Chapter 5 #3
Lance Pennington leaned back on the settee again, hands clenched. “They had been friends for many years, Inspector. Friends bicker at times, do they not?”
“He often visited here in the evenings,” Miss Faraday added in her soft voice. “They would smoke cigars and drink, and those meetings could become…boisterous, but they never sounded like arguments.”
“You overheard raised voices?”
“Occasionally. Over a joke or some bit of sarcasm. I did hear them speak sharply to each other, but it seemed a friendly sort of rivalry.”
“A rivalry?”
“Perhaps that is the wrong word. There was banter between them at times. They were both very intelligent men and well versed in matters of law and politics. They spoke about politics often, and they did not always agree.”
With a pointed look at Lance Pennington, Gideon asked, “Do you know of any other club where you brother was a member?”
The young man’s brow arched, but he immediately cast his gaze downward toward the carpet. When he looked up again, he’d smoothed his features into a seemingly forced poise. “I’m not aware of his membership at any other club, Inspector.”
Gideon bent his head to dash off a few notes and was aware that the tension in the room had grown over the matter of Miss Faraday’s suitor and now the question of this elusive second club. His gut told him to dig in those spots, but there was one more delicate matter he needed to broach.
“The constable who spoke to Mrs. Coyle was informed that Mr. Pennington was two and forty. Is that correct?”
Lance Pennington nodded.
“And I take it he never married.”
“No,” he said, shifting on the settee. He’d narrowed his eyes as if wary.
“Never betrothed?” Gideon pressed, hoping one of them would volunteer some of the details the valet had confided about a previous betrothal.
Instead, they each glanced at each other. Miss Faraday then fixed her gaze on her clasped hands once more, and Mr. Pennington suddenly found the fire grate fascinating.
“Was he betrothed or courting someone?” The answer seemed obvious, based on their reactions, but the utter silence took him by surprise. “I take it there was someone. Could one of you explain?”
“My brother was previously engaged to Miss Aurora Beecham, Inspector. They were engaged for half a year, but Percival broke the engagement two months ago.” Pennington drew in a breath and continued. “It was not a cordial parting of ways.”
“Can you explain further?”
The man’s brother lifted his shoulders in a shrug. “Well, her father was outraged and eager to litigate the matter, and I suspect Miss Beecham was deeply hurt.”
“I thought they seemed quite well matched,” Miss Faraday put in. “They seemed to be in love.”
Pennington glanced at his niece. “Clearly, we were mistaken. And my brother was faced with a breach-of-promise case, which he has been fighting.” Frowning, he added, “What I mean to say is that he was determined to come to some arrangement with her father to keep the matter out of court. The scandal of it was something he wished to avoid.”
“Do you know the cause of your brother’s decision to break the engagement?” Gideon wondered if women he’d met at an illicit gentlemen’s club could truly make a man like Percival Pennington risk such scandal. Especially after devoting months to courting a respectable young woman.
The barrister’s brother reached up and wrapped a hand around the back of his neck, apparently loath to say more. Gideon waited because there was clearly more to the story. Often, those being questioned felt compelled to end the silence.
“I believe,” the younger Pennington finally said, “though I do not know the details, that there was a complication on Percival's part. An entanglement.”
Gideon guessed the meaning of Pennington’s emphasis on the word. “Another woman?”
“Yes.”
“Were you acquainted with her?” Gideon slid his gaze between the two.
Miss Faraday shook her head, but her cheeks had pinkened slightly.
“No,” his brother said. “Percy refused to tell me. He said he wished to protect her, and I took that to mean that she herself might be…otherwise committed. Married or perhaps engaged. Whatever her situation, Percival cared for her enough to risk upending his life to be dragged into a court case.”
“I imagine a breach-of-promise case would be even more dire for a barrister than a man like you or I.”
“Indeed, Inspector, which is why Percival was in talks with Roderick Beecham. He even asked if I would speak to the man.”
“And did you?”
Lance Pennington scoffed. “No. Roderick Beecham is a successful businessman and rich as Croesus. He would not take kindly to the beseeching of a playwright.”
“And he would not give you any details or the name of this lady he had chosen over Miss Beecham?”
Pennington glanced once at his niece and shook his head. “No, he refused to tell me. In many respects, we were not…confidantes.”
“Nor me,” Miss Faraday confirmed. “I even asked if I might meet her. If he cared for her so much, I thought we should host her for dinner.” She let out a sigh. “He refused. It was a secret he kept quite close to his vest.”
“Did your brother maintain a diary of clients or appointments?”
Lance Pennington looked at Gideon as if he’d treaded too far. “My brother had many clients, many associates and friends, Inspector Pierce. Should their names all be dragged into a murder investigation?”
“Understanding who he met and associated with, and where I might find the woman you refer to, would aid my investigation, Mr. Pennington.” The man’s resistance was not unexpected, but Gideon’s determination wouldn’t waver. “I will seek those answers regardless, but the diary would assist me.”
The gentleman drew in a sharp breath, then turned to Miss Faraday, offering her a slight nod.
“I will retrieve it for you,” the young lady said, then stood and excused herself from the room.
When she departed, Pennington immediately edged forward on the settee. “I don’t wish for Lucy to be called at the inquest. Can you prevent that?”
“There is nothing I can do to prevent it, Mr. Pennington. The coroner calls witnesses at his discretion. But since Miss Faraday was away from home at the time, I suspect she may not be called, unless the coroner wishes for her to attest to your brother’s demeanor in the morning.”
Pennington scrubbed a hand across his face. “I simply wish to protect her.”
Gideon understood the man’s distress because he felt much the same about Electra. He wanted to protect her, though he knew he could not prevent the coroner from calling her either.
Miss Faraday entered the room a moment later and offered Gideon a small black leather-bound book. “I believe that is what you’re looking for, Inspector.”
“Thank you.” Gideon placed the book and his own notebook in his coat pocket and got to his feet.
Pennington’s brother and niece stood too.
“I’ll return if I have further questions, or with news about the progress of the investigation.
” Gideon shifted his gaze between the two.
“The inquest will likely be held tomorrow, and you are both welcome to attend. If you’re to be summoned, I suspect that summons will come today via post or a visit from a constable. ”
Lance Pennington shot him an inscrutable look, then tossed back his longish blond hair.
He sensed something like relief in the way the young man let out a long breath.
Relieved that the questions were over, perhaps.
Yet it caused Gideon to suspect there were things the man knew about his brother’s entanglements that he was relieved to have kept concealed.
However, the clock was ticking steadily in his periphery, and Gideon was keenly aware that he’d prioritized a visit with the family for one with his prime suspect. He didn’t wish to put off a visit to Gordon Callister a minute longer.
“Good day to you.”
Pennington escorted him to the door. He offered no farewell except for six words. “Ask Callister about The Seven Stars.”
Gideon shot him a questioning look.
“Just ask him, Inspector.”