Read Online Laura Lee Guhrke by Not So Innocent - Free Book Online Page B

I’ll see if I can let a room in that lodging house.”
    “Keep me informed of your progress.” DeWitt rose to his feet. “And for God’s sake, be careful, Mick. I don’t want to lose you. Keep your wits about you.”
    Mick also stood up. “I always do, sir,” he answered and started for the door. “I always do.”

Four
 
    Because of Michael Dunbar and his threats, Sophie had gotten very little sleep during the night, and she awoke feeling tired and cranky. After the way that wretched man had manhandled her and threatened her the night before, she was not at all surprised that someone wanted to kill him.
    Something of what she felt must have shown in her face, for Violet commented on it as Sophie entered the dining room. “My dear, you still don’t look well. The sooner this mystery about the murdered policeman is solved, the better.”
    “He hasn’t been murdered yet,” Sophie pointed out as she walked to the sideboard.
    “Yes, I know. Grimstock told me last night.”
    Sophie ignored the hint of inquiry in her aunt’s voice. She glanced around the dining room. Except forViolet and herself, the room was empty. “Where is everyone? Am I so very late this morning?”
    “It’s nearly ten o’clock. Mr. Dawes has gone to cut up a cadaver at London University Hospital, and the colonel is out for his morning walk. Hermione and Josephine have gone to Harrods.”
    “Ten o’clock? Heavens, it is late.” Sophie lifted lids from the warming dishes on the sideboard, noting the eggs and bacon with disinterest. She turned away from the food, poured herself a cup of tea from the silver teapot, and sat down in her usual place at the table, pushing aside the pile of letters waiting for her that had come in the morning post. She knew most of them were bills, and she also knew there wasn’t enough money to pay them. “You didn’t go to Harrods, too?”
    “Of course not. I wanted to wait for you.” Her aunt looked at her with gentle reproach. “You came in last night and didn’t even tell me what had happened. I had to get the story from Grimstock. It’s fortunate the police inspector is still alive.”
    Sophie knew her aunt wanted details of the night before, but she lowered her gaze to the teacup in her hand and changed the subject. “Auntie, I must speak with you about something else.” She met her aunt’s innocent blue gaze with a steady one of her own. “The emerald necklace you took from Cousin Katherine’s house when you called on her the day before yesterday.”
    Violet looked at her in wide-eyed innocence. “What are you talking about, dear?”
    “You took Cousin Katherine’s necklace. Grimmy found it yesterday afternoon. You did take it, didn’t you?”
    Auntie’s expression of innocence turned to one of shamefaced guilt. “I believe I did, now that you mention it.”
    Sophie lifted her hands in a gesture of despair. “Auntie, I’ve told you, you can’t take things that don’t belong to you just because you think they’re pretty.”
    “I’m sorry, dear,” Violet mumbled. “I don’t know what comes over me. I see jewels, and I just can’t resist. And then, of course, I forget all about it. I remember now, it was in her jewel case. You really should tell her to find a safer hiding place for her jewels,” Violet added, shaking her head. “Why, a jewel case is the first place a thief would look.”
    “Well, that’s true enough,” Sophie responded with a sigh. “You did.”
    “What did you and Grimstock do with it?”
    “I put it in a safe place,” Sophie answered, thinking of the secret drawer in her secretaire, where she and Grimmy always put Auntie’s little mistakes until they could be returned.
    “Sophie, really! You didn’t put it in the little hidden drawer of your desk, did you? Why, that’s as bad as a jewel case. The best place to put jewelry is in your undergarments, rolled in a pair of knickers or a stocking. No one, not even a burglar, would think to go through