Unearthed

“Mrs. Myrie—”

The policeman turned toward Nightingale. “Sir, the lady has been very polite, in my opinion, and it’s my opinion that matters here. Now, she’s gently told you to shove off, so I’d be for shoving off if I was you. Otherwise I might be inclined to point out she could file a harassment complaint and have you carried down to the police station.”

Nightingale didn’t say anything further, but he fired one of his engraved business cards into the air.

Eyes and hands trained by thousands of hours of gaming, Michael plucked the card from the air and made the feat look effortless. “We’ll be in touch, Mr. Nightingale.”

The solicitor strode away.

Nanny patted the policeman on the arm. “Thank you, Officer.”

The man smiled and winked at her. “It was my pleasure, madam. I don’t care for a puffed-up popinjay like that one. And you’ve enough troubles without him adding to them.”

Taking Michael by the arm, Nanny turned him around and walked back to the bed. “Michael, I know that you might believe I’m a frail old woman—”

“Actually, Nanny, I stand corrected.”

“Good. I’m glad that we’ve got that out of the way.” Nanny stopped at the bed. “I know Inspector Paddington will wish to speak with me.”

“He’s already mentioned that.”

“The quicker we get that over with, the better. That way, the inspector can mark that off his to-do list and move on to whatever else he has on his plate. We need him out of the way.”

“We do?”

“Perhaps that was presumptuous of me. I hope to find out more about what drove Rohan to invade the Crowe house that night. He wouldn’t have gone there unless he had a reason.”

“I agree.”

“Then I’ll need to start looking for those answers.”

“I’d love to help.”

“We’d love to help,” Molly said as she walked through the doorway to the room. “No one else I know can keep Michael out of trouble.”

Nanny smiled at that. “I’m sure you can’t keep him completely out of trouble.”

“Perhaps not.” Molly smiled ruefully. “But no one does it better.”

“I would rather not meet the inspector on his home territory, either,” Nanny continued. “Somewhere away from the police department, I should think. And away from prying eyes.”

“You know, I believe I have just the place.”

Nanny’s eyes twinkled. “I’m not surprised.”

“How about dinner at our house?”

“Home-court rules?”

“Of course.”

Michael shook his head in amazement. Nanny Myrie and Molly had already stepped in sync. Paddington had no idea what he was in for.