She had straight dark hair twisted back on her neck, and she was very thin. Her green blouse and black trousers hung on her. She had on odd, flexible slippers. They wouldn’t make a sound, or hinder her movements, whether in climbing a tree or scurrying through hallways.
Right away, he knew he liked her. Even felt a kinship with her.
When he smiled, after a moment, she gave a small smile back. He had an idea that she talked very little but listened a lot. “Hiding from your mom?”
Her smile broadened to show perfect white teeth.
“Me too,” he said. “Your mother scares me.”
They sat in silence for a while, listening to the water and the wildlife. “Where I live, there are alligators.”
She lifted her eyebrows in interest.
“I watch blue herons dive for fish. And soft-shelled turtles are in the water. Iguanas prowl around. They’re huge, iridescent green and gold. If you sit very still, they don’t run away.”
He could see that she was imagining those things and she leaned back on her arms, her eyes on the water.
He leaned back beside her. “Do you know what this mystery is?”
She hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
“Who is Nicky?”
She sighed before she spoke. “He was to be the earl. He was going to inherit this place.”
He liked her voice. Quiet, soothing. “Was? What happened?”
“He died in a car crash.”
“And this was before or after the couple disappeared?”
“Two years after.” Puck looked at Jack. “Will you help find out the truth? Sean was my friend and they hated him.”
“Sean? He was one of the people who disappeared?”
Puck looked away as she whispered. “Yes. But he didn’t disappear. He—” A voice came and she stood up quickly.
“It’s just Kate,” Jack said. “She—” But Puck had vanished into the trees.
“There you are,” Kate said as she came into view. She sat down beside him and ate a couple of berries. “Did you find what you were looking for?”
“And what do you think that was?”
“An orphan. A stray. Someone who needed to be rescued by Hero Jack.”
He snorted. “Is that a compliment or a gibe?”
“You tell me.” She waited for his answer.
“I didn’t like what that guy said, so shoot me. And yes, I found her. There’s something going on here and it’s not good.”
“She told you that?”
“Not in so many words. It’s a feeling as much as anything. Nicky—who bad-tempered Mrs. Aiken seems to have loved—was the earl-to-be. Died in a car wreck two years after Sean disappeared.”
“Sean Thorpe and Diana Beardsley.”
“How do you know their names?”
“It was in the news clipping.”
“The one you stole from Sara?”
She started to protest but then smiled. “The very one. I’m practicing to be a thief—like my father seems to have been. Do you know the combination to Aunt Sara’s safe?”
It took some work not to show his shock at the casual mention of her father’s predilections. “I know she doesn’t have a safe. Besides, the last I saw, half her jewelry was in your closet.”
“Now who’s snooping?”
He chuckled, ate some berries and leaned back on his arms. “So what’s our room like? Just to be clear, I get the end of the tub without the faucets.”
“You wish! But I did...”
“What?”
“I chose two rooms that have an internal door connecting them. Two baths though.”
Jack didn’t reply except to nod. If he found out that Sara had put them into a murder investigation like their first one, he wasn’t going to let either woman out of his sight. Ever.
Four
Jack followed Kate back to the house. He wasn’t surprised when she led him down corridors and up narrow stairs to reach their rooms. She was taking him through the servants’ way: secret and hidden. He knew she could have gone to the front and used the main stairs, but she was trying to impress him with what she’d learned about the intricacies of the house—and she did.
She stopped on the third floor—or as the English said, the second floor—two floors above the ground floor.
“I saw all the guest rooms,” she said. “It’s all unlocked because they’re cleaning every inch of the house.”
“Who did you see?”
“No one. Isn’t that great? It’s like we own the place.”
“Where is Sara?”
Kate shrugged. “I have no idea, but there’s a locked door in the western part of the house.”
“Then that’s where she is.”
Kate had her hand on a doorknob. “I didn’t know which room you’d like. They’re all old-school English decorating. None of that Swedish minimal look for Oxley Manor.”
Jack tried not to grimace at the vision he conjured: pink walls, pink bed draped in ruffles, little lampshades like from a dollhouse. As Kate opened the door, he braced himself.
The room was large and tall, with floor-to-ceiling windows. The walls were painted a deep, dark red, the woodwork white. The carpet was gray with red medallions. The bed was—thank you!—not canopied. It had a plain white cotton bedspread. There was a desk, a chest of drawers, a chair upholstered in red paisley, a TV and a two-person dining table.
“Well?” Kate said. “You like it or not?”
Jack looked around. “I never thought of a red bedroom. Think I should paint my room at home?”
“I think the iguanas would love it.” She was trying to hide that she was pleased that he liked what she’d chosen, but she couldn’t.
“So where are you?”
She tilted her head to indicate the door on the other side of the room. “We should find Aunt Sara. I think it’s time she told us what’s going on.” She headed to the door into the hall.
Ignoring her, Jack went to the connecting door. “What don’t you want me to see?”
“Nothing.” She made a leap to stop him from opening the door.
But he did. His eyes widened. “Holy merciful...” he whispered.