Lilian Jackson Braun - Cat 12 Who Knew A Cardinal

"Take the lens covers off, dear. It's in that big bush."

"There are lots of big bushes."

"Too late. It flew away." She was unpacking a paper tablecover and napkins. "It's breezier than I anticipated. We may have trouble anchoring these... Do you like deviled eggs?"

"With or without mashed eggshells?"

"Really, Qwill! You're slightly impossible today. By the way," she added with raised eyebrows, "I hear you spent the day at the VanBrook house with Susan Exbridge yesterday."

"Has Dear Heart been prowling with her telescope?"

"Quick! There's a male goldfinch!"

"Where?" He reached for the glasses again.

"On that wild cherry branch. He has a lovely song, almost like a canary."

"I don't hear it."

"He's stopped singing." Polly poured tomato juice into paper cups. "What were you doing at VanBrook's house?" she persisted. "Or shouldn't I ask?"

"I was helping Susan and the attorney from Lockmaster to open sealed boxes said to contain books. She's been commissioned to liquidate the estate."

"And what did you find in the boxes?"

"Books... but there's also some valuable Oriental art."

"We were all delighted to read in the paper that he bequeathed everything to the Pickax schools... Help yourself to sandwiches, Qwill."

He loaded a limp paper plate. with moist tuna sandwiches and hard-cooked eggs with moist stuffing, neither of which was compatible with an oversized moustache. "VanBrook was a complex character," he said. "I'd like to delve into his past and write a book."

"I hear his credentials were falsified."

"Where did you hear that?"

Polly shrugged. "The story is going around."

"I suspect he was a self-educated genius," said Qwilleran. "He had a couple of aliases, and that's probably why he avoided personal publicity in my column. He was in hiding - or in trouble... Hey!" A sudden gust of wind caught his paper plate and conveyed it across the river like a flying carpet, carrying part of a stuffed egg. "VanBrook spoke Japanese and was familiar with Asia. He might have tricked Americans into investing in fictitious enterprises in Japan."

"Isn't that rather a bizarre venture for a school principal?"

"Not for VanBrook." Qwilleran was thinking of some flimsy business agreements he had found in Memoirs of a Merry Milkmaid. He was thinking of the secret of the red dot. He had no intention, however, of telling Polly that books in fifty-two cartons were leaved with paper money - counterfeit paper money.

"Listen to that blue jay," she said. "Now there's a bird with decent visibility and audibility!" he said. "I'm for blue jays and cardinals. Face it, Polly. I can identify a split infinitive or dangling participle or hyphenated neologism, but I'm not equipped to spot a tufted titmouse or yellow-bellied sapsucker."

"Are you ready for coffee?" she asked, uncorking a Thermos bottle. "And I made chocolate brownies."

After several brownies Qwilleran was, feeling more agreeable. In a mellow mood he murmured, "This is supposed to be our last warm weekend."

"I've enjoyed our picnic," she said. "I've enjoyed every minute of it."

"So have I. We belong together, Polly."

"I'm happiest when I'm with you, Qwill."

"Say something from Shakespeare."

"My bounty is as boundless as the sea, my love as deep. The more I give to thee, the more I have, for both are infinite."

Qwilleran reached across the table and grasped her hand - the one with the birthstone ring he had given her. With brooding eyes intent on her face he said, "I want to ask a question, Polly."

There was a breathy pause as she smiled and waited for the question.

"What did you and Steve talk about at the wedding?" Up to that moment there had been no reference to Polly's brief fling with the trainer, nor had the subject of his arrest been mentioned.

Taking a moment to collect herself and rearrange her facial expression, she said, "We talked about horses, and my interest in books, and the Stablechat, and his allergy, but mostly horses. Shirley had told him about you, and I elaborated on the generous things you and the K Fund have done for Moose County. When I heard about his arrest, I wondered if he had been using me for an alibi on the night of the murder."

"No, the timing was off. More likely he was trying to establish a financial connection. The Amberton Farm is looking for an angel."

"When did you first suspect him, Qwill?"

"When he came to the barn to talk about the farm last Wednesday, He asked what happened to my trees in the orchard. If he hadn't been there before, how would he have known the orchard had been cleaned out? Also, it looked as if some work had been done on the righthand side of his van, at the approximate height of my mailbox, but I couldn't be sure. Nothing really clicked until Koko found a file of Van Brook's personal papers. There were two wills: one dated recently, naming Pickax as the beneficiary, and a prior will naming Steve's stable boy as the sole heir."

Polly frowned. "Stableboy?"