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Harry rose from the stool. “Buongiorno, Cleo.Come stai?”
“You’ve been learning Italian?”
“They’ve been teaching me a few words every morning.”
“Marvelous.Sto bene.”
“Voglio baciarti.”
The leathery creases on the faces of the old men folded like an accordion with their laughter. Luigi pressed his lips together but failed to hide his snicker.
Harry rounded on them. “I see I fell for an old trick. Very mature, gentlemen.”
Luigi shrugged an apology, but the two glued to their stools continued to grin like naughty boys. One of them clapped Harry on the arm and said something I couldn’t quite catch, although the Italian word for “true” was in there.
Harry pulled out a chair for me at one of the tables. “Sorry about that. I hope I didn’t say something too rude.”
“I don’t know the translation, but perhaps refrain from saying it to anyone else.”
Luigi brought over two cups of freshly brewed coffees. “These are free. If you really want to learn Italian, I can ask my cousin to teach you in the evenings. She teaches Italian and Spanish to young toff ladies during the day.”
Harry told him he’d think about it. “It’s not as though I’ll ever travel to Italy,” he told me after Luigi was out of earshot.
“You might. Perhaps you’ll fall in love with your Italian tutor and want to meet her family.” The moment I said it, I wished I could take it back. The thought of Harry with an Italian beauty made me as queasy as seeing him with Miss Morris had. “I have much to report on our case, but first, did you find out anything from Scotland Yard?”
“Only that the detective assigned to this investigation is worse than I thought. He has not made arrangements to question the rest of the witnesses. He’s decided that Liddicoat was telling the truth about seeing a man in a brown coat leave the vicinity, and he thinks seeking out the cab driver who collected him from the front gate is the way forward. He refused to listen to me when I offered other suggestions. Forrester did warn me he’d be stubborn, but I didn’t believe him. I do now.” He sipped his coffee. “So what did you learn?”
I told him about the gossip I’d overheard yesterday afternoon and my discovery of the coral ribbons in Rosa Rivera’s dressing room. Instead of congratulating me, he frowned at me over the rim of his coffee cup.
“You broke into her dressing room?”
“Yes.”
“Did you have your cousin stationed as lookout?”
“I went alone.”
“Did anyone see you?”
“Only Mr. Miller, the American guest. I told him I was lost, but I don’t think he believed me.”
Harry’s eyes narrowed at the mention of Mr. Miller. “Why was he there? Was he spying on you?”
“No! If he had been, he would have confronted me when I went in, not when I came out. Don’t worry about Mr. Miller. He won’t cause problems.”
He didn’t look convinced as he continued to sip his coffee.
“I think we should call on Mr. Hardwick before we speak to Miss Rivera about the ribbon.” I told him what Victor had learned from the cook at the Polo and Gun Club. “It’ll be best to go armed with as much information about Rigg-Lyon’s attachments as possible when we confront her. Who better to ask than his closest friend?”
Harry checked his pocket watch. “It’ll be too early for Miss Rivera, anyway. We’ll speak to her at the theater later this afternoon. If you have an afternoon tea to attend, I can call on her alone.”
“I have a luncheon today, and a ball tonight, so I can come with you in between.”
“You should be careful not to overdo it.”
“If I give anything up, it’ll be tonight’s ball. I won’t miss the fun of the investigation.”
He chuckled. “You are the most unique woman I’ve ever met.”
