Bath Belles by Joan Smith Page A

Mama.’’
    I soon deduced that Mr. Duke had been brought along for a purpose. While Mr. Maitland stood in the hallway, Esther came out wearing her bonnet. "Mr. Duke has offered to drive me and Mama to Bond Street, Belle, while Mr. Maitland drives out with you to discuss the house. We are all to meet back here at noon, and you’ll have to give us some money for the material.”
    “What an excellent idea!”Mr. Maitland exclaimed. He tried to pretend the notion had come from Duke, but I knew whose conniving mind was responsible.
    “You’d best give me the spare house key as well, Belle,”Mama said, “the one you found in Graham’s parcel—in case we get home first.”
    I went to get the key, and she came after me. “Don’t bring Maitland into the house if I am not home yet,”she cautioned. “What do you suppose he can have to say for himself?”
    “I shall soon find out."
    “You don’t mind going with him?”she asked doubtfully.
    “Of course not. He isn’t a villain, after all.”Excitement was my prime emotion—excitement and determination to call him to account.
    Mr. Duke’s carriage was every bit as fine as Maitland’s. A very handsome pair of black carriages was soon bolting down Elm Street. Inside Mr. Maitland’s there was a long silence till we reached Bond Street. I was collecting my thoughts and deciding how harsh I should be with him. Thus far I had only practiced my tyranny on such helpless victims as Mama and Esther.
    Before I spoke, he entered into an apology that did much to disarm me. “You’ll be thinking London is even worse than you imagined, Miss Haley. I am sorry to bring Duke down on your head, but I was afraid if I came alone you’d set the dogs on me. I acted unwisely in trying to hide my true business from you. Duke tells me the term ‘havy-cavy’was being bandied about last night with regard to my charade. If I had had any idea how agreeable you are, I would have approached you openly in the first place and explained my business. Once I had ensnared myself in that tall tale, I could find no graceful way out. The fact is, people have the idea that robbing an insurance company is like robbing the government—it’s their constitutional right. But in this case, it is my partner and I who are each out five thousand pounds, and naturally we had to make some effort to get our money back.”
    I thought of Two Legs and Yootha and had to admit Mr. Maitland had not behaved so very badly. He had had no idea of my character; plenty of people would have tried to diddle him out of his money. “Of course you had, but really, Mr. Maitland, to get my hopes up that you meant to buy my house!”
    He looked pleasantly surprised at the mildness of my attack. “The oddest thing of all is that I do want to buy it—or, at least, I have an aunt who has expressed interest. But, of course, that is not why I had Grant ripping up floorboards. I was looking for my money.”
    “It’s not there. Whoever killed Graham took it, as Bow Street thinks.”
    “But then why was the house searched afterward?”he asked.
    “I don’t know. I only know the money is not there now. Whoever did the searching must have found it eventually.”
    He examined me a moment with his dark, intelligent eyes. “That’s not what the local locks say.”
    “The locks?”
    “The fencers, the men who deal in stolen goods in London. In my line of work I have to maintain close contact with them. Stolen goods usually turn up there, and it’s cheaper to redeem them than to repay the whole insurance premium. Of course, it’s reprehensible to have to dole out money to thieves, but what’s our alternative? At any rate, the word among the locks is that the money was never recovered. Jay Grant, my friend who frisked your ken, is in touch with the criminal element.”
    “What about your partner, the Mr. Pelty who actually performed the transaction? Is it possible he ... ”
    Mr. Maitland shook his head. “No, he’s above