“Nonsense!” Lilith shut her book. “Mrs. Glass likes dogs. Don’t you, Mrs. Glass?”
Phoebe smiled. She wasn’t happy, but she smiled because liking dogs was required, and not liking the sheriff’s dog might lead to trouble. For some reason, Mrs. Glass was anxious to avoid trouble. “Of course Lacey is welcome as long as she’s visiting and not staying. Since you ladies wish to visit, I’ll be going to the kitchen to clean up and start tomorrow’s breakfast.”
“Next time you indulge in an argument, do try not to shout.” Lilith watched Phoebe for her reaction. “Sound echoes so through these old houses, don’t you know?”
Phoebe smiled again. Still. With clenched teeth. “Sound is deceptive in these old houses. Really … deceptive.”
Lilith scratched Lacey’s head. “Katherine, this is a beautiful cocker spaniel. Who’s the breeder?”
“I don’t know that there was a breeder. I don’t know that Lacey is a purebred. Someone dumped her in a ditch half-starved and I found her.”
“Oh, no! Who would abandon such a beautiful girl?”
Lacey leaned her head against Lilith.
Kateri had forgotten. Whatever awful accusations could be made about Lilith, she had a way with animals, all animals. Usually Kateri trusted Lacey’s judgment. Now she wished that wasn’t the case.
“I assure you, regardless of the circumstances in which you found her, this is a purebred dog.” Because Lilith was never wrong.
“It doesn’t matter to me. I love her anyway.”
“Of course you do.” In that abrupt fashion of hers, Lilith said, “Katherine, you have blood on your cuffs.”
Kateri looked down, saw the brown stains, remembered too many deadly details and leaned a little harder on her staff.
Lilith said, “Mrs. Glass, would you bring the sheriff some ice water?”
Phoebe zeroed in on Kateri’s face. “Of course!” She headed for the kitchen.
“Sit down before you fall down.” Lilith pointed to the chair opposite her. “One doesn’t suppose being sick at the sight of blood is much of an endorsement of your law enforcement skills.”
“That question never came up in the campaign.” Kateri sat down. “I didn’t vomit, unlike two of my men.”
Lilith waved the men’s queasiness away.
Tail wagging, Lacey stood up on Lilith’s chair and eyed Kateri.
Kateri broke into a smile. “Come on, sweetheart.” She patted her lap.
Lacey leaped and slammed into Kateri’s ribs.
Kateri winced, but considered it a fair price to pay to hold a wiggling blond cocker spaniel with warm brown eyes and luxuriously long ears. As she rubbed that soft head, she could feel her blood pressure go down and her annoyance fade. Not that Lilith wouldn’t get both roiling again.
Lilith learned forward and in a quiet voice confided, “I met a young woman who is staying here.”
Oh, no. “Merida?”
“You know her?”
“I met her the other day at the Oceanview Café.” That was the truth. Not the whole truth, but Kateri needed to tread carefully. Lilith was far too sharp for comfort. And nosy. So nosy.
“Merida wasn’t her name when I met her. I was in India at a fund-raiser for the preservation of ancient monuments in Pakistan. Her husband was Nauplius Brassard.”
That rocked Kateri back on her heels. “You’re sure?”
“Of course I’m sure.” Lilith’s fist clenched. “Dreadful man. Nauplius Brassard told me about his admiration of the Indian tradition of suttee, where a wife sacrificed herself on her husband’s funeral pyre. As if any woman would sacrifice herself for him.”
“Huh.” Kateri hadn’t had time to speculate on what had happened during the years Merry had disappeared from her life. “Did Merida love him?”
“She stood by him, indulged him, did everything in her power to anticipate his every whim. She was a doormat.”
“Merida?”
“Her name at the time was Helen. Helen Brassard.” Kateri must have looked disbelieving, for Lilith said, “Look her up. I did. There are photos online. She is changed, but it is definitely her.”
“Changed how?”
“She was … classic. Now she has no style whatsoever.”
“Hmm.” Merida hid so many secrets …
Lilith stared at Kateri. “You know her.”
Damn Lilith! No one was more selfish—or, if it profited her, more likely to be perceptive to the point of discomfort. Kateri bent her head to look at Lacey, and to hide her face. “I didn’t say I knew her.”
“I think you do.” Lilith sat back in her chair and tapped her finger to her forehead. “Why wouldn’t you want to admit it? The only sensible answer is—because I know her, too. From Baltimore, I suppose. That’s the only place our acquaintances intersected. I never forget a face … but faces can be changed, and she does remind me of someone else.” Again Lilith leaned forward and bent the force of her formidable will on Kateri. “Where did you say you knew her?”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
The front door quietly opened, quietly shut, and careful footsteps made their way across the entry.
From the direction of the kitchen, Phoebe Glass called heartily, “Miss Falcon, you have arrived exactly on time. Sheriff Kwinault and Miss Palmer are in the parlor waiting for you. We’re about to have refreshments. Won’t you join us?”
The footsteps paused, then continued.
“Do come. We’re so convivial!”
Merida followed Phoebe into the parlor. She wore purple cotton yoga pants, a man’s wide-armed T-shirt, a pair of white leather running shoes and carried a small one-shoulder leather backpack. She had a bloody scratch across her cheek, and sweat rimmed her hairline. She wiped her face with the hem of her shirt, leaving a damp stain, and she was silently panting.
She looked glorious.
She smiled widely at Kateri. Nodded politely to Lilith. Spelled, “A good day for a run. I’ve got to grab a shower,” and looked meaningfully at Kateri.
Kateri patted Lacey and when Lacey jumped down, Kateri came to her feet. “Now that I know you’re settled here, Lilith, I’ll go on my way.”
Lilith’s narrow face grew chill with scorn. “Wait. You haven’t yet given me your report.”
As if Kateri owed her a report. About anything. “About?”
“Any word about the box our father sent you?”
“Rainbow is not … not out of her coma yet. No one expects that she will live through this.”
“So you’re going to give up on the possessions our father sent you?”
Sudden irritation scratched at Kateri, like sea salt on an open wound. “Are they important?”
Her snappishness gave Lilith the chance to be calm, logical and patronizing. “The raven is of historical importance. You know that, Katherine.”
“That raven is almost alive. If he wishes to return to me, he will.” Kateri pivoted on her heel and, using her stick, stalked out of the room, past Phoebe with her tray of ice water.
Phoebe must have enjoyed the little scene, for she smiled smugly.