Cloche and Dagger Read online

  ‘A hat?’ she cried. ‘You scared me to death over a hat?’

  It was then that I noticed the wooden hat form in her hand.

  ‘That’s some advanced weaponry you’ve got there,’ I said.

  ‘Well, it would give the bugger a blasting headache, yeah?’ she retorted.

  I couldn’t argue it. Once she’d caught her breath, I asked, ‘Have you ever seen this hat before?’

  She stepped closer and studied it, running her fingers along the brim.

  ‘It’s lovely,’ she said. ‘Look at the hand stitching on the brim, it’s flawless.’

  ‘But why is it hidden in the wardrobe?’ I asked. ‘How did it get in here?’

  I glanced up at Ferd but he wasn’t talking.

  ‘Oh, that’s just the cupboard doing what it does,’ Fee said. Then she gave me a startled look and clapped her hand over her mouth.

  ‘What is that supposed to mean?’ I asked.

  ‘Nothing,’ she said, very unconvincingly.

  ‘Fiona, explain,’ I said.

  ‘I can’t,’ she said. ‘Look, Viv must have put it in there before she left. You really have to talk to her about it. Oh, look at the time. I’ve got to go or my brothers will be out looking for me. Last time I turned up late for dinner they tried to have my mother give me a curfew.’

  ‘Fee, you’re holding out on me,’ I said. I followed her into the back room.

  ‘I don’t know what you mean,’ she said.

  And before I could detain her with any more questions, she grabbed her jacket and slipped out the back door.

  ‘Don’t forget to set the alarm!’ she yelled. With a wave she unlatched the back gate and hustled down the alley.

  I turned back to the cupboard and lifted the hat out. Where had it come from? I felt my insides shiver. Something was definitely not adding up.

  My brain kicked my thoughts around like stray tin cans, sending them off in different directions so fast that I could barely examine them before they disappeared.

  Who put the hat in there? And why? It must have been Viv. But when? Who was the hat made for? And if she did put it in there why didn’t she leave a note to let someone know it was there?

  Then I had a horrible thought. Maybe Viv wasn’t really away. Maybe she was actually nearby, lurking and watching and killing her old boyfriend’s wife!

  I gave myself a mental face-slap. Now that was just crazy talk.

  I put the hat back in the back of the cupboard, closing the secret panel over it, and decided to get out of the shop. Being cooped up for the past few days was obviously making me bonkers.

  I glanced out the front window and noted that the reporters still lingered. The April evening was chilly, so I grabbed my lightweight wool coat off the rack by the back door. I set the alarm on my way out, feeling very modern as I did so.

  I let myself out of the narrow back garden gate just as Fee had and into the alley. No one was on the street this late on a Sunday evening, and I could hear the sounds of television broadcasts coming from above as I made my way around to Portobello Road.

  My first stop was Andre’s, to see if he and Nick were about. Maybe I could convince them to come to the pub with me. I had just reached the corner when a head poked out of an upper window.

  ‘Hello, Scarlett,’ Nick called. ‘I knew I recognized that wild mane of red. How are you?’

  ‘Looking for a dinner date or two,’ I called back. He was wearing a hot pink tank top and looked as if he’d been working out. ‘Are you and Andre available?’

  ‘Andre’s off on assignment,’ he said. ‘I was just about to start my Pilates, so yes, dinner sounds lovely. I’ll be right down. Don’t move.’

  His head disappeared back into the window and I waited for him to let me in. I followed him upstairs to their flat and saw that it, too, was thick with photographs propped against the walls.

  The rest of the room looked to be a room at war. Shades of green and purple were battling it out in the furnishings, and I wondered which of them had owned the purple suede couch and which the green leather wing chair, which seemed to have nothing but disdain for each other.

  He handed me a glass of red wine and kissed me on the cheek.

  ‘Ten minutes!’ he yelled. ‘I promise.’

  I sank onto the green chair and checked the box of books by the seat. They were mostly dental texts with such riveting titles as The Color Atlas of Dental Implant Surgery—obviously Nick’s box then.

  I decided this was not going to work for me as before-dinner reading material, mostly because I was sure I wouldn’t understand a word. Instead, I found a stack of Livingetc magazines, and I wondered if these were more Andre’s or Nick’s or both.

