Page 65 of Speculations in Sin

Mr. Grimes was waiting, as promised, when we emerged. He leaned on a wall across the street, arms folded, a formidable bulk. Passersby eyed him warily.

As soon as I signaled him, Mr. Grimes came alive and waved joyously. As he hurried through the traffic to us, beaming at me and Grace, the pedestrians’ fearful looks became smiles of indulgence.

Mr. Grimes walked us home as he would old friends, asking Grace what she had for tea, prying out every detail. Soon Grace chatted to him without restraint. Mr. Grimes left us at the end of Clover Lane, again waving and nodding as though sending us off on an important journey.

I was grateful to him not only for watching over us but for cheering up Grace. I’d have to add some tea cakes to my basket for Mr. Grimes when I visited again.

We’d lingered over the tea, and the skies had already darkened by the time we entered the Millburn house. This was a happy home, I reflected as Grace ran upstairs to find Jane and Mabel. Cozy. Sam leased the house, and I hoped the landlords wouldn’t force Joanna out once they learned Sam would stand trial for murder.

“Kat.” Joanna beckoned me from the doorway of Sam’s study. When I hastened to her, she pulled me inside and shut the door. “I meant to tell you this before, but Mr. Kearny was here, and then Grace was so anxious to set off with you.”

“Tell me what?” I asked in curiosity.

“When the police were here, they found a few boxes of papers Sam had brought home from work.”

“Yes, so Mr. Fielding said.”

“Mr. Fielding.” Joanna let out a breath. “Please thank Mr. McAdam for lending him to me. I know he is a charlatan, but I was very grateful for his presence. He kept those belligerent young men, who were certain Sam is a vicious murderer, from terrorizing me.”

I softened a bit to Mr. Fielding. “Sam had brought the papers home from work? Do you know why?”

“To try to work out where the embezzled money was going. What I want to tell you is the police did not find everything.”

Joanna lit a lamp, then moved to the window, which overlooked a small bricked-over yard, and pulled the curtain across it. The window was recessed, with wainscoting over the wall beneath it. Joanna knelt before a panel, nudged it inward, and then pulled off the entire piece of wainscoting, revealing a cavity behind it.

The wainscoting hadn’t been crafted to come away, I saw. No secret compartment with clever catches or hinges. The panel had simply loosened with time, and Sam had made use of that fact.

Joanna reached in and pulled out two boxes. Each were about the size of a large book, with a hinged top that revealed neat stacks of paper inside.

“Sam put the other two behind the books in the shelves because there wasn’t room for them in here.” Joanna thrust the boxes at me. “Please take them. Maybe there is something in them that will absolve my Sam of the charges.”

I accepted them readily. “I’ll make certain every word is gone over. Several times, if necessary. I might have to take them to Inspector McGregor,” I finished hesitantly.

“You claim Inspector McGregor is an honest policeman. If he can help Sam, I am willing to trust him.”

I wasn’t certain I trusted Inspector McGregor exactly, but he had proved to be very thorough in his job. He did not like wrong convictions. Even if he was only advising on this case, the word of a Scotland Yard inspector held weight.

We bundled up the boxes in an old shawl and placed them at the bottom of a basket. Joanna led me out and down to the kitchen, where we layered a few soft rolls and tea cakes over the boxes. The cook was flattered I wanted some of her cakes, so I did not explain they were only for disguise. The staff at the Mount Street house could enjoy them as a treat.

I departed from Grace and Joanna with many hugs and promises to return as soon as I could on Monday.

Mr. Grimes met me with enthusiasm as I emerged from the lane. I gave him one of the tea cakes, which he accepted with joy, and he stayed by my side until Lewis pulled up in his cab. Lewis had become my personal driver of late—Mr. Grimes explained he’d been requested and paid for by Daniel, who did not want me to risk traveling across the City unguarded.

Kind of Daniel, I decided as I settled in for the ride. Kind of him also to keep watch over Joanna. She’d need income soon—she and Sam had some savings, I knew, but without Sam’s regular salary, she’d run through that quickly. She had to pay the lease on the house as well as for food for the family, not to mention the wages of the three who worked in the household.

A woman on her own, who did not have a well-off family at her back or a skilled job she could take up, would soon be destitute.

With these gloomy thoughts, I rode through the dark metropolis to Oxford Street, where I descended and walked south through Mayfair to Mount Street.

I arrived in a kitchen bustling as usual. I unloaded the rest of the tea cakes and rolls, to Tess’s and Elsie’s delight, and told them to share them among themselves, the maids, and the footmen. The basket I carried upstairs to my room, hiding the boxes of papers under my bed.

After washing my face and hands and changing my frock, I arrived below stairs once more in time to see Mr. Davis, through the half-open door of his butler’s pantry, in the act of unfolding a letter.

He skimmed the lines on the paper, then his face lost all color, and he dropped heavily to a chair, his head bowed.

19

I pushed my way into the butler’s pantry, closing the door softly behind me.

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