‘I did, sir. My client, however, is not interested in being part of the auction. He wants–’
‘Excuse me, Mr Tanaka,’ Alex snapped, ‘it doesn’t matter to me what your client wants, we aren’t selling the rose, our solicitor is. And that’s my final word on the subject, I’m afraid.’
‘That is unacceptable to my client.’
‘Well, then – that’s just too bad.’
‘I don’t think you understand. You’re passing up an incredible opportunity – an offer in the several millions. Why don’t I meet with you, to discuss it in more detail? I’ll be happy to come to your house, if you prefer.’
‘No, absolutely not. We’ve got a houseguest right now – and I don’t appreciate being bothered at home.’
‘I will pay you well for your time.’
‘Mr Tanaka, I appreciate the generous offer, but I’m afraid–’
‘Would a thousand pounds for fifteen minutes of your time make you change your mind?’
‘Mr Tanaka. I really must say no.’
‘Unfortunately my client will not take no for an answer.’ He took a deep breath. ‘I won’t quibble with you, sir. Two thousand.’
He could hire somebody to do Mrs Hendrickson’s drawings for that amount of money. ‘Stop, please, Mr Tanaka. I have to go.’
‘No, please wait–’
‘I have to
He hung up before Tanaka raised the ante to the point where he would really start to listen.
He walked back into the kitchen, where Kate and Nell were chattering away.
‘You’ll never guess who that was,’ Alex said.
‘Not Kingston, was it?’ asked Kate.
‘No. It was our friend, Mr Tanaka.’
‘The one who wrote the letter?’
‘That one, yes.’
Kate frowned. ‘Why was he calling?’ she asked.
‘He wanted to come down here and talk with you and me personally, Kate. He also offered to pay us two thousand pounds just to listen to his proposal. Can you believe it?’
Kate looked perturbed. ‘What a nerve.’ She put a hand across her mouth. ‘He’s not coming, I hope,’ she said quietly.
‘No, of course not. He kept insisting but I told him that it wouldn’t do any good.’
‘Well, let’s hope that’s the end of it,’ said Kate.
Alex sat back down at the table. ‘I wonder if Graham will have anything to say this afternoon,’ he said, stabbing a congealed chipolata sausage. He sliced off a small piece, palmed it and, when Kate and Nell weren’t looking, slipped it under the table where Asp was curled up by his chair.
‘Very little, I would imagine.’
A few days earlier, a secretary from Stanhope’s office had called requesting the return of the journals that Graham had lent them. Rather than take them all the way to Stanhope’s office in Newbury, it was agreed that the journals could be dropped off at Graham’s house on the outskirts of Bath. A date was established when Graham would be home to receive them and make sure that they were all in good order. Alex was delivering them that afternoon at three o’clock.
Letting out a sigh, Alex placed his knife and fork tidily on his empty plate. He looked across the table at Kate and grimaced. ‘You know, Kate, the thought of having to see that twit again is really off-putting.’
‘I’m sure it will be nice and brief. Just drop the books off, that’s all. Anyway you’ll have good old Lawrence with you.’
Alex sighed. ‘Don’t worry, Kate. I’m not going to punch Graham out, for God’s sake.’
Alex picked up Asp and sat him in his lap. ‘By the way, Kate, since you’ll probably be late getting back from Nell’s this evening, I told Lawrence we would all eat at the Royal Oak tonight, if that’s okay with you.’
‘That’s fine, Alex. It’ll be nice to see him again.’
‘Guess I’m going to be saddled with him most of the day,’ Alex said in a disgruntled tone.
‘Oh, come on, Alex. Can’t you be just a tad more charitable as far as Kingston’s concerned?’
‘It’s not that I don’t like him, Kate – I do. But, at times, he can be so…condescending, so pompous. It’s almost embarrassing.’ He noted that Kate was smiling. ‘It’s not funny, Kate.’
She reached across the table and put her hand on his. She squeezed gently. ‘I have a feeling that whether we like it or not, Kingston might be around for a while longer. Just try to be a little nicer to him – a little more appreciative, that’s all.’
‘I’ll try.’
‘You have to admit,’ she added, ‘he has been very helpful with the rose and he is entertaining. In a funny sort of way, I grant you. I vote we keep him for a while.’
Alex sighed. ‘As you said, we may not have much choice.’
‘Here we are. About a hundred yards, you’ll see my lane on the right,’ said Nell.
Kate flicked on her signal and slowed for the turn. Unnoticed, a couple of hundred feet behind, a black Jeep also reduced speed.
‘You’re probably ready for a nice afternoon nap, I would imagine,’ Kate remarked, glancing at Nell.
‘Later maybe. First things first. I’ve got to go up to Arthur’s house to pick up Buttons, my kitty, and the mail, and the newspapers. Through all this, Arthur’s been a real dear. Think I’ll cook him a really nice dinner one night this week. He loves liver and bacon.’
‘I’d like to take a quick look at the rose, too, before I leave. With all the wet weather we’ve had lately, I’m sure it’s survived perfectly well. Anyway, we’re going to be moving it out soon, so you won’t have to worry about it any more, Nell.’
Kate parked the Trooper by the front door and helped Nell out with her suitcase. Once inside, Nell put the kettle on. ‘Bet you could do with a cuppa,’ she said.
‘That would be nice. While we’re waiting for the kettle, perhaps I’ll go and take a peek at Sapphire.’ Seeing the confused expression on Nell’s face, Kate hastily corrected herself. ‘The rose. The blue rose, Nell.’
‘Oh, of course – silly me. Yes, I’ll come with you to show you where they planted it. We can go out the front. It’s a little easier to get to it that way.’
Kate followed her out of the house. They walked alongside a shoulder-high picket fence for about thirty paces. Rounding the corner where the fence made a right-angled turn, they both froze. In front of them, an eight- foot stretch of the fence lay flat and splintered on the ground. Beyond the gap, wide tyre tracks and a swath of flattened vegetation ran in a straight line across the jungle-like garden to a small clearing.
Kate put a hand up to her mouth. ‘My God! What’s happened?’
‘That’s where Alex and Vicky planted the rose,’ Nell said, pointing a shaking finger. ‘Over there.’
Kate stumbled through the muddy tracks to where they ended. In front of her there was a hole nearly four feet wide and almost as deep.
Nell caught up with her. She gripped Kate’s arm and stared in disbelief at the hole. ‘Good Lord! Somebody’s taken the rose. Who on earth would do that?’
‘Offhand, Nell, I can think of at least three people.’ She shook her head. ‘This is really bad news.’
‘Shouldn’t we call the police?’
‘Probably. But first I have to call Alex.’ She took Nell’s arm and they walked back to the house. Adding the police to the equation was a complication she couldn’t deal with right now.
Kate put the phone down, looked at her watch, then at Nell. ‘Nobody home. Alex and Kingston are probably still at Graham’s. I think I’d best be leaving, Nell.’
‘Won’t you at least stay for tea? The kettle’s boiled.’
‘I’d love to, Nell, but the rose being stolen changes everything. It has me scared. I can’t explain it right now but it’s a lot more serious than it appears. I can’t imagine what Alex is going to say.’ She put her arms around Nell and hugged her. ‘Next chance I get, I’ll tell you all about it. Are you going to be okay?’
‘Well, of course I am. Arthur’s only a couple of doors away.’ She smiled, making her rosy cheeks shine. ‘In any case, whoever took the rose is hardly likely to come back to the scene of the crime, is he?’
