Katherine Hall Page - [Faith Fairchild Mystery 09] by The Body in the Bookcase

Author:The Body in the Bookcase
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 2011-02-21T22:00:00+00:00

Seven

Everything about Julian Bullock shrieked bespoke, from the cut of his summer-weight suit to his Turnbull and Asser shirt, the cuffs linked by discreet Cartier gold knots. He was a tall man with a well-scrubbed pink-and-white complexion. His thinning blond hair appeared to have been cut that very morning. He used Penhaligon’s Blenheim Bouquet aftershave—but not too much.

He greeted the two women as they stepped out of Patsy Avery’s car. “So good of you to come by.” They might have been arriving for elevenses, rather than coming to what was, after all, a place of business. “Wonderful run of good weather. So good for the garden.” As with his person, there was a British inflection in his voice. It was a voice Faith had heard often since coming to New En-gland—long pauses between words, followed by a sudden rush of sentences. And all the clichés, the Vaughn Meader imitations—those r’s and h’s where none existed. In short, it was the assured voice of the upper class.

Julian Bullock, however, was a fraud—or rather, he was his own creation. He’d been born in Massachusetts, but in South Boston, not in Milton or Prides Crossing. His ancestors had crossed the pond, but not on the Mayflower. He’d invented himself. Firmly turning his exquisitely tailored back on Southie, he’d pursued and won a scholarship to Deerfield, then another to Harvard. In one of her tantrums at Daddy’s “meanness,” Stephanie had gleefully revealed his roots. “He was so silly to divorce Mummy. I mean, it’s not likely he’ll marry a Cabot again, is it?” Blood will tell, Faith thought at the time.

“Yes, this weather makes me homesick. You Yankees get all excited at a few rhododendron,” Patsy was saying. “You should see Audubon Park back home this time of year. Makes your flora look puny. I know you know Faith Fairchild, and, by the way, congratulations on your daughter’s wedding,” Patsy added.

“Delightful to see you, Faith.” He extended his hand and ushered them into the house. “I suppose congratulations are in order, but, no offense to the caterer, you had best save them for after the happy day. So far, all it’s meant has been an enormous amount of aggravation.” His broad smile took some of the sting from his words. Faith sympathized with him, silently adding, And money. She could imagine only too well what the year had been like.

“I’m off duty,” she said. “Here only to give my opinion if asked and possibly look for a sideboard. My house was burglarized and they took one of the drawers from ours to carry things in.”

Julian shook his head. “I’m so sorry. Did you lose much?”

“All our silver, jewelry—everything of value. They left us the plate.” Before he could tell her she’d been hit by pros, she quickly added, “We have recovered some items. They’ve been turning up in these large antiques marts.”

“Odd places.” He grimaced slightly. “One always feels so uneasy with those surveillance cameras. And they’re so superfluous. A show really for the poor unsuspecting public.

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