She grinned up at him. “From which I deduce that God has a sense of humor, too.”
“Yes, but I think He was very serious when He created you.” He laughed, and Marina couldn’t help but laugh with him.
* * *
At midday Harvey Dovecote strode into the hall. A determined bachelor, Harvey had worked for Grey and Marina from the very beginning, having been estate manager for the last and least fortunate Duke and Duchess of Somerland. Now, at seventy-five, he did little more than odd jobs for Marina, clad in his habitual tweed cap and sky-blue boiler suit. The regular guests delighted in his familiar presence as he went about his work with irrepressible optimism and charm. He was a beloved character, as much a part of the hotel as the bricks and mortar, and Marina had grown entirely dependent on his down-to-earth good sense. He swept leaves, filled the log baskets, mended broken pipes, and fused light switches. He repaired roof tiles and leaking ceilings, and plastered and painted when the decoration needed touching up. There was nothing he couldn’t do, and he had the energy of a man twenty years his junior.
Fit and wiry, Harvey had thinning gray hair and a long, genial face that always smiled. His skin was scratched with deep laughter lines but his eyes sparkled with the reflection of an agile mind that missed nothing and saw the humor in everything. He arrived as Elizabeth Pembridge-Hughes sped off in her Range Rover.
“Another one bites the dust!”
“Oh, Harvey, I’m so pleased you’re back!” Marina exclaimed, feeling a pleasant calm wash away her doubts. “You wouldn’t believe the people I’ve had to interview today. A pirate and a name-dropper. If the third interview isn’t a success, I don’t know what I shall do.”
“You shall wait for the right person to appear.”
“You think he will?”
“Oh, he will.” Harvey’s certainty was comforting.
“How’s your mother? I’m sorry. I’m so wound up in my project I forgot to ask.” She placed her hand on his arm, for his mother’s health had declined recently and she’d been put in a home. She was ninety-eight, and Harvey was devoted to her, visiting her up to three times a week.
“She’s bearing up. Sun Valley Nursing Home is dreary, but me and my nephew, Steve, keep her entertained, as much as we can. She’s very excited because Steve’s gone and bought a secondhand Jaguar. Beautiful car. Purrs like a big cat. He drove it to the nursing home, and they wheeled her out so she could get a good look at it.”
“You haven’t told me about Steve before. I never even knew you had a nephew. He sounds very successful.”
“He is. He lives in a big house just outside Salisbury, full of beautiful things. He’s a collector, you know. You’d be amazed by the things he has. My brother, Tony, never amounted to much, but his boy Steve’s broken the mold. He’ll lend me the Jag if I ask him, he’s that generous. Might have to bring it down here and show it off.”
Marina laughed. “You at the wheel of a swish car? Now that I’d like to see.”
“And I’d like to see the look on your face when I take you out in it!” He opened his wide mouth and laughed heartily.
“Oh, I’d love that, Harvey. It’s many years since I’ve been in a beautiful sports car.”
She suddenly grew serious. “You heard the news this morning?”
“I did indeed. He’s like Macavity the Mystery Cat.”
“Really, Harvey …”
“He’s called the Hidden Paw—
For he’s the master criminal who can defy the Law.”
He grinned as he managed, yet again, to make her smile.
“It’s no laughing matter, Harvey.”
“I don’t like to see you worried.”
“But it is a worry, Harvey. We have to be vigilant and hope he doesn’t target us. We’re small compared to the places he’s robbed so far, so I hope he’ll overlook us.”
“I expect he will. There’s not much to steal here, is there.”
“Nothing really valuable, no.”
“So put it out of your mind.”
“Only once the police have caught him.”
“He’s the bafflement of Scotland Yard, the Flying Squad’s despair: For when they reach the scene of crime—Macavity’s not there!”
“You don’t seem at all anxious about it.”
“Being anxious isn’t going to stop him targeting the Polzanze.”
“Then what is?”
“I’ll stand outside with a shotgun.”
“I don’t think I’d feel any safer with you wielding a gun, Harvey. We need something else.”