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‘We were coming to see you,’ Ella said. ‘You did write to us.’
‘Let’s get him inside before we do this,’ Aaron said. ‘He’s soaked to the skin. How long have you been out here? For heaven’s sake. Come on, take my arm.’ He reached out. Jem pulled back, because he couldn’t trust Aaron and Ella together, and then he remembered that yes, he could, because they hadn’t killed Toby, and it was a stiletto to the heart all over again.
‘Jem?’
Jem nodded, grabbing Aaron’s arm. Its solidity was a tiny comfort. ‘Watch out for traps,’ he managed as they set off.
‘I beg your pardon?’
‘There was oil on the stairs before. That’s why I’m on the ground floor now. Watch out for booby-traps.’
‘Is he drunk?’ Ella asked. ‘Because that would explain a great deal.’
‘He smells a bit of whisky. And I’ve seen him look better,’ Aaron said. ‘Come on, let’s get you warmed up and settled down. And yes, yes, I’ll look out for traps.’
He tried to lead Jem up the stairs, and Jem had to plant his feet on the floor and repeat twice that he was in a different room now. Apparently, he didn’t seem very reliable.
The door was intact, and the room had not been tampered with this time. That was a relief, in an academic sort of way; Jem didn’t have the capacity to care any more. Ella waited outside while Aaron helped Jem strip off his sodden garments, washed the mud off his face, towelled him down, examined his arm, and concluded it was not seriously damaged. He helped Jem into dry clothes and wrapped the blanket round his shaking shoulders.
Jem huddled on the bed while Aaron went out and exchanged a few quiet words with Ella. The shock was subsiding under the warmth of being looked after, but that only let the misery rush back in.
Aaron and Ella came back in together. They stood, not quite together, a little too far apart, looking down at Jem.
She wasn’t much changed, Jem thought. Perhaps a little thinner where she had before been statuesque, hair still vibrantly red, a few lines around eyes and mouth, a harder look. Her expression was not kindly now.
‘I should like to know what’s happening,’ she said. ‘Starting with what you meant by your repeated harassment of me at my place of work, and that extraordinary and impudent letter.’
‘Give him a chance,’ Aaron said, sounding rather weary. ‘He’s had a very nasty shock. Jem, what did you mean about being attacked before, and booby-traps?’
‘It happened—last night, I suppose.’ It felt like months ago, the day had been so agonisingly long. ‘Someone tore up my books, poured ink all over my bed, and stole my notebook. They also, uh, they poured oil on the stairs, right at the top, and extinguished the gas. So when I came up here in the dark, I slipped and fell.’ His hand moved automatically to the line of bruising across his chest.
‘At the top of the stairs to the second floor?’ Aaron demanded. ‘You were lucky not to break your neck!’
‘Or someone was unlucky he didn’t,’ Ella said. ‘I suppose this is related to your recent activities?’
‘I wanted to kick the hornets’ nest and succeeded beyond my wildest dreams. I need to apologise,’ Jem said. ‘I wrote that letter to you all to provoke a reaction because I wanted to know who killed Toby. I didn’t realise that I was going to cause trouble for Aaron over the other matter.’
‘You thought investigating a murder might be done without consequences?’ Ella enquired sardonically. ‘Don’t bother to answer that.Haveyou caused trouble for Aaron? Gone to the police?’
‘No. I don’t—it’s not—’ His throat closed. ‘No. And I shan’t, not about Aaron. It’s none of my business and I don’t care. And I know that neither of you killed Toby. So I’m sorry. You…you needn’t worry any more. I shan’t cause any trouble.’
There was a long silence. Neither Ella nor Aaron moved. Finally, Ella said, ‘And how do you come to say that with such certainty? Because if that’s an expression of faith in both our characters, I can assure you it’s not widely shared. Even in this room.’
Jem made himself meet her eyes. ‘Because I know who did it.’
‘Know?’ Aaron said hoarsely. His fists were clenched, the knuckles standing stark. ‘Not think, or deduce, butknow?’
‘He confessed,’ Jem said in a thread of a voice.
Ella put a hand to her mouth. Aaron shut his eyes, face contorting with what looked like agony. There was no sound in the room but harsh breath.
And Jem wanted to cry out for comfort, because coming even that close to proclaiming Nicky’s guilt out loud felt like a jagged tear along his soul, but Ella looked as though she’d been struck. She reached out blindly with her other hand, and Aaron began to move to her and then pulled abruptly back. He picked up the chair instead, placing it behind her, and she sank into it in a rustle of skirts and put her face in her hands.
Aaron stared down at her. His face was a rigid mask, his eyes dreadful. Jem couldn’t understand the horror on his face, and then he did.
‘You suspected each other,’ he said before he could stop himself. ‘You both thought?—’
Ella shook her head, a tiny motion. ‘Never. I never did. Ineverbelieved it.’
