Page 74 of The Gift of Patience
“Yes, sir.”
“Did you sneak away from the gang?”
He nodded as though he were terrified he’d be found and killed at any moment. “I ’eard ’em say my pa would be transported, and I was going to beg to go with ’im.”
Westwood pretended to think about it for a moment before answering. “I believe that could be arranged, Billy. But I need your help.”
“Anyfing. Anyfing at all.” His face was so full of eager desperation, Patience could but wonder what he’d been through in his young life.
“Hop on the back and we will talk in a safe place.”
Billy eagerly jumped up to the tiger’s position and Westwood drove through the gates to the stables. If Patience had imagined how this adventure would go, that was one scenario she would not have imagined. Now there was one mystery solved. But unfortunately, only more questions remained.
“You werecertain there was no recognition from Layton or Beckett?” Lord Upton asked once they had returned to report.
“Not at all. I would swear the only one who knew us was Singleton. How that family produced Chum, I will never know.” Manners shook his head.
“What is your next step?”
Ashley explained the plans. “We will search Fagge’s rooms today, then we will return to Taywards and review the information we have. Westwood was to question Sir Horace and search Rupert’s rooms there.”
“I feel like the gang leader must know something more he is not telling us.”
“Likely. Baines, Fielding, and I have tried everything. I keep thinking perhaps we have not asked the right question, but nothing else has come to mind. He wore an expensive scent that overlaid the smell of tobacco. He never saw the man except for his hands. He wore a signet ring, but that hardly signifies as he could not identify it.”
Upton scoffed and held up his own hand which bore the crest of his own marquessate.
“Indeed, even Singleton wore one last night. If it were not for Chum, I would love to pin this on him.”
“We still need to know what they did with the cargo, and how the gang was approached. I would centre my efforts on that. Devil is the key to pinning our man down. The details of the shipment were posted and will be discussed at our committee meeting this morning. The bait is out there, so you’d best watch the game closely for contact.”
“I’ll return to my post as soon as we are finished this morning,” Manners said.
“If you’d like me to return to Taywards now to pass something on, I can,” Carew offered.
“That would be a great help. I will write quick notes if you could see them in the hands of Westwood and the colonel.”
That done, Ashley and Manners saw Carew off, then headed to Rupert’s chambers at a respectable rooming house for gentlemen. It was not the calibre of The Albany, but still situated near Pall Mall.
It did not take much convincing for the landlord to open Rupert’s door for them.
“We are here on behalf of Mr. Fagge’s family. He has met with an unfortunate accident, and we have been asked to collect his belongings.” In addition, a little charm and a little mention of the service he would be doing for His Majesty, and they were inside.
Manners let out a low whistle at the scene of destruction before them. “Someone beat us here.”
Ashley doubted there would be anything left to find, but a search had to be conducted nonetheless. Thankfully, Carew had taken the messages on or they would be unaccountably rushed. By the time they had sorted and packed Rupert’s belongings into a trunk, two hours had passed.
“I’ve looked through every pocket,” Manners said. “We would be doing the world a favour were we to burn this.” He indicated the trunk of brightly coloured clothing.
“I’ve been through all of his bills. There is nothing beyond the outrageous cost of those ridiculous garments.”
“I detected no loose boards in the floor for hiding things. Whoever was searching would have looked there. If I were Rupert, where would I hide something?” Manners asked.
“Was he smart enough to retain any evidence? Carew swears he was a keen card player. He must not have been as big a fool as he behaved.”
“What of keys? Perhaps a deposit box at the bank?” Manners continued to question before they left London.
They sat on the sofa contemplating. The room was now bare.
