Mrs Muir frowned. 'You're not thinking that Mrs Hughes herself-'

'No.' Alex scowled at the mention of Kate's name, and continued harshly, 'I mean Wyatt.

Perhaps I'm getting too close to persuading the authorities that Rachel belongs with me, and this is his way of scaring them off.'

'By getting rid of Mrs Sawyer?'

Mrs Muir looked alarmed now, and Alex pulled a wry face. 'No,' he said impatiently. 'By using her disappearance to implicate me. Perhaps those weren't her suitcases at all. If Henry Sawyer identified them they could be anybody's.'

'Oh, yes, I see.' Mrs Muir nodded. 'So you think they might have put her name inside?'

'How else were they able to identify them?' asked Alex practically. He glanced at his watch. 'It's time I found out. Mrs Hughes should be arriving soon.'

'Oh, Mr Kellerman, is that wise?' Mrs Muirgazed at him dubiously. 'She may not come in, of course, but I'd stay away from that young woman if I were you.'

'But you're not me, Mrs Muir,' declared Alex, his eyes glittering malevolently. He cast one last look at the Scotch, and got to his feet. 'Get rid of that whisky, will you? I have the feeling I'm going to need all my faculties about me to survive the next few days.'

CHAPTER ELEVEN.

KATEwondered why she'd allowed Joanne to accompany her to the stables that morning. She knew Alex was due back from York today, and he obviously wouldn't be expecting her to have taken him upon his offer so soon. Apart from anything else, he would probably be too busy to come down to the yard, and she'd be left with the awkward task of having to explain his invitation to Mr Guthrie.

Joanne, of course, was delighted. Apart from the fact that it was a special treat, she'd have done anything if it meant getting out of the flat. And she had worked reasonably well at the schoolwork Mr Coulthard had had her teachers send home for her. Kate supposed she deserved the break. She just wished she'd waited until she'd spoken to Alex again.

But, if she was honest, that was one of the reasons why she'd given in to Joanne's pleading. She hadn't seen Alex since the night before he went to York, and the truth was, she was half afraid he might have regretted what had happened at the flat. She had been the instigator, after all, however eager Alex might have been to play along with her. What if he'd never intended things to go that far? What if he really had just come to speak to Joanne, as he'd said?

And, in all honesty, she was appalled at her own conduct. She'd never been the kind of woman to do anything more than indulge in a light flirtation with a man. Apart from Sean, her experience with men was limited. Which made what she'd done so totally out of character for her.

And, during the last couple of days, she'd struggled to find a reason for her wanton behaviour.

Just remembering how she'd thrown herself at Alex could still bring a film of sweat to her brow.

But she'd never known what it was like to actually desire a man before; to need his touch so badly that she wanted to get under his skin.

Instead of which, he'd got under hers, she acknowledged ruefully, a pulse in the pit of her stomach reminding her of the restless nights she'd spent since he went away. If she allowed herself to think of him at all, she got an actual ache between her legs, and she'd taken so many cold showers, her mother was beginning to think she'd got a fever.

And she had, she admitted tensely as they approached the entrance to Jamaica Hill. But it wasn't a fever that she could cure with drugs. She'd fallen in love with Alex Kellerman. He was the fever in her blood. And, as soon as they were alone together, she was going to tell him the truth.

Which was another reason why she'd brought Joanne along this morning. She fully expected him to be furious with her when she told him she was a private investigator, but she hoped he might be more tolerant if her daughter was there. She'd asked Susie to make up the account, severing her connection with Henry Sawyer, and if Alex fired her, as she expected he would, she'd have to go back to investigating insurance claims and try to forget him.

There were some people gathered outside the gates to the estate. The gates were closed, which was unusual, but she didn't recognise the two men and one woman who were hanging about outside. She slowed, feeling a surge of apprehension when she noticed that two of them were carrying cameras, and when Joanne turned a puzzled look in her direction she said, 'You get out and open the gates, Jo. And don't answer any questions, do you hear?'

