This Wicked Game Read Free Page B

investigation reveals that none of the clients in question have frequented the Guild stores in the city before today.”
    “What was it?” Bridget asked from a chair by the fireplace. “The blacklisted item.”
    Bernard hesitated, and Claire wondered if he would actually say it out loud. Even she knew it would cause panic.
    Bernard continued. “The clients in question each placed large orders which included, among other things, the blood of black
Panthera pardus
.”
    A gasp escaped from the room, followed by an escalating murmur.
    Bernard held up one hand. “Please. I know you’re all alarmed, but we’re here to compare notes so that we can better understand the nature of the orders.”
    “Better
understand
it? What’s to understand?” Julia St. Martin asked. “Black panther’s blood hasn’t been routinely used for at least a century.” She lowered her voice. “And with good reason.”
    Bernard nodded. “Absolutely. But since I have your account of the event at the St. Martin facility, and I have the one phoned in to Estelle and me from the store on Lafayette, let’s hear Claire’s version, as well, shall we?”
    It was a rhetorical question, and Julia sat up straighter, smoothing her skirt like that would eliminate the wrinkles from her pride.
    “Claire.” Bernard waved her forward. “Please.”
    Claire rose reluctantly. Making her way to the fireplace, she was torn between regret that she hadn’t listened to her mother and put on something more “appropriate” than shorts and a tank top and a vague sense of triumph that she’d stood her ground. At least she’d had the sense to twist her hair into a long braid.
    She stood next to Bernard.
    “Please explain what happened when the woman came in,” Bernard coached.
    Claire took a deep breath and recounted the chain of events, starting with the woman’s entrance through the private door and continuing with her order and Claire’s explanation that there would be a delay for the panther’s blood.
    When she was done, she hesitated, thinking about the woman’s use of her name, wondering if it was important enough to mention.
    “Is there anything else?” Estelle prompted. “Anything at all?”
    Sighing, she decided she might as well tell them everything so they could take it from here.
    “The woman knew my name.”
    Her father stood up, shock registering on his face as everyone else talked over each other.
    Bernard held up a hand to quiet them. “What do you mean, Claire?”
    She shrugged. “Right before she left, she called me by my first name.”
    “And you’re sure you’ve never seen her before?” Gabriel Morgan asked.
    Claire nodded, thinking about the woman’s distinctive clothing, her cold, dark eyes. “I think I would have remembered her.”
    “Is there anything else you can tell us about the woman?” Julia demanded. “The other clients who placed orders were men.”
    Claire thought about it. “Not really. I mean, she was pretty and . . . I don’t know, kind of glamorous, I guess.”
    “Pretty and glamorous?” Julia said, disbelieving. “How are we supposed to identify her with
that?
”
    “I don’t know. I’m sorry.” Claire paused. “She did say that she would come back next week, though.”
    “Next week!” Julia exclaimed.
    Claire’s mother turned to Julia. “Claire did the best she could under the circumstances.”
    Noel placed a hand on his wife’s knee. Claire recognized the gesture as one designed to rein in her mother’s notorious temper.
    Good luck with that, Dad
.
    “I know we’re all . . . disturbed by this news,” Bernard said, “but Claire did the only thing she could without raising an alarm. She filled the order without question and went right to Pilar. It’s all any of us could hope for in such a situation.”
    “Wouldn’t it have been better to raise an alarm while she was still there?” Charlie Valcour asked, his pale face and blue eyes calling to mind nothing of the stereotypical