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“Did he eat my breakfast?” she asked as she set the jar and cloth on the desk and sat at the table with me.
I passed her a cup of coffee. “Only a piece of toast.”
“You look tired.”
“Floyd woke me at five-thirty.”
“As early as that? You must be exhausted, poor thing. However will you cope?”
I eyed her over my coffee cup. “There’s no need to make your point with sarcasm. Unlike you, I go to bed late. Now, eat up while I tell you everything Harry and I learned yesterday.”
By the time I finished, she’d eaten a sausage and boiled egg and was eyeing off the bacon. She seemed more interested in the food than the case, and her long pause had me wondering if she’d even been listening. After selecting a rasher, she nibbled it thoughtfully.
“Well?” I prompted.
“The bacon’s crispy today.”
“I meant about the investigation. Do you have any thoughts?”
“I think society is cruel to girls who just want to have a little fun before they settle down. Why are men encouraged to have mistresses before they marry but women are considered ruined if they so much as kiss a boy?”
“A fair point, but do you have any comments that aren’t about the society we live in?”
“Not particularly. It does seem as though gossip is the motive for the murder, either to stop it before it spreads, or in revenge for gossip already in circulation.” She finished the bacon and wiped her fingers on the napkin. “So what’s next?”
“That’s the problem. We don’t know. We’ve questioned all the staff and some of the key guests who were there that night. Unfortunately we can’t speak to the arrested man, Reggie Smith, but we have spoken to those who knew him, including his neighbor, co-workers and landlady.” I shrugged. “We’ve reached the end of all our leads and need another.”
We finished our coffees in silence as we pondered that dilemma. I still hadn’t thought of anything by the time I gathered the empty plates and cups, but Harmony had a curious look on her face. From past experience, I knew it meant she’d thought of something.
“Don’t keep me in suspense,” I told her. “What have you come up with?”
“It’s time to look at this from another angle. You say you’ve questioned everyone you can and investigated suspects. But have you investigated the victim?”
“What do you mean?”
“Look at his life and background, that sort of thing. Go to his home and see if you can find personal correspondence or something that may incriminate someone. The key to solving this may be with Ambrose McDonald, not the suspects and witnesses.”
I assumed the police had already been through his home, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t worth doing again. They weren’t looking for clues that pointed at someone other than Reggie Smith, but we were. “I like the way you think. Thank you, Harmony.”
She took the tray from me. “Glad to be of service. Now open that jar and help me polish the furniture. I’m behind schedule.”
I depositeda cup of coffee from Luigi’s café on Harry’s desk and took my seat opposite him with the other cup. “I have a plan for our next step,” I announced.
“Before you say anything, I have something to tell you.” He sipped his coffee. The pause caused my nerves to stretch as I waited for him to go on. “I spoke to my father about McDonald’s flat. Apparently it’s large and has a studio attached.”
“Then it’s likely we were right. Reggie Smith visited Mr. McDonald and painted in his studio. According to Mr. Underwood, Reggie’s neighbor, it also means the men were lovers. Perhaps they were together on the night of the first art theft, giving Reggie an alibi.” I shrugged. “The point is, we now have a motive for murder—jealousy. If Reggie discovered his lover was with Amelia Livingstone, he could have confronted Ambrose McDonald on the night of the ball in the library and killed him.
“It’s not looking good for Smith,” Harry agreed. “I told my father everything we learned last night over dinner. He’s keen to press on to find definitive evidence, but he concedes that Scotland Yard may indeed have their man.”
“If he wants us to find evidence, can he give us the key to Mr. McDonald’s flat? We should look over it ourselves.”
“I asked him the same thing and he said he can’t. It’s too much of a risk for him. He can’t be seen going against his superiors’ orders and continuing with the investigation.” The hint of his rueful smile intrigued me.
I put my cup down and leaned forward. “But you’re thinking about getting inside anyway, aren’t you?”
His smile grew. “Are you up for a little illegal activity?”
“I can’t think of anything better to do today.”
