The Madcap Heiress by Carrie Alexander

Author:Carrie Alexander [Carrie Alexander]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781459274198
Publisher: Harlequin

“JUST A MOMENT” later, Tony found himself back in his car at the curb in front of the town house, the engine idling, the suede vest folded neatly into the box resting in his lap. After a whispered conference on the phone, April had scooted out of bed and disappeared into her walk-in closet, nattering something about taking the afternoon off for a shopping spree with Lady Eve. Even though he’d wanted to discuss the case and what they’d each learned at the Winner’s Circle, April had feigned uninterest and dismissed him in her haughty heiress voice without even coming back out to face him.

Having thought for a few fleeting moments that they’d reached some sort of simpatico, Tony was now suspicious, to say the least.

He lifted off the top of the box, parted a double layer of tissue paper and took out the vest. The envelope containing April’s retainer was still in the pocket. How could he have forgotten about the money when it was what had initially led him into dabbling with this case?

Too large a dose of April Pierce had gone to his head, even making him crazy enough to imagine he was falling in love with her. Hell. If he lost all his acumen, who was going to give him a grant to reexcavate the tomb at Cayaxechun?

He lifted the vest and realized that there was something else in the pocket. Instantly thoughts of Cayaxechun were a million miles away as he scooped out a small, flat square object—the slide he’d picked off the floor of Donkey’s sitting room. He held it up toward the sun and squinted.

It was a negative of a painting. There was a lot of water, a boat under full sail. A red-and-white striped beach umbrella in the sand. And a tiny little lady wading in the surf. A tiny little naked lady.

The Fogbottom?

Though April had never told him exactly what old Lesley Orville Fogbottom had painted that was worth so much money, she’d mentioned that he specialized in nudes. This could be the Fogbottom, but why would Donkey need a slide of it when he already had the actual painting? For that matter, why had he disappeared with the Fogbottom? Why not just turn it over to Talon and her “buyer with big bucks and an inflated sense of his own expertise”—or words to that effect?

“Slides,” Tony whispered. That was it—the clue that had been on the tip of his tongue!

The young artist they’d met on the staircase at Talon’s gallery had mentioned slides of her artwork. Subconsciously he’d realized there was a connection between this slide and the stolen Fogbottom. And April had successfully distracted him before he could put the two together.

The question was still why? What was Donkey doing with slides of the Fogbottom? Why had Talon, potentially his partner in the caper, resorted to hiring the thugs to look for her brother? Why had April hired a P.I. when there were times she seemed to prefer that Tony did not actually solve the crime?

Suddenly he knew.

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