  I had only gotten halfway done with my wine and a third of the way through the magazine when Nick reappeared, looking decidedly dashing in black jeans and an ecru fisherman’s sweater.

  He held out his arm and asked, ‘Shall we?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ I said as I downed my wine. ‘I think I’d rather go out with you in the hot pink tank top.’

  ‘Oh, please,’ he said. ‘My public would swoon.’

  ‘Yes, you’re right,’ I said. I put my glass in the kitchen and took his elbow. ‘We wouldn’t want to create mass hysteria or anything.’

  He led me outside to the street and asked, ‘All right, what is your stomach’s desire? Thai? Italian? You name it.’

  ‘How about a place where we can gossip?’ I asked.

  ‘You have dish?’ he asked.

  ‘I might if the ambiance were conducive,’ I said.

  He laughed and patted my hand. ‘Oh, I do like you, Scarlett Parker.’

  We ended up in a tiny bistro, sharing an antipasto and having more wine.

  Nick was a wonderful date, funny and charming, and he seemed plugged in to London society enough to know a little bit about everyone’s dirty little secrets.

  ‘So, tell me about Lady Ellis’s mother-in-law,’ I said. ‘The ladies having tea at the shop today said that she hated Lady Ellis because she refused to have children, something about not wanting to lose her figure.’

  ‘Pah!’ Nick waved his fork at me. ‘More like she didn’t want to have to get knocked up by Lord Ellis as that would require…’

  ‘What?’ I asked when he paused.

  Nick rolled his eyes and said, ‘Copulation.’

  ‘That sounds dirty,’ I said. I dabbed my lips with my napkin.

  ‘It means—’ he began but I interrupted.

  ‘I know what it means. It still sounds dirty.’

  ‘Only if you do it right,’ he said with a voice even drier than our wine.

  I busted up with laughter. There was just something so immensely likeable about Nick.

  ‘Seriously,’ I said. ‘What’s the mother of Earl Ellis of Waltham like?’

  ‘As in, do you think she’s capable of murder?’ he asked.

  ‘Well, that was a straight shot into the heart of the beast,’ I said.

  ‘She loves her boy,’ he said. ‘She thinks he married beneath him and then the tart won’t even pop out an heir.’

  He set his fork down and leaned forward. ‘I’ve only seen her across the room at a few events, but she’s downright scary.’

  ‘So then she could—’ I began but he interrupted me.

  ‘She’d never get her hands that dirty,’ he said. ‘She would hire someone to do it for her.’

  ‘But who?’ I asked.

  ‘That’s the million-pound question, isn’t it?’ he asked. ‘Maybe you should just trot over to her mansion with a hat and see if you can get her talking.’

  ‘Are you mocking me?’ I asked.

  ‘Not at all, I have great confidence in your ability to mine information from the gentry,’ he said. He took a bite of pasta, chewed and swallowed and said, ‘So, how was the tea party anyway?’

  ‘Interesting,’ I said. ‘I had a nice chat with Marianne Richards.’

  ‘Oh, I like her,’ he said.
‘She’s a doctor, you know.’

  ‘No, I didn’t,’ I said.

  ‘Formidably intelligent,’ he said.

  ‘Yes, well, that means she would know exactly where to shove the knife, doesn’t it?’

  Nick raised his eyebrows. ‘Marianne Richards, coldhearted killer, interesting. But she’s a head doctor, not a medical doctor.’

  ‘Oh,’ I said. Was it wrong that I felt disappointed? ‘Marianne did tell me that Lady Ellis went to their school on scholarship, but that she worked very hard to blend in, using Lady Cheevers as her main social crutch, but the others as well.’

  ‘Lady Cheevers.’ Nick nodded. ‘She didn’t quite live up to her potential.’

  ‘Meaning?’

  ‘Married a viscount, had the requisite two children, but seems to lack the social panache of Lady Ellis.’

  ‘Marianne said she was the one who gave Lady Ellis her polish,’ I said.

  ‘Undoubtedly,’ he said. ‘Without Lady Cheevers opening doors for her, poor little Victoria Hemishem never would have bagged Lord Ellis, who I believe was enamored with your cousin at the time.’

  ‘So I’ve been told,’ I said.

  ‘But then, Rupert did date half of London before finally settling on Vicks,’ he said. ‘Rumor has it, she was the only one who could tolerate his all-consuming hobby.’

