‘‘Always puts me in mind of that movie with Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck—where she’s a princess. Don’t make movies like that anymore.’’

‘‘ Roman Holiday. ’’ Grace smiled wistfully. She had a weakness for the classic and romantic.

‘‘That’s the one.’’ Grace looked a bit like Audrey Hepburn, Mrs. West mused. Coloring was wrong, of course, with Grace being blond as a Viking, but she had the big eyes and the cool, pretty face. Lord knew, she was skinny enough.

‘‘Never been anyplace foreign.’’ Which included, in Mrs. West’s mind, two-thirds of the United States. ‘‘They coming back soon?’’

‘‘A couple days.’’

‘‘Hmm. Well, that house needs a woman, no question. Can’t imagine what it’s like over there, four males in one house. Must smell like a gym sock half the time. Don’t know a man on this earth who can manage to pee and hit the toilet with the whole stream.’’

Grace laughed and went back to her windows. ‘‘They aren’t so bad. The fact is, Cam was keeping the house pretty well before they hired me to take over. But the only one of them who remembers to empty the pockets before tossing his pants at the hamper is Phillip.’’

‘‘If that’s the worst of it, it’s not bad. I expect Cam’s wife’ll take over the house once they get back.’’

Grace’s hand tightened on her wad of newspaper as her heart did a quick hitch. ‘‘I . . . She works full-time in Princess Anne.’’

‘‘Most likely she’ll take over,’’ Mrs. West said again. ‘‘A woman likes her house kept her way. Best thing for the boy, I expect, having a woman there full-time. Don’t know what Ray was thinking of this time around, I swear. A good-hearted man he was, but once Stella passed . . . shifted his moorings, I’d say. A man his age taking on a boy thataway. No matter what was what. Not that I believe one word of the nasty gossip you hear now and then. Nancy Claremont is the worst, flapping her lips every chance she gets.’’

Mrs. West waited a beat, hoping that Grace would flap hers. But Grace was frowning intently at the window.

‘‘You know if that insurance inspector’s coming around again?’’

‘‘No,’’ Grace said quietly, ‘‘I don’t. I hope not.’’

‘‘Don’t see how it makes a matter where the boy came from as far as the insurance company goes. Even if Ray did suicide himself—and I’m not saying it’s so—they can’t prove it, can they? Because . . .’’ She paused dramatically, as she did whenever she made the argument. ‘‘They weren’t there!’’

She said the last on a note of triumph, just as she had when she’d made the same statement to Nancy.

‘‘Professor Quinn wouldn’t have killed himself,’’ Grace murmured.