Page 90 of In the Midnight Hour

“I was coming to see you,” she said in greeting.

“I was coming to see you,” North replied.

She hesitated. Perhaps she was waiting for him to speak as he was waiting for her.

“The dressing gown.”

They said the words in unison. Her eyes rounded, and her mouth spread in a thoroughly captivating smile.

He laughed softly. “You go first.”

“I’m bothered that it disappeared and yet neither Cora nor Gemma saw Sir Radnor wearing it when he went upstairs,” she said. “What happened to it?”

“Exactly. Did he put it on and drop it somewhere on the way up? That’s absurd to even consider.”

She nodded. “I want to search Sir Radnor’s chamber again. Thoroughly.”

“Now?” he suggested.

Hypatia pursed her lips briefly. “I don’t really want to alert anyone to what we’re doing. What if we steal in the back again?”

North held back a grin. “It’s your house.”

“Almost.” She turned on her heel and strode toward the other gate.

He hurried to overtake her so he could open it, and they made their way across the street to her house. When they reached the back garden, Quill was there waiting by the gate as if he had also been tormented by the unresolved missing dressing gown.

The cat accompanied them through the gate, and Hypatia chuckled. “If you find this dressing gown, Quill, Bow Street will need to hire you.”

Once again, they entered through the morning room. North idly wondered why this door still wasn’t locked, but so far, it had been to their advantage. They crept upstairs as quietly and quickly as possible. Quill repeatedly darted ahead, then waited to see where they’d go next.

Thankfully, they reached Sir Radnor’s bedchamber without encountering anyone.

“Lucky again,” North said with a grin. “Where shall we look?”

“Everywhere. I suppose we should try to be quiet. Usher might be in the dressing room.” Hypatia went to a dresser and began opening drawers.

They searched for some time—in and behind furniture, under the bed, behind the two paintings that adorned one wall.

Frowning, Hypatia went to the hearth and stared at the cold, dark coals. There was no need to keep the fire lit with Sir Radnor gone.

North turned his attention to the bed. Perhaps it had been stuffed beneath the mattress. He didn’t know where else to look.

“North.”

He startled, as much by the low rumble of the tone Hypatia had used as by her use of his name as she’d done last night. It was a small thing, but it made him ridiculously pleased.

“Did you find something?” He abandoned the bed and went to the fireplace.

She knelt in front of it and had stuck her head inside. Pulling back, she held up her hand. He grasped her firmly and helped her to stand.

“Yes. I found this.” She held out her palm upon which lay a rectangle of singed fabric. “Do you recall the description of the missing dressing gown?”

“Bronze wool with a Greek key pattern.” North was looking at just that. He suddenly recalled a detail from the morning Sir Radnor had been discovered. “She burned it.”

“Who?” Hypatia asked.

“Mrs. Babcock,” he replied with growing certainty. “When I entered Sir Radnor’s chamber that morning, she was cleaning the carpet. I noticed that the fire was unusually large for that hour, particularly since the chamber’s occupant was not in need of warmth.”