  ‘Rupert Ellis has a hobby? Do tell.’ I leaned closer. ‘What sort of hobby?’

  ‘Oh, no, you have to guess,’ he said.

  I took a bite of my gnocchi with gorgonzola and thought about it. I swallowed and said, ‘Stamp collecting?’

  ‘No.’ He continued eating while I sipped my wine and pondered what sort of hobby would make an earl ineligible for marriage.

  ‘Tatting?’

  ‘Ha! No, but points for creativity,’ he said.

  ‘Fly-fishing?’

  Nick shuddered. ‘No.’

  ‘Oh come on,’ I said. ‘You have to give me a hint.’

  ‘Sorry, you’re going to have to dig deep to figure it out,’ he said.

  ‘That was a hint, wasn’t it?’ I asked.

  He raised his brows but said nothing.

  ‘You’re killing me here,’ I protested.

  He barked out a laugh. ‘You have no idea, my dear.’

  ‘Scarlett Parker, are you flirting with my boyfriend?’ Andre asked as he took an empty seat at the table.

  They exchanged a quick kiss and I smiled. ‘As if I could.’

  ‘Then this must be Nick’s way of stealing my best girl,’ Andre said.

  ‘Your best girl?’ a voice asked from behind me. ‘I thought she was my best girl.’

  I tipped my head back and saw Harrison leaning over my chair. His green eyes were sparkling and I felt my breath catch.

  ‘Sorry, fellas, I’m nobody’s girl and happy to keep it that way,’ I said, pleased that my voice sounded amused.

  The waiter arrived and cleared our dinner plates. Both Andre and Harrison passed on ordering an entrée but joined us for coffee and dessert.

  ‘So how did you two meet up?’ I asked.

  ‘Nick texted me that you two were here, and when I passed the shop, I saw this sad lunk outside and invited him to join us,’ Andre said.

  ‘“Sad lunk?”’ Harrison asked. ‘I suppose I’ve been called worse.’

  ‘Well, I’m glad you’re here,’ I said. ‘Nick is holding out on me, maybe you can help me pry the information out of him.’

  ‘What information?’ Harrison asked.

  ‘The passion of Lord Ellis,’ I said.

  Andre and Harrison glanced at Nick, who gave them a mild look.

  ‘Scarlett wanted to know why Lord Ellis married Lady Ellis, and I told her that Vicks was the only one of his many girlfriends who could tolerate his hobby.’

  ‘I’ve already covered stamp collecting, tatting and fly-fishing,’ I said.

  ‘It’s much more grave than that,’ Nick said.

  We waited while the waitress delivered our tiramisu and coffees.

  ‘Coin collecting?’ Andre asked.

  ‘No.’

  ‘Dollhouses?’ I asked.

  ‘No.’ Nick smirked. ‘Come on, it’s a dead bore for most of us but he’s buried in it.’

  Andre and I exchanged a confused glance, but Harrison laughed.

  ‘Is it the sort of hobby that might rub off on you?’ he asked.

  Nick grinned and said, ‘Indeed.’

  Harrison looked at Andre and me and said, ‘Lord Ellis is a taphophile.’

  Chapter 34

  ‘Oh, my,’ I said. I put my hand over my mouth. I had no idea what this meant but it definitely sounded way more perverted than ‘copulate.’

  ‘He’s into gravestones,’ Nick clarified.

  ‘As in the ones in cemeteries?’ Andre asked. At Nick’s nod, he added, ‘Weird.’

  ‘So, you can imagine that it would take someone with a real eye on the bottom line to agree to spend her life with a man who likes to spend his free time in graveyards doing headstone rubbings.’

  ‘He didn’t strike me as the sort who would enjoy that type of thing,’ I said. Thinking back on it, Lord Ellis seemed more like the sort to enjoy gambling, a good cigar and a pretty woman, and not necessarily in that order.

  They were all looking at me.

  ‘He came in with Lady Ellis when she picked up her hat,’ I said. ‘He seemed very smooth.’

  ‘Really?’ Nick asked. ‘The few times I’ve met him, “smooth” is not the first word that comes to mind.’

  ‘Was he into graves when he was friends with Viv?’ I asked Harrison.

  He was sipping his coffee, but paused to shrug. ‘I don’t know. She never really talked about him or Lady Ellis much.’

