Murderous Matrimony(32)

Tony swallowed the last of his beer. “I’m out of quarters.”

“Me too. Sorry,” I said before he asked me for change.

“I wanted to talk to you about the wedding, Jessie.” Tony sat down. “I’d like to give you away. I don’t know if you have anything planned like that. I just thought, since Dad is gone, I’d be the one to do it.”

I was surprised, and happy, that Tony had thought about it. I hadn’t wanted to ask him. I was afraid he might think it was stupid.

“I’d like that. We’ll work it in.” I hugged him. “Thanks for offering.”

“Sure. While we’re talking about it, I might need some help getting something decent to wear. You think Chase could lend me a few bucks?”

My heart sank. He seemed as though he’d been changing the last few months. I’d hoped he was growing up.

I sighed. I loved him, despite everything. Maybe he was changing. Renaissance wedding finery didn’t come cheap. “I’ve got some money. Get something, and put it on my account at Stylish Frocks.”

“Thanks, Jessie.” Tony hugged me again. “You’ll be proud of me. I promise.”

“I’m going to call it a night.” I smiled at Tim. He jumped to his feet as I got to mine. “Thank you, Sir Squire, for your very fine service this evening.”

“I was most happy to spend time with you, Lady Jessie. Sleep well.”

“I’m hanging out here for a while longer,” Tony said. “Will you go with me to see Beth tomorrow? She’s always hated me.”

“I have a fitting tomorrow anyway. I’ll meet you at Stylish Frocks at nine.”

“Thanks, Sis.”

I walked outside. The rain was gone but it had left a dense mist over the Village that seemed to permeate everything. I was about to cross the cobblestones, when three police cars drove slowly through the mist. The cars had their lights on, but no sirens.

“Manny!”





Chapter Ten



I ran into the dungeon, and shut the downstairs door behind me. There was a man in a pizza delivery outfit walking down the stairs from the apartment.

He tugged at his cap. “Evening, ma’am. Sorry if I startled you. I couldn’t drive through the gate so I had to walk in. Have a good one.”

I smiled, thanked him, and darted into the apartment. I closed and locked the door behind me, and turned off the lights. “Manny, what have you done?”

He removed a slice of pizza from his mouth. “What? What’s wrong, Jessie?”

“You ordered pizza.”

“The name and number were on the board.” He pointed to it. “Naturally, I assumed it was correct to order from that location.”

“It should’ve been—in normal circumstances. Did you use your name?”

He thought about it. “Of course I did. Who else’s name would I have used?”

There was pounding on the apartment door. “Open up,” Detective Almond said. “I know you’re there, Mr. Argall.”

Manny froze and stared at me. “What should I do?”

“We don’t have any choice now. You’ll have to go with them.”

“I may be able to jump out of the window.”

“Seriously, you’ll have to go with them. We’ll figure something out later.”

I opened the door.

Detective Almond had a smug expression on his face. “Well, well. What do we have here? How long have you been hiding him, Jessie?”

Before I could speak, Manny said, “I have only been here for a few minutes. Lady Jessie was informing me that you wanted to speak with me, sir.”

Detective Almond looked skeptical. “Yeah, right. Get over here. We’re gonna have a talk at the station. Where’s your lawyer?”

Manny nodded. “I’ll call him, of course.” None of the fear I’d seen in his face a moment before showed. He was as cool about being taken in by the police as he might have been about being asked what he wanted to eat for lunch.

“Don’t panic,” I told him. “It will be all right.”

“Certainly, Lady Jessie. I hope to return in time to help with the tapestry exhibit tomorrow.”

“I hope so too.”

Detective Almond glanced around the apartment. “Where’s Chase?”

“He’s helping with the storm damage.” It was just as well that Chase wasn’t here with Manny.

“I’ll be in touch.”

One of the officers that had come with Detective Almond walked with Manny down the stairs. I saw Chase come in through the downstairs door to the Dungeon. He stopped and spoke with Detective Almond for a moment and then came up to the apartment.