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Ariadne frowned. “Who said that?” Her question was answered just as soon as Jack strode into her room. He was the last person she had expected to see. “What are you doing here, Jack?”
“You know him?” Leda asked. “I thought he was lying.”
“I do lie,” Jack admitted. “But not about things that are of utmost importance.”
“Why are you here?” Ariadne asked. She hadn’t seen him in over a week. The last he had promised her more work but then simply disappeared.
“I 'ave someone here who 'as somethin very interestin 'o 'ell you. Would you care 'o 'ear it?” he said. He looked at her burnt skin and then left the room. When he came back, a young boy of about fifteen years stood next to him. He had tear streaks running down his face.
“He was 'he one who se' 'he studio on fire,” Jack said with calm certainty.
Leda and Ariadne gasped. “How do you know?” Ariadne asked. They had already caught the true perpetrator, the one that had been sent by the Duke.
“I found 'im boastin abou' it in 'he pub after he had one too many drinks,” Jack said. “Said he needed to cool off his knuckles because he had pulled off one of the biggest crimes in the boroughs and managed to get away. He didn’t learn to control his tongue, however.” Jack roughly yanked at the boy’s arm who started crying again. He held the knuckle up for the sisters to see. They were burnt. The evidence was clear as the day.
“Why did you do it?” Ariadne asked. He was only a boy and she had never seen him in her life. He had no possible reason to harm her thus so.
“The rich lord gave me a bag of coins,” the young boy said.
“Who was it?” Ariadne asked.
“I never saw his face,” the boy admitted. “He wanted me to retrieve something from inside, a notebook.
“Father’s notebook,” Ariadne murmured. But why would Edward’s father or anyone else want that?
“I hadn’t eaten for days and I thought…I’m sorry.”
“Sorry isn’t going to make things any better, lad. You’re gonna have to pay for it with the truth,” Jack said.
The truth.
Her father’s words came rushing back to her mind. He had told her the truth would give her all the answers she sought.
All answers lie here.The truth had been in front of her all along, she had just overlooked it.
Ariadne clutched her mother’s pendant. “Leda, there’s a piece of paper on my desk there.” She pointed at the small wooden box where she kept her quill. “Bring me that and some hot water in a bowl with two lemons squeezed in.”
Leda gave her a puzzled look but she did as she asked. Jack raised a brow. “I gave you the truth an' you’re mawe concerned abou' water an' lemon?”
“You’ll see,” she said. If her hunch was right, everything was about to be revealed shortly. Her heart began to race as Leda brought back the bowl of water and the piece of paper that her father had left for her. “I thought it was only a clue but—” she drifted off as she dipped the paper into the water. For a few seconds, nothing happened but then words began to appear across it. Ariadne picked up the wet paper and began to read.
