Anything Goes

dinghy,“ Robert reminded her. Jack said, “They thought so. But nobody would swear to it. It was all too fast and chaotic.“
    “So, is there anyone else on the list of suspects?“ Robert asked.
    Jack hesitated for a little too long before saying, “Yes.“
    “Who?“ Lily inquired.
    “You two,“ Jack said.
    Robert slammed on the brakes so hard he nearly flung them all over the hood.
    “Lily and I?“ he exclaimed.
    “Afraid so,“ Jack said. “After all, you turned out to be his heirs, not your Cousin Claude. That gives you the best motive.“
    “But we didn’t know we were his heirs and didn’t even hear about his death until much later,“ Lily said.
    “There’s nothing but your word for that,“ Jack said, slightly apologetically.
    “Not to mention that we weren’t on the boat,“ Robert said.
    “No, but you could have hired someone to do the actual deed.”
    Lily laughed. “Oh, sure we could.“ She was about to add that they couldn’t have paid for a newspaper, much less a hired killer, but thought better of it.
    “Or you could have come to the boatyard and done something to the boat that would weaken the timbers, making it possible the boat would have sunk under even the slightest stress,“ Jack said.
    “You can’t possibly believe that,“ Lily said, near to tears of outrage.
    “I don’t believe it for a minute,“ Jack said, blushing bright red. “But you wanted to know what I found out and it didn’t seem right not to tell you everything I’ve heard talked about.“
    “Are we still suspects?“ Robert asked.
    “I think so,“ Jack admitted.
    “But nobody’s questioned us,“ Lily said. “We haven’t had a chance to clear ourselves.“
    “The police chief will get around to you once you’re settled in,“ Jack said. “You can prove you weren’t ever here until Mr. Prinney located you, can’t you?“
    “How can anybody prove they weren’t somewhere?“ Robert snapped. “You can only prove where you were.”
    He restarted the Duesie and they rode in utter silence back to the ice house where Jack had left his bicycle.
    Jack got out of the automobile, mumbling vague apologies which neither Robert nor Lily could manage to respond to. “Listen,“ Jack said, “if—I mean, since you didn’t have anything to do with your uncle’s death—”
    He quailed at the furious look Lily gave him, but bravely plowed on. “There can’t be any proof. And nothing bad could happen to you.“
    “Except we’d live here among people who’d point at us as the niece and nephew who might have killed their uncle and got away with it,“ Lily said.
    “But you don’t have to stay in Voorburg,“ Jack said. “Sell the place or rent it and go somewhere else.”
    Lily and Robert exchanged a look. “We can’t do that,“ Lily said firmly.
    Then with a sigh, she added, “You were right to tell us the truth, Mr. Summer.”
    She looked a question at Robert, who nodded and said, “Yes, tell him. Tit for tat and all that.”
    Lily repeated what they’d learned from Mr. Prinney about the nature of the injury and the lack of evidence.
     

Chapter 12
     
    Robert pulled off the road about halfway up the hill to Grace and Favor, turned off the engine and looked at Lily.
    “So?“ he said.
    “So what?“
    “We’ve been trifling with Uncle Horatio’s death, thinking it was sort of a lark,“ Robert said. “Something to contemplate during the long boring evenings. Now it suddenly looks like we’re suspects.”
    Lily nodded. “I hate this. Small towns are even more gossipy than big cities. If Jack’s cousin, the part-time deputy, will shoot off his mouth to Jack, he’ll tell everybody. We’ll be the local Lizzie Bor-dens. We’ll never make any friends or be trusted here.“
    “You want to give it up? Go back to the City and let Claude and the animal lovers have Grace and Favor?”
    Lily glared at him. “I certainly do not! I’d throw myself in the river before I’d go back to the job at the bank. Even if I could get the job back, which is impossible anyway. No, Robert, we have to start taking this seriously. We have to prove who killed Un- cle Horatio before he goes after someone else—like us, for example.“
    “And how do you propose doing that, my dear Lily?“
    “I don’t know... yet. We don’t know enough. But lots of other people do. Mimi knows something and isn’t talking. I’m sure of it. And Cousin Claude was suspiciously vague as well. We have to pry more