Since no more details were forthcoming I said, “As I’m a working girl, I need to know if you are going to pay me for what I have already done in the library and if you are going to want me to finish.”
He looked around the library which still retained its old money grandeur. “I rather like it as it is.”
There went that job. How annoying. I put on the-customer-is-always-right smile. “I see. Shall I talk to Opal about the charges I’ve incurred so far or will you be responsible?”
“If you would be so good as to give me an invoice, I will see it is paid.”
“I see. If you’ll give me a few minutes, I’ll figure out the costs I’ve incurred thus far.” I wondered how I might include my sleuthing time. I was disappointed at the loss of my job. I was itching to get my hands on those books and see what I could find. Hudson had moved to number one suspect on the list. Nice house he inherited. Where was Jake Manyhorses when I needed him?
Hudson left and I closed the door after him. I eyed those books. I bet they numbered in the thousands. What did Jake think could be hidden there that would shine light on Albert’s demise? Maybe it wasn’t an issue anymore. Maybe that’s why Jake hadn’t called. Hudson was so glaring a candidate that I decided it couldn’t be him. Too obvious.
I pulled out a book with the title The Last Western and started fanning through it. Nothing but dusty pages. I looked behind the book. Nothing but the back of the bookcase. I pulled out a few more. What if there was a secret passage into the library, a hidden way a person could come and go without being detected? Maybe the murderer sneaked into the room through the secret passage and slipped the drug into Albert’s brandy.
The romance of the thought carried me away and I started pulling selected books out, looking for I didn’t know what, a partition or crack or crevice that would indicate a door of some type. I pulled out every fifth book in the interest of time. Albert had quite a range to his library. He had the entire collected works of Tennessee Williams. Impressive. Then came a few rows of Russian authors. I worked my way along, thinking what a shame I wasn’t going to be able to order colored coordinated book spines in my color scheme. I made it to the end of the row and stepped back to reconsider my strategy. It would help if I knew what I was looking for. I stepped further back. If I was going to hide something in books where would I do that? What would I be hiding for that matter?
A knock on the door interrupted my reverie. I hurried to the desk, threw open my laptop and sat down. “Yes?” I called, hurrying to power up and pull up the numbers for the library job.
Opal stuck her head in the door. “Hello, Fiona. Hudson said you were here, and I thought I’d pop in to say hello.”
“Come in, come in. I’m calculating the bill for work I’ve done on the library so far. Hudson said he doesn’t want it redesigned.”
“That’s what I came to speak to you about,” she said. “I need your help.”
I regarded her as she advanced to stand by the desk. She, too, was dressed western. It suited her. Her dark blue jeans were pressed with a sharp crease down the middle of the leg and set off her slim figure. Her red checked blouse was cowgirl cut and at the open throat she wore a neatly tied red scarf. And she had the cutest red cowgirl boots on tiny feet. All she needed was the hat and horse. She did not look one day over sixty. I liked the way she wore her hair, pixie short. Perfect cut for a hat.
“My, but you look handsome,” I said. “You and Cody are ready to saddle up.”
“Why, thank you. I’m anxious to get back to the wide, open spaces.”
“What help do you need?” I was curious, of course.
She cleared her throat and looked out the window, not meeting my gaze. “I need you to help me keep a secret. You seem like a level headed woman.” She peered at me as if to ask for confirmation.
Level headed was not a term associated with my name but appearances can deceive. “I’m flattered.” I hoped I should be. “I’ll try to help.”
Without further preamble she said, “Hudson and I are to be married.”
I gripped the desk hard to keep from falling off the chair.
“I know this must be a surprise.”
“Surprise?” I croaked getting the word out. “You certainly fooled me.”
She smiled and her eyes crinkled. “Haven’t we, though?”
“How long has this been going on?”
“Years, I think. I mean, we’ve always had a nice friendship. He needed support, what with the way Olivia carried on sometimes. Albert could be difficult, and the butler always gets caught in a family crossfire. We’re comfortable with each other. ”
“But, but. .”
“I know there’s quite an age difference, but we don’t seem to notice.”
“But, Hudson told me he doesn’t like the west.”
Her smile turned impish. “He lied. He adores the ranch. He’s been a number of times with Albert and Olivia, then Albert alone. Albert was quite dependent on Hudson to run everything. He liked Hudson to travel with him.”
“But Hudson said he was retiring to Cornwall.”
“He said that? I guess that was another little fib. He’s put the house up for sale. As a matter of fact, I believe he has a buyer.”
I was running out of buts. One last one. The most important.
“But Hudson is a suspect in Albert’s demise. Are you going to quit the investigation?”
Opal’s smile turned down on the corners. “That’s what we need to speak about and why I need your help. Shall we sit on the couch?”
I followed and sat beside her. She started in before I was settled. “I want Jake and you to continue making the motions of an investigation, even though Hudson and I know what happened.”
“What?” My vocabulary was limited at this point.
“Albert was a spy. The think tank stuff was a front. He travelled a lot because of his work. Hudson was his accomplice, you might say, part of the cover. The house is Hudson’s compensation for being a loyal servant. Does this make things clearer?”
“Muddy, not murky.” I was having trouble formulating complete thoughts.
She exhaled a long sigh. “Hudson told me all this. Albert didn’t know that I knew.”
“Geez, this is complicated.”
Opal gave a funny, one syllable chuckle. “Isn’t it? Who would think an old ranch woman would get involved in the cloak and dagger business? There are, however, problems. First, Hudson is in danger. The family can’t know about this spy stuff. They’re upset because they get little from the estate. Albert lived pretty high and loose. There won’t be much cash left after everything is liquidated and the bills paid. They’ll never understand about the house. They can’t ever know.”
“Cody said the relatives will contest.”
“They won’t get anywhere. It will take a lot of time and cost a lot of money. None of them have much.”
“Fascinating, but where do I come in?”
“Even though I know what happened to Albert and who did it, I cannot take the information to the police. Albert was an undercover agent. If the police know, it could jeopardize other undercover agents. I want to exact revenge on the perpetrator. That’s where you and Jake come in.”
I swallowed hard. This sounded out of my league. Revenge? I wondered if the Russian mafia was involved. Definitely out of my league. “I’m not so sure I’m your woman. Where is Jake anyway? I haven’t heard from him.”
“He’s run an errand.”
“Why me and Jake?”
“You make such a nice couple.”
Here we went again. “Please, Opal, let’s leave out the matchmaking, and I’m not trained for cloak and dagger stuff.”
“Hudson and I are sure we know who killed Albert, and she isn’t a very nice person.”