Part 16 (2/2)

I darted into the closest room, which was the sitting room directly off the hallway. Even though I wasn't doing anything sneaky at the moment, the fact that sneaky behavior lurked in my immediate past made me feel guilty.

Which, in turn, made me want to act un-guilty. So I sank into a big, comfy, upholstered chair in front of the fireplace, acting as if I'd spent the entire time the others were away warming the soles of my feet.

Corky sauntered into the room, wagging his tail and looking for love in all the right places. Admiral followed a few seconds later. But after a glance in my direction and a polite wag of his tail, he settled in front of the fireplace, resting his chin on his front paws.

I'd just started to fondle Corky's wonderfully soft ears when I heard the front door open, then a couple of seconds later slam shut. I stood up, planning to put on my best expression of surprise and stroll over to greet whoever had just come in. But then I heard someone say, ”I'm certainly glad all that's over.”

Instantly I froze. Something about that voice sounded off. It took me a second or two to realize that it was Gwennie's voice.

What was odd, however, was that it didn't contain even a trace of a c.o.c.kney accent. In fact, the British accent she was now using sounded decidedly upper crust.

Is it possible she's a fake? I wondered.

”It's always hard being around all of them at the same time.” This time I heard a male voice I immediately recognized as Jives's. At least his accent sounded the same as usual.

Silently, I crept to the other side of the room and positioned myself in the corner, next to the door. Standing there enabled me to peer through the crack between the door and the jamb. For once, I was glad the house was so full of shadows, since it greatly reduced my chances of being spotted.

Sure enough, Gwennie and Jives stood in the front hallway, pulling off rubber boots and shaking out umbrellas.

Gwennie sighed tiredly. ”I'm so glad we'll be done with all of this soon,” she said as she unb.u.t.toned a half-soaked trench coat.

”Me, too,” Jives agreed. ”I've had about enough of the b.u.t.tling business.”

What's this? I thought, frowning in confusion. A career change on the horizon?

”You think it's fun making beds and cleaning up after people?” Gwennie demanded shrilly, still speaking with a British accent that was light-years away on the social scale from the one I'd heard her use up until now.

An explanation came soon enough.

”And I'm really getting tired of speaking in that ridiculous c.o.c.kney accent,” she grumbled. ”I feel like a character in a d.i.c.kens novel. If I hear myself saying 'blimey' one more time, I swear I'm going to shoot myself.”

”Relax,” Jives insisted. A second later he moved into my line of sight, verifying my initial impression. ”At least all those years of studying at that drama school in London turned out to have some use.”

”He-e-ey!” she protested teasingly. ”I was pretty impressive as Hedda Gabler, wasn't I? And the critics loved me as Varya in The Cherry Orchard.” All the lightness went out of her voice as she added, ”At least the ones who bothered to show up.”

”I like to feel my training paid off, as well,” Jives said, sounding a trifle wistful. ”And I'm not talking about the rave reviews I got for my portrayal of Estragon in Waiting for G.o.dot.”

My mouth dropped open.

They're actors! I thought. Which meant, fake accents aside, neither one of them was what they appeared to be.

”We'll find out how good we are at acting soon enough,” Gwennie replied.

I pressed my nose even closer to the doorjamb, hoping she'd expand upon that comment a little.

Instead, she commented, ”The old man got quite a send-off, didn't he?”

”I'll say,” Jives agreed. ”Not that I'd expect anything else, given how important the old codger was.”

”You mean how rich the old codger was,” Gwennie added jokingly.

”Y'got me there,” Jives agreed with a chuckle.

”There must have been a few hundred people at his memorial service,” Gwennie continued. ”Even a few of those wealthy ancients we researched.”

Research? My ears p.r.i.c.ked up like I was one of the dogs.

”I think we got lucky, though,” Jives said. ”With the way things worked out with Linus, I mean.”

”I agree completely,” Gwennie said. ”Still, it was interesting, meeting so many of the other people we initially identified as possibilities. Since we already knew so much about them and all.”

”To tell you the truth, my favorite part of the whole event was watching Brock and Townie,” Jives commented. ”They're pretty good actors themselves.”

”I'll say,” Gwennie said. ”Did you notice the big show they made of not sitting together? You'd never guess the two of them were about to get in bed together--as the saying goes.”

”Missy deserves a round of applause, as well,” Jives noted.

Brock? Townie? Missy? What was up with that? I wondered.

I was dying to know what they were talking about. But given the fact that I was a mere eavesdropper, I wasn't about to have any say in the matter.

The tone of Gwennie's voice changed as she suddenly said, ”Goodness, the place seems so quiet.” With a little laugh, she added, ”I mean, even quieter than usual.”

”Yes, it does feel different with the whole family gone,” Jives agreed. ”It's rather nice, being here all alone, isn't it?”

”I'll say.”

”Too bad everyone else will be back on the next ferry,” he said, his voice growing husky.

”That still gives us a bit of time to ourselves,” Gwennie murmured.

She took a step closer to him, meanwhile letting her coat slip off her shoulders. As it fell to the floor, she put her arms around his neck and planted a big wet kiss on his mouth.

For the second time in less than a minute, my mouth dropped open.

Not only were Jives and Gwennie a couple of fakes, they were a couple!

I watched as she pressed her body against his. By the way he responded--by grabbing her b.u.m, for lack of a better word--I concluded that they had been a couple for some time. After all, they seemed so comfortable with each other.

Unfortunately, Corky chose that moment to seek me out, demanding attention. And he chose to do so by letting out a yelp.

The jig was up. Through my peephole, I saw both Gwennie and Jives turn their heads in my direction. Both of them looked surprised--and not in a good way.

I stepped back quickly, then dashed back to my chair by the fire as quickly as I could. I dropped into it, slumped to one side, and closed my eyes.

A few seconds later, I heard the dull thud of footsteps against the thick, dust-encrusted carpet.

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