"Fielding, Joy - Whispers and Lies" - читать интересную книгу автора (Fielding Joy)

months back, dug up all my hibiscus.
Trust me, it was neither sweet nor cute." I
backed away from the window, catching sight, as I
did so, of a man's silhouette among the many
outside shadows on the opposite corner of the
street. "Is someone waiting for you?"
"For me? No. Why?"
I edged forward to have a better look, but the
man, if he'd existed at all, had taken his
shadow and disappeared. I looked down the street,
but there was no one there.
"I thought I saw someone standing under that tree
over there." I pointed with my chin.
"I don't see anyone."
"Well, I'm sure it was nothing. Would you like
some coffee?"
"I'd love some." She followed me through the
small dining area that stood perpendicular to the
living room, and into the predominantly white
kitchen at the back of the house. "Oh, would you just
look at these," she exclaimed with obvious
delight, gliding toward the rows of shelves that
lined the wall beside the small breakfast nook, her
arms extended, fingers fluttering eagerly in the
air. "What are these? Where did you get them?"
My eyes quickly scanned the sixty-five
china heads that gazed at us from five rows of
wooden shelves. "They're called "ladies'
head vases,"" I explained. "My mother used
to collect them. They're from the fifties, mostly
made in Japan. They have holes in the tops of
their heads, for flowers, I guess, although they
don't hold a lot. When they first came out, they
were worth maybe a couple of dollars."
"And now?"
"Apparently they're quite valuable.
Collectibles, I believe, is the word they
use."
"And what word would you use?" She waited
eagerly, a mischievous smile twisting her
full lips this way and that.
I didn't have to think very hard. "Junk," I
said concisely.
"I think they're great," she protested. "Just
look at the eyelashes on this one. Oh, and the
earrings on this one. And the tiny string of pearls.
Oh, and look at this one. Don't you just love the
expression on her face?" She lifted one of the
heads gingerly into her hands. The china figurine was
about six inches tall, with arched painted eyebrows