Jasper shook his head. What the detective sergeant asked had merit. Why spare Leo but not Mrs. Seabright?
“Let’s find him, so we can ask.” Jasper closed the folder. “I’ll stop by the Law Courts and see if I can speak to Sir Eamon.”
They left his office—Lewis for Giles’s home in Kennington and Jasper for the Royal Courts of Justice. But at the department’s entrance, they came upon Constable Horace Wiley, who stood, blocking Leo’s way inside. Her distaste for the man was etched upon her face, and Jasper’s own annoyance boiled up fast.
“Step aside, Wiley,” he barked. “I’m expecting Miss Spencer.”
The constable did as ordered though his churlish scowl followed Leo as she passed. There was a rumor going around that Wiley had put in for a secondment to the Liverpool City Police, and Jasper hoped it would go through. The man guarded the front desk to the detective department like a bully.
As Leo moved further into the department, Jasper noted that her pace wasn’t as brisk as usual, and her eyes looked heavy. Like him, she’d probably dispensed with the idea of sleep.
“Miss Spencer,” Lewis greeted her with a friendlier-than-usual nod. She noticed and eyed him with a skeptical glance. The detective sergeant then turned and carried on his way, exiting the room.
Jasper gestured for Leo to enter his office.
“If only Constable Wiley was as happy as Sergeant Lewis is that I’m not dead,” she said as he closed the door behind them.
“Wiley is miserable, but he wouldn’t wish you dead,” Jasper replied.
Leo opened her handbag and sent him a dubious look. “You give him too much credit. Here.” She retrieved a sheet of paper and extended it to him.
“Your statement?”
“I thought there would be more,” she said with a sigh of disappointment. “Last night, there seemed to be so many things I wanted to tell you.”
Jasper took the sheet. Leo was getting used to typing witness statements, and like the others, this one was filled to the margins of the page with details. “It looks like plenty to me.”
“Yes, but nothing there provides much for leads. The beards were false. Horsehair, if I had to guess,” she said. “So perhaps they were purchased at a costume shop? And the plaque in the coach…I keep trying to see it better in my memory, but the black paint in the engraved lettering was all chipped away except for the wordBest.”
Jasper read through her statement even as she spoke. “You think it was a hired hack?”
“If there are any carriage companies with the wordBestin their names, we might be able to track it down through the carriages department.”
He lowered the typed sheet, thinking of Coughlan’s warning. “Leo, your involvement in this case is to be limited to this statement. I will direct Sergeant Brooks to search the registries for any hansom companies withBestas part of their names.”
“I was using the word ‘we’ figuratively,” Leo said with a shrug of her shoulder.
Jasper didn’t quite believe her but returned to her statement without comment. As he read on, the only identifying description she could give for any of the men was a bit about a scar on one man’s left hand. It was good information though, especially if they could take in a suspect that had such a marking.
“I assume you already have constables visiting pawnbrokers, searching for the jewels that were stolen?” Leo asked.
There had been a page in the constables’ report allocated to the descriptions of the jewels taken, and Price had taken it upon himself to send men to several pawnshops. Jasper recalled the pearl necklace and earrings that Leo had lost.
“I hope we can find them,” he said. “And not just to track down these men. I know my father’s gifts were important to you.”
She shook her head. “I’m sorry to have lost them, but in the end, it is just jewelry.”
There was a dejected quality to her voice, and Jasper suspected she’d been more affected by her ordeal than she was letting on. However, he knew better than to pry. She would only close herself off completely if he did.
“Where are you going first?” she asked, changing the topic.
“I’ll speak to Sir Eamon.”
Interest flickered over her face. “He and Mrs. Seabright seemed to be arguing before dinner last night.”
“Yes. I’d like to know what it was about.”
“Why would she have been at the dinner?” Leo asked, the dejection clearing as her innate curiosity took over. “She didn’t appear to be a wealthy donor.”
