Matron Westover’s sad, weary welcome quickly evaporated. She braced her hands on the arms of her chair and pushed herself up to standing. Jasper rose as well.
“The records of the wives and children we assist are confidential. I cannot just hand them over to you, and besides, are you not here to solve the murder of my aunt?”
“I am, and that is why I need that file,” he replied evenly, intrigued by her sudden change in demeanor.
The matron held firm. “I will need permission from the orphanage’s Board of Governors to release it to you.”
That would require contacting the president of the board, Sir Eamon Giles, with the request. A telegram would need to be sent, and then, Jasper would have to await a response. Considering the late hour, he imagined he’d have to wait until morning anyhow.
“Very well, if that is necessary,” he replied.
“It is,” she said brusquely. Then, she moved toward the door. “Now, it is quite late, and it has been a wretched day. I will allow you to collect your detective sergeant, and then I ask that the two of you take your leave.”
The hasty dismissal might have meant nothing, but as he left the matron’s office and went back toward the infirmary to see how things were coming along with the removal of the body, he couldn’t help but suspect Matron Westover had wanted to shuffle him out of Wellesley House for another reason altogether.
Instinct told him that the matron had known the surname Seabright right away. If she knew the family’s history, including the death of little Edward, why lie and claim that she didn’t?
He passed the blanket-wrapped body of Nurse Radcliff in the bleak corridor. PC Landry had returned, and he and the constable who had been napping outside the infirmary were carrying her.
“The chap’s arranged for rooms at that inn, as he said he would,” Lewis said as he joined Jasper, following him downstairs.
“I want to stop at the public stables first,” Jasper said. “Stanley Hayes left London late yesterday, and I’d like to knowif anyone matching his description was seen here in town. His driver might have stopped in for fresh horses.”
He and Lewis reached the bottom of the stairs. “You thinkHayescame here to kill the nurse?”
Jasper couldn’t quite see the man sneaking in through a cellar window, but his unexpected departure from London was suspicious. If what Leo theorized was true, and Edward Seabright had been given to Mrs. Hayes, Stanley may have wished to tie up any loose threads.
Or perhaps Gavin Seabright, who’d been on the run for over a day, had come here to speak to the nurse his sister had accused of taking their baby brother. A discussion between them could have turned into a violent attack. Gavin might have known of a way to sneak into the building since he’d once lived here. He could have taken the first train back to London that morning and arrived in time to meet Leo at the morgue.
“I don’t know what happened to Nurse Radcliff just yet,” Jasper said as they left the orphanage. “But it’s connected to the Seabrights; of that, I am sure.”
Chapter Sixteen
The windows of the house on Bloomsbury Square were dark except for those in a downstairs, street-facing room. As Leo accompanied Constance and Lord Hayes to the front door, the knot in the pit of her stomach kinked more tightly. The carriage ride had become awkward after the first few minutes, during which she’d explained how she’d known that Stanley Hayes had set out for Hampshire.
“It wasyou?” Constance had nearly shrieked. “You were the one who followed my mother this morning and told Jasper about it?”
“I certainly didn’t expect the woman I saw emerging from Martha Seabright’s home to be your mother, Miss Hayes,” Leo replied. “I did follow her, and when I learned who she was, I had no choice but to inform Jasper.”
“Wait a moment. Seabright?” Oliver Hayes had asked. “The woman who was shot and killed at Sir Eamon’s home the other night?” Apparently, he’d read about her in the newspaper. “Why the blazes would my aunt have been inside a dead woman’s home?”
“I couldn’t say for certain,” Leo had replied, not yet wanting to share her theory about Mrs. Hayes paying Martha Seabright to relinquish her infant son thirteen years ago. Not until she spoke to Stanley Hayes, at least.
Once inside the Hayes home, they were greeted by a servant who turned up his nose at Leo without even trying to mask his disdain.
“Oliver?” came a deep voice from within a room off the entrance hall. “Constance?”
A tall man with fair hair stepped into view. He was wearing a suit, his shirt collar loose, and he clutched a snifter in his hand. When his eyes settled on Leo, he frowned.
“Who is this woman? I sent you to bring back the detective inspector.”
Constance finished removing her hat and gloves, then tossed them onto a table. “Ask Oliver. He’s the one who thought it would be a splendid idea to have her come in his stead.”
She strode past her father and into the room. Lord Hayes sent his cousin an irritated glance before saying, “This is Miss Spencer, Uncle. Inspector Reid isn’t in London currently.”
He handed his outer trappings to the servant, who continued to stare at Leo balefully.
“Miss Spencer? The deadhouse worker?” Stanley Hayes looked her over with marked revulsion. “What the devil? Why have you brought her here?”
