“I’m not feeling overwrought in the least, nor do I imagine I appear overwrought, which suggests you have an alternative reason for speaking firmly to me.”
“Well, quite.”
“You might need to expand on that because ‘well, quite’ doesn’t explain why you’re obviously exasperated with me. I don’t normally incur such a response from ladies.”
Unable to help but wonder how the conversation had managed to get away from her so quickly, Eunice drew in a steadying breath. “I was being purposefully vague just now because I was hoping to avoid insulting you again, but if you must know, I spoke firmlyto you becauseyouinsulted my dear friend Daphne Beekman Henderson, which then leftmein a foul mood.”
“I did no such thing.”
“Did you or did you not state that you were incredulous to discover Daphne is the author behind the Montague Moreland mysteries?”
“I don’t know if I used the wordincredulous.”
She gave an airy wave of her hand. “Perhaps you said you were taken aback, which amounts to the same thing. Nevertheless, I took that as a grave affront to Daphne that then, I’m afraid, resulted in a brief lapse into temper on my part, which escalated when you questioned the reasoning behind why I’m an inquiry agent.”
“I would think you’d take my incredulity or my being taken aback regarding Daphne’s books as a compliment, since I believe her talent rivals most gentlemen writers.”
“There’s nothing complimentary about that sort of drivel,” Eunice shot back, wincing when she realized she was once again speaking in less-than-dulcet tones. She immediately returned to her notes, attempting to get a temper that didn’t seem to want to cooperate in check. “But since we’re unlikely to agree on your position on whether you complimented Daphne or not, why don’t you explain to me why, when you evidently have such a dismal view of women, you’ve decided to seek out the services of this agency, a question I recently voiced, but one you have yet to answer.”
“I don’t have a dismal view of women.”
“Allow us to respectfully disagree about that.”
Arthur began drumming his fingers against the arm of the chair. “Obviously you and I are suffering from a misunderstanding regarding my views of women, but to answer your question, my younger brother Chase encouraged me to seek out your agency. He’s been keeping abreast of your success through the local newspapers. When I told him how urgent it was to locate the missing person I mentioned to you, he suggested I have your agency look into the matter.”
“Why not use the Pinkertons? They’re an agency that employsmostly men. You’d probably have more confidence in male agents solving your case over female ones.”
“I hired the Pinkertons years ago to look into this matter. They were unsuccessful.”
She stilled. “Are they still on the case?”
“I’m afraid not. They ran out of leads years ago.”
Her lips began to curve. “How ... unfortunate.”
“Indeed, but I’m hoping your agency will be more successful. From what my brother told me, the Bleecker Street Inquiry Agency has seen success where the Pinkertons have not.”
Realizing there was nothing to do but get Arthur out of her office as quickly as possible, especially when it was becoming abundantly clear he was determined to hire her agency to solve his case—something that wasn’t going to be a possibility—Eunice cleared her throat and hoped Arthur would be reasonable about what she was about to say. “While it is true that we’ve solved many cases since we opened our doors, I’m afraid your case doesn’t sound as if it would be a good fit for this particular agency.”
“Why not?”
“Because it’s been cold for years. It’s highly unlikely we’ll be able to uncover any new leads regarding this missing person of yours. With that said, I believe now is where I bid you adieu and wish you well in your quest.” She rose to her feet. “If you’ll follow me, I’ll see you to the door, and the back door at that, which will allow you to get on your way without being waylaid by Judith and her desire to sketch your prominent cheekbones.”
CHAPTER
Two
It was difficult to resist a sigh when Arthur didn’t so much as budge from his chair.
“I’m not bidding you adieu just yet,” he said. “Your reason for refusing my case is flimsy at best, and I’m getting the distinct impression there’s another reason why you don’t want to take me on as a client.”
Eunice released the sigh she’d been resisting. “I was hoping to avoid getting into that because you’ll probably take it as another insult. So, to voice this as gently as possible, we’re very selective about the cases we take on. Yours isn’t a case we’ll want to consider.”
“That explanation is flimsier than your first one.”
“Well, then, how about this? We’re a small agency and have more requests than we can handle. And because your case seems next to impossible to solve, we won’t have enough agents to investigate it for you.”
“Try again because you haven’t even heard the details of my case. Yes, it’s been years since the woman I’m searching for has been seen, but I would think that would pique your interest, not diminish it. I also have to think that, if you were able to solve mycase, it would be a distinct feather in your cap, something I’m sure your agency could then use to secure future clients.”
