AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“When it suits us,” he agreed, again with an edge of humor.
“And when it doesn’t?”
“Then evasive and devious as an eel!” he replied.
She laughed outright, a rich, happy sound. “I must remember that!”
“And we should see the doctor, too,” he added. “They usually know much of the community. He won’t be able to say a lot, but he can tell us who was here.”
“And how Miss Trelawny died,” she said.
He looked steadily at her. “You really think that this may be far more than assault and petty theft?”
She did not evade the answer. “Don’t you?” she challenged. “And even if it is no more than a stupid, petty mess, we have to find out.”
“Yes. First thing in the morning. Now let’s enjoy this hot dinner and then a walk to where you know Aunt May’s house to be. On an island this size, we can’t get lost for long, even in the dark, although I’d rather not have to wake up some farmer and ask him the way. He may not think we have any right to be there.”
“We haven’t,” she agreed. There was the tiny pucker of a frown on her brow. “Are you worried? I know you have moral concerns that I don’t, because nobody is trusting me.” She looked at him gravely. “But you believe, as I do, that the very thing that lies at the heart of all this also caused the death of May Trelawny?”
She had used very gentle language, but there was a sudden icelike chill over his skin, and he knew she meant murder. The murder of May Trelawny. “Do you think so?” he asked gravely. “Really?”
“Yes,” she answered. “I think it would be big enough and dark enough to be the missing piece. Don’t you?”
There was no purpose in hesitating, let alone denying it. “Yes.”
Their dinner eaten and paid for, Daniel and Miriam walked the mile and a half from the hotel in St. Anne to the manor house perched on the coast above a quiet cove. Miriam seemed to have no doubt that it was the right place. They could see a flower garden out front. In the summer night the sky was scattered with a million stars, and dusk-scented blossoms were sweet in the air, their smell easily discernible in the stillness above the salt wind from the sea. They glimpsed a vegetable garden at the back, the tall stands of beans unharvested, rows of lettuces and a glass cucumber frame. There was no one around, but Miriam still led him to the back door to break in.
Daniel took the lock pick out of his pocket and practiced the art Roman Blackwell had taught him. Miriam watched without comment, but he could almost feel the questions on her lips. It took him several minutes. He decided he needed to do this more often to keep up his skills. It was more difficult than he had remembered. He could not make the tumblers turn.
She reached past him and put her fingers on the door handle. She turned it, and it opened.
She breathed out in relief and stepped inside. She turned on a single light, and he closed the back door. They were in a tidy kitchen that looked as if it had been left with every expectation of the owner returning.
Miriam ran her finger over one of the shelves and looked at it. There was a film of dust. Her face reflected a sudden, vivid sadness. She did not need to say anything for Daniel to know her thoughts and share the moment of sorrow.
He reached out and touched her hand, gently, and made a very rash promise. “We’ll discover if she is a part of this,” he said softly. “For now, let’s find some blankets and places to sleep. There must be two good rooms upstairs. If there aren’t, I’ll sleep on the sofa. There’s bound to be one. We have a lot to do, and less than two days in which to do it. The trial resumes on Monday, and it could end quickly.”
Miriam nodded, for a moment too moved to speak. Perhaps she felt awkward faced with the reality of the situation. But it was a little late for embarrassment. She had invited him, not the other way around.
“Yes,” she answered a second too late to have avoided the hesitation. “Yes, of course.”
CHAPTER
Twenty-one
IN THE MORNING, they rose early. It was a bright, sunlit day, and the sea breeze was gentle, no chill in it. They agreed to walk into St. Anne and find a good breakfast, then begin to search for everything they could learn about May Trelawny and her house. It was a short walk with views of the sea, vivid blue water stretching to the horizon and breaking white on the rocks close to the shore.
“We must find out if anyone was seriously asking about buying,” Daniel said over bacon, eggs, sausages, and mushrooms. To him, sitting outside a café in the bright sunlight, at a table open to the breeze off the sea was the best of all worlds.
Miriam was wearing a dress; it was the first time he had seen her in one. He might have expected her to wear something more traditional for anyone with such bright auburn hair, like a gentle blue or green, but her dress was a subtle pink and wine-colored floral, composed entirely of warm colors. Without giving a thought as to whether it was appropriate or not, he complimented her on it. He saw instantly that he had made her uncomfortable, but he was not going to apologize. He did like it, and it did suit her. In fact, he saw several other people in the café and passing along the street look at her a moment longer than normal.
“Yes, of course,” she agreed about the house. “And find the doctor to question him. I’m a little apprehensive about how we should do that.” She looked at him earnestly. “I have no authority at all. You have a little, since you are acting for someone in court. But we have no written authority. Perhaps we should ask about Miss Trelawny first? At least, how she died. We’ll begin at the post office.” She saw him frown. “Don’t look like that! We have to ask someone. The doctor will be much more careful of what he says. We have only today and tomorrow, and tomorrow is Sunday, so there may be no one available. What else can we do?”
“Tomorrow we can go to church,” he suggested.
“What?” She was startled.
“Go to church,” he repeated. “A better place for gossip than even the post office. All said with the utmost solemnity and only kindly meant, of course. I can see there are two of them—look, the towers clear all the rooftops.”