But when Joanne got out, leaving the door of the car open, it was Kate who had to suffer an onslaught of questions about who she was and what she was doing there. 'You work for Alex Kellerman, right?' demanded the woman pushily. 'What's your opinion about Mrs Sawyer's suitcases turning up?'

Kate blanched, but although she was dying to ask what the woman meant she kept her mouth shut. But, 'Mrs Sawyer's suitcases'? she thought, shaking her head confusedly. What on earth were they talking about? And where had the cases been found?

Surely not here!

She leant across and slammed the door, before the woman could push into the car, and then drove through the gates when Joanne opened them. Joanne closed the gates again, ignoring the questions they threw at her now, and then scrambled into the car with an anxious look on her face.

'What's going on, Mum?'

'I wish I knew.' But Kate was feeling more and more uneasy. If it was true that they'd found Alicia's belongings, then obviously Alex must have been interviewed when he got back from York. Why else would the reporters-for that was what they were-be camping on his doorstep?

She swallowed. Oh, G.o.d, what else might he have found out?

She half expected his car to be standing in the yard, but it wasn't. And no one gave her and Joanne any suspicious looks as she parked her car. Indeed, the work of the stables seemed to be proceeding as normal, were it not for a certain tension in the air.

Which probably only she was conscious of, she told herself impatiently as she and Joanne crossed the yard and went into her office. Even the electric fire was glowing cheerfully, and the mail was piled on her desk, as usual, waiting for her attention.

The phone rang before she had had time to check whether Mr Guthrie was in his office. To her alarm, it was Susie, and she knew something must have happened because her a.s.sistant had been warned never to contact her here.

'What is it?' she asked, keeping a wary eye on her daughter as she spoke. She knew Joanne must be curious about what was going on, but she couldn't discuss Alex's affairs with her.

'The police have been here!' exclaimed Susie, her voice high and agitated. 'They wanted to see you, and I had to tell them where I thought you were.'

'What, here?' Kate pressed a hand to her chest where her heart was beating erratically.

'That's right.' Susie was distraught. 'There was nothing else I could do. I couldn't tell lies.'

'No.' Kate conceded the point, her mind racing madly. Were the police already here? she wondered. Dear G.o.d, Alex would blow his top if he found out why they wanted to see her. She had to try and speak to him before they arrived, but that wasn't going to be easy. She had no way of knowing whether he intended to come down to the yard today.

'They've found that woman's luggage,' continued Susie, interrupting her abstraction. 'Some children found two suitcases in a skip.'

'A skip!' Kate was horrified. 'My G.o.d, have they found a body?'

'Not yet,' said a cold, sardonic voice behind her, and she swung round to find Alex propped in the open doorway of Mr Guthrie's office. 'But I'm sure they think it's just a matter of time.'

Kate's jaw sagged. Her mouth opened and closed as she struggled with the dilemma of how to answer Alex with Susie's faintly hysterical voice still chattering in her ear.

But, in the event, Joanne saved the situation for her. 'h.e.l.lo, Mr Kellerman,' she greeted him brightly. 'I hope you don't mind. Mum said it would probably be all right if I came to the stables today.' She gestured towards her mother. 'Mum-Mum's just speaking to-to a friend-'

'Is she?' Kate told Susie she would ring her back, and replaced the receiver before he spoke again. 'Well-why don't you go and have a look around while I have a few words with your mother?' He pointed through the window. 'See that young man there: that's Billy Roach, one of the apprentices. If you tell him who you are, he'll give you a guided tour.'

Joanne hesitated, looking half anxiously at her mother. 'Will you-will that be all right, Mum?'

she asked, and Kate guessed she'd picked up on the atmosphere between her and Alex, which she was sure you could have cut with a knife.

'Yes,' she said, her throat tight. 'You'll like Billy. He'sa nice boy. He's always been very friendly with me.'

