Page 71 of Veiled Justice
‘The interesting thing is that no one had seen him or heard from him in at least eighteen months. And I have a statement from your housekeeper that you kept him chained to his bed.’
When Channing had gotten Hannah Belham alone, all it had taken was a hint that she might have colluded in Magnus’s death and she’d told himeverything.She had no idea he’d been drugged constantly by Imbarum, kept conscious and immobile for months on end. He must have been going slowly mad; his death had at least released him from that hell. Louisa may not have cut or beaten him but she’d tortured him all the same.
Louisa had told Hannah that Magnus suffered from locked-in syndrome, but they couldn’t risk his board finding out so Hannah was to tell no one of his sad condition. Instead, Louisa attended meetings and communicated ‘his’ wishes.
Louisa sat up primly on her plastic chair. ‘Chained? How absurd! She’s mistaken, of course.’
Lawyer Two leaned forward. ‘Mr Carnforth was secured for his own good. He’d had some falls.’
‘Poor Daddy,’ Louisa said, her eyes wide and guileless.
Uh huh. I changed tack. ‘When you invited me to your gala, you said he was going to be there.’
She shrugged. ‘Well, he was on the premises, just in the house rather than the marquee.’
‘You’ve been running his company in his stead, haven’t you?’ I kept my tone admiring, bordering on awestruck. ‘I did a little digging into Carnforth enterprises. Since you took over, thecompany has been doingverywell.’ Too well. ‘I was interested to learn that it works in potion development and that’s why Quintos and your father are such rivals – science versus magic.’
Louisa waved a hand dismissively. ‘They’re silly. Both have their place, and science caters to the Common realm which is a huge market that shouldn’t be ignored. Magic caters to the Other realm, a much smaller fraction of the market, but of course they pay a lot more for potions. Different markets, different price points. The competition between them is absurd.’
‘And that’s why you’ve been flirting with Quintos? You want a slice of that much-larger science-based pie. You’re rich – but he’sMidasrich.’ I paused. ‘He’s rich but you’re better. You’re smart, and brave. You takerisks.’I appealed to her over-sized self-esteem. ‘I can’t get over how brilliantly all of this was orchestrated. The sheer audacity, the elegance … it’s ... impressive.’
Louisa feigned disinterest but I caught the faint flicker of pride in her eyes.
‘You must have seen the piece inThe Mystic Informer?’ I went on. ‘The Art of a Perfect Crime.’ I let the words hang. ‘Obviously they didn’t name names, but between you and me? That article hadyouwritten all over it. A real connoisseur’s work.’
Louisa smirked. ‘I don’t read trash.’ Which was good because the article was pure fabrication on my part.
‘Journalism isn’t evidence, Inspector. What evidence do you have against our client?’ Lawyer Three snapped.
‘I’m getting to it, gentlemen. Patience is a virtue.’ All three lawyers glared at me. ‘Anyway,’ I said quickly, ‘the articlewasn’t good enough. It didn’t do true justice to your level of sophistication. And they got so much wrong. Like the part about the dryad assassin. They called him “reckless”. Can you believe that? Kane? Reckless?’ I chuckled. ‘If you ask me, Kane was the perfect choice. Dryads don’t usually kill their own kind, but you knew how to handle him, didn’t you?’
‘Don’t answer that!’ Lawyer Two advised his client stiffly.
Her smirk faded slightly though her eyes were still glinting with satisfaction and she didn’t deny it.
‘And then there’s Helga.’ I sighed and shook my head. ‘That was ... bold. Witnessing the murder first hand, ensuring everything went off without a hitch. Getting another ogre to do it was inspired, and now you’re totally protected by the in-house rule. Besides which, no one would ever suspect a Carnforth of being involved in such a messy business.’ I leaned forward and lowered my voice. ‘It’s almost as if you’re building a legacy.’
Lawyer One started to say something, but Louisa held up a hand and he fell silent.
Louisa’s chin tilted upwards and a satisfied smile curled her lips. ‘If someone were doing all that they’d be making a statement,’ she said coolly. ‘Showing this patriarchal world that they shouldn’t be underestimated.’
‘Miss Carnforth—’ Lawyer Two started.
‘Oh shut up!’ she said. ‘We’re talking in hypotheticals here. Aren’t we, Inspector Wise?
‘Not entirely,’ I paused. ‘Katz is claiming it was allhisidea.’
‘Preposterous!’ she said instantly. ‘That ingrate can barely conceive the most basic of ideas, let alone something like this!’
Lawyer Three muttered something urgently to Lawyer Two. They both leaned forward to speak to Lawyer One.
Lawyer One glared at me. ‘Enough. Unless you have some actual evidence, this interview is terminated.’
I smiled. ‘Let’s get to the evidence then, shall we? You had a difficult relationship with your father.’
‘I don’t deny that,’ she said coolly.
‘Your father didn’t see your potential.’ I looked sympathetically at her. ‘That must have been hard.’
