“And you propose that she took a false identity when applying for work at Henderson’s factory,” he said.
“Six months ago, yes. Her children would have died two months before that.”
He continued, “Her motive was to get close to Jack Henderson and decipher a way to seek vengeance?”
“Something that could be more easily done if she was a trusted employee,” Leo replied.
It made sense, even if Jasper still appeared skeptical. As a detective inspector he was supposed to be cautious, but at least he was entertaining the possibility.
Claude made a sound of interest. “Didn’t you say the Nelsons filed a formal complaint? Surely Mr. Henderson would have recognized her as the mother of the poisoned children and turned her away at once.”
Leo had thought of that. “Not if he and his solicitor had only dealt with Mr. Nelson for the complaint. If Mr. Henderson hadnever set eyes on her before she applied for the position of his secretary, how would he have known who she truly was?”
“So, she took a new name and insinuated herself into the company she detests,” Jasper said. “To what end? You saw her. She was meek and skittish around Mr. Henderson. Hardly the conniving woman you’re suggesting she was.”
Leo refused to back down. The more she thought this theory through, the more accurate it felt.
“What if her conniving wasn’t hers alone? Her husband must have been aware of her new position, especially if she was absent from the house for several hours each day of the week. You’re right. She was meek and skittish. Perhaps her husband forced her into this scheme, and she felt as though she had no choice but to go along with it.”
Jasper braved the autopsy table where Tibia had gone back to sleep and lifted the black cloak. “You’re certain this is the same blue embroidery?”
Leo pursed her lips. “Need you truly ask? Yes, I am certain.”
“So that night at Striker’s, Mrs. Nelson exposed herself and her six months of deceit by giving Gabriela a photograph of her dead children. Why?”
“To warn her?” Leo suggested. “To tell her the truth? That her husband was intent on avenging their children by poisoning Mr. Henderson’s own beloved daughter.”
But she’d been too late. Gabriela had already consumed the poisoned drink.
At the adjacent examination table, Mr. Higgins snorted a laugh. Leo swiveled on her heel.
“Is there something you’d like to contribute, Mr. Higgins?”
He set the extracted liver into a basin. “What you’re saying is all very entertaining, but the body has already been identified as Andrea Geary. There is no evidence to the contrary.”
Leo bit her tongue. The man hadn’t contributed much in the way of anything, but on this he’d formed an opinion? Even worse was that he was correct. They had only speculation and coincidence to go by. Miss Geary had been the one to pull the complaints file from Mr. Henderson’s shelves; if she was truly Mrs. Nelson, she very well could have gone home that evening and warned her husband that the police were likely to visit their address soon, especially after seeing the death portrait Jasper had shown Mr. Henderson.
But as Mr. Higgins had so smugly pointed out, that was only supposition.
Then there was the question of why Andrea Geary, or possibly Evelyn Nelson, had been killed. And apparently, by the same person who’d killed Regina Morris. Leo closed her eyes, overwhelmed by everything she didn’t yet know.
“If this is Evelyn Nelson,” Jasper said, “we need proof. We need someone to identify her.”
Leo brightened. “Like the boy from outside their home?”
Jasper shook his head. “Not a child. But another neighbor will do. I’ll send a constable to knock on doors?—”
A bell rigged to the lobby door rang, signaling someone’s arrival. Claude went to see who it was, leaving Leo and Jasper alone. She lowered her voice to keep Mr. Higgins from overhearing.
“Do you recall Mr. Nelson’s occupation from the London Directory?”
“Ironmonger.” Jasper shifted his jaw and winced. “He sells tools, hardware, anything made of iron, and I’m sure he’s in repairs. That would account for his build.”
“He would have ready access to a mallet.”
“So might David Henderson,” he reminded her. “Think. Why would Terrence Nelson bludgeon Regina Morris and his own wife, but poison Gabriela?”
“Because Gabriela’s death was meant to be symbolic. It was meant to be revenge. Death by arsenic is equal retribution.”
