Minerva let herself out and climbed the five stairs to the garden. That had gone better than she had hoped. She now knew the valet’s name, and the vicinity where he now lived.

Her smug satisfaction disappeared as soon as she began walking toward the garden gate. In her path, lounging with his back against the building’s stones, stood Chase Radnor.

“Are you always here?” she asked.

“Are you?”

What an exasperating man. “I visited a friend.”

“I visited my cousin. And how did Mrs. Fowler become a friend? Isn’t she the one who made you do all that laundry?”

“She is a kind soul.”

“She is also a talkative woman. What did you want from her?”

“You are so suspicious. You should find a diversion to occupy your mind on occasion.”

His hand stopped her progress along the path on the side of the house. She looked down at the hand on her arm, then up at him. He did not look suspicious. He looked annoyed.

“I was going to call, but we may as well have this out now,” he said.

She tried to appear interested instead of perplexed, but he made no sense.

“I am speaking of Mrs. Oliver.”

“Who is she?”

“Do not dissemble with me. You know very well who she is.”

“The question really is how do you know who she is?”

He folded his arms and looked down at her. “She approached me about conducting an inquiry for her.”

Oh, dear.

“We were to meet this morning. Only instead I received a letter in which she explained she had engaged another to do the inquiry instead.”

Again Minerva tried to appear interested. And innocent.

“Imagine my surprise when she wrote that she decided to hand her problem to Hepplewhite’s Office of Discreet Inquiries.”

“For a woman who desires discretion, she is not very discreet herself.”

“Then it is you.”

“Of course it is. How many Hepplewhites are qualified to conduct inquiries?”

“None.”

That was not fair. “I am eminently qualified. For her purposes, perhaps more so than you.”

“More qualified? I conducted inquiries for the army. I was trained by experts. I uncovered spies in France and in London have conducted inquiries for five lords and a half dozen members of Parliament. Other than Mrs. Oliver, for whom have you conducted them?”

“Another woman. And myself. You are only annoyed because you don’t want competition.”

“You are not competition.”

“Then why are you so vexed? If I am not competition, you have nothing to worry about.”

“I am worried for Mrs. Oliver. She requires a professional.”

“She requires someone who can walk into shops that cater to women and learn information that requires a woman’s sensibility and knowledge of fashion. That does not sound like you. As soon as you arrive the shop owner will know something is afoot. Tell me, what do you know about lace cuffs?”

He frowned harder.