“Might she have had time to open it?”
“Possibly; my driver’s license was inside, and some credit cards.”
“I see.”
“I’m beginning to see, too, I think,” she said. “It’s hard to go anywhere without someone knowing, isn’t it?”
“It is. With that in mind, can you think of anyone else who might have known?”
“I can’t think of anyone else.”
“Bill Eggers?”
“No; I told him nothing.”
“Let’s look at the Saint Bart’s end, then.”
“How do you mean?”
“In the same way that certain people in New York knew you were remaining in the city, certain people in Saint Bart’s would have known of your absence there.”
“Oh, I see. Well, certainly my, ah, putative host, the Duke, knew of my absence, though he didn’t know why. The staff at the house would have known I was not there, had anyone asked. They would have known about my message on the answering machine, conceivably.”
“Was the Duke in residence at that time?”
“No, he was in London. I believe he’s in Saint Bart’s this week.”
“I think you might call him and ask if anyone inquired about your presence or absence there during the time you were at the Trent.”
“Good idea,” she said, making a mental note.
“Have you visited the Duke’s house before?”
“Twice.”
“How many staff?”
“A butler, a housekeeper, three maids, and a cook and kitchen staff. Oh, a driver. They’ve all been with the Duke for years, and he made a point of their discretion.”
“Good.”
He was very thorough, Amanda thought, and she liked that. She liked his looks, too – tall, slender, blond hair going gray. She liked the good suit and shirt – not custom-made, perhaps, but fine quality. She liked the house. She could make this man very well known, if she chose to. He was the sort of man she might like to be seen with. She would think about that.
“You would have made a good police detective,” Stone said.
Her eyebrows went up. “Why do you think so?”
“You’re very observant, very analytical,” he replied. “At least as much so as I.”
“Thank you,” she said, smiling. “Only an observant person would see that.”
“Amanda, I think you may have it in you to solve this mystery without my help. Certainly you know the people involved better than I. You know who might wish to hurt you.”
Amanda laughed ruefully. “They are legion,” she said. “In my business I make enemies every week, even though I try very hard not to.”
“I can see how it might be difficult not to make enemies.”
“Not difficult, impossible. I run the most innocuous item about someone’s marriage or divorce and, at the very least, I’m perceived as having taken sides in the matter, sometimes by both parties.”