Chapter 29 – Eleanor in the Park

Eleanor had wanted to go on a walk. She had wanted to get back to her normal life. Some part of her longed for it all to not have happened, but seeing Haley at the door had driven reality home to her heart like a well-swung hammer.

She was weary before she reached the front gate. She only got as far as the first bench in the park before she couldn’t bring herself to take another step.

She dropped onto the bench and looked up at the sky.

Close your eyes, she told herself. There’s a breeze. You can smell the plants and the soil.

And Dominic Winfield was dead. Because of her.

“Good morning, my darling.”

Eleanor looked over at the man who had sat down on the other end of the bench. He had dark hair, a furrowed brow, thick spectacles, a cane, and the manner of a pompous professor. She stared at him for a full three seconds. Then she laughed.

“It’s you, isn’t it?” she asked.

“Does that surprise you?”

“I’ve never seen you disguised before. It’s amazing! I never would have recognized you. Not in a hundred years.”

“You flatter me.”

“I have to ask—how, Mr. Penn?”

“Ah, you’re delving into great secrets here…but you did have a beautiful laugh.” He pretended to weigh the two facts, then said, “It isn’t much, really. They do it in the theater all the time.”

“Not like you.”

“I did refine some techniques, that’s true. A little observation. A little experimentation. New tools, new tricks—then voilà! A new face.”

“I think this one suits you.”

He touched his hat and bowed his head. “Thank you for being such an appreciative audience.”

“And I should thank you for the flowers. Haley told me they were from you—or that he suspected they were from you.”

“He said that?”

Eleanor nodded.

Penn looked out over the street. “The inspector’s a good man.”

“He’s in there, right now, talking to my cousin.”

“Oh? I appreciate the warning. He’s gotten faster.”

“Shouldn’t you go?”

“What kind of a fiancé would I be if I didn’t come to see you at a time like this?”

Eleanor’s smile faltered. “You’ve heard.”

“I hear a lot of things. But before anything else, I need to tell you how very sorry I am for what you went through.”

He touched the bandage on her arm, then pulled his hand back.

“If I had any idea that Farnham would try something like that, I never would have written those letters.”

“It wasn’t your fault. Farnham did this to me. Not you. And he paid for it.”

“But I played a part in what happened, and for that, I beg your forgiveness.”

“Freely given.”

“Thank you. May I ask how you’re doing?”

“I’m afraid that isn’t an easy question to answer.”

“I have time—at least, until that door opens.” He nodded to the Aubrey-Serrs residence. “Then I may have to leave. Rather quickly.”

“My arms itch. I didn’t know the wounds would itch as they heal. It’s maddening. And my cheek and jaw are sore. Otherwise I’m supposed to be fine.”

“Supposed to be?”

“I’m tired, Mr. Penn. I’m very tired, and there’s no one I can ask to forgive me for my part in Dominic’s death.”

Penn wagged his finger. “Oh, no. That’s not how this works, my beloved. A few strict-minded people might argue that my harassing your father with those letters and breaking into your house was wrong. As well as stealing from Farnham. And being a thief in the first place.” He shrugged. “Anyway, I did something wrong, and it led to you being hurt. What did you do wrong?”

“I can see your point, but emotions rarely care about logic.”

“That’s all right. I don’t think logic cares all that much about emotion.”

Eleanor chuckled, but Penn had no doubt that it was born more from her grief than from his joke. “It doesn’t. Logic is a heartless little thing.”

Penn stared at her for a moment, then looked away. “So what can you tell me about Winfield’s murder?”

“Why do you want to know?”

“Come now. Don’t you want to know who did it?”

“I don’t know anymore,” Eleanor said. “I thought I wanted to know who sent those invitations, but I never would have dreamed it was Dominic. It seems so unlike him. Somehow, that scares me.”

Penn’s heart ached when he saw the emotion on her face.

“I don’t blame you for feeling scared,” he said. “This joke has gone much too far. Let’s solve it and end all this. You and me.”

“What about Inspector Haley?”

“I have no doubt that interfering twerp will find some way to involve himself, but do we really want to leave it to him? I mean, the man can’t even catch one little thief!”

At last a smile. Even if it was a small one.

He went on, “What do you say? Or would you rather sit around feeling scared?”

“All right, Mr. Penn. You win. What do we do to solve this?”

“What’s Haley told you about the case?”

Eleanor relayed all the facts that Haley had told her the previous evening. Penn tried to act as if he hadn’t heard them all before. When she finished, he waited, but she only looked at him.

“And?” he prompted.

“That’s everything.”

“That can’t be it. What did he tell you this morning?”

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

Lady Serrs looked away. “We didn’t talk this morning.”

“Didn’t talk?—I thought you said he was at your house!”

“He is. I also told you he was there to talk to my cousin.”

“Eleanor, darling, I thought that you, of all people, would have asked him a few questions.”

“It’s a little hard for me to talk to Inspector Haley right now. I don’t know what to say to him.”

“Do you need to say something?”

“I think I might have upset him.”

“You?” Penn couldn’t keep the incredulity out of his voice.

“Yesterday I had to admit something rather ugly about myself.”

Penn blinked. As Eleanor talked, the thief scanned his memory for any clue of what she might be referring to.

“It was humiliating,” she muttered. “I’m afraid I was rude to him.”

“Was I there for that conversation?”

“What?”

“After the hospital, did he go to your house?”

“No.” Eleanor was now at least as confused as Penn.

“I see. And…you’re worried that you upset him?”

She nodded.

Penn put a hand to his forehead. The woman could be absolutely astounding in so many ways.

“Eleanor, I really don’t think Haley’s upset with you.”

“How could you know? You weren’t there.”

There was a slight cough from the thief. “You know, if you’re worried about it, I have a fast and easy way for you to solve all this.”

“How?”

“Smile at him.”

“What?”

“Smile at him—you know, like you’re happy to see him.”

“Are you insane? How would that help?”

“Trust me on this one.”

Eleanor started fidgeting with her fingers. “I don’t know if I can. I’m not very good at faking a smile.”

“What! You’re a woman, aren’t you? And you can’t smile on command? Don’t you know that it’s a lady’s second most devastating weapon?”

“What’s the first?”

“Tears. But you didn’t hear that from me.”