Page 30 of The Rum and The Fox

“May I go now?” Keziah demanded with growing impatience. She wanted away from this man as soon as possible.

“He could have done it,” he said, ignoring her request. Keziah’s heart leapt to her throat and settled there as Formby continued, his voice neither accusing nor in any way enquiring. He was simply thinking aloud, and Keziah’s blood seemed to chill in her veins. “What is it, ten, fifteen minutes from Abbey Green to here?” he mused, apparently considering the walk.

“I’m sure I have no idea,” Keziah replied, her tone bored and disinterested, though her stomach was tying itself in knots as he spoke.

“So if he ran or walked fast, he could have been there and back in the time the doctor was with you, no problem.” He smiled at Keziah as if they’d merely been discussing the likelihood that it might rain that evening.

“You’re a fool if you think him capable of such an act,” Keziah said with contempt, knowing that she must convince him away from Ash. “He’s a fop and a dandy, and has no more in his head past the latest style to tie his cravat or what latest on-dit is doing the rounds,” she said with heat as she stood and began to pace in her agitation. “Surely you cannot believe that a man of his age who is still ruled by his grandmother and hasn’t wit enough to take control of his own household could possibly have guts enough to face a violent man like my father?”

Keziah stared down at Formby with fury and he tilted his head a little, apparently accepting her argument. “You may be right at that, Lady Todd,” he said with a pleasant smile. “Perhaps the young man hasn’t the backbone for it, but,” he added, his expression shrewd as he fixed his attention on her. “I reckon you have.”

***

“Surely you cannot believe that a man of his age who is still ruled by his grandmother and hasn’t wit enough to take control of his own household could possibly have guts enough to face a man like my father?”

Ash stood outside his study door as Keziah’s words rang in his ears. Rationally, he knew that Keziah was protecting him, trying to move the inspector’s gaze away from his direction. But there was enough truth in the words, enough conviction in the way they’d been said to underline everything that he knew Keziah thought of him.

He swallowed down the bitterness of his disappointment with difficulty. It was nothing he didn’t know. She’d been very clear that there was and would never be anything between them.

This was what came from listening at doors, he thought, though his feet wouldn’t move him away. Now the inspector was agreeing that he didn’t have the backbone for it …

“But I reckon you have.”

Before Ash could think about it, he’d opened the door and stood glaring at the inspector before turning his attention to Keziah.

“Keziah, my dear,” he said, his tone firm and just a little irritated. “The doctor gave strict instructions that you were to remain in your bed.”

Keziah stared at him in silence for just a moment before taking her cue.

“Forgive me,” she said, her expression a little uncertain. “I wanted to see you.”

“I will speak with you tomorrow, once I am satisfied you have rested. Run along, now.”

She blinked at him, clearly surprised at being so summarily dismissed, but made no demur, clearly eager enough to rid herself of Formby’s enquiries with all haste not to protest his high-handed behaviour.

Mr Formby stood as Keziah left the room, and Ash regarded him with great disfavour.

“I believe I made it clear after your last interview that Lady Todd was too fragile to answer your questions. She has endured a dreadful experience and is physically wounded, not to mention the emotional strain she is under. I must insist that you leave her in peace until the doctor allows it to be otherwise.”

Formby looked back at him, a measuring look in his eyes that made the hair on the back of Ash’s neck prickle in an unpleasant manner.

“As you say, my lord,” he replied after a moment, and with a placid smile. “I’ll arrange to continue my interview with the young lady another time but … if I might have another word with you, then, your grace,” Formby said, flicking to a clean page in his notebook and looking up at him with an expectant air.

“No,” Ash replied, returning a cool expression. “You may not. I have business to attend to. I am busy all day tomorrow, but you may return the following afternoon at three PM. Good evening, inspector, I trust you can show yourself out.”

With that, Ash walked away, closing the door behind him as his heart hammered behind his ribs. He wondered how the devil he’d dared speak to the man in such a blunt manner, but his usual patience and tolerance seemed to be all used up.

Perhaps there was something to be said for committing murder, it did wonders for your confidence.

***

It was no problem to be up at such an unfashionable hour the next morning, as Ash had spent a wearying night staring at the ceiling and considering all the ways in which his life could go to hell.

So it was that he presented himself at the Abbey at seven AM sharp with his decision made.

It was gloomy inside after the bright spring morning that had greeted him. The streets had been relatively quiet at this early hour, and if not for the sordidness of his assignment, Ash could have found pleasure in the gentle warmth of the sun on his face and a sky that promised a glorious day. But now he stood in the chill of the abbey, the sun blocked out, though the great stained glass window glinted the colours of the rainbow at him, as he waited for a blackmailer.

He’d not long to wait.