Page 82 of Death of a Courtesan
‘I didn’t,’ Celeste said carelessly. ‘I was nowhere near the place and have witnesses to prove it.’
‘No, you were not there yourself,’ Riley said calmly, opening the door and walking through it. ‘But you know who was.’
Celeste’s mouth fell open. Mirabelle looked downright petrified.
‘Who let you in?’ Celeste asked, lifting her chin and reacquiring the refined tone of the practised courtesan who had so beguiled his brother.
‘You’re in no position to adopt the moral high ground,’ Salter growled. ‘We just heard you ladies confess to murder.’
‘I didn’t murder anyone,’ Mirabelle said frantically. ‘I was tricked,’ she added, pointing an accusing finger at Celeste, ‘into helping her. I didn’t know anyone was gonna die, either. I’ll tell you everything I know.’
‘Shut up!’ Celeste snapped. ‘They don’t know anything. They just heard us speculating on what might have happened to our friend.’
‘You knew Adelaide had named you as her heir, didn’t you?’ Riley said, turning to Celeste.
‘I knew nothing of the sort.’ But the tremor in Celeste’s voice told a different story.
‘She actually believed you were her friend and confided in you. It’s ironic that you were the first, the only person since leaving her home whom she put her faith in. She was clearly not a good judge of character.’
‘There is nothing wrong withmycharacter.’ She sent Riley a conniving look. ‘Ask your brother if you doubt me.Henever had any complaints to make. Quite the reverse, in fact.’
Her thinly veiled threat, designed to remind Riley that she could embarrass his family by revealing particulars of her arrangement with Henry, failed to deter him from his duty.
‘We are discussing your role in Adelaide’s murder,’ he said calmly.
‘Oh yes, that’s what you would like to restrict the conversation to, I have no doubt about that. But beware, Lord Riley, if you attempt to push me in a corner you might not like what emerges from it.’
‘Don’t make matters worse for yourself by threatening an officer of the law,’ Salter growled. ‘You’d be better advised to help yourself by telling us how you did it.’
Celeste gave a half smile and shook her head. Gone was the polished woman who aspired to a better life. She was replaced by the seasoned whore who still seemed to think that she could use her wiles to get herself out of being charged with murder.
‘Very well, since you appear to have been struck dumb I will tell you what I think happened,’ Riley said. ‘And I dare say Mirabelle will set me straight if I get it wrong.’ Mirabelle nodded vigorously. ‘Mirabelle, you and Celeste must have known one another because Celeste worked for Mrs Sinclair when you and Adelaide first joined that establishment.’
‘That’s right,’ Mirabelle said, ‘but Celeste didn’t have much to do with me. Instead, she took up with Adelaide and taught her the tricks of the trade.’
‘Then she left and you didn’t see her again until quite recently.’ Mirabelle nodded. ‘Celeste knew that you and Adelaide were rivals and that there was no love lost between you because Adelaide had told her so. Unfortunately for you, that made you easy to manipulate. Celeste somehow managed a chance meeting with you. Naturally you fell into conversation and she told you, in passing, just how clever Adelaide actually was. She made all that money yet remained a virgin.’ Riley gave Mirabelle his full attention. ‘I could see from your reaction when I revealed that information the other day that it wasn’t news to you and that you were not happy about it.’
‘Would you be?’ Mirabelle asked. ‘When I think what the rest of us had to endure…’
‘Celeste knew how you would react and told you there was a way to get your revenge.’ Riley paused, unsure about the next part. ‘Celeste told you there was a man who very much wanted to change Adelaide’s situation but that you would have to…to what, precisely?’ He paused, rubbing pensively at his chin. ‘Ray Clement delivered the wine to Mrs Sinclair on that day, ready for the evening’s party. What did she tell you to say to him?’
‘Shut up, you fool!’ Celeste yelled. ‘Do you want us both to hang?’
‘Mirabelle won’t hang if she didn’t kill Adelaide—’
‘I didn’t!’
‘And if she tells us the complete truth.’ Riley dealt Celeste a relentlessly determined look. ‘Now then, we know Ray was a permanent thorn in your side. You couldn’t live openly with your husband—’
‘Husband?’ Mirabelle cried, her eyes widening in astonishment. ‘You are married? Who’s Michael and what does he have to do with Ray?’
‘Michael Clement is the owner of the wine company that supplies Mrs Sinclair, amongst others.’ Celeste groaned when she realised that her secret was out. Riley ignored her and continued with his explanation. ‘He has plans for expansion that required Adelaide’s money to fund them. The trouble was that Ray, Michael’s half-brother, stood in the way of Celeste’s ambitions. They couldn’t even tell him that they were married because Ray had such a low opinion of prostitutes, his mother having been one. He’s volatile, given to angry rages and has a reputation for violence, so they feared his reaction if he found out.’
Mirabelle stared at Celeste with incredulity and said nothing.
‘Celeste knew she wouldn’t be able to enjoy the lifestyle to which she aspired until she was rid of Ray and, even then, the profits would have to be shared with Adelaide. She wasn’t prepared to wait and so came up with a plan. Ray had seen Michael with Adelaide, knew what she did for a living and was suspicious about the connection between them. Celeste played on that and, I’m guessing, had you tell him when he delivered the wine that day that Adelaide was on the point of leaving Mrs Sinclair because a man of means was prepared to support her.’
Mirabelle nodded. ‘Yes, and he was furious. So I told him that I’d let him in and smuggle him up to that room where Adelaide worked when the coast was clear, just like she…’ Mirabelle pointed an accusatory finger at Celeste, ‘told me to. But I swear I didn’t know what he was going to do. I thought Ray just wanted to know what she had planned. I didn’t like Adelaide much. I resented her popularity and was furious when I knew she was still a virgin. I liked the idea of a crude brute like Ray snatching that virginity from her, which I figured he was bound to do.’
