Hither to London by Monica Knightley

Author:Monica Knightley [Knightley, Monica]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2017-03-25T23:00:00+00:00

15

Tuesday, January 12th

"I promise, we will get to the Tower of London long before noon," I reassured a petulant Gina. Though the visit to Clive Mallory that I'd arranged, with Miles' assistance, could help clear Colin, Gina had awakened in a foul mood and wanted to do nothing but explore the Tower. Miles had filled her mind with all sorts of tales of intrigue and murder and royal scandal. Now, trying to redirect her was like telling a child she had to do an hour of math homework before she could go to DisneyWorld.

Gina, Miles, and I walked the now familiar route to Clive's office/gallery. God bless Miles—he'd agreed to be the bait for this little enterprise, and had made the call the night before. What art dealer could turn down an opportunity to schmooze a wealthy celebrity?

The pleasant weather of the previous day had disappeared, replaced by a cold rain. We each carried umbrellas and were well bundled up. Thankfully the forecast promised relief in time for the Tower trip.

An attractive woman in her early-thirties, dressed in a Chanel suit, answered the doorbell at Clive's gallery. She introduced herself as Michelle, Clive's assistant. By the looks of that suit Clive's art business was thriving.

Michelle only had eyes for Miles. Directing her words to him, she said, "Clive is finishing up a phone call. He'll be with you in just a moment. May I get you some tea? Or coffee?" I could almost see her mind forming the words: Or anything else you could possibly want? I was sure she was on this menu, too.

She was handing us our teas when Clive strode into the room. Again, he was dressed expensively, and I caught a whiff of Burberry Men's cologne.

"Mr. Elliot, it's a pleasure to have you visit my gallery," he said, his hand extended to shake Miles'.

"Thank you for taking the time for us. I think you've met my friends, Maggie and Gina."

This forced Clive to acknowledge our presence.

"Of course. It's nice to see you again." We were greeted with a disingenuous smile. We each returned it with our own fake grins.

Miles had agreed to take the reins on this one, after we'd gone through it a few times. Being the actor he was, he smoothly moved into his role.

"Clive, while I am interested in adding some new pieces to my own humble art collection, I'd like to ask you about a particular painting today."

Clive nodded sagely, hands clasped behind him.

"I'm a friend of Gwen Fitzroy's, and I believe you are as well." Miles gestured towards Clive, palm up.

"Oh yes. And dreadful business about her husband."

"And I'm sure you, like us," this time he waved in Gina's and my direction, "have been interviewed by the police." Miles gave him a knowing half-smile.

Clive laughed. "Oh, right you are! A couple of times."

"Us, too," Gina groaned, ad-libbing.

I shot her a look.

Miles continued. "We were all asked about a painting. My understanding is that some kind of damage was done to it at the time of the murder.

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