Page 19 of The Dead Come to Stay
Green gave him a side-long look.
“I could ask you the same thing about Evans.”
It was a fair point. MacAdams leaned back against the headrest.
“Yes. I always wondered how old boss Clapham got his money after it came out that he was selling off his military equipment,” he explained. “It was clearly through connections, because every pound and penny were squeaky clean. Well, Evans was a personal friend of our Clapham. He was also an accountant at a London firm.”
“A city boy? Running a hotel?”
“Yes, about that. His firm was nailed for fraud. But not Evans.”
“So he either has an exceptional moral compass, or somebody bailed him out in exchange for special accounting.” Green nodded out the window. “Neat little theory.”
“And stillonlya theory,” MacAdams said. “But there weregoings-on. I suspected back then, I know now—and I doubt we’ve heard the end of it. Anyway, there’s my little story. Are you going to tell me what’s up with you and Ms. Templeton?”
“Nope,” she said, then put the car in gear and pulled out of the hotel parking lot.
Chapter 8
Wellington boots made for excellent footwear to keep your feet dry. Why they didn’t also come with actual tread to keep you from falling on your ass, Jo didn’t know, but the fact remained. It was one she unfortunately learned the hard way.
Gwilym managed to pull her up without falling down himself, but only just. The previous day’s sunshine may have dried out the puddles, but the trail remained slippery and muddy. It was lonely, too. The effect might be softened by late-spring greenery, but these were the environs ofWuthering Heightsand every bit as isolated.
“How did Roberta walk this whole trail by herself?” Gwilym asked.
“Fourteen generations of Wilkinsons,” Jo explained. Roberta had genetic fortitude. Jo, on the other hand, had a wet backside. She’d spent most of her life between Chicago and New York, scarce able to catch a bit of unbroken sky between high-rises, or more than a few stray stars above the pink haze of light pollution. Out here, the land rolled away like the gathered edge of a bed skirt dotted blue yellow with furze and heather. Clouds had moved in, but across a fat stretch of sky wide enough to bendat the edges. If Roberta could still hike it at eighty-three, she would, too. “Where was I?”
“Your uncle Aiden.”
“Right. So, we already knew he was the one with Evelyn’s photo. He alsokeptthe original—and he wanted to bring Evelyn ‘home,’ whatever that means. But here’s the weird part. Even though the Ardemore estate was technically under his management back in the eighties, he never lived there. Didn’t even seem to want to take care of it. When did he suddenly get interested in our family history?”
“I guess about the time he went to such great lengths to get the painting repaired,” Gwilym offered. “But since we’re talking about him, if not the Ardemore estate, wheredidhe live?”
“Had his own flat in York, which was sold after his death. But according to the neighbor, he was almost never there, either.”
“Another home someplace?”
Home.Funny word; it had never been the sort Jo collected for cutting her teeth on, but neither was it as straightforward as it pretended. Had she ever felt at home in Chicago, with her mother and aunt? Had she felt at home in the Brooklyn flat with her ex?
“Where is home, though, anyway?” she asked. “Is Swansea home for you?”
“I suppose. I’m Welsh.”
“Tula’s Irish, but Ireland isn’t her home.”
“Fair point. Always meant to ask about that,” Gwilym admitted, sidestepping a particularly opaque puddle.
“She probably wouldn’t tell you much,” Jo said. “But Abington isherhome. Mine too, I guess, now. What about Evelyn?”
“As in, Painting Evelyn?”
“As in, Ancestor Evelyn, yes.”
“Well, she’s also from Wales, if I recall from our research, but I see your point. Note on the photo you found from your uncle says ‘Evelyn comes home,’ but who’s home?”
These were the questions that kept Jo up nights, and that was no euphemism. Did it refer to Evelyn’s home in Wales, before she moved in with Gwen and William?
“We searched for months and never found evidence of Evelyn living anywhere else,” she reminded him.
