Strolling over to Idlewild Inn, I felt surprisingly calm. To be honest, a good wardrobe helped. One of the other things I’d done in the intervening weeks was turn my mom loose on mine. She’d designed a simple jersey knit dress for me that had just the right amount of motion, drape, and cling, and actually worked with the broad belt from which dauda-dagr hung. In charcoal-gray with a pair of knee-high black patent leather boots—sophisticated, but practical, with just a one-inch heel—it made for a reasonably elegant working outfit. I felt grown-up and competent wearing it. Plus, it left my tail free.

The boots had been a splurge. Although I had to wait another two months for it, I was kind of counting on collecting that two hundred and forty dollars I’d turned in after I busted Tuggle and Company’s shell game.

I had to show my police ID to the desk clerk at the Idlewild before she agreed to ring Emmeline Palmer’s room and announce me as a visitor. Then I had to wait, idling in the Idlewild’s quasi-Victorian lobby until dear Emmy deigned to emerge.

Maybe it was all the training in psychic self-defense that I’d been doing, or maybe it was just that Emmeline wasn’t bothering to hide her light under the proverbial bushel, but this time I sensed her power as she glided into the lobby.

Her dark gaze swept over me, possibly taking in the upgraded wardrobe—Emmeline herself was wearing a beautifully cut pantsuit of taupe silk with a cream-colored blouse underneath—and then skated past me to look out the window at the street beyond. She seemed mildly surprised to see nothing out of the ordinary there.

“Have you come to escort me out of town?” she inquired. “I would have expected a posse. Isn’t that how you Americans do things?”

“Sinclair wants a chance for the two of you to talk things out reasonably,” I said. “And I’ve agreed to it.”

Her eyelids flickered. “He does? I wouldn’t have—” She stopped.

“Wouldn’t have what?” I asked suspiciously.

“I wouldn’t have thought he’d bother,” Emmeline said flatly. “My brother knows when my mind’s made up.”

“Yeah, well.” I shrugged. “Maybe he’s got a few things to say that you haven’t considered.” I wasn’t about to give her any hint that her father was going to be part of the parley.

She eyed me dubiously. “And you would have me believe you simply agreed to this?”

“I don’t care what you believe.” I eyed her in return. “What was your plan if I had come in with a posse?”

Emmeline didn’t answer, her face taking on a shuttered look.