Chapter Five #2
“Unfortunately, yes.” Again, he nodded, and every word that he said would further condemn him. “I do or rather did. He was my direct superior at Bow Street. We, ah, parted on rather uncivil terms shortly before I received the injury that ultimately ended my career.”
“Oh, Felix.” Horror filled Caroline’s eyes. “Surely, you didn’t… dispatch him.”
“Of course not.” If his response was harsher than he intended, he couldn’t help it.
“The very idea is ridiculous. He was a wildly horrid man, but I didn’t kill him.
” After blowing out a breath, he looked about the steps.
They had to secure the scene. “Stay here. I’m going to quickly reconnoiter the immediate area. ”
“But, I—”
“You know we need to keep people from the scene. At least I’d hoped you’d retained that knowledge from our last case together.”
She narrowed her gaze. “Are you insinuating that I’m not intelligent enough to tuck away those details or protocols?”
Well, damn.
He’d forgotten about that tart mouth and her penchant for arguing with him. “That isn’t what I meant.”
“That is exactly what it sounded like.” Continuing to glare, she moved closer to the body, bent down, and then tugged the edge of the cloak over most of the form. “I am well aware of what needs to be done. And the first thing is to keep you away from the body and the murder weapon.”
Though he scowled, Felix nodded. “Good.”
“Have you forgotten that you trained me on how to be an effective investigator last May?”
“No, of course not, but—”
“Frankly, I’m more capable at finding clues or theorizing about someone’s relationship with the deceased than any man within Bow Street at the moment.”
“Of that I’m in agreement. I despair of this new crop of agents currently toiling with the agency.
They haven’t the attention to detail as we older investigators do.
” Yet that made him sound ancient. “They merely need more training.” Because he was a coward and because he couldn’t think of anything erudite to say, Felix left her standing there in the rain with her umbrella next to the dead body of one of the men he’d hated the most during the course of his career with Bow Street.
I’m about to be mired in a sticky wicket.
Rain seeped into the shoulders and neck of his greatcoat.
It drummed on his top hat as an ever-present reminder that life was, at its base, horrible and dark.
Only a handful of people wandered the pavement, and those that did scurried quickly and darted along as if hoping to avoid the ever-present rain.
A few of them frowned when he stopped them to ask if they’d seen a scuffle on St. Paul’s steps.
All replied in the negative. If they had seen something, no doubt they didn’t wish to be involved.
Constables had the appalling habit of placing the blame on the wrong person.
Hell, one of the bystanders could possibly be the killer, lingering in the area waiting for someone to admire their handiwork.
And where the devil was a constable when one needed them?
With nothing else learned, he finally returned to Caroline, and was quite grim to do so.
Even if he hadn’t come across the dead man, it would have been only a matter of time before someone at Bow Street recognized the knife and traced it back to him.
Beyond that, he’d made the one person in the world he needed angry with him.
“I’m sorry,” he told her without preamble.
“I know how things look with my involvement, and it worries me. I shouldn’t have said what I did to you. ”
Slowly, she nodded. “No offense taken. We probably both spoke out of emotion and fear, especially in the face of what is certain to be a difficult case.”
I simply don’t deserve her.
“Please get into the carriage. I’m going to send you with it to Whitehall. My driver will ask one of the Bow Street inspectors to come with you back to the scene. It’s better than leaving you standing here by yourself with a dead body.”
“There’s that, I suppose.” Then she frowned. “Won’t the men at Whitehall feel it odd that you were here by yourself, with your knife in his gut? You could tamper with evidence on the body, or worse, remove the knife and spirit it away.”
“Fair point.” Her intelligence was one of the things he admired about her. “Would you prefer to stand guard while I go for help?”
She heaved a sigh, and it was cold enough that her breath clouded about her head.
“We could do that, or you could send your driver and we can both wait here, to keep each other accountable.” A shrug lifted her shoulders.
“After all, from you own admission, that is your knife, and you did hate the dead man.”
“Yes, we’ll do that, then.” He nodded. Again, he went into the rain. This time he spoke to the driver on the street, told him what they’d found and what he needed the man to do. “I hate to ask you to drive unnecessarily in this weather, but there’s nothing for it.”
Daniel gathered the reins tighter in his hands. “I understand, Major. I’ll return as quickly as I can. Streets are muddy so there might be a slight delay.”
“Thank you.” He shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. The dead man’s not going anywhere. Miss Ives and I will stand guard.”
“Quite a brick, that one. She’s the type of woman a man would count himself lucky to have by his side for a lifetime,” Daniel said with a meaningful glance at Felix before he clicked his tongue and set the horse into motion.
“I’m quite aware,” he muttered to himself. Once the driver and carriage went out of sight, he returned to Caroline’s side. “We should quickly examine the body while we can.”
“No.”
A frown tugged at the corners of his mouth. “No?”
“Exactly that. No.” She shook her head beneath the umbrella. “I’ll do it. Not you, in the event you’re guilty.”
Damn, if he wasn’t careful, she’d take command of the case. Perhaps she should, for she already held his heart in her far too capable hands. “Surely you don’t think that of me.” The thought that she might sent cold shock through his chest.
The silence that followed his inquiry lingered for a second too long. “I don’t, of course, for you were with me during the timeframe of when this man died. I am your alibi. However, by your own admission, it is your knife. And said knife is most likely the murder weapon.”
“Right.” Sticky wicket indeed. But he was proud of her, nonetheless.
“I don’t want to give Bow Street any more fuel to detain you than is already there on the surface. I’ll do the examination. You take notes.” One of her finely feathered black eyebrows rose. “Do you agree?”
Did he have any other choice? Slowly, he nodded.
“Very well.” How much did he admire her?
Except she didn’t seem all too pleased to be put into this position as she glanced again to the body covered haphazardly with the folds of the cloak.
Not that he could blame her. “I appreciate your belief in me.”
“Well, it is early in the investigation,” she said with a grin that did odd things to his heart. “I’ll withhold judgment since we’re once more working together.”
“Cheeky.” And somehow, despite the obstacles, a feeling of contentment slid over him. Unfortunately, this meant his plans to propose would be delayed.