Page 106 of The Lady Has a Past

Simon heard the soft sounds of women’s footsteps on the carpeted staircase that led up to the mezzanine floor of the Paradise. Luther heard them, too. They both rose from the private booth.

Lyra and Raina appeared at the top of the stairs and came toward them. Both women smiled.

“We are a couple of extraordinarily lucky men,” Luther said quietly.

“Yes,” Simon said. “We are.”

When Lyra and Raina were seated and their cocktails delivered, Simon raised his glass in a toast.

“To good friends,” he said.

The words were echoed around the table.

It dawned on Simon that it was the first time he had ever felt the need to toast anyone, let alone good friends. Lyra smiled. He knew she sensed what he was thinking.

“You two gentlemen might be interested to know that Lyra made a couple of phone calls this afternoon and cleared up one more detail that has been bothering us about the Adlington case,” Raina said.

“What was that?” Luther asked.

“It was obvious that Marcella married Charles Adlington for his money, because immediately after the wedding she arranged to have him committed to an asylum,” Lyra said. “The situation was extremely convenient for her, because she had complete control of his fortune. The question was how did Adlington get out of the asylum, and why did Marcella take the risk of trying to use him to murder Raina?”

“I’m assuming you found out it was not a convenient coincidence that he was in the pool trying to drown Marcella when you walked in that day,” Simon said.

“No, it was not.” Lyra picked up her glass. “I spoke with the director of the asylum. He said Mrs. Adlington had signed papers to have her husband discharged against professional advice. Said he tried to talk her out of it but she was adamant.”

“She obviously thought she could manipulate and control him long enough to carry out her plan,” Raina said. “She was trying to kill two birds with one stone. She didn’t intend for him to survive the afternoon.”

“And she made certain that he didn’t,” Lyra said. “But that was the only thing that went right for her that day. After the police left she must have gotten on the phone to Guppy and told her they needed another plan and they needed to implement it quickly.”

“Marcella didn’t dare risk another attempt to kill me here in Burning Cove,” Raina said. “She was convinced she could get away with murder by proxy—using her insane ex-husband to kill me. That would have given her the perfect reason to shoot him. But when things went wrong she knew that a second attack on me, even if it looked like an accident, was certain to get Luther’s full attention. She did not dare do that.”

Lyra smiled and raised her glass toward Luther. “Marcella may not have known you personally, but she knew the legend.”

Luther waved that aside. “I told you, the world of spies is a small one. Terrible gossips, spies.”

“I wonder what happened to Kevin Draper,” Lyra mused.

“All I can tell you is that he never showed up here in Burning Cove,” Luther said.

“I’ll bet he heard the news about Labyrinth Springs on the radio and concluded that he didn’t need protection after all,” Simon said.

Luther’s mouth kicked up at the corners. “Which means I still owe you a favor.”

Lyra brightened with curiosity. “Why do you owe Simon?”

“He saved my life a while back,” Luther said. “The McGruder case.”

Raina looked surprised. “The poisoner who was killing people with his fake cure for lung diseases?”

“Simon and I worked together on that project,” Luther said. “At the end McGruder surprised me with a vial of acid. He was about to toss it into my face. It would have blinded me. But he was so focused on me he didn’t hear Simon come up behind him. Simon grabbed his arm and twisted it. McGruder dropped the vial of acid. Some of it splashed on the back of Simon’s right hand. McGruder was maddened. He grabbed the letter opener off his desk and charged Simon. There was a struggle. It was over in a few seconds. At the end, the blade of the letter opener was in McGruder, not Simon.”

Simon exhaled a long-suffering sigh. “Sooner or later everybody talks.”

Lyra glared at him. “No more odd jobs of that sort. Stick to the book business.”

“Mostly I do,” Simon said. He smiled. “It pays better.”

Raina looked at Simon. “Lyra tells me you plan to move your bookshop to Burning Cove.”

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