Page 30 of Lion & Lamb

LAMB: I promise I’m not recording. I have a nervous habit of holding my phone.

LOPEZ: Please, I’m very busy today.

LAMB: I promise this will just take a second. It’s a matter of life and death.

LOPEZ: Fine. What is it?

LAMB: I can’t seem to keep my hydrangeas alive from season to season. What am I doing wrong? You can be honest with me.

LOPEZ: (Confused) What?

LAMB: The winter months in Philly, they’re brutal. Obviously you do a ton of work maintaining these grounds. I mean, that’s how you saw the gun, right?

LOPEZ: I have to go now—

LAMB: But Ms. Hughes said it would be okay if we spoke.

LOPEZ: I believe she would be very angry if we spoke.

LAMB: No, she said it would be okay. Well, sheimpliedit would be okay. I mean, we’re all on the same team here! What have you got to lose?

LOPEZ: (Sighs) Everything, Mr. Lamb. I haveeverythingto lose. My job. My status in this country. My freedom.

LAMB: Has someone threatened you, Mr. Lopez? Because if that’s the case, we can protect you.

LOPEZ: Nobody has threatened me, Mr. Lamb. I live always under this threat. Now, please, take your dog and leave the grounds. I have much to do to repair the mess he’s made.

(After a gap in the dialogue of approximately one minute, a car door slams.)

LAMB: You heard that, right, Victor? Mr. Lopez has a problem with Lupe, which clearly means he’s evil. Kidding. But seriously, he may know something. I need to find out what. And Maya Rain…okay, I need to knoweverythingabout her.

Chapter24

REPORT TO C. LAMB BY V. SUAREZ

Tuesday, January 25

Finished my latest analysis of audio surveillance at the Hughes home and there is nothing unusual to note after you left.

You asked me to keep an ear out for the nanny, but she spends most of her time with the kids. She’s good at keeping them distracted. Very inventive, lots of creative brain games. Stuff like having them look outside and tell her the makes, models, years, and colors of all the cars they see. (I found myself distracted by this too, to be honest.) The Hughes kids are quick. Who knows how they’ll eventually turn out, but they might make great private investigators someday. Maya Rain is quite the teacher.

Francine Pearl Hughes spends a lot of time shopping online. I’m tracking all internet activity and I have a list of the high-end clothing and jewelry stores she’s been visiting. The clothing appears to be purchased for herself, though I do not know the nanny’s measurements. (Yes, I’m working on it. Ms. Rain’s digital trail is either thin or carefully obscured.)The jewelry appears to be for a woman, presumably Ms. Hughes.

One other thing, boss—and this may be nothing, but I wanted to mention it anyway: Francine Pearl Hughes does a lot of singing around the house. Herown hits, but also older show tunes and stuff from theGreat American Songbook. This is not surprising, of course, because Ms. Hughes is a singer, and I’m sure she’s keeping her vocal cords in shape. Could be just habit. But is this the behavior of a woman in mourning for her husband?

More updates as I learn them. As I type these words, however, I hear there’s a visitor to the Hughes home—your old friend Veena Lion is there to talk to the nanny.

Chapter25

4:37 p.m.

“THANKS FORagreeing to speak with me, Ms. Rain.”

“Of course. Ms. Hughes thought I could help. I just have one request, and this is on the advice of the family lawyer. Please don’t record this interview.”

Veena Lion pretended to give it some thought. “Okay, I won’t.”

While Veena paused, she took a quick mental snapshot of Maya Rain, who did not appear to be your stereotypical home-wrecker. Her lithe body was clad in a tailored Banana Republic top and pants—rugged enough for someone who chased after children all day, classy enough for a member of the Hughes household’s staff.

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