Sophie Medina: Ghost Image Part 19

I nodded, and he said, "You mentioned in your e-mail that you would be staying here, so I dropped by on the chance you might be in and perhaps free for a drink. And before I forget, thank you for what you said about my father and for your concern. I was very touched."

"How is he? The news stories say he's quite ill."

The look in his eyes told me it was even worse than that. "My mother arrived this morning. She was on a cruise with friends off the coast of Turkey and this was the soonest she could get off the s.h.i.+p and catch a flight to London. He's doing poorly, but he's fighting."

"I'm so sorry. I hope he'll pull through."

"So do I." He sounded upbeat, but his smile was strained. "Are you all right? You look a bit pale yourself."

"Me? Oh, it's nothing. I was out today and didn't dress warmly enough. It's chillier here than at home."

"Come on," he said. "I think we could both use a drink. There must be something on the Coburg Bar's ma.s.sive drinks menu that can warm you up and give me a bit of liquid courage."

We sat at the same table next to the fireplace where Harry and I had sat the night before. Like Harry, Victor had Scotch, but didn't make his choice until he'd had an intense discussion with our waiter about the finer points of Highland and Lowland malts. I had a gla.s.s of sherry.

"Why do you need liquid courage?" I asked as the waiter set down our drinks and we touched gla.s.ses. "Is it something to do with your father?"

He shook his head. "I think Yasmin and I should postpone the wedding."

I set my gla.s.s down. "What does she think?" One look at his face, and I said, "She doesn't know."

"Not yet."

"When are you going to tell her?"

He looked like a man who just heard bad news from a jury. "We moved out of my parents' house on Eaton Square this morning over to the Goring and were planning to have a quiet dinner in the hotel tonight. I thought I'd tell her then."

Eaton Square was one of London's posh addresses in Belgravia, an elegant residential garden square faced mostly by terraced white stucco Regency buildings. I hadn't realized Archduke Orlando and his wife owned a house there, but they were in good company since it was a neighborhood known for its famous residents, real and fictional.

"How do you think she's going to take it?"

Victor drank some Scotch. "I think she'll be okay. My father's illness, Kevin's death, her mother's political campaign, all the problems with that . . ." He made a face like the Scotch tasted off when he mentioned Ursula.

"You mean Ursula's primary? She told me she has a tough fight against a wealthy opponent."

"Brutal would be a better word. Elections in America, my G.o.d, they cost so much. Ursula just hired a new media consultant, and all the campaign language makes it sound like this is some kind of war. I'm absolutely stunned."

"You mean David Arista's media company?"

He nodded. "He's supposed to be the best. He works with Yasmin on the Creativity Council."

If he thought there was something between his fiancee and his future mother-in-law's media consultant, he was too much of a gentleman to let it show.

I made a small circle on the table with my gla.s.s. "I didn't know your parents had a house in Eaton Square. That must be quite a large place. Did you think your mother wanted privacy and that's why you moved to the hotel?"

He gave me a piercing look. "I should have realized you'd pick up on that remark. My mother is not . . . overly fond . . . of Yasmin. Sometimes even the largest houses can seem small when there is no harmony among the people who live there."

"Is the feeling mutual, if I'm not being too nosy?"

He propped an elbow on the table and rested his chin on his hand. "Actually, I'm glad to have someone to confide in. And, yes, it's mutual, unfortunately."

"What about your father?"

"He is concerned about the age difference, but he likes Yasmin."

"Maybe postponing is a good idea with all the stress everyone is dealing with." I touched my gla.s.s against his again. "Look, you have the rest of your life to be married. A few months isn't going to change anything. Perhaps Yasmin will take the news better than you expect."

I hoped she would, for his sake.

His smile didn't make it all the way to his eyes. "Of course."

"Where is she now?"

"Working, believe it or not. You'll never guess who is in town. Edward Jaine."

"Good Lord, what's he doing here?"

