Anything Goes

well have failed to even notice Lily.
    Oh, well, he thought as he polished off the last of his hot lettuce salad, there was no going back and redoing the past. And having started telling Lily about the guests on the boat, he had obligated himself to provide an honest account of the rest of them as well. Frankly, he didn’t believe either murder would ever be solved because the current chief of police was such a complete idiot. But Lily, and by extension, Robert, deserved to know as much as a lot of other people already did about the background.
    “Miss Brewster, might I have a bit of your time after luncheon?“ he asked.
     
    Lily took Robert aside and said, “Do you want to hear the rest of what Mr. Prinney has to say?“
    “I haven’t even got the full lowdown on what he’s already told you,“ Robert said. “I’ll wait for the summary and translation of the whole thing, if you don’t mind. Besides, I think I make Mr. Prinney nervous.”
    Lily’s as yet unnamed dog was patrolling under the dining room table for any piece of food that might have been dropped. Lily gave a low whistle and told the dog to come along.
    “I feel like this is one of those continuing movies,“ Lily said, as she sat down across from Mr. Prinney. “The ones that end with someone in the lion pit and you have to wait until the next week to see how he gets out.”
    Mr. Prinney smiled slightly. “I’m not quite certain why I’m telling you all this, you know.“
    “I’m not either,“ Lily admitted. “But I have a great need to know. What about Major Winslow? He was on the boat, too. Could he have been the person Uncle Horatio was angry with?”
    Prinney shook his head. “I wouldn’t suppose so. Most unlikely. Your uncle was a very... let us say ‘restrained’ individual. But if such a man can have a ‘best friend,’ Winslow was his.“
    “That’s hard to imagine,“ Lily said.
    “You don’t like him?“
    “He’s a—a pontificator. Always making pronouncements instead of conversation.“
    “Much like your uncle. That may have been why they got along so well,“ Prinney said. “They were both highly successful men and appeared to hold similar opinions on property. Later on, I’ll start going over all the properties with you. Your uncle was in various partnerships with a number of other wealthy men, but he always insisted on being the majority owner. With Major Winslow, he didn’t always follow that rule. I think that indicated a great trust on his part.“
    “But all the worse if Major Winslow had done something he didn’t like.“
    “That might be true, except that after the Crash, they had far fewer dealings with property. Your uncle felt it was the best time to invest in land and buildings. So many of them were going so extraordinarily cheaply due to the owners’ misfortunes.”
    Lily considered whether to pass this information along to Robert. She didn’t care for the theory of shortchanging people who were in bad circumstances. “Major Winslow didn’t agree?“
    “Apparently not. I’m not in his confidence, of course, so I don’t know if he found the practice distasteful on moral grounds or whether he just felt it was a good time to hang onto what he had and not go into more speculative investments with partners until the economy of the nation improved. If it ever will.”
    Lily was tempted to pursue this question. She’d been vaguely wondering if, after serving their ten years at Grace and Favor, they’d find that neither the house nor the other investments would be worth anything at all. If Charles Locke was right about the necessity of a new Democratic administration and it didn’t happen, she might be wearing a babushka and learning Russian in ten years.
    But this wasn’t the time to discuss that. Nor would Mr. Prinney be likely to have a helpful opinion.
    “What about Cousin Claude?“ she asked.
    Mr. Prinney leaned back in his chair and sighed. “Your cousin...“ he said, clearing his throat. “Your cousin is not someone I enjoy talking about. He had visited often over the years after your uncle moved here. And presumably before that as well.“
    “You don’t like Claude, do you?“ Lily said bluntly.
    Mr. Prinney thought for a moment. “No, I have to admit I don’t. But I try to be fair. Though I don’t know him well, he’s basically a rather stupid man, and a greedy one.“
    “That sounds like a fair assessment to me,“ Lily said with a smile.
    “He must have his good