Free Drowning Pool (Miss Henry Mysteries) by Melanie Jackson Page A

had followed her. She liked him better than von Hayek, even if he was suspicious of her.
    “Well, Miss Henry, he is a death god, the one who carried off your pregnant victim, in fact. Perhaps he dragged her down into this well. The water supplies for the castle and pozas connect somewhere in an underground aquifer.”
    “What a ghastly thought.”
    “You said that you wanted to see him. The god heard your prayer and answered.”
    “I think I’ve changed my mind.” Having lost the chance to pretend that she wasn’t really interested in architecture and anything else that might be hiding in the overgrown gardens, she decided the next best tactic was to pretend to be interested in everything. “Would you mind if I sketched him while I am here?” she asked , pulling out her notebook. “Oh, and could you tell me if this is actually a Quetzal bird? He is such a handsome fellow.”
    Juliet showed him the drawing she had made of the exotic bird she had seen in the deserted garden when she looked out her window that morning. It had a slight air of caricature because she was thinking about using it on a t-shirt.
    Henrik relaxed slightly as he studied her sketch.
    “So you have been out drawing?” He didn’t answer the question about the bird’s species. Probably because he didn’t know. Sacrificial weapons, not animals, were his thing.
    Von Hayek turned a page and found her lizard. Juliet was glad that she had taken the time to draw a few things in her sketch book besides the maps of the grounds at the very back.
    “Oh yes. Animals are my favorite , but you have some beautiful flowers here as well. That wisteria in the courtyard is magnificent.”
    Not as magnificent as the one in the abandoned garden with the bricked up gateway , but there was no need to admit being there in case it was hiding something. She turned the page of the notebook and showed him a rough sketch of a vine with some kind of flower on it. Juliet thought maybe it was some kind of mandevilla.
    “Very nice.”
    Obviously he did not know wisteria from milkweed, but he apparently found her explanation for wandering satisfactory and that was all that mattered. To enforce this idea, she began asking about the walls in the garden and telling him about the peach orchards of Paris. Juliet had not needed to chatter for a long time and found it exhausting to play stupid again.
    Von Hayek smiled a little with his mouth abut not his eyes. He seemed truly unable to create the usual facial configurations and she wondered what had happened to him—a stroke? Bell’s palsy? Too much Botox?
    Von Hayek checked his watch when she paused for breath.
    “We are about to have lunch. Would you care to accompany me to the dining room? You can tell me more about Paris while we walk.”
    Juliet didn’t think it was a request.
    “Do I have time to do another quick sketch of the pissed-off god?”
    “A very quick one. As it is we will be fashionably late.”
    Juliet wasted no time. She didn’t actually want any reminders of the nasty -looking godling who guarded the well she would like a better look at, but to keep her cover intact she had better pretend to be interested in all the vile carvings around the temple.
    “There,” she said, closing her notebook and slipping it back into her capacious pocket. She forced a laugh. “I was going to say that he has been immortalized, but that would be redundant. After all, if he is a god he is already immortal.”
    “Very true.” He was getting bored with her chatter, or so she hoped. “Let us go this way. It is the quickest route and I believe there are some more flowers just beginning to blossom.”
    “ You know, I’m glad you found me. I’m afraid I’ve gotten a little lost and I’ll probably never find this spot again,” Juliet lied without compunction. “I’ve tried to keep the wall to my right but there are so many gaps and somehow it is all very confusing.” If you had the brain of an ameba .
    “Yes, it can