Ring of Lies (81 page)

She
frowned at the cutting.
‘
I
t’s not one of ours.
’

Jack chuckled in surprise.
‘
That was a pretty quick assessment.
How can you
be sure
?
’

‘
The name of the photographer is missing.
’
She pulled a copy of the current issue off the rack
and
point
ed
at a picture on the front page.
‘
See?
The photographer
’
s name appears under
e
very photo, even if the picture wa
s
sent in by a reader.
’

‘
A
ny idea when
this picture
might have been taken?
’

‘
I’d guess
during the annual Tarpon Tournament in July, but it’s difficult to know for sure.
’

Jack thanked her
,
and he and Grace walked back to the car
.

‘
Now what
?
’
she
asked
.

‘
We go back to the house
, grab a bit
e
to eat
,
and
see
there’s any news
about
Kennedy
and Mike
.
’

‘
Y
ou want to make a start on lunch, while I
call
the hospital to see how Mike is
?
’
Jack
slipped the key into the lock and stepped aside to allow Grace to enter
first, and closed the
door
behind the
m.

Grace dropped her purse on the table.
‘
Cat?
’
She
called out from the hallway.
‘
We’re back.
Cat?
’
She turned to Jack.
‘
Surely, she can’t still be in bed
, can she
?
’
She started to call out again when Jack put his hand on her arm.

‘
Leave her be
, Grace.
She’s not worth your concern.
’

Grace opened
her mouth to defend her sister, but
realize
d Jack was right
. He
was merely pointing out the truth. She let out a muted sigh.

‘
It hurts. After all I did for her; it hurts to know she cares
only
for
herself.
’

There was nothing Jack could say that would make Grace feel better, so he simply took her hand.
He led her
down the hall,
t
hrough
the family room
at the back of the house and
pushed open the door to the
office.

‘
What the hell—
’

Catherine stood in front of the
open
safe
. She started to turn away, but wasn’t fast enough. Jack’s hand closed around her wrist and
yanked
her back
.

‘
Looking for
something
?
’
he asked.

Catherine’s lip trembled as she rubbed her wrist.
‘
It was like this when I came in, I swear.
’

Jack shook his head.
‘
Bullshit! I checked the safe this morning and it was locked tight.
’

Catherine
’s lips drew tightly across her teeth
.
‘
It was
open, Jack
.
You can’t blame me for your own ineptitude. It was open and I was curious. Ask my loving sister. She’ll tell you my curiosity is how I earned my nickname.
’

‘
That much is true,
’
said Grace.

Jack pointed a finger at her.
‘
I couldn’t care less if your curiosity got you the name of Snoopy.
You’re lying
, just
like
you lied about your passport
getting
stolen
.
’

‘
You’re crazy.
’
Catherine turned to her sister.
‘
You believe me, don’t you
, Gracie
?
’

Grace
looked at her sister. Catherine’s brittle, calculating
stare
bore into her.
‘
I’d like to hear your explanation before I decide.
’

Catherine shrugged.
‘
Okay, so
I’m lying after all. But I was curious
.
I thought it would be fun to see if I could open it. I spun the dial, it clicked a few times,
and then
just
opened.
’

Jack gave a slow
handclap
.
‘
Very good. Only I’m not buying.
Was this what you were looking for
?
’
He pulled
Elliott’s notebook out of his back pocket. He watched the play of emotions on Catherine’
s face.

‘
You don’t honestly believe I’d steal from my own sister
, do you
?
’

‘
I don’t believe
anything you say. L
et’s put the issue of the safe to one side for the moment.
Care to explain how you
came by
an Irish passport
?
’
He pulled a sheaf of papers out of his pocket and handed them to Grace.
‘
Diego faxed this
to me
yesterday. Recognize the woman in the photograph?
’

Grace studied the
photocopy of the passport
.
‘
Catherine?
’

‘
Okay,
’
she shouted.
‘
S
o I lied.
Again
.
But it’s no
business of yours what passport I carry
.
’

‘
Forgery will
earn
you a prison sentence
. So
will murder and theft. You know what bothers me about your story?
Grace left messages for you on both your home and cell phones, yet you ignored them. Weren’t you the
slightes
t bit interested to know what she wanted? Or did you know Elliott
was
dead and figured hiding out in Europe until things died down was your
best
bet?
’

Catherine shifted uneasily from one foot to the other
.

‘
I’ve told you—
’

‘
You can tell me as many times as you want, lady, but it’s still a raft of bullshit. I say
we take a look in your purse to make sure
.
’
He
jerked her towards the door.

‘
Are you going to stand there and let him treat me like this?
’
Catherine
cried out to
Grace.

Grace folded her arms across her chest.
‘
You brought this on yourself, Cat. Just answer Jack’s questions.
And let’s see what’s in your
purse.
’

‘
All right.
All right.
I didn’t lose my phone
, but the bit about the conference was true.
’

‘
Go on,
’
said Jack.

‘
I was supposed to meet Daniel at Heathrow. When Grace started leaving messages I thought she’d found out.
’

‘
Found out that you and Daniel were having an affair?
’