With no warning, she broke into a jargon which Penny could not understand. But the meaning was clear enough even if the words were unintelligible. Celeste was calling down all manner of evil upon her head!
“Go!” Celeste cried in English. “You come here again—harm befall you!”
“Celeste, all your jungle hocus-pocus doesn’t impress me in the least. I’ll leave when I feel in the mood—not before. What were you after in the safe?”
The woman’s eyes met Penny’s defiantly. She reached out as if to strike her, but at that moment footsteps padded on the stairway. Pushing past Penny, Celeste retreated to the kitchen.
Lorinda came into the library, gazing about curiously. “Thought I heard voices,” she commented.
“You did. Celeste was here. Guess what? I found her tampering with the wall safe.”
“She may have been trying to learn if the Zudi drum was stolen,” Lorinda said absently. “I’m far more worried about the will. What became of it?”
Penny repeated what Jerry had witnessed, adding: “Obviously the will was taken by the man who climbed through the window. Could it have been Antón?”
“Antón? Why, I doubt that he even knew about the will, because Mother decided to change it at a moment’s notice. What reason would he have for taking it? Neither he nor Celeste figured in the terms of either document.”
“It seemed to me Celeste was tremendously interested,” Penny said. “Oh, well, the loss shouldn’t be of serious consequence. Your mother can draw up another will.”