Free The Girl In the Cave by Anthony Eaton Page B

you?”
    â€œOf course, Mister Jenkins.”
    â€œMight I borrow it for a moment or two?”
    The office door opened and Miss Pumble crossed the room and handed the lawyer a small bottle.
    â€œThank you. Now, Miss Pincushion. Watch carefully.”
    Gently he applied just a tiny stroke of nail polish remover to the hindwing of the butterfly. To Kate’s amazement, the colours on the wing immediately began to melt and run, leaving a pale, bleached spot, just like the one she’d noticed on Uncle Dermott’s butterfly.
    â€œYou see, Miss Kate, your grandfather might not have been much of a lepidopterist but he was certainly quite an artist.”
    â€œDo you mean that it isn’t …”
    â€œI’m afraid not. This, I’m sorry to tell you, is nothing more than a well-painted Delias nigrina, a remarkably common white butterfly with a similar shape to the Zerynthia. Not quite identical, but with a little trimming your grandfather managed to make them close enough.”
    â€œSo my grandfather was …”
    â€œâ€¦ A con man,” finished the lawyer. “The cave in the back yard, from which Lady Penelope mined the gold, was his studio. In her final letter she left quite detailed instructions, not only about the trust account but also about all the people whom your grandfather had sold “rare’ butterflies to; they were all to be informed and paid back immediately. As her lawyer, this is what I have been doing these last few weeks.”
    â€œAnd so all that is left is …”
    â€œNothing. After all of the people had their money, plus interest, restored to them, I’m afraid to report that there isn’t a single cent left.”
    â€œOh.” Poor Kate was crestfallen as all her dreams of her own home and schools and holidays fell apart.
    â€œBut don’t worry, Miss Kate, I did tell you that there was good news as well, didn’t I?”
    â€œYes, you did. I’m sorry, I forgot.”
    â€œQuite understandable.”
    â€œSo what is the good news?”
    â€œWell, firstly, the judge passed sentence on Dermott and Nastina Butterbum yesterday, and gave them twenty-five years each, but he didn’t send them to prison. Tina Butterbum was sent to work at a health farm, where she’ll be fed only vegetables and made to run twenty kilometres every morning, and Dermott Butterbum will serve out his sentence doing volunteer work in a home for abandoned puppies.”
    â€œServes them right.” Kate smiled at the thought. “And what about Miss Pincushion?”
    â€œAh, well now, that was a little different. Thanks to that letter you found in Dermott’s secret drawer, it was quite clear that she was the instigator of your kidnapping, and that she was blackmailing the Butterbums as well. I’m afraid your aunt will be spending the next twenty-seven years in a maximum-security prison for the worst criminals.”
    â€œWell then.” Kate stood to leave. “Thankyou for all your time and help over these last couple of weeks, Mr Jenkins. I’m sorry that there’s not enough of the family fortune left to pay you.”
    â€œDon’t worry about that, Miss Kate, Lady Penelope saw to my fees long before she died.”
    â€œWhat was she like? It would have been nice to know her.”
    â€œShe was quite an amazing woman.” For a moment the elderly lawyer stared off into the distance. “Quite incredible. She had the most amazing …” He stopped and shook his head slightly.
    â€œListen to me, daydreaming about an old friend when I haven’t given you the most important news of all.”

    â€œWhat?” Kate tilted her head slightly, uncertain what to expect.
    Mr Jenkins pressed the intercom on his desk again.
    â€œSend them in, Miss Pumble.” While they waited for whoever it was to enter, he said to her, “I’m afraid it took a little while to find them. They’d