Page 38 of One Last Smile

“This is very helpful,” I say. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, Miss Mary. I would warn you again to leave it alone, but I guess that you’ll just ignore me.”

“Yes. I’m afraid so.”

He nods. Then his face hardens. “Well, then, leave me alone. I gave you what you wanted, and you gave me something I realize now I don’t want. I despise the Carltons, but I love me life more, and being around you is unhealthy. So I’ll take my leave and bid you good luck. God knows you’ll need it.”

He walks past me, leaving me to process the new information he’s given me. It’s not entirely new. I knew about Oliver and Eliza fighting with Minnie already.

But it supports the idea that the whole family had something to do with her disappearance. And while it’s clearer now than before that Dr. Chalmers isn’t innocent, it seems that he might have been right about Alistair after all.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

I walk into the house and nearly collide with Alistair. I flinch back in alarm, and he grins. “Sorry about that, Mary. We were wondering where you were. Out for a stroll?”

“Y-yes,” I stammer. “Yes. And where were you? Where are Oliver and Lucas?”

“Oliver’s still out. He ran into some friends from school while we were out and decided to go on with them. They invited us to join, but seeing as how I stole Lucas away from his schooling, I brought him back to catch up.” He smiles again, and there’s a hint of reproach in his expression. “I’m not a complete flake. Well, I am, but I want better for my little cousin.”

“That’s good to hear,” I say. “So he’s in the study?”

“He is. Hard at work on science problems. Don’t really see the point to be honest. He’s probably smarter than most of his teachers. But he needs these marks to get into Oxford, so study he must! Care to walk with me? I know you’ve just returned, but I could use the company. Never was much good at being alone.”

Half of me wants to refuse and run to safety. I have an excellent excuse, of course. I really should be supervising Lucas. But Lucas has done an excellent job of self-managing so far, and in any case, this is only the first week. It will be no trouble at all to catch up.

I wonder how long I’ll keep telling myself that.

The other half of me is still aflame with the fires of justice. I have Minnie’s possible murderer right in front of me, and if not her murderer, then someone who could shed more light on the circumstances surrounding her death. It’s an opportunity I can’t pass up.

And let’s face it. If Alistair wants me dead, there’s precious little I can do to stop him no matter where I am.

“Very well,” I reply. “Lead the way.”

“Oh, nonsense,” he says, putting his arm in mine and propelling me back down the stairs. “We journey together, Mary! I suggest the east garden. Prettier flowers and fewer trees to spoil the sun. I never understood Sebastian for growing so many trees on the property. Sun is such a rare occurrence in central England—well, any part of England. Why hide from it?”

I extend my first feeler. “Perhaps it’s to hide what happens underneath the canopy.”

He laughs, and I’m struck by how alike his laugh is to Niall in every aspect but its hoarseness. “Yes, indeed; the secret lives of the rich and famous. Who knows what mysteries lurk in these walls?”

“I imagine you have a few tales to tell,” I say, probing a little further.

“Fewer than you might think. I only act like I own the place. In reality, I visit only rarely.”

“Yes. This is your first in three years, right?”

He laughs. “You’ve caught me. That was a lie when I said it over dinner. To tell the truth, I just wasn’t sure if I should speak of what happened when I was here last year.”

“Why not?”

“Well, you know Sebastian’s touchy over the whole Minerva Montclair scandal. I happened to be here when it occurred—only for a few days, mind you—and I’m afraid I got embroiled in the whole affair. You figured out the truth when I mentioned the letter, right?”

There’s no real point in lying, I suppose. “Yes. I thought the timing was odd.”

He gives me a sly look. “So that means that you’ve seen the letter.”

Again, there’s no point in lying. I’ve already told Veronica about them anyway. “Yes. I was cleaning his room while Hazel had the day off, and I discovered a box of letters between him and Minnie.”

“Ah, but did you see the one he wrote Minnie when he discovered she was cheating?”

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