Poppy gaped. It wasn’t Blanche Ainsworth.
It was Elowen Metcalfe.
Chapter 16
Carlos saw Poppy’s shock, and understood exactly how she felt. Miss Metcalfe would have to be the last name on anyone’s list of suspects. It never even got on to his own list.
“Please don’t tell anyone I’m here!” Elowen said. “I can explain!”
“That would be a good start,” Carlos said, stepping forward. Elowen’s eyes rounded when he loomed over her.
But he merely took the lantern from her hand and lowered it to the floor. “Has your signal been received? Will they think something has gone wrong if you stop now?”
After a moment, Elowen shook her head slowly. “No-o. No. I was just finishing.”
“What signal did you give?” Poppy asked curiously. “And to whom?”
Elowen looked at her, as if just noticing she stood there. “My job is to signal that it’s all right to come into the shore. If anyone in the house mentions something suspicious, or if Customs officials or the magistrate ride up, I’m to give a different signal—a warning to stay away.”
“So you’re in the pay of the smugglers,” Carlos said.
“No! That is, not exactly.” All at once, Elowen burst into tears.
Poppy moved quickly to embrace her. “Don’t be scared, dear. Whatever you’re involved in, I’m sure you can make things right. Think of your sister…she needs you.”
“It’s for Elisa’s sake that I got into this!” Elowen sobbed.
“I think you had better explain from the beginning,” said Carlos, feeling rather out of his depth at the sight of Elowen crying. “Unfortunately, we can’t move to a more comfortable location—not without getting some uncomfortable questions.”
“We can talk here,” Poppy said, keeping Elowen in a half embrace. He was struck by how instantly Poppy offered her help to literally anyone in need. It was inspiring (and also a little alarming).
He looked around and noticed a few large trunks and what appeared to be a wingback chair draped with a cloth. “Let’s sit down.”
He pulled the cloth off the chair and used it to dust off the trunks. Poppy sat Elowen down in the slightly musty and ripped chair, then sat on the trunk opposite.
Carlos remained standing. “You do understand, Miss Elowen, you’re involved in something quite illegal,” he said.
“Of course I do! It was not by choice…”
“What if I ask the questions?” Poppy told Carlos, rather pointedly. Then in a more gentle tone, she asked Elowen, “Dear, when did this all start?”
Elowen’s eyes were still wet with crying. “Early this year. February. I had been in London to meet yet another doctor for Elisa. I was having no luck, and the trip was expensive. I worried I would run out of funds and have nothing to show for it, and nothing to tell Elisa that might help. I mentioned this frustration to a few of the doctors. They were not concerned…except one, who seemed sympathetic. He told me he would help Elisa, and it would cost nothing, but we had to come to Cornwall, and I had to do a few little tasks for him.”
“And the name of this gentleman?”
“Dr. Burton Drake.”
Carlos frowned. “That’s not a name I’ve heard.”
“He is a real doctor,” Elowen said. “He has an office in London, and here in Cornwall. He’s from here, you see.”
“How did you know to send the signals?” Poppy asked, again taking over the questioning.
“Dr. Drake let me know what to do. I’d receive instructions while I saw him during Elisa’s visits.”
“And did he tell you what was being smuggled?”
“Oh, no. And I didn’t ask. I assumed it must be the same sort of thing always taken across the Channel.”
