" " The niece. " " " Is that her name? " " " Aye. " Frye strolled over to the bar sheltered under a striped canopy. " We both deserve a wee bit of refreshment"

"Yeq."

The laird of the castle poured out two Waterford glasses of Glenfiddich. The

premium Scotch was one of the compensations God had given his native country to make up for the beastly weather and rugged terrain more suitable for sheep than people.

Jason took a sip of the 101-proof liquor. "I'm getting to appreciate this stuff."

"We'll make a Scot o' you yet.""You can try." He gave Frye a direct look. "For the record, it's not aneighteen-minute gap. I simply ran out of tape. I'm sorry. Marconi left theshop at five-thirty every day, and it was already after six. I assumed theshow was almost over for the evening."

"An understandable mistake."

" " Luckily you saw the crucial part. The two thugs coming in. One ofthem mqnhandling the girl. Marconi going for his gun. "Jason's face gave nothing away. "He was quite a marksman.""From his old Green Beret days. It didn't help him any" Frye made one of his rapid subject changes. "WliaYs the status of the lass now?"Jason repeated the information he'd submitted in his coded fax report. "Shehad a concussion from the blow to her head. She's out of the hospital now.

When I left Baltimore, she still didn't remember anything " " " Probably toour advantage. ""Yes.""And the two ruffians? Who were they?""Local talent. At least, that's what the police and the state's attorney's office think: '

"Your investigation confirms that?" Frye probed.

"Yes."

"I don't like coincidences."

"I know."

"I did some checking on the lass."

Jason set his glass down carefully. "And?"

" " Father moved out of the hq ouse when she was fifteen The next year, she

was in a neighborhood greengrocers that was robbed. Her friend and theproprietor were killed. Another customer came in and saved her life. ""Who?""She was too distraught to get his name.""What happened to the perp?" Jason inquired."Died in jail before he came to trial." "" Interesting. ""Jail can be a rather violent place."Jason gave him a hard look. "Like the stockade.""It's difficult to forget one's own sordid past.""How would you know? You don't have one."" " Ah, but there's my ancestry. The Fryes didn't always live in Castle Lockwood. I think I know you well enough to tell you how the family got their start up the ladder to affluence. "

"A royal land grant?" Sir Douglas laughed. "Hardly. My great-great-great grandfather turned in an uppity, redheaded witch to the authorities and got a fat reward-and her confiscated cottage. When he moved her wee bed, he found a bag of silver coins buried in the dirt floor. He used them to buy livestock."

" That makes a good story. "

"Believe it or not, as you please." Standing up, the Sovereign walked to the

massive stone staircase, turned back toward Jason and fixed him with athoughtful look."Verra odd, you don't know her.""The witch?""The Emery lass. She went to the same high school you did. Patterson.""I wasn't there much." He grinned. "That's why they kicked me out: '

"You managed to get an education, anyway."

"It's not what you'd call conventional."

"Miss Emery went on to secretarial school. Now she's a paralegal and had

been considering taking a law deg "Good for her."

"I've got some more rubbish, if you're interested," Frye said.

"No harm in sifting through dirt if there's a chance it will yield platinum."

"Aye. You're better than a metal detector. That's one of the reasons I

recruited you: '

"And because I'm a better shot than Henry Marconi, I suppose."

"You have a lot of talents. I was lucky the Marine Corps dispensed with your

services."

"A polite way to put it. But I think the association has been to our mutual advantage."

" Definitely. "

"What were you going to tell me about Miss Emery?"

"There was an interesting incident four years ago involving her married

employer. A man named Gilmore."

"She was having an affair with him?" Jason asked as if he weren't very interested.

"He may have raped her."

Frye watched carefully, wondering if he caught a flicker of emotion on

Zacharias's fare. But the man's mask was in place. " " May have? "

"He's got a reputation for not taking no for an answer A month after he made her his private secretary, she left his employ verra suddenly, with nary a

reference. She had a bit of difficulty securing another position. A womannamed Laura Roswell finally gave her a job." "" Is all of this relevant? ""I tqink so. She's not married. She's not involved with anyone. In fact, she's hardly had any social life in the past few years-except with her women friends at the Light Street address. And Marconi was her last living relative." He paused for a moment.

