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“Annis…” Sarah whispers.
“I am done,” Annis declares. She sweeps up her skirts and turns on her heel. “I have said all I need to say. My brother knows I am innocent, and he will find the devil who murdered my husband.”
The reporter starts after Annis, shouting questions like she’s twenty feet away.
“Did she just save Isla’s ass?” I murmur. “Or her own?”
“I have no idea,” Gray says, and we hightail it back into the house before the reporter comes after us.
THIRTY-FOUR
I put together a sandwich to go, and then we leave out the front door. Simon is off on errands, and we don’t want to wait for the coach, so we take a hansom cab to follow up on the address.
I’m not sure what to think about what Annis did. I want to be furious with her. She distracted that reporter from herself and any suspicions that might fall on her for being at the home of the brother who’s helping investigate the murder. Instead of downplaying that, she overplayed it, becausethatis Annis, as I’m coming to learn—theatrical and grandstanding. The press thinks she killed her husband? Oh, look over here at her brother—did you not know the role he’s played in solving Edinburgh crime? She might as well have played a one-woman band, marching around him and tossing confetti.
I understand that the reporter seemed to be interested in Isla and Annis was protecting her, and I appreciate that, but if so, why not divert attention her own way instead of Gray’s? She shielded her sister—and herself—by throwing her brother to the wolves instead, and that pisses me off.
We knew our mysterious broadsheet writer had suggested Gray played a role in the current investigation, and it was only a matter of time before the press showed up at his doorstep, but when they did, Gray would have ducked and diverted and downplayed. He likes his place in the shadows, quietly helping McCreadie and the police.
I suppose I should be impressed that Annis knows the cases he’s investigated, but it only confuses me more. She’s embarrassed by her family and yet somehow follows her brother’s secret exploits? Maybe she keeps tabs on him so she isn’t caught off guard if he’s ever shoved into the limelight. Or if it ever benefits her to do the shoving.
“Is this… going to be a problem?” I say in the cab.
“For Isla? Hugh and I are already aware of the concern, and he is taking steps to protect her.”
Of course he is.
“Which is a different sort of protection, yes?” Gray says. “She would not object to that.”
“She would not, although I would strongly suggest he talk to her about it, rather than attempt to shield her completely. She’s aware it’s an issue, and she was going to speak to him.”
“I’ll make sure she does.”
I glance over. “And what about what Annis did back there? Is it going to be a problem?”
“No,” he says firmly. “It is a bit of tittle-tattle. Nothing more. No one cares about science. As for me supposedly solving crimes, it will be seen as mere sibling pride.” A thin smile. “Which will amuse anyone who knows Annis.”
“I still want to throttle her.”
He lifts his shoulders in an elegant shrug. “If I am to give her any credit, she did manage to provide the fellow with scraps he mistook for a meal. Nothing will come of it, and no one will question why she was at the house, as she was obviously the doting sister enlisting the aid of her younger sibling.”
I hope so. I really do.
I look out the window. “We’re leaving the city?”
“Barely,” he says. “The address is on the outskirts. I am not familiar with it myself, but the driver says he’ll find it.”
The driver may have exaggerated slightly. He makes a few wrong turns and circles around before coming to a stop at the end of a dirt road.
“This is it, sir,” the driver calls.
Gray opens the door and frowns.
“Yes, I’m certain,” the man says before Gray can ask. “I’m guessing you’d like me to wait.”
“Please.”
Gray helps me out. Then he gives the man payment for the first half of the trip, so he won’t worry if we disappear from sight.
