Chapter 35 Kane
KANE
Were Kane being honest, he was surprised it had taken nineteen years to find himself in prison.
He was in what appeared to be a holding cell, with scarcely enough room to pace without bumping into Jules or Fletcher.
There were no windows in this wing of the building, but based on the light that filtered in through the door whenever a copper came or went, Kane had to assume it was nearing dusk.
That meant they were creeping up on twenty-four hours since being detained.
To his utter lack of surprise, Newgate Prison was even more miserable from the inside.
Everything was cold gray stone and dank air with a scent that reminded him of the river.
This wasn’t helped by the incessant drip of water echoing from somewhere down the corridor—no doubt a result of the recent downpour.
Kane had been cold and damp for enough hours now that he barely felt it anymore.
The discomfort had made it impossible to sleep, not that he would have done so anyway.
There was nowhere to sleep. And besides, he was busy keeping his gaze trained on the door, waiting for Price to reappear.
“This is absurd,” muttered Jules, speaking for the first time in several hours as he emerged from what Kane could only assume had been a catatonic state. “How can they keep us here? Where is the evidence we committed a crime?”
“Price will find evidence,” Kane said. His voice was hoarse, dispassionate.
He knew Jules was stressed to the point of sickness about Zaria, and Kane might have felt similarly if he hadn’t been so good at shoving his feelings down.
Worry and fear weren’t going to help anything.
He always had a plan, did he not? Yet now, when it mattered most, he was coming up blank.
If he let himself think about Zaria, he wouldn’t be able to stop remembering her face in the moments before he’d left her at Mansion House.
The way her lips had parted ever so slightly, as if there were something she wanted desperately to say but didn’t have the courage to.
Kane should have demanded to hear what it was.
He should have begged to know where her head was at.
Most of all, though, he should have protected her.
He’d been right there on the other side of the meeting room, utterly incognizant of the fact that she was in trouble.
How could he forgive himself for that?
And so Kane didn’t think. He stared at the door, ice threading along his bones, and cursed each minute that passed.
“I think I hear someone coming,” said Fletcher, who’d lowered himself to slump against the rusted metal bars.
He was the only one of their party who had managed to sleep, but even then, Kane was pretty sure it had been short-lived.
Now awake, he looked cold and uncomfortable, his face cast in shadow and his arms folded across his chest.
Jules leaned his head back. “It’s probably just another guard making their rounds. We’re never getting out of here.”
“Well, aren’t you a right ray of sunshine,” Kane said.
“Forgive me for being a little peeved, considering I shouldn’t be here in the first place. I don’t even know this inspector fellow.”
Kane moved his jaw from side to side. “I told you, it’s enough that you were involved in the theft of the necklace.”
“Barely.”
“Be sure to emphasize that at your trial.”
“Don’t think I won’t.”
At that moment the door to the wing finally opened, drawing Kane’s attention and spurring Fletcher to leap to his feet.
He had been right about someone approaching, but it wasn’t a guard—it was Price.
There was a red tinge to the inspector’s cheeks, and water dripped from his hat as he removed it, suggesting it was still raining outside.
His mouth was an angry line. Two more coppers followed behind him, keeping a respectable distance.
“Inspector,” Kane said loudly as the trio approached the holding cell, trying to keep the ire out of his voice. “A word?”
Price paused, his nostrils flaring, but he didn’t turn to make eye contact. “You’ve doubtless been concocting some sort of plan, Durante, but I don’t want to hear it. I’ve had a hell of a day.”
He could think of only one thing that would cause Price to look so frazzled. In fact, it was the same way he’d looked the day of their initial meeting, and suddenly Kane knew exactly what to say next. “I take it the fourth device appeared at the Exhibition.”
Price revolved where he stood. His mustache twitched. “I beg your pardon?”
“We both know you heard me just fine.”
Slowly, the inspector approached the holding cell, never dropping his gaze from Kane’s, who held it calmly. “What do you mean, the fourth device? Did you know this was going to happen?”
Kane shrugged, ignoring Fletcher’s sharp intake of breath behind him. “Let me guess—it showed up near Egypt’s exhibit.”