"He has meetings, I believe, with some financial people in the City. Yasmin has been courting him to get him to become part of the Smithsonian Creativity Council. They're having tea together this afternoon."

I thought about the intimate exchange I'd witnessed between them at the engagement party and wondered if they were just talking business. "He'd be an interesting addition," I said.

Victor smiled. "I take it you're not a fan?"

"I'm not being fair because I don't actually know him."

"I do know him and I resented the way he treated Kevin."

"You knew he was Kevin's benefactor?"

He nodded. "I spoke to my father and asked if he'd be interested in the two of us underwriting Kevin's expenses so he wouldn't have to deal with Edward Jaine anymore. Kevin and I flew over here to discuss it with my father the week before Kevin died."

The conversation between Ursula's neighbors at the engagement party came back to me: The husband had remarked that Victor would inherit the old archduke's art collection . . . and his library.

Was Archduke Orlando the other interested party in Kevin's copy of Adam in Eden?

"Did Kevin bring a book with him for your father to look at?"

He sat back in surprise. "How do you know about it?"

"It's a long story. I found it."

His eyes widened. "My G.o.d, I've been wondering what might have happened to it. Where is it now?"

"In a vault. Don't worry, it's safe." Though I already could guess the answer after what Zara Remington had said at the Chelsea Physic Garden the other day, I asked anyway. "What happened when your father examined it?"

"He made a few discreet inquiries and told Kevin it was quite valuable, one of a kind."

"Did he offer to buy it?"

Victor nodded. "As I'm sure you know, the book didn't actually belong to Kevin because of his vow of poverty. However, my father was interested in talking to the Franciscans to see if they would consider selling it once Kevin officially told his superior that he had acquired it from Edward."

"He hadn't reported it to the Franciscans yet?"

My dismay must have shown, because Victor said, "No, and if he didn't take care of that before he died, then technically Edward Jaine might be able to legally claim it's still his. It was purchased with his money."

I groaned. "Kevin hid the book before he died. I found it in a locker at the Natural History Museum."

"Then we must surmise that he hadn't reported it, mustn't we?" He gave me an ironic smile. "And now the lawyers will decide who owns it."

Jack O'Hara had said the same thing.

"The book is in a vault at Asquith's Auction House in Was.h.i.+ngton," I said. "An antiques dealer who is a good friend helped me get it to Bram Asquith, their rare-book expert."

"My father knows Bram. Good man." Victor drained his Scotch. "Would you care for another sherry?"

"No, thank you."

He shook his head at the waiter who had antic.i.p.ated another round of drinks and turned back to me. "Well, if Asquith's has it, that's probably a good thing. At least it will be properly stored and cared for until the matter of who owns it is sorted out."

"Did Edward Jaine know how valuable the book was?"

Victor fiddled with a gold-and-carnelian heraldic crest ring on his right hand. "Kevin told me at the engagement party that he was going to talk to Edward the following day and tell him." He gave me an unhappy look. "I have no idea if he did or not, because that afternoon he was dead."

And before he died he met with your fiancee to urge her not to marry you if she was not sure of her feelings. For a moment I almost thought I'd said it out loud.

"I don't know if he did, either," I said. "I was with him that morning at the Tidal Basin because he'd promised to help me with a photography project. The next time I saw him was in the monastery garden. Yasmin probably told you I'm the one who found him when I showed up for my meeting with her and her mother that afternoon."

He looked puzzled. "Yasmin told me that appointment was canceled."

"It was, after everything that happened."

"Are you saying Yasmin was at the monastery that day?"

I nodded. "So was Ursula. Her car pulled up as one of the police officers walked me into the church to ask me some questions."

"How odd that she didn't tell me."

It was odd. "Maybe she didn't want to upset you since she knew how close you and Kevin were."

"You are probably right."

The waiter set a leather bill folder on the table. Victor pulled out his wallet and slipped a credit card inside the case without looking at the bill.

After the waiter left, I said, "Did Yasmin know about Kevin's book?"

"Why do you want to know that?"

