Page 81 of Ghost in the Garden
“What did you say?”
She stared at him. “I said I’d start tomorrow. What do you think I said?”
He sighed. “I wondered if you couldn’t string her along for a little and learn what we need to know.”
“I thought about it. But Lambert’s dead. We can’t punish him again for the disaster in St. Giles, or for Gregg’s murder.”
“Then you have lost interest in discovering the truth?”
She shifted position on the hard bench. “Of course not. But even I have some standards. I couldn’t lie to her. I told her Silver and Grey was all I had time for. She thinks I work for you.”
“How ironic, when it is the other way around,” Solomon murmured.
“What?”
“Nothing. Did she mind that you turned her down?”
“I don’t think she has given up hope of changing my mind. Did you learn anything?”
“Harris doesn’t believe Iris did it, but he’s afraid lack of evidence against anyone else will pressure him into arresting her. He has superiors who like results more than truth.”
Constance gazed beyond him out of the window. “Someone is lying.”
“I rather think they’realllying. We need to speak to the Frasers again.”
“After Lenny Knox.”
*
Constance was bothimpressed and alarmed by her mother’s new shop. Although not huge, it was in a good location for passing customers and had a decent window for displays. Some elegant curios had already been placed there, along with a sign that read,Opening Soon. A curtain hid the rest of the shop from view.
Solomon led her through a narrow close to the back door of the building, which boasted a large brass knocker in the shape of a gargoyle. His brief rap was answered by Juliet herself, beaming and pleased with herself.
“Come in, come in! What do you think, Connie?”
“A long step up from Seven Dials.”
They stood in a cozy room behind the shop. It had a stove, a desk and chair, and an easy chair. The window was barred, though it had a pretty curtain. It had two internal doors, one half open to a staircase.
“Lenny’s working behind the door to the shop,” Juliet said, “so I’ll show you upstairs first. Got a proper kitchen up there.”
She didn’t puff as she used to on her way upstairs. It came to Constance that her mother was happier than she had been for years. It seemed to make a difference to her health.Thank you, Solomon.
It was undoubtedly a pleasant place to live, and Juliet clearly took great pride in it. She parked Solomon in a bright, as-yet-uncluttered sitting room, saying to Constance, “Come and I’ll show you the rest. He’s seen it already.”
The twinge in Constance’s stomach was not jealousy. Of course it was not. And yet it was something to do with her mother closing in onherfriend. When had she become so small-minded? Perhaps it was indeed jealousy. Or the realization that she and her mother were not so different and never had been.
Politely, she admired her mother’s new bedroom, the spare bedroom—currently used as a storage room for the things that would go in the shop—and a very decent kitchen, where a kettle was coming to the boil.
“Got running water,” Juliet boasted, turning on the tap just to show her.
“It’s a good place,” Constance said. “But seriously, can you afford it?”
“If the shop does well.”
“And in the meantime?”
“Your Mr. Grey has bought my old place. Ain’t worth much, but it’ll keep me going for a while, buy me new stock—”
