Page 97 of A Fearless Heart
What would he be doing in her kitchen, at four in the morning, talking to her servants?
“Mucking about?” It was Jem who responded. “We’re just keeping house, sir. You can do the mucking. You’re the one who pretended to be a gardener after all.”
“I did what I had to do,” Gabe said.
“Wait!” Bond broke in. “Did anyone hear something?”
Cady held her breath, keeping absolutely still. Had Bond heard the door creak as the knob turned? Would anyone notice it was now open an inch, allowing Cady to listen?
“Nah, there’s nothing,” said Rook. “I locked all the doors, and even walked up to the lady’s room about twenty minutes ago. Not a peep.”
Cady exhaled silently.
“Good,” said Gabe. “It’s difficult arranging a safe place and time for all of us to meet anyway. Jem, you start.”
“I picked the locks for any room in this house that wasn’t already unlocked. There’s nothing in most of them, and definitely not any bottle that could be this poison.”
“Well, it was worth it to check,” Gabe grumbled. “This house is owned by the family, so the poisoncouldhave been moved here.”
At the door, Cady frowned. What on earth was Gabe talking about? Shetoldhim that the bottle was long gone!
“And what about the cards? Any luck there?”
“No,” said Judith. “I found several papers and items that have the wordArcadia, but nothing that has the whole phraseet in Arcadia ego. Why do we want to find such a thing?”
Gabe explained, “Because the killer left a card with that phrase at the scene of every murder.”
Cards?Every murder?How many were there? The memory of Gabe’s reaction to her saying that phrase came back to her. Was he suspicious of her even then? In her distress, she missed a bit of the conversation and had to put her ear closer to the gap.
“…perhaps if we get her out of the way?” Rook was saying.
Bond sighed. “I suppose I could give her something to make her sleep…”
“No,” Gabe said immediately. “She’s familiar with sedatives and she’d know when she woke up that she was drugged. We absolutely can’t risk her getting suspicious.”
“Can’t we?” Jem asked.
“I’ve just got to a level of trust with her,” Gabe said. “And I know she’s extremely sensitive to the slightest changes. If she suspected anyone in the house of putting something in her food or drink, she’d sack everyone, then lock herself in the bedroom and not come out for years. That won’t help us.”
“You sure about this, sir?” Rook asked suddenly. “Not that I’m objecting, it’s just…it seems dangerous.”
“What’s dangerous is letting someone keep murdering people with impunity,” Gabe snapped back. “When the Zodiac assigned this matter to me, it was because I have a reputation for getting results.”
The Zodiac? What is that?Cady closed her eyes, feeling shaky, as if the floor beneath her was no longer steady. And what did Gabe mean about beingassigned?
“The Disreputables are with you, sir,” Jem said in a tone of reassurance. “Tell us what you need, and we’ll see it done. We can always work around Lady Arcadia. We’re trained to do that.”
Cady suppressed a gasp.Trained? By who? For what?!
“The person I’m actually most concerned about is Trevor,” Gabe said then, and her heart contracted. He couldnotbe implying what she thought he was. “Huxley’s death suggests a connection to that club, and that’s not a good sign. I’d prefer it if he stayed away from the house, but it might be tricky. If he—”
Cady put all the little things together: the poison, the town house, Trevor, Huxley. Did Gabe think herbrotherwas the killer? She didn’t wait any longer. Cady threw open the door and stormed in, finding a half circle of people all looking over in dismay.
“What’s going on? What are you doing here? It’s four in the morning!” she announced.
Gabe was standing in the middle of the group, and he took a step forward, those blue eyes locked on her. “Cady, if you give me a moment, I can explain everything.”
“Wonderful! Start with whatever the Zodiac is. And then explain what a Disreputable is.”
