The Private Eye

size and the colour of my favourite tie, if you want to know.”
    “But I don't have any questions about you.” Maggie angrily crumpled the paper in her hand. “At least not any personal questions.”
    “You never know.” Josh folded his arms behind his head and watched the bright flags of indignation flying in her cheeks. “If you decide you're interested in something more than a business relationship with me, you might suddenly have a lot of questions. Very sensible, these days. A woman can't be too careful, can she?”
    “Apparently not. Look what I got when I tried to do something simple like hire a private investigator. Of all the nerve.”
    “I said the same thing when I read your letter offering me a month's free room and board here at Peregrine Manor. Nerve is something else we have in common, too, although I suspect I've got more of it than you do. Nature of the business I'm in, you know.”
    “I don't doubt that you are an extremely nervy individual, Mr. January.” Maggie turned and stalked toward the door.
    “Maggie?”
    “Yes?” She paused, her hand on the knob.
    “I'll be waiting for you to make that call. I want you to know exactly what you're getting into.”
    “Don't hold your breath.”
    Josh smiled. “But I will be holding my breath, Maggie. Because if you do make that call, I'll know you're personally taking down the Keep Off signs the Colonel posted around you.”
    She stared at him. “You're not really interested in me. Not as a person. You're feeling challenged. That's what it is. Your masculine ego is just acting up because my friends warned you to stay away from me.”
    “They warned me to stay away unless my intentions were honorable”, he corrected softly.
    She sniffed in disdain. “They could hardly be honorable .”
    “You won't know that or anything else about me for certain unless you make the call to McCray. This is the modem age, Maggie. A smart woman checks a man out before she gets involved with him.”
    “I do not intend to get involved with you. Good night, Mr. January. You are, if you don't mind my saying so, very well named. I have never met anyone quite so cold-blooded.”
    “Then you have lived a very sheltered life, Maggie Gladstone.”
    Josh watched with satisfaction as she started to slam the door on her way out of the room. At the last minute she apparently changed her mind, no doubt afraid the noise would be heard down the hall. She closed it very softly with a self-control that spoke volumes.
    She was at least fully aware of him now. Josh decided. As aware of him as he was of her. The month at Peregrine Manor was going to prove interesting.
    After a few minutes he removed the ice from his leg and levered himself carefully up and off the bed. This time he found the steps. Balancing on his good leg, he studied the ornately carved bedpost that had turned so easily beneath his wildly clutching fingers.
    He recalled what Maggie had said about this room having once belonged to her Aunt Agatha.
    Josh took a good grip on the post and slowly turned it counterclockwise. The post squeaked softly in protest and then the entire upper portion came loose.
    Josh lifted that section of post off the joining portion and realized he was looking into a small, hidden “safe.” There was a little jewellery box resting inside the hollowed-out bedpost. He plucked it out and opened it.
    An old-fashioned emerald brooch winked in the light of the bedside lamp.
    Was he a hotshot private eye or what? Just give him a clue and he was a regular Sherlock Homes.
    Grinning to himself. Josh replaced the lid and dropped the box back into the hidden chamber. Then he carefully repositioned the upper section of the bedpost and screwed it back into place.
    There was no point in solving the mysteries of Peregrine Manor too soon, he reminded himself as he got back into bed. He had a month to kill here. A month in which to delve deeply into the mysteries of one Maggie Gladstone, spinster, amateur sleuth and reader of detective novels. He realized he was looking forward to the next four weeks with more enthusiasm than he'd felt about anything in a long, long while.
    Josh went to sleep feeling as if some great weight had begun to be lifted from his shoulders.

Chapter 4

    MAGGIE AWOKE the next morning feeling surprisingly rested and refreshed. She realized that she hadn't been sleeping very well lately. The nightly stress of listening for strange noises, the concern about whether she had