clothes. You’re quite the fashionista.”
“Me?” Kendra tugged at the collar of her shirt. “Old Navy. But I’m good at recognizing designs. And dialects. Even if I hadn’t seen you, I would have known about the Georgia upbringing, the time spent in Paris, and your most recent time in London. I could pick it up in some of your pronunciations. I knew it from the moment you said that ‘maybe there are too many cooks in the kitchen already.’ The rest just confirmed it.”
Jane wrinkled her nose. “I hope you’re happy. You’ve just made me incredibly self-conscious about the way I speak. What about the sunglasses?”
Kendra stepped closer and used her forefinger to trace an outline around Jane’s eyes. “You wore your Guccis for a long time before you lost them. Those years made a slight tan line on your skin. It’s very, very faint but defined enough for me to see that you had a very nice pair of Gucci double-bridged aviators.”
Jane gave a low whistle. “Wow.”
“And I see a ruddier, more recent outline of another pair of aviators with almost the same shape. But your skin is red and irritated on your nose and also behind both ears. Injuries inflicted by your replacement sunglasses. I’m surprised you stuck with them this long.”
“Me, too. I was busy and didn’t want to go to the bother of finding another pair.”
“And once you find something you like, you stay with it. Your clothes are good-quality, but I’ll bet you wear them for years and years.”
“Yes.” Jane raised her arm and gazed at her wrist. “My skin … Is that how you knew about my bracelets?”
“Yes, you should really use sunscreen more often. It’s just the faintest color … It looks like cut glass separated by alternating patterns … Maybe a flower design?”
“Butterfly.”
“In any case, very Eastern European, very art deco.”
“But you described the other one in such detail.” She frowned. “There was no way my wrist could have told you that, dammit.”
“Not entirely.” Her lips turned up at the corners. “But I could just barely make out a pattern I remember seeing on one of Eve’s bracelets. I complimented her on it and she told me you’d made it for her. Given what I was seeing there, it wasn’t a leap to think you’d also made one for yourself. Since the shape of the beads and settings were the same, it was pretty safe to assume that the colors were also the same as hers.”
“I made mine first.”
“There’s a slight wear mark on your slacks that tells me you usually keep your iPhone in the front-left pocket, which also tells me you don’t often carry a purse. But I don’t see a wear mark for a bigger keychain, which is usually more abrasive. It makes me think you don’t own a car.”
“Not in London, but I’ve started looking for one here.” Jane leaned against the rail next to Kendra. “Okay, now how in the hell did you know I was experimenting with a new painting style?”
“You’ve recently started using a monocle of some kind over your right eye. You squint to hold it in place, which has left faint, callus lines above and below your eyelids. The lines are fairly fresh, meaning you haven’t been doing it for long. That suggests you’ve been doing intricate detail work unlike that in most of your other paintings.”
Jane nodded. “I can see why Eve was so impressed.”
“Okay,” Joe said. “What I want to know is how you knew about all of our law-enforcement visitors.”
“That was the easiest of all,” Kendra pointed down, where hundreds of muddy footprints crisscrossed the porch. “Each agency has its own favorite shoe. Police have their uniform shoes, FBI favors dress shoes with rubber soles, and, when they’re not on a mission, CIA types usually go for leather soles. Each set of footprints tells a story. It’s just a matter of learning to read.”
Joe studied the footprints. “I guess I’m just illiterate.”
Kendra turned to Jane and tilted her
“Me?” Kendra tugged at the collar of her shirt. “Old Navy. But I’m good at recognizing designs. And dialects. Even if I hadn’t seen you, I would have known about the Georgia upbringing, the time spent in Paris, and your most recent time in London. I could pick it up in some of your pronunciations. I knew it from the moment you said that ‘maybe there are too many cooks in the kitchen already.’ The rest just confirmed it.”
Jane wrinkled her nose. “I hope you’re happy. You’ve just made me incredibly self-conscious about the way I speak. What about the sunglasses?”
Kendra stepped closer and used her forefinger to trace an outline around Jane’s eyes. “You wore your Guccis for a long time before you lost them. Those years made a slight tan line on your skin. It’s very, very faint but defined enough for me to see that you had a very nice pair of Gucci double-bridged aviators.”
Jane gave a low whistle. “Wow.”
“And I see a ruddier, more recent outline of another pair of aviators with almost the same shape. But your skin is red and irritated on your nose and also behind both ears. Injuries inflicted by your replacement sunglasses. I’m surprised you stuck with them this long.”
“Me, too. I was busy and didn’t want to go to the bother of finding another pair.”
“And once you find something you like, you stay with it. Your clothes are good-quality, but I’ll bet you wear them for years and years.”
“Yes.” Jane raised her arm and gazed at her wrist. “My skin … Is that how you knew about my bracelets?”
“Yes, you should really use sunscreen more often. It’s just the faintest color … It looks like cut glass separated by alternating patterns … Maybe a flower design?”
“Butterfly.”
“In any case, very Eastern European, very art deco.”
“But you described the other one in such detail.” She frowned. “There was no way my wrist could have told you that, dammit.”
“Not entirely.” Her lips turned up at the corners. “But I could just barely make out a pattern I remember seeing on one of Eve’s bracelets. I complimented her on it and she told me you’d made it for her. Given what I was seeing there, it wasn’t a leap to think you’d also made one for yourself. Since the shape of the beads and settings were the same, it was pretty safe to assume that the colors were also the same as hers.”
“I made mine first.”
“There’s a slight wear mark on your slacks that tells me you usually keep your iPhone in the front-left pocket, which also tells me you don’t often carry a purse. But I don’t see a wear mark for a bigger keychain, which is usually more abrasive. It makes me think you don’t own a car.”
“Not in London, but I’ve started looking for one here.” Jane leaned against the rail next to Kendra. “Okay, now how in the hell did you know I was experimenting with a new painting style?”
“You’ve recently started using a monocle of some kind over your right eye. You squint to hold it in place, which has left faint, callus lines above and below your eyelids. The lines are fairly fresh, meaning you haven’t been doing it for long. That suggests you’ve been doing intricate detail work unlike that in most of your other paintings.”
Jane nodded. “I can see why Eve was so impressed.”
“Okay,” Joe said. “What I want to know is how you knew about all of our law-enforcement visitors.”
“That was the easiest of all,” Kendra pointed down, where hundreds of muddy footprints crisscrossed the porch. “Each agency has its own favorite shoe. Police have their uniform shoes, FBI favors dress shoes with rubber soles, and, when they’re not on a mission, CIA types usually go for leather soles. Each set of footprints tells a story. It’s just a matter of learning to read.”
Joe studied the footprints. “I guess I’m just illiterate.”
Kendra turned to Jane and tilted her
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