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Thirty minutes later, I return to my room with a crisp stack of printouts courtesy of Lee’s color laser printer. The paper is still warm to the touch as I flop back on my bed, flipping through pages.I start with the documents courtesy of Steve from Global Cruise Initiatives, which seem boring at first, until something catches my eye and wrinkles my forehead.
It’s a minor detail. Or maybe a coincidence. I’m not entirely sure yet, so I shift my focus to the family papers provided by Ruby’s cousin Catherine.
I go through them one painstaking page at a time until it becomes glaringly evident I’m not dealing with a coincidence here.
Gripping the last page, fingers trembling with excitement, I stare at the unmistakable truth. Right there on the page.
“Oh my God,” I breathe.
51
IMANAGE TO GET AHOLD OF HER EARLYFRIDAY MORNING, BUT SHEsays she can’t meet me until later that evening. She invites me to her flat in West Kensington, a gorgeous, airy apartment in a pretty, posh building with a doorman. She’ll be moving soon, Sophie admits, as she ushers me into what she calls the receiving room. It looks exactly like a living room, but who am I to judge?
“So,” Sophie says pleasantly, setting a delicate ceramic cup in front of me. Steam rises and warms my hands as I reach for it. “What brings you here tonight, Abbey? You sounded quite agitated when you rang.”
“I know. I’m sorry. I hope I didn’t worry you.” I wrap my fingers around the coffee cup. “It wasn’t agitation so much as nerves and excitement.”
“I see. Now I’m well intrigued.” She picks up her teacup and takes a small sip, smiling over the rim. “Please, enlighten me.”
“I have some updates about the Tulleys.”
Instantly, her face darkens. “Bloody menaces, that lot.”
I falter. “Oh dear. Did something else happen with Ben?”
I knew she was quitting, but I haven’t seen her since the morning she showed up on my doorstep in a panic. Guilt tugs at me for not touching base until now.
“Benjamin refuses to honor the terms of my contract, whichstate he’s obligated to pay for my father’s housing for six months following termination. He’s maintaining the clause only applies if I’m laid off as opposed to resigning. And the language is just vague enough that both of us could be correct.”
“Fuck. Does that mean you’re getting lawyers involved?”
She shakes her head. “It’ll cost more to retain a lawyer than to simply pay for it myself. I have some savings. We’ll make do. But enough about me. You said you have an update about the Tulleys, and I completely derailed you. This is concerning your research project, I presume?”
“Yes.” I set my messenger bag on the glass coffee table, then realize I should have asked first. “Is this okay?”
She waves a hand. “Yes, of course.”
I unzip the bag and pull out the file folder containing all the documents I compiled last night.
“All right, this will sound very convoluted at times, so try to follow along as best you can, okay? I promise it’s all heading somewhere.”
I can barely contain myself. I’m exhilarated. Practically vibrating. Jack and Nate are right—to me, history is akin to sex. That is very sad but very true.
“So. You already know the beginning of this story. Josephine was a maid for the duchess and, at some point after starting to work at the estate, fell in love with both Robert and William Tulley. The eldest son and the middle one. Josephine knew she had a decision to make, and it was eating her up inside, as evidenced by her letters to her mother.”
I set down the photocopies from Ruby Farnham’s attic trove, laying them out in front of her.
“And do we finally know who she chose?” Sophie looks utterly transfixed.
“We do.” I slide the latest journal entry, courtesy of Mr. Baxley, across the table. “It was William.”
She gasps. “Then…that means…” Some of the luster leaves herexpression, replaced by the pall of sorrow. “She died with him on the ship. They both drowned.”
“Yes.”
Sophie leans forward. There’s a brief silence while she reads the entry, her elegant features creased with sadness.
“Those poor souls.” She raises her gaze to mine. “That’s it then? You’ve solved the mystery.”
