Page 32 of The Trick of the Treasure
“You know I do.” Her color was heightened. She gave him another, quicker version, then slid off his lap. “It is not, however, suitable in public, and we are right in front of the window.”
“I’ll work on the public one,” he said. “What makes you think the back door was not locked? I presume you mean the night the treasure was taken?”
“I do.” She sat in the chair beside him. “Ben Devine watched Jemimah go safely back inside, but he did not hear the key turn in the lock, nor the bolts being shot.”
“That doesn’t mean she didn’t do either.”
“No, but it’s something to pursue. Think about it, Solomon. She has lived all her life with servants. She is not used to locking up at night. She’s had a daring and no doubt agreeable half-hour with Ben. She’s elated and very probably distracted. The chances are, she sailed through the door, closed it, and went off to bed in a romantic dream of her own.”
Solomon’s lips twitched. “Is that what you do?”
“No,” she said crossly, “but I am not a sixteen-year-old girl in the throes of her first love.”
“Are you suresheis?”
“Well, she’s sixteen. But she probably thinks she’s in love. So does Ben.” She shifted restlessly. “Mind you, even if she did leave the door open, we’re not much further forward, are we?”
“We might be. Lloyd spent all night in his wife’s room. He probably wouldn’t have heard anyone swiping the keys. Also, a couple of your mother’s collectors are known to the Lloyds. Grafton and his wife dined there both before and after Lloyd’s departure, so one of them could have borrowed the keys at some stage. Sydney recognized Fenwick’s name, and there’s another collector called Terrance…”
He told her what he knew of Lloyd’s quarrel with him, then said, “There’s something else I don’t like. Lloyd keeps telling us half-truths. None of the household saw inside the treasure chest.”
Constance listened, frowning to that story too. “It’s control,” she said abruptly. “Reasserting his position in the family by controlling who gets to know what or is entitled to which rewards.”
“It does seem to be habitual with him. His family seems to regard it as his teasing sense of humor.”
“And yet it can amount to cruelty,” Constance said. “It’s why he didn’t warn any of them that we were investigating for him.”
“And why he doesn’t always tell us everything there is to know. I do think he genuinely wants the treasure back, though. He isn’t just going through the motions. Apparently, he went into a real rage when he discovered the theft and went storming through the house in search of it.”
“Then hedoessuspect his own household…”
“It certainly crossed his mind. Oh.” He reached for his satchel and took out the battered map of the deserted island and the photographs.
“Goodness, these are remarkably clear.” Constance picked up one of the photographs.
“The photographer utilizes a new process that combines the clarity of the daguerreotype with the ability to print unlimited copies from a negative. Sydney seemed rather interested in it all. He plays the dilettante, but I’m not sure. He told me he’d had an idea of spending his share on photography equipment and setting up a business. Although wine and women were apparently an equally pleasing alternative.”
“I suppose that gives him a motive for taking all the treasure rather than just his share. He could do both, then.”
“Not while his father’s holding what purse there is,” Solomon said wryly, “andwatching him like a hawk. He’d have to flee the country.”
“Well, he has the experience now. Why not live abroad? Perhaps Jemimah and Ben Devine had similar thoughts. He told me he would not propose until he could support her.”
“Not sure stealing from her father is the way to her heart,” Solomon said. “Although it might be. What did you think of Devine?”
“I’m not sure. He acts. And he can lie while looking you in the eye if it serves his purpose. So can I, of course, when it matters, so I don’t hold it against him. Yet.”
“Perhaps the three of them took it,” Solomon said thoughtfully. “Perhaps Jemimah’s assignation was really to give the treasure to Devine, so that Lloyd wouldn’t find it should he tear the house apart looking.”
“They all knew each other from childhood,” Constance allowed. “Only…”
“What?”
“Why did Ben not stay away the day we were there? Why risk drawing Lloyd’s ire? And I’d swear Sydney was surprised to see him.”
“He certainly didn’t leap up to greet him,” Solomon said. “Because they had already met since Sydney came home?”
“Or because Jemimah barely gave him the chance,” Constance said.
