Page 16 of Old Girls Behaving Badly

‘This,’ Gina said, turning and pointing to a vase on the table next to her. ‘This is very nice.’

‘Yes, it’s um, from the Far East. Made in about the, um, 1700s,’ Leonard said.

‘Gosh, how interesting. Well, I think you have some lovely stuff,’ Gina said and gave him a patronising smile, which seemed to go over the top of his head.

‘It is a passion of mine,’ he said pompously. ‘I’ve been known to stop at nothing to get what I want. Woe betide the man who stands between me and my treasured possessions.’

Dorothy shrank at his words. How could he possibly say that after being responsible for Philip’s death?

‘We’d better get back outside, Dorothy,’ Gina said taking hold of Dorothy’s arm. ‘We’re missing all that lovely sunshine.’

‘I think that’s best,’ Leonard said, and continued to stand there staring at them as they left the room, Dorothy on incredibly wobbly legs.

‘I’m so sorry, Gina, I took my phone out to message you, but it just had a blank screen. I showed it quickly to Juliet, but she said it was dead.’

‘No harm done,’ Gina said slipping into the seat next to her. ‘I made all the right noises and he thinks I’m a bit of an idiot, I think, I hope. Really, he doesn’t know what he has. That supposed Far Eastern vase was a piece of Martinware made by the brothers in their Fulham studio. Not the 1700s, but rather the late 1800s. I think he may be the idiot.’

‘Do not underestimate him,’ Dorothy said, pointedly.

‘Are you trying to put me off? Because I’m teetering, to be honest. I’d like to help you, I really would, but…’

‘Then do, please do.’

‘The thing is, it’s been many years since I worked in that world. I’m not sure I know that much, any more.’

‘You know a lot more than me; in fact, you seem quite the professional. The fact that you’re a stranger is on your side too, and if I may say, because you’re an older woman, you could more easily slip around unnoticed. Before you get offended, tell me after the age of fifty if you became more invisible.’

‘I understand what you’re saying, but I’ve always been invisible,’ Gina said.

‘Well, that’s wonderful then – you’re a step ahead already,’ Dorothy said clapping her hands together.

Gina gave her a long look before she spoke again and it afforded Dorothy the time to reflect on what she’d just said. She realised she ought to tread a little more carefully.

‘I think you should talk to your family and get them to look. If they knew or even suspected, they would surely take on the task,’ Gina said.

‘Like I said last night, if Leonard got wind he would move the painting and that would be the end of it. I wouldn’t get another opportunity. We have the element of surprise at the moment and if my family were to start hunting, that would be over.’

Dorothy could see that Gina was contemplating her words and then she nodded.

‘What he said about no man getting in his way was very chilling,’ Gina said.

The two women stopped talking for a moment as Leonard reappeared, seemingly from thin air, or more likely a small servants’ door tucked away somewhere. He strode back across the lawn towards the group who had clearly had enough of the games and were beginning to take silly shots and argue.

‘What’s the plan for this afternoon?’ Gina asked Dorothy.

‘A walk around the lake and then lunch on the patio. I would strongly urge you to do the former, but I’ll be having a nap, and then, apparently Leonard has organised a game in his maze.’

‘Right,’ Gina said.

‘Ask questions, dig about a bit, but subtly, mind. They don’t know you – you can use that to your advantage. If I start asking questions out of the blue, they’ll be suspicious or think I’m losing my mind, and however well intended, it may get back to Leonard. And that’s another thing: as much as I want you to poke about, you need to try and stay away from him.’

‘Right,’ Gina said again. ‘So, I’m doing this, am I?’

9

GINA

The afternoon was glorious and I almost forgot what I was there to do – almost. The family were all very welcoming and I fell into step with Caroline as we set off for the walk around the lake.