Page 64 of Courier of Death
Leo was struck again by the livid bruising of Jasper’s eye and the healing gash on his lip. They were evidence of the very real danger these linked cases posed—and yet, he would not give in.
Mr. Stewart raised his hands, palms facing out. “All right. Yes, I met with Sir Elliot. Emma had encouraged me to run for Parliament, to speak up for what I believe in. I did, and soon, I was being courted by Banford. But I knew Geraldine’s antics with the WEA would put my acceptance at risk.”
Leo’s jaw loosened.Antics?His wife’s passion and purpose were far more serious than a silly lark. And yet, he was ready to reduce the value of her cause without a thought. Any admiration Leo had previously held for Porter Stewart was instantly obliterated.
“It didn’t matter if I mostly agreed with her, I couldn’t support Geraldine once I went public with my run for MP. If no debate was brought to the floor, and if Payne—her only real support—turned her away, I thought she must surely see reason. There would be no way forward. If I could convince her to put her support behind me, perhaps in time she would gain alliances among other conservatives.”
The man’s manipulation and selfishness were stunning.
“So, you asked him to cry off. Not only from the WEA speech, but in his support of women’s suffrage when the vote was debated in the House,” Leo said.
“Asking did no good,” Mr. Stewart said bitterly. “He wouldn’t drop the debate. Not without incentive.”
“How much money did you offer him?” Jasper asked.
Mr. Stewart rubbed his forehead. “Does it matter? He was amenable.”
“But when Foster tried to blackmail you, you panicked,” Lewis said while jotting some notes down on a pocket notepad.
“Of course, I panicked. But I did not kill the man! I’m no murderer.” He appeared panicked now too. Leo found she believed him. He was readily confessing to all his wrongdoings and yet standing firm on this point.
She tried to align all the different moving pieces in her mind as they formed. Whom would he have turned to after Niles Foster’s visit to the bank? Surely not Banford, who would cast Porter Stewart out of the committee if he carried with him any potential scandal. Not Sir Elliot either, who might return the bribe he’d accepted, if only to clear himself of any misconduct. That left one person.
“You turned to Mrs. Bates for help,” Leo said.
Mr. Stewart’s glare slammed into her and filled her with conviction.
“You told her everything. What you stood to lose,” she went on, speaking as the words came to her. “She’d already professed her support, her love. You trusted her.”
When he remained silent, Jasper nodded. “She wanted to protect you. She turned to her family?—”
“No.” Mr. Stewart barked the single word. “No. She had cut them off. She promised she had.”
“You knew about her criminal relations,” Lewis said. “Maybe hinted that she should turn to them.”
Mr. Stewart shook his head vigorously.
“So, she is related to Clive Paget?” Leo asked Jasper, who nodded, and it all came clear. “They went after Niles Foster to silence him.”
She dragged in a breath as another revelation struck.
“All to protect whatever leverage they might gain when Emma married Mr. Stewart, future member of Parliament. She was the one who encouraged him to run in the first place.”
Having a family member in the House would certainly have been beneficial for a criminal organization looking for favorable connections.
“Marry Emma?” Mr. Stewart scoffed. “Absurd. She knew I would not divorce Geraldine. For God’s sake, once my wife was arrested for that bombing, my sole focus was to clear her name. To clear my own name. I am ruined if she is convicted.”
Leo bit her tongue against calling him a selfish bastard. He was worried for his own reputation and political aspirations when his wife could lose her freedom, her very life.
“Are you so certain of that?” Leo asked. “Surely, with your wife arrested as a radical suffragist, it would allow you the opportunity to condemn her actions. Hold her up as an example of all that is wrong with women seeking the vote. You’d have sympathy among fellow conservatives.”
He glared at the suggestion but did not reply.
“And if Mrs. Stewart is convicted, it’s possible she would hang,” Lewis said. “If that is the case, Mrs. Bates would be rid of the obstacle standing between her and the husband she wants.”
As Mr. Stewart decried the sergeant’s theory as utter nonsense, Leo considered it. Porter would only remarry if his wife was totally out of the picture. Killing Geraldine would have been too risky for Emma. A murder would have been investigated, and Emma might have been found out. But if Geraldine was implicated in a treasonous crime and arrested, ifshe was convicted and hanged, well then… Her path to Porter Stewart would be clear.
“Mr. Stewart, we need to find your sister-in-law,” Jasper said. “Where was she going from here?”
