Chapter 5 #3
“Yes, about that. I’m still not sure there is a problem. Surely the response to last night’s…incident has been overblown.”
Thane put down his cup. “If everyone is finished, let’s discuss that.”
At Thane’s insistence, the men ushered Tacita and Cat into the drawing room.
Cat sat down in her mother’s favorite armchair, which was upholstered in tan leather and kitted out with an embroidered cushion that did not match the chair.
It matched nothing in the known world. It was a singular and shockingly tacky item beset with crude cross-stitch floral designs, tatted lace, mismatched shell buttons, and excessive ruffles.
Cat and Brodie had made it themselves when they were twelve years old as a birthday present for their mother, and they poured their hearts and souls into its creation, unbothered by fashion or indeed taste.
Their mother told them it was the most wonderful gift she’d ever received, and it would have a place in her home forever.
Cat sat in such a way as to shield the pillow from the scrutiny of the men, who wouldn’t understand it if they tried. Not that they’d bother to try.
It was a fine day, and the drapes had been opened to let in the bright sunshine. Looking as if the sunbeams personally offended him, Thane ordered the drapes to be drawn shut, and Arnold, the youngest footman, leapt to carry out the command.
“Why do the curtains matter?” Cat asked, remembering that he’d done the same in the carriage last night, and also ordered the maid to close her bedroom drapes.
“A gunman needs a sight line. If he can’t see you, he can’t shoot you.”
“You make it sound like someone’s hunting elephants, and I’m the elephant. Why would anyone wish to shoot at me?”
“Well, I only met you yesterday, but I’ve already wanted to murder you a few times.”
“Thane,” Calan muttered in a reproving way. “Be serious.”
“Oh, I am. But the fact remains that someone else actually did attempt to kill Brodie Ross’s wee sister,” he snapped to his comrade.
“You can’t possibly believe that I’m being pursued by an…an assassin!” Cat burst out. It was ludicrous.
“Let’s go over the few incidents that you happened to mention last evening.
Your carriage suffered an odd mechanical failure.
Despite the fact that it was less than three months old and driven only about twice a week, the pin dropped out and sent the crucial front wheel loose as it turned a corner more sharply than expected.
Because your driver had to swerve to avoid the string of caravans that had parked along the side—which isn’t usually there and authorities will surely clear out soon, if not today. ”
Cat blinked. Thane had done some serious investigation while he was shivering in the cold last night.
Kai added, “If you’d been any closer to the edge when the wheel broke off, the momentum would have sent the carriage over and into the ravine. If the impact didn’t kill you, being stuck inside the carriage while it filled with water would have been a second threat.”
“But in fact, I suffered no more than a bruise or two. It was just an accident.”
“Miss Ross,” Kai said seriously. “I often was in charge of requisitioning vehicles during the war. The sort of malfunction you describe does not happen to a new, well-maintained vehicle. And I know your hostler treated the new carriage with extreme care and attention, because I asked him and I saw the vehicle in question. He knows his work; your servants are of the best quality.”
(In the corner, Arnold the footman’s posture straightened even further.)
“Yes, but…let us say that incident was not random chance. It was still just one incident.”
Thane shook his head. “Not the only one. You said the dog died.”
Cat looked away. “I don’t want to talk about that. Check was a wonderful dog.”
“I expect he was. Guarded the house, yes?”
“Oh, aye. Check knew the milkman and the lad who brings the paper and everyone else who stops by. But as for strangers, he’d bark as if it were the Devil come knocking.”
“Exactly. Not the sort of animal one wants around if they hope to gain entry to the house.”
Cat swallowed hard. “What are you saying?”
Thane turned to the housekeeper, who’d materialized at just that moment. “Who found the dog?”
“Young Jenny, sir. She’s always first up to collect the milk in from the stoop. She found Check on the kitchen floor moaning in pain.”
“No wounds? Had he been struck?”
“Nothing like that,” she said. “Just taken very ill, very quickly. He didn’t make it to lunchtime, poor creature.”
“Sounds like poison,” Calan said quietly.
“Oh, my Lord,” Cat gasped, suddenly chilled in a way she’d hadn’t been before. “They killed Check just so there wouldn’t be an alarm?”
Thane nodded.
Cat stared at him, her vision blurring, until she realized she was crying.
And not just a few tears. Trying to remain sensible and rational, she intended to explain that Check was a good dog, and also her mother’s dog and this would not stand, and she’d rip Edinburgh apart stone by stone to find the culprit because that’s what justice demanded, but she couldn’t even get the first two words out past her gulping breaths.