'And what could be a higher recommendation?' asked Alex sarcastically. He turned back into Guthrie's office. 'Will you come in here, Mrs Hughes?'

'Mum-'

Joanne still looked troubled, but Kate knew she couldn't let her daughter get involved in her problems. 'Go on,' she said. 'You'll enjoy yourself.'

'But will you be all right?'

Joanne's nod towards the inner office was uneasy. 'I'll be fine,' Kate a.s.sured her firmly, wishing she felt as confident as she sounded.

With Joanne gone, Kate walked apprehensively to the open doorway, glancing in to find Alex was standing staring out of the window as before. 'Sit down,' he said, and this time she obeyed him. Maybe her stomach would stop turning cartwheels if she took the weight off her legs.

The silence that followed was ominous, and Kate's stomach started churning all over again. Oh, G.o.d, she thought, why couldn't she think of something to say in her own defence? She'd been doing a job, earning a living, just like anyone else.

'Who hired you?'

Alex's question came as something of an anticlimax. She'd expected him to accuse her of deceiving him, of using his apparent attraction towards her for her own ends. But perhaps that hadn't been as important to him as it had been to her. His pride was hurt, but probably nothing else.

'Henry-Henry Sawyer,' she said now, realising she was breaking a confidence, and he swung round to face her with malevolent eyes.

'You expect me to believe that?' he snarled, and she quickly revised her estimates of his emotions. Alex was angry, and she felt a twinge of fear as he stalked round the desk towards her.

'It's the truth,' she got out quickly, trying not to let him see her feelings. 'He told me his wife had disappeared. I thought it would be a fairly straightforward investigation.'

'Investigation!' Alex made the word sound dirty. 'Well, forgive me for sounding sceptical, but you don't seem to have done a great deal to earn your fee. I a.s.sume this man-Sawyer-did pay you? I always wondered how you managed to live on what you earned here.'

Kate sighed. 'It'sa job, Al-Mr Kellerman. And, yes, he paid me.'

'Not a lot, I trust,' said Alex harshly. 'You don't appear to have succeeded in your quest.'

'No.' Kate's lips tightened. 'I-I told Mr Sawyer I had no idea where his wife went after she left here. But I made all the usual enquiries. I earned my money, Mr Kellerman.'

'How?' Alex put one hand on either arm of her chair now and thrust his face towards her. 'By seducing your client's suspect, I a.s.sume.'

'No.' Kate's face burned, but his means of belittling her caught her on the raw. 'I earn a hundred pounds a day, plus expenses. Someone must think I do a decent job.'

Alex released the chair and stepped back, his expression staggered. 'You're saying Sawyer paid you that kind of money to look for his wife?'

'Yes.' Kate swallowed. 'It's the going rate at the moment. I explained that to him before I took the job.'

Alex's dark brows descended. 'And has he paid you?'

'That's my business-' she began, but the fury in his face caused her to break off. 'All right, yes,'

she conceded. 'I always ask for an advance payment. Otherwise a client might not want to pay if-if-'

'If you foul up?' Alex was disparaging. Then he said, 'So tell me, where would Sawyer find-what? A thousand pounds?-when he's out of a job?'

Kate decided not to admit how much Henry Sawyer had paid her. Then, as her brain kicked into gear, she asked, 'What are you saying? That you think someone else put Sawyer up to it?

Someone else gave him the cash?'

Alex raked back his hair with an angry hand. 'What do you think?' he snapped. Then, his lips twisting, he added, 'But I forgot: you're in on this, too. You probably know d.a.m.n well who financed this little conspiracy. But I have to give it to you-you'd never have guessed it from the way you stood up to him last week.'

Kate pushed herself up from her chair. 'You're saying you think-your father-in-law is behind it?'

'Who else?' Alex gave her a savage look. 'Well, he certainly knew how to bait his hook!'

'Me?' Kate was indignant. 'I had nothing to do with him. I was getting nowhere with the investigation and Sawyer-Sawyer brought the advertis.e.m.e.nt for this job to me and suggested I apply.'

