Diva Runs Out Of Thyme

“That’s rather ghoulish, isn’t it?”

“Let me make this easy for you. Were you ever in the Washington Room?”

“I presume that’s the place Simon set up camp? No, I had no reason to hunt him down.”

“Even after he was dead?”

“What are you suggesting? That I mutilated his corpse? Tampered with evidence?”

Wolf’s back was to me. I wished I could see his expression.

He said, “The key card to your hotel room was found in the Washington Room.”

Bernie scratched the back of his neck. “Is this some absurd American method of prompting a confession? Because it’s not working.”

Good move, Bernie. Aggravate the man with the handcuffs. I waved my hands at Bernie and shook my head in dismay.

Wolf didn’t miss the twisted grin on Bernie’s face or the fact that his eyes focused on me.

Without turning, Wolf said, “I’d appreciate some privacy, Sophie.”

Appropriately chastened, I slunk into the hallway.

My conscience worked overtime. Wolf clearly did not want me to listen. But if I remained completely quiet, I could hear from the hallway and he wouldn’t know about it. I should do the right thing and return to the kitchen. Or I could dust the pictures hanging in the hallway . . .

“Where is everybody?”

Mars! I scurried to the kitchen before he gave away my location.

Wearing black gloves and a leather bomber jacket that resembled Craig’s, he roughhoused with Daisy.

“Very snazzy. New duds?”

He peeled off the gloves. “Everything we own reeks of smoke. I had no idea that smoke alone could do so much damage.”

Mochie zoomed into the kitchen and flew onto the table, where he watched Mars. Mars tossed the new jacket over a chair, stroked Mochie, and turned his attention to the kitchen counter. “Is this the cranberry cake I like so much?”

I could take a hint. I cut a piece for him and poured coffee into two mugs. He didn’t bother to sit down. He retrieved a fork and ate while standing. “Is Bernie here? I want to borrow his rental.”

“Wolf is questioning him in the sunroom.”

“About what?”

“Where he was, what he did, and why the key card to his hotel room was found in the conference room where Simon was killed.”

Mars set his coffee down. “They’re desperate. When they question someone from England who didn’t even know the victims, they’re reaching.”

I hoped Mars was right. I hated to think that Bernie could be involved somehow. Between England, Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Miami, his world, like Simon’s, was much larger than mine. Unfortunately, it wasn’t out of the realm of possibilities that he’d hired Otis and come here for a specific reason.

Mars checked his watch. “I can’t hang around here long. Have you seen his car keys?”

“You can’t just steal his car.”

“It’s not stealing between Bernie and me.” Mars spied the jacket Bernie left in the kitchen. He took a long swig of coffee, picked up the jacket, and felt the pockets. “Aha!”

“What’s wrong with your car?”

“Nothing.” He fumbled in his pants pocket and tossed his keys onto the counter. “In case Bernie needs to go anywhere.” He reached for the last bite of cake.

I snatched it away and held it as a bribe. “What’s going on?”

“I don’t need that last bite, you know.”

“Of course you don’t.” I cut another tiny slice and added it to the plate. I waved it under his nose but pulled it back when he reached for it.

“Okay, but no sharing this with Wolf. I didn’t know that Nat hired Otis until you told me. She shares almost everything with me, but she skipped that, which worries me. There’s only one other thing that she won’t tell me. I tease her about it all the time, but it didn’t matter until now. Once a week she turns off her cell phone and disappears for a few hours.”

I handed him the plate with cake on it.

He ate a piece before continuing. “It never bothered me before. Everybody needs some private time, right? But now that she’s being stalked, I’m afraid she’s gotten herself into a mess and doesn’t know how to handle it. That has to be the reason she hired a private investigator. It all fits together with the not sleeping and the lack of appetite.”

I was glad he told me but didn’t quite understand. “What’s that got to do with Bernie’s car?”

“I’m going to follow her. Maybe I can identify her stalker. If nothing else, I’ll know where she goes every week. I need Bernie’s rental so no one will realize it’s me—at least not right away.”

Wolf’s voice filtered to us from the hallway.

“Gotta go.” Mars snarfed the rest of his cake. “Not a word to Wolf.” He grabbed his jacket and gloves. “Oh, and if Andrew comes in here looking for me, you don’t know where I am.” He rushed out into the cold without bothering to bundle up.

The door clicked shut seconds before Wolf walked into the kitchen.

“Are you seeing anyone?” he asked.

I wanted to interpret his question as flirtatious but his demeanor was definitely angry cop. “Nina told you . . .”

“Never mind what Nina said. I want to know if you’re dating anyone.”