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“The shop—”
“Is closed and will remain so. The toys are—” He fluttered a hand and glanced at the fireplace mantel. “—misbehaving.”
“Devere…” I shook my head and ducked behind the screen again to finish cleaning up. “You did not kill Jacapo.”
“How can you be so sure?”
Why would he suggest such a thing? The whole point of my case, the reason I was still here, was to prove his innocence. Why would he confess to me, the man he knew was investigating him? I studied my reflection as I unbuttoned the shirt I’d slept in. “I’m sure because you did not have a motive to kill your father. Rochefort owns—” I cleared my throat and swiftly moved on. “—owned the store. And you’re not a killer.”
“How can you be so certain?”
Because I knew him. I might be the only man in Minerva who did. Perhaps I shouldn’t let our past cloud my judgment, but how could I not? He appeared quiet, aloof, disinterested in the world. But I knew he was quiet because he watched almost everything happening around him. He studied others, and he admired things most of us didn’t care to see. He wasn’t disinterested like the townsfolk suggested. Quite the opposite. He observed people the same way he’d studied my books, as though they were puzzles to be riddled out.
I pulled my shirt over my head, poured a jug of water into the basin and soaked a cloth, then washed myself. The brisk, cold touch helped to ground me in the room, in the moment, and clear the rest of the fog from my head.
“Valentine? How can you be certain?” he asked again. His voice sounded closer. He’d moved from my desk.
“I know because I know you.” I looked up into the mirror, and there he stood, beside the screen. Dark hair pulled back from his eyes, his clothes pressed, each line exquisite. He noticed the small things and cared about them. “And I know criminals. You are not a criminal. Blisteringly intelligent, observant, and somewhat intense, but you’re not a murderer.”
His gaze roamed my back. Perhaps he thought nothing of admiring a man’s body. To most men, it wouldn’t mean anything, but the stroke of his gaze spurred my heart into racing faster. “Besides, why would you confess?” I asked his reflection, looking there instead of into his eyes.
“What happens if you do not find Jacapo’s killer?” he asked, ignoring my question.
“I’ll stay until I do.”
“Hmm…” He turned away, disappearing back behind the screen, allowing me to breathe again.
I braced both hands on the washstand, bowed my head, and breathed. His gaze to me was like electricity to a bulb, and the more I allowed myself to think these thoughts and feel things toward him, the more intense feelings became.
“I’m going to take another look at the gentlemen’s club Rochefort had me visit,” I said, mostly for something to say to break the growing silence.
“Are you so accurate a judge of character that you did not see the criminal in Rochefort?”
He just had to mention that. I scooped up a fresh shirt and buttoned it on. “I knew.”
My mistake had been in underestimating his desires and overestimating my ability to manage them.
“All these books, all these years of study, weeks spent interviewing those of the broken mind. You are passionate, and I admire that, but you do not know everything, Valentine. Minerva does not play by the same rules as the rest of the world.”
“I’ve never professed to know everything.” Devere, for one, was a riddle all his own. “Tell me…” I emerged from behind the screen to find Devere standing back at my desk, once again nosing in my work. “Did your father visit the gentlemen’s club?”
“He did, yes,” he said, looking up. “Most men of means do.”
“Then we shall begin anew there.”
“We?”
“You’ll come along, won’t you?”
“No.” He folded his arms and scowled again, but he didn’t mean it. He just needed a moment to think things through.
“What else are you doing that’s so important? Your shop is closed.”
His cheek twitched. “I don’t belong there.”
“Which is exactly why we should visit. The townsfolk fear what they do not know, and they do not know you. We can change that, and also inquire after Jacapo’s acquaintances.”
He dipped his chin and sighed. “If I do not join you, you’ll go alone?”
