twenty-six

“I wouldn’t take what my mother says too seriously,” Christina said with an apologetic smile. “As you could probably tell, she hated Melanie. Absolutely hated her. Melanie could be difficult at times, I grant you, but she wasn’t a monster.”

“Are you kidding me?” Mandy said in real surprise. “She was a first-class bitch! Why are you defending her?”

“I’m not defending her,” Christina answered. “I’m just saying that she wasn’t as bad as you’re making her out to be.”

“We are talking about Melanie Summers, correct?” Mandy asked.

Christina opened her mouth to reply but closed it when she noticed that her assistant had come out to the terrace. “Ms. Franklin,” the woman said in a nervous voice, “I’m sorry to interrupt, but there’s a detective here to see you. He says that it’s important that he speak with you.”

Christina’s face paled and her eyes grew wide. She threw a worried glance at Sebastian who gave her a nod of reassurance. “Thank you, Ann,” she finally said. “Please have him come out here.”

Ann nodded and disappeared back into the house. Nigel and I took our cue to leave. “We should be going,” I said. “Thank you again for lunch and for taking the time to talk to us.”

“It was my pleasure, although I don’t think I was of much help,” Christina said, rising as well. “But please keep me posted on your employee.”

“I definitely will,” I said. Nigel and I said our good-byes and were heading back into the house when Detective Brady came out onto the patio. Seeing me, he came to a sudden stop. He did not appear happy to see me.

“Good afternoon, Detective Brady,” I said with a smile. “How nice to see you again.”

“I didn’t know you were here,” he said, his mouth pulling down into a frown.

“Well, we’ll be sure to add that to the list,” Nigel said, as he put his hand on the small of my back and began to steer me away.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Detective Brady demanded.

Nigel paused and glanced back over his shoulder with a sigh. “Okay,” he said in an indulgent tone, “We’ll add that one too, but I’ve got to warn you—the list of thiings you don’t know is getting pretty long.”