Someone to watch over me

of the mansion smelled divinely of another of Mrs. Prinney’s Dutch meals: a creamy cold leek soup and homemade cheesey crackers for starters, a rich rabbit stew with paper-thin onions adorning the top of the bowl, and an enormous salad with a sweet raspberry dressing.
    Jack and Robert had settled in for drinks in the library. A slight breeze scented with something floral was coming in from the little balcony beyond the open French doors, mixing wonderfully with the smells of the food being prepared. “Have you heard about our murder yet?“ Robert asked.
    “The man in the icehouse? Of course,“ Jack said, sounding preoccupied.
    “No, unfortunately that’s a bit on hold. The whole of the Albany police department is looking for some gangster who’s rumored to be in the area. Legs Diamond, maybe.“
    “Legs Diamond was killed last month,“ Jack said.
    “That must be why he came to mind. Maybe it was Pretty Boy Floyd or another one. Didn’t your cousin Ralph tell you about Donald Anderson?“
    “He didn’t say a word. Who’s Donald Anderson?“
    “Oh, you’ve seen him in town,“ Robert stretched his legs out and lighted a Cuban cigar. “The guy who went around looking for work in a suit and tie, carrying a satchel.”
    Jack nodded. “He was murdered?”
    Robert leaned forward. “That’s a bit blasé. It doesn’t interest you? You’re the newspaper editor. He was a longtime local.“
    “I’ll have to get the details for next Thursday’s issue. Monday’s is already at the printer.”
    Robert raised an eyebrow. He hadn’t seen a draft of the columns.
    “That’s what I came to talk about. We’ll wait for Lily, though.“
    “You’ll wait for me? Why?“ Lily said, entering the library with Agatha and an old hairbrush to comb out the burrs she’d gotten exploring the back of the icehouse. “Oh, Robert, put that cigar out. It’s stinking up the room and will make my hair smell like a tavern.”
    Jack had had enough. He stood up and said defiantly, “I’ve sent Monday’s text to the printer.“
    “Oh?“ Lily said. “I don’t remember seeing it.“
    “And you won’t. I’ve submitted it to you and Robert for almost a year now. It’s time to let me do my job without interference. That’s why you hire an editor. To use his own judgment.“
    “We’ve never questioned your judgment, I might remind you,“ Lily said, putting down the brush and glaring at him.
    “Any time you do, you can fire me. I know that, and you do too. So let’s stop making me wait for your opinions.”
    Robert and Lily exchanged a glance. Lily said, “Robert, remember that conversation we had the other day, about the Russian nobility? I’ve already described our situation to four strangers.“ He was obediently putting out the cigar carefully so he didn’t lose a single crumb of it.
    Jack looked at both of them as if they’d gone utterly mad. Russian nobility?
    “Good for you, Lily,“ Robert crowed, throwing in a little applause. With a nearly maniacal grin, he went on. “Okay, Jack, here’s a dose of the truth, and the whole truth. Lily and I don’t own the newspaper. We don’t own a damned thing. Not this mansion. Not even the Duesie.“
    “That’s a ridiculous thing to say,“ Jack said. He’d had a hard week, and his patience was as fragile as a cobweb in a storm.
    “It’s true,“ Lily chimed in. “Uncle Horatio’s will gave us a place to stay, nothing else. Actually, we have to live here for ten years to inherit anything.
    Mr. Prinney controls the estate. We’ve been living a lie for a year, and we’re sick and tired of it.”
    Jack sat down in the chair heavily. “Why have you kept this secret? You mean I really work for Elgin Prinney?“
    “No, you work for Uncle Horatio’s estate,“ Lily said. “But Mr. Prinney is fully responsible for it. So I guess you could look at it that way.”
    Robert chimed in. “The answer to your other question is that we were embarrassed by being poverty-stricken, like nearly a third of the country is now. It just hit us earlier. We had no idea we’d become the norm instead of the exception.“
    “You don’t expect me to believe this, do you?“ Jack asked.
    “You have to,“ Robert said. “It’s God’s own truth.”
    Lily put down the brush, which made Agatha think she might escape, until Lily put a heavy hand on her. “Oh, Robert. We forgot to tell Mr. Prinney we were going to spill the beans.“
    “I don’t think he’ll care,“ Robert