Page 30 of Evil at the Essex House
He nodded. “I know, Pippa. Flossie and I look nothing alike. Her frocks would come to mid-thigh on me.”
Yes, they would. And in every other respect, they’d hang off him. He’s much slimmer around the hips than Flossie.
“Apparently she didn’t dress like that in Toledo. Or she was much less interested in clothes, or something like that.”
“Are we certain it’s the same girl?” Christopher wanted to know.
I huffed. “How many Florence Schlomskys do you suppose there are in London? Besides, I described her, and her parents said yes, that sounded like their daughter.”
Christopher nodded.
“They said she came to London for her health.”
“That has to be a joke,” Christopher said. “Who comes to England for their health? The weather is hardly ever sunny here.”
“That’s what I said.”
“What’s wrong with her health?”
“I have no idea,” I said. “The conversation moved on to something else, and I forgot to ask. But whenever we’ve seen her, she’s always looked blooming, hasn’t she? Perhaps she was languishing under her parents’ thumbs at home, and getting out on her own made all the difference.”
Christopher nodded. “It’s amazing what a bit of independence can do.”
Yes, it was. “Perhaps that’s why she didn’t rush to meet her parents when they arrived. Perhaps there’s resentment there. She left home because she was unhappy, and she ditched the maid because her parents had sent the maid along to spy on her, or to keep her in line or something of that nature, and now she has built her own life here in London, and she didn’t like her parents showing up to upset it.”
“Might be,” Christopher agreed. “It makes as much sense as anything else.”
It did. “She can’t hope to avoid them forever, though. I mean, she should have known they’d turn up sooner or later, shouldn’t she? Here, I mean. At the Essex House Mansions. Once the telegram arrived, and she knew they were in England, she must have known that they’d come here. Surely they’re the ones paying for the flat, so they’d know where to find it.”
“One would assume so,” Christopher agreed. “I can’t imagine why she didn’t just face the music—and her parents—right away. If it were me, and I didn’t want my parents to see where, or how, I lived, I would have gone to them first, before they could come and find me.”
I nodded. So would I have. “You don’t suppose anything has happened to her, do you?”
“I can’t imagine what,” Christopher said. “She was alive and well last night, you said.”
“That’s what Crispin told me.” I shrugged. “He mentioned that she seemed distracted—although she did try to have her way with him in the lift, as usual, so I don’t know how distracted she could have been—but it was probably just about her parents being in London, you know? I didn’t get the impression that he thought anything of it one way or the other.”
Christopher nodded. “If something had been wrong, I’m sure he would have noticed. He’s not stupid. Or unobservant, really.”
No, he wasn’t. “Evans said they went off together.”
“Flossie and Crispin?”
I nodded. “It makes sense, if they were both going to the Savoy.”
“Indeed,” Christopher nodded. “But if he took her to the Savoy, why didn’t her parents see her there? Do we know that they’re telling the truth?”
We didn’t. “Perhaps he dropped her somewhere else along the way.”
“Why would he do that if they were both going to the Savoy?”
I had no idea, and said so. “We could phone him and ask. She might have said something to him that he didn’t bother to convey to me. It’s not as if we knew it would turn out to be important.”
Christopher lifted a shoulder in semi-agreement. “It can’t hurt to ring up the Hall, I suppose. If nothing else, I can assure Crispin that you haven’t heard from Natterdorff again since yesterday.”
I rolled my eyes. “I can’t imagine why you think he would be interested, Christopher.”
“Of course you can’t,” Christopher said, and went on without giving me an explanation. “On our way out, we can knock on Flossie’s door again, and see if she’s come back.”
