“No.” She frowned, and then asked, “What kinds of things does she like?”
“Music,” Thomas said at once, and then added, “and reading.”
“Music and reading,” Inez said thoughtfully. “Would she be likely to go to concerts?”
“She might, but she’s here to work.”
Inez blinked. “Right. I forgot about that. She’s looking for Christian Notte’s mother.”
Thomas nodded. “She and Tiny spent three weeks going through church and city archives searching for any mention of his birth.”
“His mother was married to his father then?”
Thomas opened his mouth and then closed it again and finally just shook his head as he admitted, “I don’t know. They might have just been looking for any mention of a child born named Christian. I doubt it was a popular name.”
Inez nodded agreement. “You’re probably right.”
“I know they were in London to meet with Christian in the hopes that he could help them narrow the search or give them a possible clue.”
Inez was silent for a moment, and then asked,
“Couldn’t the father just tell them who the mother is and where to find her?”
When Thomas stared at her blankly, she pointed out. “Well, obviously Julius was here in England. The hotel suites were on his credit card. He must know who the mother is, why did he not just tell him?”
Thomas shook his head slowly. “I don’t know. Maybe he did and they’re now just trying to find the woman.”
“Would it be that hard?” she asked curiously.
“Christian is over five hundred years old. Immortals change their names, move around…And few have social insurance numbers or other paperwork to trace them through, at least not under their own name.” He shrugged. “It can be harder than finding a mortal.”
“Okay, so Marguerite and Tiny traveled to London to meet with Christian in the hopes of getting more information, and his father, Julius, joined them there and presumably told them something that led them here to York,” she commented, and Thomas nodded. They were both silent for a minute and then Inez pursed her lips and said, “You know there’s something that’s been kind of preying on my mind.”
Thomas raised an eyebrow. “What’s that?”
“Well, there were seven people in the party in London and then only five traveled on to York. What happened to the other two?”
“Seven people?” Thomas asked with confusion.
“Bastien said Julius requested two suites at Claridge’s, with two bedrooms in each, and that three of the rooms were to have twin beds,” she pointed out. “Three rooms with twin beds, that’s six. The last didn’t really matter so either it was another two who could share a bed, or it was only one.”
“You’re right,” Thomas said with surprise.
Inez nodded solemnly. “So who were all these people?”
“Well…” Thomas considered the matter. “Two would be Marguerite and Tiny. Christian Notte and his father were also apparently there.”
“And the other three?”
Thomas thought for a minute, and then said, “I don’t know.”
“Do you know anything about this Christian Notte?” Inez asked.
Thomas shrugged. “He’s related to someone who works for my cousin Vincent. He and some other family members flew to California when my cousin had trouble out there. They stayed at his place. My aunt did too; that’s how she ended up getting involved in his case.” He scowled and then shrugged helplessly. “I have no idea who the other three people in the party could be. Or why only five of them continued on here to York.”
Inez sat back in her seat and sighed. “It probably doesn’t matter anyway. It was just bugging me.”
They fell silent, both concentrating on their drinks and muffins, and then Inez glanced around.
“What is it?” Thomas asked, noting at once.
“I was just wondering where the ladies’ room is,” she admitted.
He glanced around the upper floor, and then said, “I don’t see one up here, but there’s one downstairs next to the stairs.”
“Thank you. I’ll be right back.”
Grabbing her purse, Inez stood, and walked to the stairs. She descended them slowly, finding them a bit steep for her comfort. Relieved once she’d reached the ground floor, she glanced around for a sign for the ladies’ room.
“Can I help you, miss?”
Inez glanced toward the speaker with a start, her eyes widening as she found herself peering at a tallish man with ginger hair. He wore the same green apron as the girl behind the counter had worn. Mr. Ginger-hair really did exist, she realized with surprise.