Anthony turned to Lady Penelope with a pained expression. ‘When did the first worm vanish?’ she asked. ‘And how did it happen?’
So much for me taking charge of the situation.
Briefly closing his eyes, he clenched and unclenched his fists before finally replying. ‘Nicola went first, three months ago. She was due to return for her midday snack. It was a Friday, which was her favourite day because Fridays are fish days, but she didn’t come back from her route.’
I was tempted to ask if she was a Christian worm and wasthat why she liked fish on Fridays but I refrained. ‘I thought the worms were herbivores.’
Lady Penelope’s brow creased. ‘So did I. Do they all eat fish, Anthony?’
‘I supplement their diet as and when required.’ He sniffed. ‘Omega 3 is important for heart health.’
Worms had hearts? Who knew? Every day was a school day. I changed tack. ‘What was Nicola’s route?’
Anthony looked at Lady Penelope and she repeated my question while I suppressed my irritation. ‘Migden to the groves and back,’ he muttered.
‘We follow roughly the same geography in the Understream as above ground,’ Lady Penelope told me. ‘Most areas down here are tunnels rather than meeting places such as the marketplace. It helps with the geography to think about what lies above.’
Anthony snorted but didn’t comment. He was obviously planning to continue ignoring me so I looked at Lady Penelope. If she was willing to play the role of pointless interpreter then I supposed it didn’t matter as long as my questions were answered. ‘Ask him about the other worms.’
It took some time to winkle out the information and little of it was useful. All four had vanished at different times and on different routes. The only common denominator was that they were all giant worms.
‘William suggested there were other creatures lurking down here beyond the mapped tunnels. Could some other creature be preying on them?’ I asked.
Lady Penelope frowned at my question but when she repeated it to Anthony, he smirked. ‘Impossible,’ he said. ‘Only a fool would ask such a question. I expected better of you, Penelope. You know what lurks in those tunnels. There might be things out there that would attack a stray vampire who hasventured too far beyond the city boundaries, but nothing would dare come close to the mapped tunnels.’
From out of the corner of my eye, I saw Penelope stiffen. It was a subtle movement but noticeable. Hmm.
Anthony continued blithely, ‘There is certainly nothing that would attack a worm.’ He raised his eyes to the ceiling. ‘Honestly. What a ridiculous notion!’
His denials were too elaborate, particularly when coupled with Penelope’s physical reaction. ‘Methinks the gentleman doth protest too much,’ I said.
For the first time since we’d met and he’d registered that I wasn’t a vampire, Anthony turned to me. ‘How dare you?’
‘Enough.’ Lady Penelope’s tone was sharp. She looked at me. ‘It is true that there are creatures down here to be feared, but I promise you that none of them would be bold enough to take down one of our worms, Ms McCafferty.’
I would take that under strict advisement.
I nodded then curtsied to Anthony because I knew it would annoy him even more. ‘Thank you for your warmth and precious time,’ I said. ‘You have been too kind.’
‘Well, that was fun,’I remarked, as we walked away from the stables.
Lady Penelope released a long-suffering sigh. ‘Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit.’
‘People always say that without knowing the second part of the quotation,’ I told her. ‘What Oscar Wilde actually said was that sarcasm is the lowest form of wit but the highest form of intelligence.’
‘That silly foppish man was a fool.’ She sniffed dismissively.
I glanced at her. ‘Did you know him?’ Stranger things hadhappened and she certainly would have been alive during Wilde’s lifetime.
‘Is the answer important to your investigation?’
Obviously not. I held up my hands in mock surrender; clearly anything of a personal nature, however mundane, was out of bounds. ‘Never mind,’ I said.
She sniffed again. ‘Where to now?’
‘I want to retrace each worm’s route,’ I replied. ‘If any of them were attacked, there’s bound to be some evidence.’
‘We have already checked that, Ms McCafferty. There is nothing to see and no evidence of any attacks.’
