Walking Into Murder by Joan Dahr Lambert Page B

argue much with her.”
    Angelina had also called the grande dame “Gram,” Laura remembered. Did that mean the Baroness was grandmother to both of them? Or could the term just be a nickname for an older relative?
    “I can understand that,” she agreed with a laugh. “There is something about the Baroness that precludes resistance.”
    “You talk like a teacher,” a voice behind her said conversationally.
    Laura laughed again. “Maybe that’s because I am,” she answered. “And you sound like an American.”
    Cat took another step forward but didn’t answer. She was very young, Laura saw anxiously, much too young to be the missing wife - unless Thomas was a cradle snatcher as well as a womanizer.
    Laura turned back to Nigel lest she spook the girl with too much attention. “Have you done other sculptures in stone?” she asked, settling herself comfortably on a convenient log.
    Cat answered for him, which was a good sign. “He’s done lots,” she announced. “There’s a toad - he’s my favorite - and a bullfrog, and a lizard of some sort. The grasshopper’s the biggest though.”
    “I’ve got a whole group planned,” Nigel elaborated. His supercilious pose had completely disappeared and his eyes were alight with enthusiasm. “Next I’ll do a mouse, because I’ve found a rock that has a mouse in it. I mean, it’s the right sort of rock for a mouse. Then I’ll do a cat, staring at it, and I’m not sure what else yet.”
    “I want my dad to see them,” Cat told her spontaneously. “He’s very dull because all he cares about is old art, the stuff in museums, but he’d still be a good person for Nigel because he’d know what to do with art, or maybe help him get training.
    “But I don’t want to be here when he comes!” she added with a dramatic shudder. “He might try to take me home again!”
    “Does your father live in England?” Laura asked casually.
    Cat rolled her eyes heavenward. “Good grief, no! He lives in New York now, at least I think he still does. I don’t see him much anymore.
    “I don’t want him here, either,” she added darkly, “but I wouldn’t put it past him to come looking for me. He’s always worrying.”
    A startling idea occurred to Laura. Not a lost wife, a lost daughter, though why Thomas would lie about it she couldn’t imagine. She would have to tread carefully if she was right.
    “I met a man who was looking for a missing wife yesterday,” she contributed in an easy voice, “though he didn’t say anything about a daughter. Nigel’s father thought he was the thief who’s been taking the silver, and that I was his wife, and that we were in cahoots. We managed to convince him that we weren’t thieves, but I’m afraid he still thinks I’m the missing wife.” She glanced at Nigel, hoping he would pick up the cue.
    Cat looked skittish again, but also curious. “What did he think that for, about the silver, I mean?”
    “Oh, that’s just my father,” Nigel reassured her. “He suspects everyone of everything, but I don’t think he cares that much about the missing silver.” He gave her a sidelong glance. “As long as nobody takes his horses, he’s okay.”
    “Well, he doesn’t exercise them enough,” Cat retorted hotly. “He ought to ride them more, or have that groom ride them.”
    “Stewart’s too busy making out with Antonia,” Nigel replied without rancor. Laura was startled by his casual acceptance of Antonia’s affair, but she tried not to show it. She wondered if Thomas knew.
    “Does your father know that?” Cat asked. “Would he care if he did?”
    Nigel looked embarrassed again. “I’m not sure. I don’t think he knows exactly, I mean. Just as well.”
    “You’ve got that right,” Cat agreed. “My dad found out that my Mom was having it off with some guy and he went ballistic. Refused to give her money, and got out the lawyers. But she only did it because he was always away on one of his boring cases.”
    Not all