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She stared after the woman, and wondered if she was watching a killer walk away. Somehow she had a feeling she wasn’t.

Chapter 17

Gran felt as if she awoke from a deep coma.“Man, oh, man,” she groaned as she dragged open her eyelids. She wanted to sleep more—a lot more. But the sun was up and so should she. She was of a generation that believed in going to bed with the chickens and getting up when the cock crowed and she wasn’t going to change now. She felt weary, though, and realized this was the dreaded jet lag. But she wasn’t the person to let a silly little notion like that get her down. So she got up and stared at the person in the other bed.

“What are you staring at?” this person asked, and stretched awkwardly.

Memory returned and she realized who her roommate was.

“Angela,” she said.

“That’s my name—don’t wear it out.”

“Oh, God, I feel terrible,” said Gran.

“Jet lag,” said her roommate. “You’ll get used to it.”

“That’s right. You’ve been coming and going a lot, haven’t you?”

“I have. And I hate it. Each time I feel like I’m going to die.”

“Must be tough,” Gran offered sympathetically.

“It is. But what are you gonna do? If your only child marries a British prince, traveling to and fro kinda comes with the territory.”

“Why don’t you move here?”

“Are you nuts?” She gave her a critical look. “I have my own life thank you very much. I can’t just uproot it just to come and be a full-time babysitter. Besides, my friends, my family, everyone and everything is back home.”

“Yeah, I wouldn’t want to move here either, even if Odelia married a prince.”

“It’s not just that. I don’t want to be in their way. A young married couple doesn’t need an overbearing mother hen hanging around. If I overstayed my welcome something tells me Dante would probably take a crack at me!”

“You still think it’s Dante that’s behind this whole terrible business?”

“I don’t know what to think. Keep an open mind, right? Don’t trust anyone. So why should I make an exception for the man my daughter married?”

“He seems like a great guy. The way he came to her defense last night.”

“He is. And I think Tessa did very well for herself. I like the dude. He’s funny, he’s smart, he’s handsome…”

“The perfect son-in-law!”

Angela laughed.“Exactly! Only we’re too old to let appearances fool us, aren’t we? And we know sometimes things are simply too good to be true.”

Gran nodded. She knew better than anyone. Back home in Hampton Cove she’d helped her granddaughter solve more than one crime, and the killers sometimes turned out to be the last person she’d expected. It had shaken her belief in the essential goodness of man profoundly. Then again, she also trusted her own intuition, and her gut told her Dante was all right. Besides, what kind of man would kill his bride and mother of his newborn baby? Only a demented psychopath, and the young prince didn’t strike her as one.

“Let’s see what your granddaughter comes up with,” said Angela. “I have faith in her. She’s a good little detective.”

“True,” said Gran. “Though she often needs my help. I’m a detective, too, you know.”

“Oh, I know,” said Angela. “I don’t doubt your abilities.” Voices intruded upon their conversation and Angela pointed towards the door. “That’s him now. Mr. Perfect. And if I’m not mistaken that’s his less-than-perfect friend.”

“The wastrel.”

“The wastrel,” Angela confirmed.

Gran moved towards the door and opened it a crack. She’d always been a great believer in snooping and eavesdropping as a way of catching criminals.

“You’ve changed,” the wastrel was saying. “You’ve changed so much it’s not funny anymore. And it’s not just me that’s saying it. They all do. Spiffy, Toddles, Pongo, Bertie. Even Bingo says you’re not the man you used to be.”

“Of course I’ve changed! I’m married, and a dad. What did you expect?”

“I expected you to be my best mate, mate. Not to chuck me the first chance you got. What does she have that I don’t, eh?”

“Oh, for God’s sakes. Don’t make this about Tessa.”

“I didn’t make it about Tessa—you did, old chum. When you decided to get rid of fun Dante and turn into an old boring stiff.”

“I’m still fun Dante, only now I’m having fun being a dad and a husband.”

“Oh, booooring!”

“I think you better leave now, Damien.”

“See? You’re chucking me out!”

“I’m not chucking you out! I just don’t want you to make a scene in front of my wife and daughter.”

“I’m not making a scene. I’m just having a chat with my chum.”

“Let’s talk later, yeah?”

Tessa must have entered the room, for Damien cried,“There she is, the breaker-upper of friendships.”

“Hello, Damien,” said Tessa. “How are you?”

“Pitiful! Your husband doesn’t even want to go to the pub with me.”

“Well, I guess he’s got other things to do.”

“He’s got you to do, you mean,” said Damien darkly.

“Damien,” said Dante warningly. “Don’t talk to my wife like that.”

“I’ll talk to your wife any way I damn well please! This is all your fault, Tessa,” said Damien, causing Angela, eavesdropping next to Gran, to raise a meaningful eyebrow.