Page 36 of The Other Lady Vanishes

Her voice sounded thin. She was going to have to get better at playing the role of innocent tearoom waitress or she would find herself back at Rushbrook.

“I have no idea,” Jake said. “But there must be one. Otherwise we are looking at an amazing coincidence.”

“Coincidence?”

That sounded stronger, she decided, as if she was interested but not panicky.

“I’m told there’s very little in the way of serious crime in Burning Cove, so what are the odds that someone breaks into your cottage and then hangs around outside to watch your place on the very same night that Madam Zolanda gets murdered?”

“I have no idea,” she said. “What are the odds?”

“I’m not sure, either, but whatever they are, I don’t like them. I have a hunch that one way or another, everything that happened last night and early this morning is connected.”

She clenched her fingers around her handbag. “You sound very certain.”

“I told you, I used to be in the import-export business.”

“And you carried a gun because it was a dangerous business.”

“Yes,” Jake said.

He did not elaborate.

Adelaide sat quietly in the seat, trying to find logic in the chaos of the ominous currents that were swirling around her. She couldn’t stop a force of nature like Jake Truett. The best she could hope to do was gain some control over his investigation. She reminded herself that recovering a diary filled with secrets was his primary objective.

“Thelma Leggett is the key to this situation,” she said finally.

“One of the keys, yes.”

“The police are looking for her, but as you pointed out, if she left town, there’s not much they can do about finding her.”

“No,” Jake agreed. “And if Dr. Skipton rules Zolanda’s death a suicide, Detective Brandon will have no reason to waste his time searching for a missing assistant.”

Adelaide gathered her nerve. “Doesn’t mean we can’t look for her.”

Jake looked intrigued. “Sounds like you’ve got a plan to do that.”

“I told you, I’ve got a friend who just opened a detective agency here in town. Finding people is her specialty.”

“The lady private investigator who checked into my background?”

“Yes, Raina Kirk. Do you have a problem with the idea of hiring a female investigator?”

“No,” Jake said. “It’s just that I’ve never met one before. Are there any other detective agencies in town?”

“Not that I know of. Raina is our only option. She needs the business and I think we can trust her.”

“Youthinkwe can trust her?”

Adelaide gazed straight ahead through the windshield and contemplated the disaster that had enveloped her the last time she took the leap of faith that real trust always demanded. She had been very naïve. But this was different, she thought.

“You can’t ever be absolutely positive that a person is trustworthy, can you?” she said. “People lie all the time. But, yes, I think that we can trust Raina. She is new in town and she is trying to establish a reputation here in Burning Cove.”

“I see,” Jake said.

She turned her head to look at him. He was watching her with a very intent expression. A shiver of dark awareness chilled the back of her neck.

“You’re wondering if you can trust me, aren’t you?” she asked.

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