The Unsuspected Read Free Page A

to this myself," he said.
     
    Jane moaned. She took hold of his hand, but he twisted it around and patted hers reassuringly. "We're going to have to assume he did it," he said in a moment. "Because if he really did, in fact, in cold blood, then this Grandison is dangerous."
     
    Jane agreed. "He's dangerous."
     
    The waiter came with their new order. Francis bit into the sandwich. They were both hungry, suddenly.
     
    "Could I get at those girls?" he asked her.
     
    "Mathilda's drowned," said Jane, with her mouth full.
     
    "She's what? How?"
     
    Jane read his mind. "Oh, no, Grandy couldn't have had anything to do with it. She started out for Bermuda and the ship went down—oh, five weeks ago. They haven't heard a thing since."
     
    "So she's drowned. That's the rich one?"
     
    "Uh-huh."
     
    "She was lost before this happened to Rosaleen?"
     
    "Uh-huh."
     
    "Who gets her dough?"
     
    "He does."
     
    "Grandison?"
     
    "Yes, that's her will. Of course, they keep hoping Mathilda's still alive. They can't do anything about the money yet."
     
    "Meanwhile, he still controls it?"
     
    "Of course."
     
    Francis thought awhile. "How can I get to Althea?"
     
    "What do you mean, get to her?"
     
    "Talk to her. Get to know her, Well enough to ask a lot of interesting questions.”
     
    "You can't," said Jane. "There's no way." He looked at her. "Listen, Fran; in the first place, she's a bride. She and Oliver are still honeymooning. She sticks around their crowd, besides, and it's a closed crowd. Nobody could get in."
     
    "Want to bet?"
     
    "No, because I know. Grandy'd never bother with somebody just nice and ordinary and civilized and in between, like you, Fran. Somebody famous, maybe. Or somebody very humble. But not you. And, you see, if he didn't take you up, you'd never get to Althea."
     
    "Is that so?" said Francis with a kind of mild surprise. "Could I get in there as a servant? I've never tried, but I don't doubt I could be a butler, for instance."
     
    "No servants."
     
    "No servants at all!"
     
    "Not a one. He doesn't believe in them. He says they'd limit his complete freedom."
     
    "No chauffeur, even?"
     
    "Oh, no. He drives himself around in an old jalopy. He wears an old brown hat."
     
    "I could be the gas man."
     
    "Where would that get you?"
     
    "Nowhere," he admitted. He drummed his fingers on the table.
     
    "Fran," she said, "remember, I'm in there, after all."
     
    "You lie low, Auntie Jane." He smiled. The absurdity of their relationship amused him once more. His father's baby sister, Jane was. His cute little Aunt Jane. "You keep your little old nose out of this. In fact, maybe you'd better not go back at all."
     
    "Oh, don't worry. He thinks I'm a dumb blonde."
     
    "Lots of people do, and they're so wrong," said Francis. "How am I going to get in there? Couldn't I pretend to be some famous character?"
     
    "I doubt if you could hoax him. He's such a shrewd old—"
     
    "Never mind. Would it be possible for you to lure Althea out to meet me?"
     
    "Althea thinks the sun rises and sets with her Grandy," Jane warned him
     
    "How about this Oliver? What kind of guy is he?"
     
    Jane wrinkled her nose. "Oh, he's all right. He's pleasant. He's the kind of man who understands women's hats."
     
    "Lord."
     
    "Of course, he thinks Grandy s practically God. They all do "
     
    "Maybe Grandy does," said Francis grimly.
     
    They both drank some coffee. He tried again. "Could I hire myself out to that lawyer, get into his office?"
     
    "I don't know, Fran, I don't think you'd find anything. Surely he wouldn't let there be records."
     
    Francis shook his head. "How did Rosaleen find out?"
     
    Jane looked blank.
     
    "Instinct tells me I've got to get to know Althea," he insisted.
     
    "But, Fran, how could I lure her out? What could I say? 'Come and meet somebody who thinks your guardian is a stinker'? And if you hinted anything like that, shed go straight back to Grandy—"
     
    "Then you mustn't have