Anything Goes

come in the front door, prowled around the house looking for Mimi’s room and picked up the scarf for some reason. Nothing had been locked up because nobody had been able to find keys to anything but the French doors in the library. He might have latched onto the scarf to strangle Mimi when he found her. No, Mimi was his ticket to the money he thought she deserved. He wouldn’t have killed her. But he might have pretended he was going to if she didn’t cooperate.
    Lily shook her head. That was absurd. Had he come to the house with the purpose of threatening Mimi, he’d have brought the means of the threat along with him. A knife or a gun or even a rope.
    Lily was still standing in the front hall, pondering the scarf mystery and only confusing herself, when she heard a car pull up in. front. It was Mr. Prinney, back from mailing his letters. But he had two workmen with him.
    “That’s the tree,“ he was saying to them as they got out. “I’m sure it’s diseased and might be dangerous. Look at all the dead limbs up high there. Start at the top, dropping the limbs carefully, then take the trunk in sections so it doesn’t fall toward the house.”
    The workmen got their tools out of the trunk and one started climbing the tree.
    “Mr. Prinney,“ Lily said. “Might we continue our conversation?“
    “Not quite yet. I want to supervise this. I don’t want them putting a limb through a window. But there is something I want to give you. Come to my den.”
    Lily followed along and waited while Mr. Prinney unlocked a drawer in his desk and removed a thick vellum envelope. He tapped it against his hand, thinking for a moment, then said, “Your uncle left a letter. He said I was to give it to you and your brother if and when I felt the time was right.“
    “A letter to us? Why didn’t he mail it?“
    “Because he lost track of where you were. You see, he had a bad spell shortly after your father died. The flu. A pretty bad case. The experience scared him into reevaluating his holdings and his will. He had originally left everything to your Cousin Claude and to charity. But, as with many men of his age, when he became ill, he started thinking about the rest of his family. He had a detective find you two.“
    “A detective! He spied on us?”
    Prinney shook his head. “He wanted to know about you, but not directly. It was his way. He knew, though he didn’t tell me until this letter was written, that you and your brother had been left in dire straits financially. He had you watched for a while, then you moved and the detective lost track of you. That’s why I had to put an advertisement in the paper asking you to contact me.“
    “But why—“
    “The letter explains it all. I’m not sure I should be giving it to you, but he did leave it to my judgment and I suspect this is the right time. Now I must get back outside to keep an eye on the men cutting down that tree.”
    Lily took the letter to her room to read it in privacy. The dog followed her and went to sleep in a spot of sunlight. Lily sat down at the dressing table and simply looked at the envelope for a long time, vaguely fearful of what it might contain. From what she’d learned of this virtually unknown uncle, she judged him to be a harsh, blunt man. And now, a sneaky one who had set a detective to spy on her and Robert. He knew they were destitute and made no offer to help—not that they would probably have been convinced to live on his charity. She wasn’t sure she wanted to know what he had to say. It might be ugly. The letter might include even more restrictions on them.
    She’d gone so far as to open a dressing table drawer to put the letter away, unread, when she realized it would haunt her until she faced up to its contents.
    The envelope wasn’t sealed. She pulled out two thick, expensive pieces of matching paper and was surprised at the boldness of the handwriting. It was spiky and done with a thick-nibbed pen. The letter was dated in January of 1931, six months or so before Uncle Horatio’s death.
     
    For Lily and Robert Brewster,
    I’m sure if Elgin Prinney has been able to find you and explain your inheritance, you are wondering why I set things up for you as I did.
    There were several reasons. The first was because Lily sent me Christmas cards with pleasant notes included. I was remembered with courtesy. This is a good quality in a young woman.
    Second, because when your father left you penniless, I took care to see how you