Splintered Bones by Carolyn Haines Page B

me.
    "Where did you learn to do that?" I asked her.
    She looked at me, all wide-eyed innocence. "Do what?"
    I shook my head. "What did you find out?"
    "You're going to love this," she said, pushing the almost empty plate away and leaning forward. "The hunt season is over. There's going to be a big ball." Her eyes sparkled. "And I've gotten both of us invited!"
    I was impressed. I'd never run in the hunt society, but I knew the social events were always exclusive. "This is perfect. How did you manage it?"
    She shrugged one shoulder in a modest gesture that was completely sincere. "Since Lee's in jail, Virginia Cooley Davis is hosting the ball. Let's just say she owes me a favor or two." Tinkie smiled.
    "
Virginia
?" She'd been a delicate young girl who played the piano and read novels. I couldn't imagine her riding a horse in a blood sport, and said so.
    "She doesn't ride. Her husband is a whip in the hunt, and she handles the social calendar." Tinkie retrieved the pie and opened her mouth for the last strawberry. When she finished, there wasn't even a smudge of whipped cream on her perfect lipstick. A Daddy's Girl had many talents.
    "This is the final ball of the season," Tinkie continued, "and
Chesterfield
always has a very, very elegant affair. The men will wear tails with the colors of the hunt on the collar, and the ladies"--she grinned--"we wear ball gowns fit to kill." Her expression changed to one of worry. "Can you find a date? You have to have an escort."
    "Of course I can find a date," I replied, cut to the bone. "You act like no one will go out with me."
    "Have you been out since
Hamilton
the Fifth went back to
Europe
?" she asked pointedly.
    "I've been busy, and--" Truth was,
Hamilton
, the focus of my first case and the man who'd touched my heart, was often on my mind.
    "So, the answer is no. It doesn't sound like your dance card has any marks on it."
    I glared at her. "You know, you're beginning to remind me of Brianna Rathbone." Brianna had figured prominently in my last case-- as primary suspect, primo Daddy's Girl, former schoolmate, former model, wannabe biographer, and bitch extraordinaire.
    Tinkie only laughed. "Well, put your thinking cap on, because you need an escort. And don't think you can fall back on Harold. I hear he's already got a date." She tilted her head, watching for my reaction.
    "Who?" My attempt to play uninterested was a failure.
    "This is the other thing I found out." She slowly sat back in her chair, playing out the moment like Gloria Swanson waiting for her close-up. "Harold's taking a married woman because her husband can't attend. Carol Beth Bishop!" At my blank look, she continued with some exasperation. "She was a Farley."
    I inhaled. "No!" I remembered her perfectly.
    She nodded. "In fact, she's in town right this minute. Even better, she's out at Swift Level, and she's claiming that she owns Lee's prime breeding stallion and four of her best mares. She has a bill of sale from Kemper, signing the horses over as collateral for a debt."
    I stood up so fast my chair spilled over backward. There was a startled yelp at the kitchen window, and I caught a glimpse of Kip stumbling away. She'd been eavesdropping.
    "Carol Beth Farley! She's the person claiming Lee's horses?" Now I knew why Bud Lynch had been so desperate to talk to Lee. Carol Beth took what she wanted, when she wanted it. Anyone who got in her way was flattened.
    Tinkie nodded. "She's already called the sheriff on that trainer, Lynch. He won't turn over the horses to her."
    "Bravo for him." His stock rose a notch in my eyes. At least he was good for something. "Carol Beth Farley," I said, pacing the kitchen. The moment that defined her for me was a sixth-grade piano recital competition held the spring after my parents' death. She'd worn a designer gown, her mahogany brown curls piled high on her head and a glittering tiara nestled on top. She'd taken one look at the plain satin dress Aunt LouLane had made for me and