Moon Love Read Online Free PDF Page B

smugglers, of course.”
    “They speak French?”
    “No. That is, one of them does.”
    “This man keeps an eye open for Ashworth?”
    Salvation was handed to her on a platter. “Yes,” she said.
    “Why did you not tell me this yesterday? I must meet this fellow at once. Did he learn any details of Bransom ’ s murder?”
    “Alphonse was at the bottom of it. You have the Cougar’s notes, I expect? You know who Alphonse is?”
    “Yes, I know all about the “paper” cargo that is coming in. Did Alphonse come to England?”
    “Lord Ashworth believes Alphonse arranged the murder in league with his English partner, who most likely did the deed. What we must discover is who is receiving the forged banknotes.”
    If Ravencroft noticed that unconscious “we,” he didn’t reveal it. “What, exactly, was said last night?”
    “One of the French smugglers asked where Thatchley was. That’s the name Bransom used in the smuggling gang. Cocker – he is the head of the gang – said he had left town.”
    “So Cocker is the one who speaks French?” She didn’t enlighten him. “I assume the French aren’t aware of this?”
    “No, of course not.”
    “Then how did the two converse?” His head was inclined close to hers over the tea cups. He studied her with a demanding intensity. She felt as if he could see right through her.
    “One of the Frenchies speaks a little broken English, enough to ask after Thatchley. And Cocker managed to let him know Thatchley hadleft. Then the Frenchies congratulated themselves, in French, that Bransom’s murder hadn’t been discovered. Alphonse obviously asked them to inquire. If we could find Bransom’s body, it might give us a clue as to who killed him.”
    “I expect his body was dropped at sea,” he suggested.
    “No, they wouldn’t have been congratulating themselves that the body hadn’t been found unless it could be found. The smugglers didn’t kill him.”
    “A good point,” he admitted.
    She felt a little glow of pleasure at having got a kind word from him. “The man who receives the forged money must have done it,” she said. “And he would not necessarily have access to a boat to haul the body out to sea. It must be concealed somewhere in this general area.”
    “I’ll be driving around today with an estate agent, ostensibly looking for a house to purchase. That will provide me an excuse to pry about and ask questions. Do you know exactly when Bransom was killed?”
    “It was talked of a great deal in town. I know from common gossip that he disappeared from the Greenman on the first of October. He took dinner there and went out around nine o’clock alone, saying he was going for a walk. The Gentlemen were not working that night. He hasn’t been seen since.”
    “You believe this common gossip is reliable?”
    “Oh certainly. The locals would have no reason to lie about such a thing.” He listened, frowning. Amy had told all she knew. The moment had come to broach another subject.
    She took a sip of tea and said, “Speaking of gossip, we must determine some means of communication other than my running after you at the inn.”
    “You could always send a note.”
    “That doesn’t solve the problem. My father’s servants are all known in town. It would still appear that I am chasing after you. The clerk at the Rose and Thistle gave me a very sly look this morning.”
    Ravencroft’s mind was so far from romantic chicanery that he didn’t understand what she was saying for a moment, when he did figure it out, it struck himas ridiculous that anyone would think this prim spinster was chasing a man. He worked to hold his lips steady.
    And Amy noticed it. She continued in an annoyed manner, “We cannot meet here either. Just look how the Harpers keep grinning at us. They are the worst gossips in town. They will think there is something between us.”
    Ravencroft would not have admitted it for worlds but at the bottom of his heart, he felt Miss Bratty