"What aren't you telling me?"

"Nothing. I just wasn't able to get much information on her before she cameto work for Gilmore.""I could do some poking around the old neighborhood , if you like. People might tell me things they wouldn't confide to an outsider."

"No, that's not necessary. I have what I need. Now that Marconi's dead, Imay press her into service.""There's a big risk in using an untrained courier.""Of course. But in this case, it won't matter. She's completely expendable.

The Emery lass vanishes, and no one wastes a lot of time looking for her.

What do you think? "

Jason inclined his head slightly. "I think you've got a diabolically clever mind."

"Yes, well, I only make the plans. You're the one who's going to dispose of her if the need arises."

Chapter Three.

Noel stopped outside the stream of pedestrian traffic converging on the security barrier at Baltimoq Washington International Airport. Rifling thorough her purse, she found the travel agency envelope with her ticket. " " This is as far as you can go," she said to Abby.

"It's not too late to change your mind."

"I think this is the right decision." She smiled reassuringly , conscious of

how much effort it was taking for her to appear absolutely in control. Butshe wasn't going to give Abby any reason to doubt her stability."I'd be happier if you were staying home." Abby murmured."I may be too scatterbrained to work, but I can still deliver a boxful of jewelry to Flora Marconi.""You're not scatterbrained. You just need to stop pushing yourself.""That's what I have in mind. A vacation."Abby nodded. " " Well, this is a lovely time of year to be in England.

There are spring flowers all over the place, and it's lambing season. As

soon as you've met with your uncle's ex-wife, find yourself a nice little village where there's nothing to do but relax and watch the lambs play "

Noel smiled. It was about time her friend gave up trying to change her mind. They'd been over the pros and cons of the trip a dozen times, and Noel had been steadfast in her resolve to accommodate Flora Marconi. On some deep level of consciousness, it was as if she didn't have any choice about the trip. As if she had to go, come hell or high water.

"Honey, if you need anything at all-or if you just want to talk-call me collect."

"Stop worrying about me."

The two friends hugged goodbye. Then Noel rejoined the line of departing passengers. When her turn came, she hoisted her bag onto the moving belt for the X-ray machine and stepped through the metal detector.

On the other side of the barrier, she waited for her luggage.

"Is this yours?" the guard asked, pointing to the navyblue -and-red carryall.

"Yes."

"Please open it for inspection."

Noel felt her tension grow as the security guard searched carefully through the contents and finally brought out the velvet padded box of jewelry she was bringing to Flora Marconi.

She hadn't even known Uncle Henry had been marrieq until a woman with an upper-class British accent had called and started crying over the phone. When she'd gotten better control of herself, she'd given Noel a longdistance account of her whole life history. Apparently Henry and Flora had met when he'd been on assignment with the army in England. She'd tried life in the States , Flora had explained with a little sniff of distaste, but she'd realized she just wasn't happy living away from her people. Although she'd gone back home, she and Henry had continued to see each other on his frequent trips to Britain. She was shocked to the core by his death, which she'd learned about so coldly when she'd been notified by his lawyer about his will.

She'd been told Henry's jewelry was already in Noel's name. But there were a few pieces that Flora hoped she could acquire because they were of great sentimental value. Would his niece be a dear and bring them over to London? Flora would pay for the baubles and the trip because she longed to meet the niece Henry had loved almost as much as a daughter.

In her present state, Noel had been grateful for a chance to stop feeling useless. Luckily, since she lived so close to Washington, D. C. " she was able to expedite her passport application through the, State Department.

"Would you unlock this?" The guard extended the jewel box to Noel.

Unable to understand why she felt so nervous, she held her breath as he poked through the contents and lifted out an enormous, starburst-shaped brooch set with a topaz about the size of a nickel.

"Is everything all right?"

He turned the pi ere over in his hand. "I'd like to see the interior of this: '

"Wiqat are you looking for?"

"Just open it up, please."

Noel complied and was relieved to see that a packet of white powder or something equally incriminating had not materialized inside the compartment in the center of the brooch.

The man snapped the cover shut and put the starburst back into the box.