The Way You Look Tonight Read Online Free

The
noise of the drumming of her heels against the deck had transferred straight down into the water. No one but him was any the wiser.
    And when it was over, only he could hear her special song, the verse he would always sing to them when it was done.
    He was annoyed that the newspapers hadn’t reported his personal sign-off after the first one, but to be fair to them the cops had probably held it back. Some dumb cat-and-mouse game or
other. But he had the feeling that this time they’d want everyone to know about his signature. It showed that he was no random killer and the cops would get that now, however stupid they
were. The papers, too; they loved that kind of angle.
    And you had to admit it – as signatures went, this one looked pretty damn cool, even if it was going to cost him a fortune in knives. He bought only the best; he felt he owed them
that.
    He took one last look at her as he prepared to slip out of the boat and begin wading back up the channel. But he knew that the image, striking though it was, would begin to fade soon
enough.
    Next time he’d make sure to bring a camera.

4
    ‘That’s not a car, Professor Rockfair. That’s a big boat on wheels.’
    The woman standing beside Stella in Logan Airport’s passenger pick-up zone laughed.
    ‘It’s a Lincoln Continental Convertible, my dear, Jeb’s pride and joy, especially since he heard that President Kennedy took delivery of exactly the same model last month for
his official motorcades. With the top down like that it
does
have the look of a motor-launch, I agree. But it’s such a lovely day we thought you’d like the sun on your face and
the wind in your hair on the drive back home.’
    Jeb Rockfair was carefully nosing the gleaming silver open-topped sedan into the parking bay. Once he was satisfied, he looked up and gave them both the A-OK circle of forefinger and thumb.
    ‘Welcome to New England, Stella,’ he called to her. ‘Hop in! I know it’s a bit of a squeeze, but we’ll manage somehow.’
    Stella giggled. ‘I’ve never seen a car as big as this in my whole life. Oh my goodness! The doors are on backwards!’
    Jeb had opened the rear door closest to the kerb. ‘Yup. The back doors swing open towards the front. Neat, huh? Just like the old stagecoaches. Let me get your bags for you.’
    ‘Thank you, Professor.’
    Jeb Rockfair glanced meaningfully towards his wife as he swung Stella’s two suitcases into the trunk. ‘She been calling you that too?’
    ‘She certainly has, ever since the arrivals hall.’
    ‘Right.’ He ushered Stella into the back of the car and got behind the wheel, his wife sliding onto the leather-covered bench seat beside him.
    ‘Now see here, Stella,’ he said, once he’d started the engine and pulled out onto the airport’s exit lane. ‘Dorothy and I don’t have many Rockfair rules but
here’s one you’ll break again at your peril. No “professor” this or “professor” that from here on in, OK? It’s Jeb and Dorothy, period. I mean, Jeez, were
you planning on calling our daughter “Miss Sylvia”?’
    Stella gave a passable imitation of the Queen. ‘Neow, it was going to be Miss Rockfair, eactually,’ she said in a nasal, clipped tone. Her hosts roared with laughter.
    ‘You’re a chip off the old block – that’s just the kind of stunt your mother might pull!’ Jeb said when he’d caught his breath. ‘You’re quite the
mimic, Stella . . . Dottie, we’re in the presence of royalty! The Queen of England is in the back of our sedan! How’d you learn to do that, honey?’
    ‘Oh, almost anybody can do the Queen,’ Stella said, beginning to enjoy herself. ‘It’s easy, I’ll show you. What do you breathe?’
    ‘Huh?’
    ‘Come on, it’s simple. What do you breathe?
    ‘OK . . . air,’ they replied together.
    ‘And what’s on top of your head?’
    ‘Hair.’ Dorothy started to laugh. ‘I think I can see where this is going, but then I do lecture in