is perfectly safe with him?” Her eyes widened. “Oh, Solomon, you don’t think—”
He pulled her to her feet into his arms. “No, I don’t,” he said firmly. “But we’ll go home via the shop to be sure.”
She hugged him fiercely, inhaling the familiar, delicious scent of his skin. “It was the way he looked at the cushion, too. It fell to the floor when he stood, and he just picked it up. But suddenly I thought,Is that what happened with Caterina?And helookedat me… Only then Hat came in and I could laugh at myself again. I suspect he was laughing too.”
“Did you tell him we wouldn’t be dropping the case?”
“No. I didn’t say either way. I suppose we’ll have to stop charging him, though. Did you learn anything at the docks?”
“No. One ship sailed for Italy yesterday with passengers, but neither Darrow’s nor Caterina’s names were on their lists. Nor on anyone else’s that I found. I’ve set further inquiries in motion, but I’m not hopeful. I hope Janey and Lenny had more luck.”
“Perhaps she was right and we should just have asked Darrow.”
“I don’t trust Darrow to tell the truth. We need to know how deep, how committed his relationship with Caterina was. And what Montague found out about it.”
“She told him,” Constance said.
“And she told him she would end it. According to him. Why would either of them lie unless they are hiding something?”
“Something we’re missing,” Constance said, drawing back from his arms just a little so that she could look into his face. “Or…are we wasting our time on this, when we have several genuine inquiries waiting for us to begin? We don’t even know for sure that Caterina was killed.”
Solomon kissed her forehead. “Let’s go home. We’ll look afresh ateverything in the morning.”