  ‘Viv isn’t one to pay attention to what’s going on around her,’ I said to Nick and Andre.

  ‘I know the type,’ Nick said with a sideways glance at Andre, who was studying the room about us as if considering it for a photograph.

  ‘What?’ Andre asked. Obviously, he’d just become aware that he was the subject of Nick’s comment.

  I smiled as they squabbled good-naturedly. I turned to share the joke with Harrison and found him watching me with an intensity that made my heart skip a beat and then pound twice as hard as if to make up for it.

  ‘What?’ I asked, repeating Andre’s question.

  ‘I… nothing,’ he said. ‘It’s nothing.’

  He forced a smile and turned back to the table, engaging Nick in a discussion of Kensal Green Cemetery, one of the seven magnificent nineteenth-century cemeteries in London, and the one closest to Notting Hill. It was also known as All Souls and was where the rock star Freddie Mercury was buried.

  I tucked my spoon into my dessert. It was delicious. I found I wanted to look at Harrison again to see if I could figure out what he’d been thinking, but I was feeling unaccountably shy, not a normal state for me, and so I kept my attention on my dessert.

  I didn’t believe that Harrison had anything to do with Viv’s disappearance anymore. Well, I was pretty sure at any rate. I couldn’t imagine that he would be actively trying to find her and helping me put in an alarm system if he was involved in some nefarious way. Well, unless he was a complete psychopath. Now I did glance at him.

  His dark brown hair was brushed back in its usual careless way. I got the feeling Harrison wasn’t one to spend a lot of time primping. His eyes sparkled as he and Nick traded more puns about graveyards. Dig it?

  His brows rode low over his eyes as if he were in a perpetual state of concentration. His nose was long but took a slight detour as if it had been broken. His lips were full and parted over a generous smile. There was an innate honesty to his face and a sense of integrity that was unyielding. I got the feeling that Harrison said what he meant and he meant what he said. Quite simply, I trusted him.

  ‘Isn’t that right, Scarlett?’ Andre’s voice brought my attention back to the table.

  ‘I’m sorry?’ I said.r />
  ‘She wasn’t listening,’ Nick said. ‘She was too busy checking out the only available male at our table.’

  ‘Nick! That’s just… well, inaccurate,’ I protested. I felt my face get hot with embarrassment.

  I could tell Harrison was looking at me, but I refused to look at him, as if I’d combust from sheer mortification. Instead, I turned to Andre and asked, ‘What were you saying?’

  He smiled at me, but I glowered and he sobered up immediately.

  ‘Sorry.’ He cleared his throat. ‘I was saying that the house the Ellises live in would certainly make one consider putting up with someone else’s eccentricities if the payout was that they got to live there.’

  ‘It was a gorgeous home,’ I agreed.

  Andre went on to describe the interior to the others while I finished my dessert, scraping the dish clean. Nick snatched the check before the rest of us could grab it. And in moments the four of us were making our way back to Portobello Road.

  We saw the police car lights flashing up ahead but still, it took me a moment to register that they were parked in front of Mim’s Whims.

  My first thought was that they were there to tell me they’d found Vivian. My second thought was that if it were police who had come to tell me about her, then the news was bad.

  I broke into a run, not easy to do in super-high heels, but still I ran. I heard shouts behind me but I didn’t wait for the others. Terror had me moving at a clip. Vivian had to be okay. I wouldn’t accept any other explanation.

  Harrison caught me by the elbow but didn’t slow me down, instead he spotted me as we ran. My heart was pounding triple time and I’d broken into a sweat. The cold air was making my nose run and I didn’t have a tissue, so I had to snuffle repeatedly to keep my nose from dripping all over my coat.

  A constable was standing at the front, and he held out his arms as if to keep me from plowing into the shop. I stopped, and it was then that I could see through a gap in the shades that the lights were on and the police were inside. It took only a glance to see that the place had been ransacked, as in turned over, or, more accurately, destroyed.

  The white straw hats Viv had strung to hang at different levels in the front windows to look as if they were floating had been left alone and they hung like the ghostly remains of the hats that had been tossed about the shop with little or no regard for their value or craftsmanship. It looked as if the person had been in a temper: chairs had been turned over, drawers and shelves emptied, their contents strewn across the floor.