Once Upon a Time in Bath (The Brides of Bath #7) - Cheryl Bolen Page 0,66

want to look for the place of Ellie’s murder tomorrow?” he asked.

Still flushed and feeling weightless from their kiss, she nodded, her eyelids heavy.

He pressed one last kiss to her cheek and left.

Chapter 18

“So you’ve got some notion that we’ll be able to find the spot where Ellie Macintosh was murdered.” Appleton’s gaze moved from Dot to that damned orange cat with that ridiculous name.

To annoy him even more, the furry creature leapt upon his lap and curled up as if he meant to affix himself permanently. Already, Appleton could see that the pesky feline was shedding a mixture of white and ginger-coloured hair onto his dark brown breeches.

Digby was not going to be happy. His valet was far more particular over his master’s clothing than Appleton himself was.

From the delighted expression on Dot’s face, one might have thought the queen herself was bestowing a royal visit at the Pankhurst residence. “Oh, look how sweet! Lover Boy adores you.”

Why couldn’t the beast understand when it was neither wanted nor appreciated? A dog would have known. But, then, dogs were intelligent. He could not say the same for cats. Bothersome creatures.

He was at a loss as to how to respond. He could hardly risk telling her how unfavorably he looked upon her cherished cat. Lying was something he’d always avoided. He lifted a stiff hand and attempted to pet the cat.

The animal started to make a deep, rumbling sound but continued to stay coiled on Appleton’s lap and look as if he were sleeping. What the devil? He looked up at Dot.

If possible, she looked even more delighted. “You’ve made Lover Boy’s purr practically roar with satisfaction.”

So that’s what it was! A purr. “You mean this is a sound of . . . cat contentment?”

She nodded happily. “Indeed it is. Contentment of the highest order. You may never get Lover Boy to leave your lap.”

Not at all what he wished to hear.

When he stopped his stiff-handed petting, the cat’s eyes opened, and to Appleton’s astonishment, the cat’s paw went softly to his hand as if to urge him to pet him some more.

Perhaps Appleton had underestimated the beast’s intelligence after all.

“He wants you to resume petting him,” Dot said.

“I realize that.” He reluctantly started stroking the soft pelt.

Appleton was quite certain the beast had concocted a plot to torment him for his lack of affection. Damned animal.

“We are fortunate that it’s another sunny day to aid in our quest.”

“But are you not forgetting that we are handicapped by several other factors, the first being that we have no idea where the murder was committed?”

“I realize we don’t know where it was committed, but we can make hypotheses.”

How did a woman know about hypotheses? Scientific method was out of the realm of what was taught to young ladies. As smart as Annie was, he was almost certain she would have no knowledge of that word. “And what is your hypothesis?”

“We are almost certain she was to meet her murderer before she went to work the night of her death. Correct?”

He nodded.

“Wouldn’t it be a good assumption that the meeting might have taken place between her lodgings and Mrs. Starr’s establishment?”

He had to agree.

“And,” she continued, “since we know he dumped her body in the river, would it not make sense that the crime must have been committed near the banks of the river? He could hardly be seen carrying a dead body around the city.”

“You do have a valid point.”

“But you don’t sound convinced.”

“Oh, I’m fairly convinced. It’s just that nearly two weeks have passed. We had three straight days of unrelenting rain—not to mention that if the murderer realized he might have left something that was potentially incriminating, he’s had ample time to retrieve it.”

She nodded thoughtfully. “There’s merit to what you’ve pointed out, but I still think we should make every effort to investigate.”

“There’s one more consideration. The Avon is a very long river.” He sighed. “But I suppose we should start somewhere.”

“I agree.”

Appleton would be most happy to get this animal off his lap. A pity Digby wasn’t here to brush the cat hair off his breeches.

As he and Dot walked along the pavement toward the city center, he mused about their mission. While he gave it little chance for success, he did concede it was a good day for a walk, the warmest yet in a cool autumn.

A scattering of trees throughout the city were shedding their leaves of rust and gold. How sad that Ellie wasn’t alive