Page 13 of Garden of Lies

“Consider his position—he is the long-lost bastard son of a wealthy lord and a famous actress. Upon his father’s death Mr. Roxton discovers that he will not inherit the estate and he will never be able to take up the title because of his illegitimate birth. And just to rub salt into his wounds, his father’s will charged him with the duties and responsibilities of managing the inheritance for his twolegitimatehalf brothers and his father’s widow. The injustice of that situation would be enough to make any man seek revenge.”

Ursula drummed her fingers on the desktop. “I saw no signs that Mr. Roxton is worried about his own financial future,” Ursula said. “His mother does not appear concerned, either. I got the strong impression that Mr. Roxton’s father took excellent care of Lilly. More to the point, I don’t think that Slater Roxton has been idle during the past few years. His mother indicated that he has done rather well for himself. Something about investments, according to Lilly. Evidently he has a head for business. Furthermore, she assured me that her son is not unbalanced.”

“Well, she is his mother, after all. What would you expect her to say?” Matty paused for emphasis. “And while we’re on the subject of revenge—”

“We are not discussing the subject of vengeance.” Ursula slapped the blotter with the palm of her hand. “Don’t you have something that needs to be typed?”

Matty ignored that. “Don’t forget the little matter of the Jeweled Bird. Everyone knows that while Mr. Roxton was languishing on Fever Island, his business partner, Lord Torrence, sailed home with the fabulous treasure that was discovered in the temple caves.”

Ursula grimaced. “Lord Torrence along with everyone else believed Mr. Roxton was dead.”

“Well,” Matty said, lowering her voice to a conspiratorial whisper, “there is speculation that Lord Torrence tried to murder Mr. Roxton on Fever Island. They say he triggered the trap that entombed Roxton so that he could keep the Jeweled Bird for himself.”

For the first time since the conversation with Matty had started, a chill slithered down Ursula’s spine. The press was notoriously unreliable but there was some truth in the old adageWhere there is smoke, there is fire. The spectacular Jeweled Bird had caught the public’s attention when Lord Torrence had allowed it to be exhibited for a time in a museum. People, herself included, had stood in line for hours to view it. The fact that one of the discoverers had died in the tombs on Fever Island had only added to the sense of fascination. When the fabulous statue was reported stolen shortly after it was returned to Torrence’s private collection, there had been another sensation in the press. The Bird had faded into the mists of legend.

Ursula did not think that Slater was particularly concerned about money or the title, either, for that matter. But a man who had been entombed and returned from the grave only to learn that the fantastic artifact he had helped discover had disappeared into the illegal antiquities trade—such a man might harbor thoughts of vengeance. It might also convince him that the terrible accident on Fever Island had not been an accident, after all. One thing was certain, Ursula thought—if Slater set out to exact vengeance, his victim was unlikely to escape.

A great many tales and legends swirled around the mysterious Mr. Roxton. She would not be surprised to learn that a few of them were true.

She leaned forward to flip the pages in her appointment calendar. “I believe we have an interview with a new secretary this afternoon. Oh, yes, there it is. Miss Taylor will arrive at three.”

“I can deal with it,” Matty said.

“Are you sure?”

Matty smiled, a gentle, understanding smile. “I know Anne’s death has been hard on you. There’s no need for you to interview the secretary who will replace her. For heaven’s sake, the funeral was only yesterday. You need a little time to get past the shock of it all.”

“I’m going to miss her,” Ursula said. “And not just because she was a great asset to this business.”

“I—we, all of the secretaries here at the Kern agency—know that you and Anne were good friends.”

“She possessed so many of the qualities I feel I lack. She was fun to be around. Clever. Vivacious. Full of enthusiasm for life. I admired her daring and her boldness. She was a woman ahead of her time in so many things.”

“Mmm.” Matty picked up the stack of pages she had finished typing and squared the bottom edge against the blotter with a few brisk taps.

“What?” Ursula asked.

“Nothing. It’s not important. The poor woman is dead.”

“Matty, are you aware of something about Anne that I should know?”

“Oh, no, truly,” Matty said quickly. “It’s just that, well—”

“Well, what? Matty, I am not in the mood for this.”

Matty gave a small sigh. “It’s just that some might say that Anne was inclined to be a little too daring and a bit too bold for her own good. She could be reckless, Ursula. You know that as well as I do.”

“Her spirited temperament was one of her charms, wasn’t it? She was the woman we all yearned to be—the Modern Woman.”

“Perhaps.” Matty smiled reminiscently and then abruptly wrinkled her nose. “Except for the cigarettes. I never could understand her taste for those things.”

“Neither could I,” Ursula admitted.

“Do you know, yesterday, when we stood there at the graveside, I thought that Anne must have died from a heart attack or a stroke,” Matty said.

“What makes you so certain?”

“We all knew her well enough to be quite certain that she would never kill herself because of a man.”

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