Bonnie nods. “Okay, okay.”
She looks at Felicity and Tony.
“Thank you.”
“Thank you, Bonnie,” says Felicity. “It’s going to be fun.”
“But you two have got nothing out of this whole thing?”
Felicity and Tony look at each other, with a shrug from him and a giggle from her.
99
“A light red, I think,” says Jeff. “With monkfish.”
“No, white,” says Henk. “A rich white with monkfish.”
“Red would be more usual,” says Jeff, running his finger down the list of red wines in the restaurant of The Wilberforce.
“With monkfish?” says Henk. “Goodness me, Jeff, what a muddle you are getting yourself into.”
“Red, red, red,” says Jeff, reading down the menu.
“Tell me when you get to the whites,” says Henk.
“Red,” says Jeff.
“White,” says Henk.
“Red,” says Jeff.
“I will give you gentlemen a moment to discuss,” says the porter, waiting patiently. He then looks at Max’s feet. “And I see that sir has invested in some shoes.”
“Calfskin,” says Max. “You see many calfskin shoes?”
“Oh, plenty, sir,” says the porter. “Most people just say ‘leather,’ though.”
The porter leaves the three men alone.
“You two back together, then?” says Max.
“I don’t see why not,” says Henk. “Our suspicions got the better of us.”
Max nods. “And then I caught Susan Knox for you.”
“Well, she used your name to cover up what she was doing,” says Jeff, his nose wrinkling.
“Come now, Jeff,” says Henk, putting his hand on Jeff’s arm. “Let Max speak.”
“Yep, she messed with the wrong dude,” says Max. “You shoot for Max Highfield, you’d best not miss.”
“It was Amy Wheeler who caught her, rea—” starts Henk.
“Come now, Henk,” says Jeff. “Let Max speak.”
“It was fine work, Max,” says Henk. “Fine work.”
“And she used the name ‘Joe Blow’ too,” says Max. “From The Rose of Sarasota. People love that movie.”
“Although chosen for its obscurity, I think,” says Jeff.
“Did I tell you I’m going to be in a movie about money-smuggling?” Max says.
“Rosie D’Antonio’s movie?” Jeff asks.
“Yep,” says Max. “So weird, it’s just like what happened.”
Jeff and Henk look at each other. Let the man speak.
“The last mystery to solve is why someone has been sending me death threats,” says Max.
“Henk always used to do that with new clients,” says Jeff. “So he could up the price when they were nice and terrified.”
“Yeah,” says Max. “In this case a mystery, though.”
“And one we may never solve,” says Henk. “Any recently?”
“None,” says Max.
