Read Online The Importance of Being Ernestine by Dorothy Cannell - Free Book Online Page B

thought!” He interrupted his circuit to place a hand on my shoulder and kiss the air two inches above my head. “I went off the deep end without appreciating all the time and effort you put into surprising me. I’m a monster and I don’t know how you put up with me.”
    â€œYou really mean it?” I was enormously relieved by the throb of sincerity in his voice and the fact that he lingered beside me, even holding my hand for a moment or two before pacing off again.
    â€œAbsolutely!” He gave me a sideways smile. “How was Mrs. Malloy?”
    â€œIntent on turning private detective.”
    â€œFor that outfit where’s she been working?”
    â€œHer boss went on holiday this evening, and one of his clients showed up too late to see him. And you know, Ben, how Mrs. Malloy is inclined to take over. This time she’s all fired up to impress Milk.”
    â€œWho?”
    â€œMr. Jugg. And because he wasn’t there and I was . . . well, you can imagine how things went. I got roped into listening to the client—Lady Krumley’s story and writing it all down in shorthand.” I took a breath and made up my mind to tell him the rest, including the arrival of Have Gun. There must be no more secrets between us. If Ben told me to keep my nose out of the situation so be it. Feeling confident and virtuous I was about to expound when he stood stock still, before leaping a foot in the air and clutching at his head as if about to rip out every wavy black lock.
    â€œWhat’s the matter?” I shot off my chair.
    â€œI forgot to turn off the computer.” He was already halfway out the door. “I spent the evening figuring out how to turn it on. And now what happens if it burns itself out? It’s not like I have my typewriter to fall back on till we get it fixed. Just give me some quiet time, Ellie, to work through the manual.” The door swung closed behind him, and I saw that Freddy’s eyes were open and his ears on the flap.
    â€œMen and their computers,” he murmured consolingly.
    I fell back in my chair. “That’s why Ben was in the study all evening. He wasn’t staring into space. He was scowling at the screen trying to blink it into life. I have to get his typewriter back.”
    â€œNot in the middle of the night, coz.” Freddy wagged a remonstrating finger. “Neither,” he added, as I inched forward, “should you go blundering into the study offering unwanted advice.” He locked his hands behind his head, shifted his lanky legs to get a better foothold on the stool and leaned back. “Far better, Ellie, to tell me all about your evening with Mrs. Malloy leading up to the man with the gun.”
    â€œPerhaps you’re right,” I sighed. “A little lighthearted chatter to help me forget my troubles.” Clearly there was no hope Freddy would remember that he had left the iron on or that he needed to leave a note for the milkman, so I rambled away about Lady Krumley. Tobias appeared out of nowhere to land on my lap as I was detailing Flossie Jones’s deathbed curse. Freddy heard me out with only one or two gurgles of rude mirth and even wrinkled his brow in concentration when I spoke about having seen Have Gun in the café and his mercifully brief visit to Jugg’s Detective Agency.
    â€œAlthough it didn’t seem all that short at the time. And perhaps it wasn’t as comic as I’ve made it sound with him waving that gun around and talking like someone . . .”
    â€œIn a bad play?” Freddy shifted out of position so suddenly that Tobias let out an infuriated meow and disappeared under the bookcase.
    â€œIt was rather like that,” I conceded. “He seemed to grow more confident as he went along.”
    â€œGetting into his part.”
    â€œYou could say that.” For the moment I had forgotten Ben.
    â€œWhat sort of a gun?”
    â€œI don’t