Page 85 of No One's Bride
“We must ask ye a question that’s bound to rouse yer temper,” Ailsa said in a gentle tone. “Where were ye the night Mr Hibbet died?”
Affronted, the lady’s cheeks ballooned. “Where? Why? Surely you don’t think I could do something so wicked. Look at these hands.” She wiggled her dainty fingers. “Do they look like they could subdue a man in such a horrid fashion?”
She could have brought Hibbet a bottle of brandy laced with laudanum. Waited for the drug to take effect before plunging a knife into his chest. Hibbet suspected someone would kill him but may not have deemed Miss Chadwick a threat.
“Still, we’re required to record everyone’s alibi,” Ailsa said. “Where were ye between the hours of six and nine?”
“Where I always am,” Miss Chadwick snapped. “Feeding a frail man his supper and reading a few pages of his favourite book, although I’m usually asleep by eight. Pickson will confirm my whereabouts.”
Pickson would agree with whatever this woman said. “Before we speak to your father, I have one more question.”
“Yes?”
“If your father believed Hibbet was his son, why did he not let him run the auction house?”
Miss Chadwick gave a nonchalant shrug. “Mr Murden has been the manager for twenty years. He visits weekly with an update, though I am not permitted to attend the meeting. Mr Hibbet visited too, of course, to spin a web of wicked lies.”
“Does your father see anyone else?” According to the butler, Chadwick did not have visitors. Or was that a ploy to avoid answering their questions?
“Just that odd fellow Mangold, though the man gives me cold shivers. He’s an old friend of my father’s. They studied anatomy together at The London Medical College before seeking alternative professions. Neither man had the stomach for dissection.”
Sebastian almost slipped from the chair.
Mangold wanted the grimoire and had knowledge of anatomy.
Were they close to solving the case?
He looked at Ailsa, his chest tightening. She might return to the Highlands within days. The profound need for her company had him in a quandary. Would she stay if he asked? But did that not make him as selfish as the fiend who’d torn her gown? The man who’d tried to ruin her for his own gain?
Chasing a distraction, Sebastian stood. “We require five minutes alone with Mr Chadwick. Merely to ask about his relationship with the deceased.”
The lady remained seated and gestured to Ailsa. “He’ll not let a strange woman enter his chamber.”
“He has no choice.” Sebastian offered Ailsa his hand. “We’re partners, both employed to investigate the case.”
She slid her palm over his.
He wanted to entwine fingers, entwine limbs, lose himself in her jade-green eyes and magnificent body.
“Very well.” Miss Chadwick stood and led the way. “He usually sleeps deeply during the day. If he must be disturbed, let him growl at me.”
They made their way upstairs to a landing cluttered with French furniture. Miss Chadwick knocked on her father’s bedchamber door but didn’t wait for a reply.
The room smelled of damp clothes and dirty chamber pots. Dark curtains kept out the sunlight. Dust clung to every surface. The air carried an air of neglect, as if Mr Chadwick was a broken ornament that had served its purpose. An item left in the corner, soon to be discarded.
Propped against a mound of pillows in the four-poster bed, Mr Chadwick opened his eyes and gazed at Sebastian through the gloom. “Joshua? Is that you?”
The man called for Mr Hibbet.
Miss Chadwick rushed forward. “It is Susannah. Joshua has gone abroad, remember. To meet a client who wishes to sell antiques.” She sat on the edge of the bed and brushed hair from her father’s brow. “Lord Denton has come to say how pleased he is with Joshua’s work.”
She stood and joined Sebastian. “He won’t remember a thing I’ve said,” she whispered. “Whatever you do, don’t mention Mr Hibbet isdead.” She mouthed the last word.
They stepped forward, but Mr Chadwick took one look at Ailsa and cried, “Jezebel! Get that woman out of my house.”
“Pay him no mind,” Miss Chadwick muttered. “He thinks all women are my mother. She ran away to the Continent when I was twelve.”
“’Tis best I stay out of sight.” Ailsa shuffled back into the shadows.