I turned red. "She's having tea with Edward Jaine."

"No." It came out sharp, a stinging rebuke. "She would never betray my confidence. Not only did she not come with us to London, but books, actual physical books, are most definitely not Yasmin's 'thing,' as you say in America. Don't forget the people she deals with at the museum are technology wizards or Internet billionaires like Edward. Everything she reads these days is electronic; her files and paperwork are all digital." He smiled with regret. "Unfortunately, we don't share a love of old books, as I discovered when she suggested rearranging my library according to the color of the dust jackets." He added in a dry voice, "It was not one of our better conversations."

My mouth twitched, but I kept a straight face. "I can see why not."

The waiter returned with the bill and Victor's credit card. After Victor took care of it, he said, "I probably should be going. Yasmin will wonder where I've gotten to."

He kissed my hand in the lobby.

"Good luck tonight," I said.

"I've been considering suggesting the idea of moving the wedding to Vienna," he said. "After what happened, I think it would be too difficult, too sad to be married at the monastery. Would you stay on as our photographer? I'll fly you over, take care of all your expenses."

"I'd be honored," I said. "By the way, I forgot to ask if your father happened to say how much Kevin's book is worth?"

He gave me a knowing smile. "To answer you indirectly, my father owns one of the one hundred and nineteen complete copies of Birds in America by John James Audubon, an ill.u.s.trated book like Kevin's. He paid nine million dollars for it. Before he became ill he made an offer of five million pounds for one of Shakespeare's First Folios to a British university that was selling it because they needed the money for research. Kevin's book was quite rare as well."

Five million pounds. Nine million dollars. Kevin's book was worth a h.e.l.l of a lot. Victor was convinced Yasmin had no interest in his copy of Adam in Eden and she never told him she was at the monastery the day Kevin died.

That girl was hiding something.

As soon as I got upstairs to my room, James appeared as if I'd rubbed a lamp and wanted to know if I needed anything.

"Also, Mr. Wyatt rang earlier. He said he's spending the night in Lingfield and won't be returning to town until tomorrow morning. Apparently he tried to phone you, but all he got was your voice mail."

I pulled my phone out of my pocket. "That's because my phone is dead; I'd better charge it up. Thank you, James. I'll listen to his message. And I think I'll have dinner in the room tonight."

"Of course, Miss Medina," he said. "You look a bit pale, if you don't mind my saying. You're not unwell, are you? We have a doctor on call . . ."

"Thank you, I'm fine. I probably overdid it today. Dinner and a night's sleep will put me right, I'm sure."

"Are you sure I can't bring you a sherry? Or a pot of tea?"

"Maybe some hot tea. Thanks."

By the time my phone battery had enough of a charge that I could turn it on again, I'd finished my tea and dozed off. Harry had called, as James said, but there were two other missed calls with messages, a London number and Max Katzer's cell phone, as well as an e-mail from David Arista. David's e-mail was short, asking how I was enjoying London and letting me know his friend could still get me into the Arts and Industries Building next week, but the sooner the better since they were going to begin fixing the ceiling and then the place would be off-limits for several months. I wrote a quick reply, thanking him and asking if we could meet sometime next Monday.

The London caller was Edward Jaine, asking me to phone him as soon as I got his message. I took a deep breath and hit Redial.

He skipped right past the pleasantries. "Ms. Medina, we haven't formally met, but I understand you were a good friend of Brother Kevin Boyle's. I also attended the party at the Austrian amba.s.sador's residence the other night in Was.h.i.+ngton. Since we're both in London, I thought we might meet to discuss a certain book I understand you have. It happens to belong to me."

There was no point beating around the bush or claiming I didn't know what he was talking about, but I did wonder how he knew I had the book and who told him I was in London.

"I don't have it," I said. "I'm not sure what there is to discuss."

"Meet me tomorrow at ten o'clock at the Paramount restaurant," he said. "It's in Centre Point on Tottenham Court Road. Do you know where it is?"

"I do."