Chapter Three
Mr Robinson sat back in his chair and reviewed Mrs Robinson as she swirled the remaining wine in her glass. Dinner had been delicious and the company rewarding, but he knew his Phryne.
"Something's got your attention. Can I ask what it is?"
She blinked, met his eye and smiled.
"Truth's stranger than fiction, Jack – and yes, there's no secret about what happened yesterday in a reasonably public place, so I'm not breaching any confidences if I tell you."
"Go on?" He leaned his forearms on the table. In general, one of the most edifying things about any case was Miss Fisher's take on it.
"I had lunch with Lin Chung today."
"That in itself surprises me because when I left you this morning, you weren't planning on experiencing any more of the morning than was strictly necessary, and Mr Butler was in on the idea."
She smiled wryly. "It was an emergency, as it turned out. Lin had apparently requested breakfast, and Mr B thankfully managed to dissuade him. But the story's extraordinary, Jack."
She outlined Lin's dilemma, and then lapsed into silence, which Jack didn't rush to fill; instead, he rested one elbow on the table and pulled at his lower lip pensively.
"What have you got to go on? Let's talk it through."
She sat up and grimaced a little.
"The vase. The flowers. The place they were left. That's it, isn't it?"
He agreed. "You may be able to add in – the day they were left and the person who found them – but yes, that's the essence of it so far. The vase must be a good start, though?"
"Oh, definitely. If it's as valuable as Lin thinks, it's extraordinary that someone would simply leave it lying around in a semi-public place like the temple."
By unspoken consent, they pushed back their chairs and wandered through to the parlour, where Mr Butler had set the whisky and glasses ready. There, on the table was the rather sorrowful bunch of flowers in its plain container.
"They're not as pretty as the vase they were accompanying," remarked Phryne. "I'm not even sure what they all are. Lily – and that's lilac. Geranium seems a bit odd in a funeral bouquet, if that's what it's meant to be."
"Is there perhaps a note in the names of the flowers?" Jack added.
Phryne looked up, electrified.
"Of course! Jack, I'm an idiot. I can only blame the lack of sleep. I need to take this bunch to Dot first thing in the morning."
"While I'm happy to have been of help, Miss Fisher, can I just point out that it has been rather a long day?" His yawn, though involuntary, underlined his argument.
Miss Fisher instantly transformed into the Ministering Angel which was Mrs Robinson, and if he hadn't forcibly restrained her enthusiasm, would have started undressing him for bed there and then.