Name To a Face Read Free Page B

somesuch.”
    “Nice.”
    “There was a feud between him and Barney’s dad. You know about this too?”
    “Not really. Their dad died before I met Barney. And he doesn’t say much about him. Or his mother. Anyway, what family doesn’t have its feuds?”
    The question reminded Harding how little he really knew about Carol. Not to mention how little
she
knew about
him.
Their affair was sustained by need and habit. Neither had ever used the dreaded L word and they were unlikely to start now. “Well,” he pressed on, “feud there was, over the usual sort of stuff. Gabriel was the younger brother. He never married. Barney’s dad-”
    “Arthur,” Carol interrupted matter-of-factly. “His name was Arthur. And Barney’s mum was called Rose.”
    “Right. OK. Arthur and Rose. They started out their married life in Arthur’s parents’ house, which they took over completely when the old folks died. At that point, Gabriel asked Arthur for something their dad had supposedly promised him but hadn’t actually left him in his will. Arthur didn’t believe any such promise was made. He refused to hand it over, causing a lot of bad blood. And then… it went missing. Stolen by Gabriel, according to Arthur, though Gabriel denied it. There was no proof he’d taken it. It was hardly the sort of thing Arthur could go to the police about. Result? They fell out big time. Never exchanged another word, at any rate not a civil one. Gabriel didn’t even attend Arthur’s funeral. Went on denying theft, perhaps because he didn’t regard it as theft. But he
had
taken something. That’s certain. Because Humphrey’s spotted it among the lots to be auctioned.”
    “And what is it?”
    “Barney said he’d let Humph fill me in.”
    “You mean you don’t get to find out unless you go.”
    “That’s one way to look at it. Humphrey wants Barney to supply the cash to make sure he can buy back whatever it is, no matter what he has to bid for it. Humphrey’s poor as a church mouse, apparently.”
    “Poorer. You should see where he lives. Barney’s tried to help him, but… they’re another pair of brothers who don’t get on.” Carol rolled over and propped her chin on Harding’s shoulder. She gazed at him, her brow furrowed in thought. “Barney’s told me nothing except he needs you to go to Penzance to sort something out with Humph for him. Why the secrecy, I’d like to know. I mean, why does some old argument about a family heirloom matter so much?”
    “I’m not sure it does. Barney’s happy enough to stump up the cash. He just wants me to nursemaid Humphrey during the auction and make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid beforehand.”
    “Such as?”
    “Try to steal the thing back, I suppose.”
    “Well, he’s crazy enough for that. I wish you luck.”
    Harding grinned. “Thanks.”
    “There’s something funny about it all, though. Why’s Barney so set on
you
going?”
    “He said you can’t abide Humphrey.”
    She nodded ruefully. “That’s true.”
    “And he said he could trust me.”
    “Did he?” Carol closed her eyes. “Oh shit.”
    “Don’t let it get to you.” Harding raised his head and kissed her. “It’s a good thing he does, you know.”
    “Yeah.” She opened her eyes again. “I know.”
    “I’ll go, make sure Humphrey’s on his best behaviour, hold his hand at the auction, then leave him beaming over the spoils and jet straight back here.”
    “Sounds easy.”
    “No reason why it shouldn’t be.”
    “Maybe not. But…” She chewed her lip as her mind dwelt on the evident mystery of her husband’s thought processes. “How did Barney react when you told him you’d been to Penzance in August ’ ninety-nine?”
    “He didn’t bat an eyelid. But, then, why should he? It’s just a coincidence that I paid my first visit to the town since childhood the same summer you floated into his life. It’s not even a very big coincidence. Lots of people visited Penzance in August ’