Price looked as if he wanted to strangle Kane through the bars. “How do you know this, Durante? Tell me plainly, and I assure you it’ll be far more pleasant than a formal interrogation.”
“You asked me to find out who the Curator was. I didn’t manage that, but I did gather quite a lot of information about what their plans are.”
“What kind of information?”
Kane allowed one side of his mouth to quirk up. “If I tell you, and if it leads you to the culprit, will you let us go?”
Price smiled right back, though somehow his face remained devoid of humor. “Once again, I’m struck by how similar you are to Ward. He could never accept when he had the losing hand. You will tell me what you know, or I’ll make whatever remains of your life miserable.”
“If you think me so similar to Ward, Inspector, then you ought to know that whatever you do to me won’t be without consequences.
” Kane grasped the bars, put his forehead to them so that he was mere inches from Price.
“You think I’m just a boy, but you forget I’m also a kingpin.
I have many, many men at my disposal. Few of them are pleasant.
Who knows what kind of havoc they’ll wreak without me to rein them in? ”
Price snorted. “You must take me for a fool. Do you truly expect me to believe that Ward’s former crew already respects their brand-new kingpin so much?”
“Ah, but I’m not brand-new. I’ve been part of that crew for nearly half my life, and I’ve known those men for just as long.
” Sure, most of them had hated Kane, but Price wasn’t aware of that.
Besides, they had also feared him. “Do whatever it is you intend to do with me—after all, we had an agreement. But don’t suppose it will be without consequences.
It would be unfortunate, wouldn’t it, to present your superiors with an answer to their Exhibition problems only to lose control of Devil’s Acre even more than you already have?
I know the slum falls under your authority. ”
“You’re not going to be able to coax me into another deal,” Price said, although he looked less certain.
“All right.” Kane shrugged. “Then interrogate me.”
“Or we could simply interrogate one of your companions here.”
If Price thought that would make Kane recoil, he was mistaken. As a con man, Kane knew how to school his expression. How to present a convincing bluff. “You could. They don’t know what I do, however.”
One of the other coppers dared to approach, muttering something low in Price’s ear. The inspector shook his head, snapping an impatient dismissal.
“You still hold all the cards,” Kane pointed out. “Assuming that’s the metaphor we’re going with. If my information helps you catch the Curator, you let us go. If it doesn’t, you don’t. Either way, you win.”
“He better know what he’s doing,” Jules muttered to Fletcher under his breath. Luckily, Price didn’t seem to overhear.
“Fine,” the inspector bit out. “Tell me what you know, then, before I change my mind.”
Kane held up a finger. “Just let me run a question by my companion.” He turned to Jules, lowering his voice to whisper in the boy’s ear.
“Time to show off how much Zaria’s taught you about alchemology, Zhao.
Why would Ward have wanted a primateria source created using his energy?
He hired Cecile to do just that, but why not let her use her own? ”
Jules frowned. “There are a couple of possibilities, I suppose. For one, Cecile might not have had enough energy left to give. You know alchemology wears on a person, and she’d been practicing for some time. Had she died, she wouldn’t have been much use to Ward anymore.”
Kane thought of the letter they’d found in Ward’s office. Recited what he could remember of it to himself. He was beginning to develop a rather horrible suspicion, but if he was correct… “And the other possibility?”
Jules lifted a shoulder. “Well, had Cecile been successful, she wouldn’t have been able to replicate her work without Ward’s cooperation.
When it comes to the Magnum Opus, replication is easier than creating a source from scratch, but it won’t work unless you have the same well of energy to draw from.
By making Cecile use his life force, Ward would have been limiting her power.
” Jules’s sudden animation drained away.
“What does any of that matter, though? She never managed to do it.”
“It matters,” Kane said. He was abruptly certain of that fact.
A shiver of consternation rippled down his spine.
“Thanks.” He turned back to Price. The inspector was waiting with crossed arms, looking equal parts perplexed and irritated.
“I know what the Curator’s planning. And if I’m not mistaken, it’s going to happen tonight. ”