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“Who are you?” Delilah demanded with a frown. “I don’t see why I should have you invading my home telling me what to do. On whose authority do you work?” She levelled a scowl on Sophia that would have cut her to shreds. “Just what lies have you been telling the man?”
“It isn’t Sophia. It is you, Delilah. I saw you help yourself to the trinket boxes in my father’s house,” he drawled menacingly.
“What?” Doubt and fear flooded her face.
“I was asked to come here by my father to look into the thefts. I placed those trinket boxes beside the door on purpose. Throughout the evening, they were watched carefully by a trusted member of staff who never took his eyes off them, especially while people took their leave. You were observed swiping them off the table because they fitted into your bag. You took advantage of the volume of people all leaving at the same time to try to hide your crimes, but you were seen. Now, you may call Sophia a liar, she isn’t by the way, but you shall not call me one. I know what I saw. When I realised what you were up to, I called by here the other day and pressured Sophia into telling me the truth. As she has been staying here, and is likely to be blamed for crimes she didn’t commit, I pushed her into showing me your stolen hoard. Needless to say, I recognised the trinket boxes that belong to my father in your house, and please, before you even attempt to try to blame it all on Sophia, I warn you to remember that the thieving began a long time before she arrived in the village.”
Delilah remained silent and stared into space for several long moments.
Jeb threw Sophia a cautionary look when she opened her mouth to speak. He wanted Delilah to have the time to consider the consequences of her actions before she tried to bluster her way out of the situation, or turned on her niece. It worked because Delilah shook her head sadly, and settled back in her chair with an air of defeat that was dignified, to say the least.
“You have the goods,” she said dully, as though she had just lost her best friend.
“Yes, they are going to be handed back to their rightful owners. Now, I need to know who the man is you have just been arguing with in the woods. Is he buying your stolen goods off you?”
Delilah opened her mouth as if to tell him to mind his own business but then closed it again. “Roland buys the items, yes.”
“Who is he, Delilah? How did you come to know him?”
Delilah sighed. “His name is Roland Myers. He is a connection of the man who owns the pawn shop in Standmere. I don’t know how they met so don’t even ask me.”
“He doesn’t own the shop himself?”
Delilah shook her head. “I went into the shop one day to see if I could get the owner to buy some items from me.” She looked uncomfortable for a moment. “The owner said he didn’t want anything I took to him because he had just bought a load of things off someone else. I suspected it was all from this Roland person. He was in the shop at the time and followed me outside. He asked to take a look at what I had for sale, and told me the
y were good quality. I knew that,” she snorted. “It is why I took them in the first place. Anyway, he offered to take them off my hands. After a bit of bargaining, he offered me marginally more than I would have earned off the shop owner so we did a deal. He took the goods off me and asked me to get another box ready for a month’s time.”
“So that’s the arrangement? You meet with him once a month and hand over the stolen items for a sum decided upon delivery depending on what you have managed to take?”
Delilah nodded. “It is a simple business arrangement that has worked well for the last few months. No, before you ask, I do not know what he does with the items I have stolen. I haven’t asked, and I don’t want to know.”
“Do you meet him at the shop every month?”
“No, he comes to the woods, and we meet there. Nobody ever really uses the woods here so we are less likely to be seen.”
“Why?” Sophia erupted. She was horrified at her aunt’s complete dismissal for other people’s property. “Why begin stealing in the first place? You have a more than reasonable stipend. You really don’t need the money.”
“I do. When Hooky started to pester me to send him details of my spending, I absolutely refused to comply. He even had the audacity to get his solicitor to try to tell me what to do, and even threaten me. I am an adult, a woman who has lived in this house alone for a long time now. I find it offensive that they should consider themselves at liberty to demand to know my personal details as if I was some recalcitrant child, so I ignored them. I received your letter informing me of your arrival a couple of days before you appeared, Sophia. I did write to tell Hooky that it wasn’t convenient, but he couldn’t have received my letter in time. Then you turned up. I knew why you were here as soon as you appeared on the doorstep. I am not going to take instruction on what to do with my finances from you either.”
Sophia sighed and wondered why her aunt felt the need to be so defensive. Didn’t she realise they were telling her to protect her future? Clearly she didn’t because the derisory look on her face as she glared at her was insulting.
“So, because you were short of funds you decided to steal from others, and sell the goods to make some extra money. Sophia’s arrival messed up your plans, didn’t it?”
Delilah didn’t speak, but Jeb knew he was right.
“So what does he want you to do that you are objecting to so vehemently?”
“I need to get the rest of this month’s shipment together for Roland, so took the trinket boxes to complete the order. I didn’t expect her to give it all away again. He was telling me I need to get the box ready.”
“I would remind you now that it is not Sophia’s fault you that have taken to a life of crime. You should have done as Hooky told you and curbed your spending when you were advised to.”
Rather than answer him, Delilah levelled a glare on her niece. “But I do blame you for this. If you hadn’t been rude enough to just appear as you did then none of this would have happened. Why couldn’t you just mind your own business?”
“You are thieving, Delilah. You even took the Harvells’ hairbrushes for Heaven’s sakes. They cannot afford the loss. How could you do it? To your own friends as well?”
Sophia didn’t care if Delilah threw her out on her ear. Just sitting in the house at the moment made her feel sordid. It was a horrible feeling; to be so disgusted with one’s relative the wish was for there to be no familial connection. There was nothing Sophia could do about it except work to her own conscience, and do what she must protect herself from being blamed for crimes she didn’t commit. Even if that meant she had to move into the tavern for a while, she would. She just hoped it wouldn’t come to that.
“So, we know why you started. Where did you start? I mean, what did you do; just look at someone’s hairbrush and think, ‘I like that, I will take it for myself’?” Jeb demanded with a scowl.
