Free Only the Cat Knows by Marian Babson Page B

of duty, but I wasn’t sure I was ready for them yet.
    ‘And how are you this evening, Madame?’ I asked softly.
    ‘I survive.’ She shot me a bleak look. ‘I advise you to do the same.’ She pushed back her chair and rolled away. Richie immediately rose and followed her.
    Her exit passed unremarked. Perhaps it was her usual manner of leaving. She seemed to have eaten most of her meal and no one bothered about desserts around here. If I could manage a trip into town, I was going to lay in a stock of chocolate bars. Man does not live by entrées alone.
    Surprisingly, Ivor was the next to leave. Did that meanhe’d be waiting in ambush for me in the cloister? I decided to join the others for coffee tonight. Let him cool his heels literally in the chill wind that swept along the monks’ walkway.
    On the theory that the description ‘silly little cow’ could best be applied to one of them, I carried my coffee over to the corner where Kiki and Nina were sitting. Was it my imagination that hostile looks seemed to follow me?
    ‘Mind if I join you?’
    There was a flutter of surprise, then agreement. As usual, they were huddled at the back, near the false bookcase that provided their emergency exit. Nina threw an anxious glance towards it as I sat down.
    They both looked much the same as when I had last seen them. No shadows under the eyes, no pallor or nervous twitches. In fact, they looked better than I did — but my appearance was largely due to heavy make-up. They were wearing the minimum.
    ‘You’re looking better,’ Kiki said; the inspection had been mutual. ‘Are you?’
    ‘I think so.’ I smiled wanly, then remembered that I was supposed to be improving enough to wangle a trip to town. ‘I’m feeling a bit stronger … physically, anyway.’
    ‘Oh, good!’ Nina said. ‘Then you must come to tea with me tomorrow and see my studio. You know, you promised you would.’
    ‘Mmm …’ I was sure I hadn’t agreed to anything so definite, but it might not be a bad idea. I had to start moving around and learning more about the place.
    ‘And you, too, of course.’ She looked at Kiki, who seemed no more enthusiastic than I was, but obviously didn’t want to miss anything.
    ‘If you’re sure it’s no trouble …’ I said.
    ‘Oh, none at all,’ Nina assured me. ‘I’ll just let Monica know and she’ll send everything along.’
    ‘Monica is so good about that.’ Was there a trace of irony — mockery — in Kiki’s voice? Her face was expressionless.
    ‘Isn’t she?’ Nina agreed wholeheartedly. ‘It’s so wonderful here. All you have to do is ask for something — and it’s yours! Almost like having a magic genie. This is the perfect place for an artist!’
    ‘Isn’t it?’ Unmistakably, there was a wry twist to Kiki’s mouth.
    A soft riff of melody swirled across the room and I saw that Yvonne had seated herself at the grand piano in the far corner and was moodily picking out one of the songs that had earned her that brief fame. ‘Songs of Yesteryear’ they would be called now.
    Another faint sound behind us brought Kiki to an upright alert position. She didn’t turn, but it was obviously an effort not to. Nina cast a nervous glance over her shoulder, then another at me to see if I’d noticed anything.
    Of course, I hadn’t. I was watching Yvonne raptly, giving no indication that I had heard that faint click of a latch being released on the concealed door, or the other faint click as the door closed again.
    They both relaxed. I hadn’t noticed a thing. Not the heads rigidly refusing to turn, not the tensed muscles of legs that wanted to spring into action. I was as innocent — dumb — as they hoped I would be.
    ‘She’s so talented,’ I purred, all my attention still on Yvonne, who had begun to subvocalize softly along with the music. ‘Such a pity that she, um, retired so early.’
    ‘Isn’t it?’ Kiki’s lips quirked again. ‘And she’s such a sweet person, too.’ The