“Is that why you leave her at home unattended?” He glanced over his shoulder. “Not a very foolproof plan.”
“Well”—I plastered on my best smile—“the faster we finish this pleasant meeting, the sooner I can tend to the pigeon.”
“You know,” the commissioner said suddenly, smoothing his hand over the arm of a sculpture, “the De Villier family is very generous, to my campaign as commissionerandthe coroner’s.” He rubbed his fingers together, grimacing at the dust collecting on his hand. “I would tread carefully, wouldn’t want your meddling to affect Petronille negatively.”
“Is that a threat, Mr. Hunt?”
He chuckled, shaking his head as if speaking to a chastised child. “No, just a natural consequence.” He sauntered toward the warehouse door, waving his hand lazily over his shoulder. “You have a good night, Mr. Kamenev. I suspect I’ll be seeing you soon.”
Chapter Fourteen
The Artisan
“Where did you put the body?”
“Does it matter?”
“Would I ask if it didn’t?” Petronille’s voice rose from across the dining room table.
I clenched my jaw nearly as hard as my grip on the cutlery, slowly dragging the knife across the rare piece of sirloin. Not only did I not answer her, but I lifted a piece to my mouth and chewed.
“Is this venison?” I asked, the words making their way through my teeth between bites.
“No.”
“I must have poor taste, I’m usually good at guessing. Pork?”
“Answer me.”
“Thank you for the meal, by the way. I really didn’t believe you ate anything savory until now—”
“Arkady!” Her voice was strained.
“Petronille.” I gave a taut smile. “Being so loud at the table is unseemly.”
Her face grew red, like she would burst at any second.
As I returned my attention back to the supper, I could hear her dainty footsteps light against the carpet as she approached.
Then a knife came down into my steak. The juices crept around the new crack in the fine porcelain.
“A tantrum isn’t the way to get my attention. I thought you figured that outlasttime.”
“It is theonlyway to get your attention,” she hissed.
I took a deep, meditative breath as I placed my cutlery down, folding the napkin from my lap. When I looked up at her, her gaze was as sharp as a tack.
“I need to know where the body is.”
“You don’tneedto know anything, dearest.”
“The commissioner visited me.”
“You getmanyvisitors, it seems.”
Her palm smacked against the side of my head, and I grabbed her wrist. Even so, she did not flinch. Though the slight tremor in her hand told me everything I needed to know. “Ialsoreceived a visit from our mutual acquaintance.”
“What did you tell him? What did he say?”