'Why?'

'Why?' Kate licked her lips before replying. 'Well, his original claim was that you and she had had an affair.'

'An affair?'

'Yes.' Kate tried to ignore his stunned expression and continued doggedly, 'He said that he and his wife were happy until she came to work for you.'

Alex shook his head. 'And you believed him, I suppose.'

'I had no reason not to.' Kate hesitated. 'Well, not then. You were a stranger to me.'

'A stranger who everyone suspected of murdering his wife,' put in Alex bitterly. 'Oh, I bet you and Sawyer had some cosy discussions about what went on at Jamaica Hill.'

'That's not true.' Kate knew she couldn't let him go on thinking that. 'As a matter of fact, I didn't tell him anything about you at all. That-that's probably why he was threatening to ask for his money back.' She took a breath. 'You have to believe me. I was going to withdraw from the investigation today.'

Alex snorted. 'You expect me to believe that?'

'It's true.' She touched his sleeve. 'I was hoping you might forgive me. After-after what happened between us-'

'The good s.e.x, you mean?' asked Alex crudely, moving so that her arm fell to her side. 'Please, don't perjure yourself on my account. Remember, you've only my word that I didn't have an affair with Alicia. Perhaps I did. Perhaps I killed her as well.' He caught her chin with cruel fingers, and bent to a.s.sault her mouth with a hard, punishing kiss. 'Face it, Kate, you're never going to find out the truth!'

'Oh, I think she will.' The cool, invasive voice caused Alex to release her abruptly, but she thought the oath he uttered was only audible to her. 'We meet again, Mr Kellerman,' the hateful voice continued. 'Rather sooner than I had antic.i.p.ated. But, don't worry, on this occasion I've come to interview Mrs Hughes.'

'I'm sure nothing you did could worry me, Inspector,' said Alex insolently, and Kate groaned inwardly at the dangerous light in his eyes. 'And, if you'll excuse me, I, too, have matters to attend to.' He looked at Kate. 'Places to go, people to see.'

A shadow appeared in the office doorway as Kate was clearing her desk. For a moment she thought-hoped-that it might be Alex, that he might have thought better of his accusations and decided to listen to what she had to say. She couldn't believe-wouldn't believe-that he could dismiss what had happened between them so derisively. He was angry, with good reason, but he had to know that she believed in him.

She was so afraid he was going to do something stupid, like going to see Conrad Wyatt, and confronting him with his suspicions about Alicia's disappearance. G.o.d knew, Wyatt had done his best to provoke his anger when he'd gone to pick up his daughter last week. In the present situation, Alex couldn't afford to give the police a reason to believe he was a violent man.

But it wasn't Alex, she saw at once, her heart sinking. It was Mrs Sheridan, the woman who owned the estate that adjoined Jamaica Hill. The woman who Alex had said was a good friend-though she didn't look particularly friendly at the moment. Had she heard why Kate had been working at the stables? Had she come to add her accusations to the rest?

'If you're looking for Mr Kellerman, he's not here, Mrs Sheridan,' said Kate bluntly, deciding there was no point in pretending she didn't know who she was.

'I know.' Lacey came into the office and closed the door, leaning back against it. 'It was you I wanted to speak to, Mrs-Hughes, isn't it? Alex is out at present. I don't think Mrs Muir knows when he'll be back.'

Alex was out!

Kate wanted to groan with frustration. Had he gone to Wyvern Hall? Oh, G.o.d, she fretted, if he had she should have gone with him. But she knew he'd never have allowed her to do it, even if she'd begged him to take her along.

Meanwhile, Lacey was looking round the office. She was an attractive woman, Kate thought reluctantly, though obviously much older than she'd like everyone to believe. Her shoulder-length bob was expertly tinted, and the vee of her suit jacket was cut low enough to give a tantalising glimpse of her impressive cleavage.