Page 66 of Courier of Death
“He’s intimidated by his wife’s strength. By her depth. He probably feels emasculated by her,” Jasper replied.
Fierce annoyance flashed in Leo’s eyes. “So, she must be weaker than him? Pretend to be incapable so that he might feel more manly?”
He sat forward, arms on his thighs. “I didn’t say that. Your argument isn’t with me; it’s with Porter Stewart. Who is, I’ll add, a vain man and a fool.”
She dropped her shoulders. “I’m sorry. I’m not angry with you. In fact, I should say thank you for not telling me to return to the morgue.”
Jasper sat back and crossed his arms. “If I had, you would have just hired a cab for yourself and followed me to Holloway.”
She shrugged. “That is true.”
Still, he wasn’t exactly eager to take her into the prison. His best guess was that Miss Hartley, the cell warder, had been the one to alert the Angels to their visit and questions the other day. If that was the case, she would likely report back to the Angels that he’d ignored their warning.
“Don’t ask me to wait in the cab while you go in,” Leo said a mere second before he opened his mouth to do just that.
“And if the Angels learn that you were there when I apprehended Emma Bates?” he challenged.
“If you won’t bow down to threats made by a criminal gang, then what makes you think I will?”
The stubborn woman drove him mad. Jasper scrubbed a hand over his jaw, forgetting to be cautious of his split lip. He had no reply for her, so he let the jarring throb of pain ebb in the silence.
Their driver delivered them to the outer gate of the prison, and Jasper helped Leo down. Once they’d come through the gate in the porter’s lodge, the chief warder was summoned. Mr. Vines remembered them.
“Back to see Mrs. Stewart?” he asked, his walrus mustache twitching in displeasure as he glanced at Leo.
“Has anyone else come here today to visit her?” Jasper snapped the question without a care for civility.
The chief warder frowned, taken aback. “Today? No.” He eyed the gate warders. “Correct?”
The two uniformed men shook their heads in answer. Then one said, “Haven’t seen anyone here for a prisoner. Just a sister, for one of the lady warders.”
Alarm shuttled up Jasper’s spine at the mention of a female cell warder. Jasper stepped forward. “For Miss Hartley?” At the guard’s surprised nod, he then asked, “When was this? What did the sister look like?”
The guard looked flummoxed. “It were ten minutes ago or so. The lady were pretty. Blonde hair.”
“What did she want with Miss Hartley?” Leo asked eagerly.
The guard appeared even more baffled. “I didn’t hear. They just talked for a short stretch, then Miss Hartley went back into the prison.”
Jasper turned to the chief warder, his pulse rising with suspicion. “We have reason to believe Geraldine Stewart is in grave danger. I’ll ask you to take us to her now.”
“Danger from whom?” he asked.
“From her cell warder. I don’t have time to explain. Just take us to Mrs. Stewart at once.”
The man didn’t move. “I will take you, Inspector, but the lady stays here. I cannot have female civilians in my prison if you think there is a serious threat of danger afoot.”
There was no time to argue, and Leo seemed to understand as much.
“Go on,” she said. “I’ll wait by the front gate for Sergeant Lewis. I’m sure he’ll be arriving shortly.”
Jasper nodded, and the chief warder, summoning one of the guards to accompany them, started immediately toward the prison’s main entrance.
They hastened across the gravel courtyard and entered the prison through the wicket gate. In the reception hall, Mr. Vines snapped his fingers at the receiving warder, Mr. Smythe. “Have you seen Miss Hartley?”
Mr. Smythe gestured toward the back of the hall. “Just now. She went back to her station.”
Jasper picked up his pace, outstripping the chief warder. When he reached the receiving cells, the door to Mrs. Stewart’s cell wasn’t open. Miss Hartley wasn’t anywhere to be seen.
