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Chelsea shrugged.

Ellery said, “She sounded to me like she planned on coming, but I can see why it doesn’t make sense for her to fly over tomorrow.”

“I just find it hard to believe she couldn’t have caught an earlier flight if she’d really wanted to.”

“Why are you being such a pill about this?” Tosh demanded. “You’re making Ellery feel bad.”

Well, not really. Ellery had spoken to Belle on the phone, so he knew she’d genuinely planned on coming. Belle was nearly as terrible an actor as he was. He was sorry, of course, because he and Belle always had fun playing off each other, and it had been a while.

“No offense, Ellery,” Chelsea said. “It’s just obvious Belle doesn’t have time for any of us now. Why would she? She’s marrying a viscount, for God’s sake.”

“Wow,” Tosh said, and that seemed to sum it up for everyone.

Into the silence that followed, Ellery asked, “Would you like some coffee, Chelsea?”

“I wouldlovesome coffee.”

Ellery rose, went into the kitchen to pour a cup of coffee. When he returned to the dining room, Flip was saying, “Okay, Oscar and Freddie just left Point Judith. Did you want me to drive to the harbor with you, Ell?”

“Sure.”

Chelsea opened her mouth, but then closed it. Ellery wondered if she didn’t want to be left alone with Tosh and Lenny who were currently treating her to a formidable cold silence.

Hopefully, they’d call a truce while he and Flip were gone because it was going to make for an awkward house party if his guests weren’t speaking to each other.

“Jack’s not at all what I pictured,” Flip remarked on the drive to Pirate’s Cove.

“What did you picture?”

“I’m not sure. But not someone quite so...serious.”

“Well, he’s notalwaysserious,” Ellery said, navigating an especially deep puddle in the road.

But come to think of it, yeah, Jack joked around, sure; he had a good sense of humor and he could be playful and fun, but he was a serious guy.

“No, of course not,” Flip said quickly. “And he seems very nice.”

“He isverynice.”

“He’s very alert.”

Ellery glanced briefly from the road to Flip. “Yes. He’s—he pays attention.”

“He watches everything,” Flip said thoughtfully. “In fact, even if I didn’t know he was a cop, I’d wonder if he was a cop. You can feel him observing—observing and assessing the situation all the time.”

“Can you?” Ellery said neutrally. He wasn’t sure where this was going. He wanted his friends to like Jack, but it was their loss if they didn’t. It would not affect Ellery’s feelings for Jack in the least.

He said, “Jack was a homicide detective with LAPD before he moved to Pirate’s Cove.”

“Was he? I’ll bet he was good at it.”

“He doesn’t talk much about his life back then, but I’m sure he was. He’s a good police chief.”

Flip smiled suddenly, “He gets this expression when he’s looking at you. I don’t know how to explain it. It’s something in his eyes. Like looking at you is a relief.”

Ellery chuckled. “That’s only because right now I’m not snooping into anything he wants me to stay out of. That’s gotta be abigrelief.”

Flip assented and added, “Brandon used to look at you like you were a juicy piece of steak!”