“And what if he wasn’t? I’ve got a bad feeling.” Her voice was full of pain. “I don’t know anything. You’re my last hope. She said you and Seth Caleb know people with MI6 and Scotland Yard. They’d pay more attention to her being missing, wouldn’t they? Please, don’t pat me on the head and send me away. You cared about Felicia, too.”

Past tense. A shiver ran through Jane. “I do care about her. She’s my good friend. Look, send me the photo. I’ll see what I can do.” Her hand tightened on the phone. “I’ll get back to you as soon as I can, Wilma. Look, don’t stay there alone. Go visit Penny, or Felicia told me you have neighbors you spend a lot of time with. This doesn’t have to be bad. Try not to worry.” Lord, that sounded lame. “I won’t stop until I have an answer.”

“Thank you, Jane.” Wilma was openly sobbing now. “I’m desperate. All I can do is pray. Like I said, I’m sorry I had to bother you.”

“It’s no bother, you’re both my friends. I want to do this. Bye, Wilma.” She cut the connection.

“Shit,” she whispered.

“Trouble?” Rodland asked. “I heard a bit of it. How can I help?”

“My agent, Felicia, disappeared four days ago and her mother is going crazy. Her phone was disconnected. She no-showed a business appointment, and she wouldn’t have done that. Wilma notified the police but they’re not taking it seriously yet.” She heard a ping. “That should be the photo of the man she was seen with at the gallery.” She pulled up the photo. “Sleek, well dressed, not a very good shot of his face.”

“May I?” He took her phone. “He’s probably trying to avoid the cameras. He didn’t do a very good job. There may be a way we can make it clearer.” He typed in a number on her keypad and pressed TRANSMIT. “It shouldn’t take long.” He handed the phone back to her. “This really scared you. Why?”

“Besides the fact that she’s disappeared off the face of the earth for the last few days? Because Felicia would never do anything to hurt her mother. And she wouldn’t ignore a client appointment to go somewhere with a stranger.”

“Good enough reasons for me.” He took her elbow and nudged her toward the hall. “You promised to get her answers. Let’s go back to the castle so we can discuss it with MacDuff right away.”

“You’re in a hurry.” Her eyes narrowed on his face. “And it’s not usual for you to be so eager to involve MacDuff. Tell me why.”

“Did your agent, Felicia, know where you were going when you left London?”

“Yes, of course.”