AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She stared at Mr. Miller as he trotted down the steps ahead of us. “He might want to move to England to be with you.”
“He can’t. His uncle’s company is in New York, and Mr. Miller is on a path to becoming senior manager by the time he’s thirty.” That part at least was true. I had no idea if the company planned to expand to England and would require someone to oversee operations here. It could be the reason behind Mr. Miller’s visit, for all I knew. And the reason for his interest in courting an Englishwoman.
“Oh. No.” Flossy gave a decisive shake of her head. “I’m not losing you now that I’ve found you.” Her grip tightened on my hand. “You are staying here in London with me. You’re right not to encourage him. Now all we have to do is convince my father and Floyd.”
“I knew Floyd wanted to push us together, but your father, too?”
“It was his idea.”
I was up against a more formidable foe than I realized. Convincing Uncle Ronald that Mr. Miller wasn’t the man for me wouldn’t be easy. The problem was, he didn’t factor in emotions when it came to marriage, so telling him I wasn’t romantically interested in Mr. Miller wouldn’t work. I needed another angle.
But I couldn’t think of one.
I’d expectedto flop into bed the moment I arrived back at my suite, but I had a surprise visitor. Two, in fact. Victor and Harmony were waiting for me. Going by Harmony’s mussed hair and Victor’s askew tie, they hadn’t been bored while they waited.
“I hope my rooms haven’t become your secret meeting place,” I said as I removed the combs from my hair.
“It wasn’t appropriate for Victor to wait for you alone,” Harmony said. “So I joined him for the sake of your reputation.”
“How very selfless of you.” I sat on the chair and kicked off my shoes. “Did you learn something from your friend, Victor?”
“I did. He said there’s been gossip about Rigg-Lyon circulating among the staff at the Polo and Gun Club ever since my friend started working there two years ago. Rigg-Lyon couldn’t keep his hands off the female staff.”
I liked him less and less.
“There were also rumors he seduced more than one young lady.”
“Did these seductions occur while he was with Rosa Rivera or before they were together?”
“Concurrently.”
“If she learned about them, she might have killed him in a fit of jealous rage.” I told them about discovering the coral ribbons in her dressing room at the Royal Albert Hall. “The same could be said about his wife, although I can’t imagine her losing her temper. She was unemotional today when Harry and I met her.”
“Nothing says murderess like an unemotional widow,” Harmony pointed out.
“I also asked my friend about Hardwick,” Victor went on. “He said Hardwick and Rigg-Lyon were best of friends. They did everything together.”
“So when Rigg-Lyon changed his mind about retiring, his good friend would have been upset,” I said. “They were supposed to retire from the sport together.”
Harmony shook her head. “That’s not a strong enough motive to kill him.”
“Are you going to question Hardwick?” Victor asked me.
“Tomorrow.” I glanced at the clock on the desk. “Today.”
Even if he wasn’t guilty of murder, as the good friend of the victim, Mr. Hardwick might have some insights. Like who did Vernon Rigg-Lyon upset with his roving eye and wandering hands?
Instead of takingcoffees up to Harry’s office the following morning, I joined him in the Roma Café when I spotted him seated beside the two elderly men perched on stools at the counter. All of them, including the owner, Luigi, looked up as the door swung closed behind me.
“Good morning, Miss Fox,” Luigi said brightly. His looks might be classically Italian, but his accent was decidedly Cockney. “You look real nice today.”
“Thank you, Luigi, that’s very kind. May I have a coffee, please? Something strong. It was a late night.”
“Another one? You should rise later in the mornings to catch up on your sleep.”
“I would if I didn’t have an investigation to conduct. There’s far too much to do.” I smiled at the two elderly men, greeting them in Italian. My father had taught me before he died when I was aged ten, while my mother had taught me French. I was fluent in neither, but I had enough to get by if I ever traveled to France or Italy.
Both men nodded a greeting then turned as one to Harry.
