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“Ladies and gentlemen,” Mephistopheles said. “Seems no one has lost their heads tonight. But will you be as fortunate tomorrow? We shall consult the Wheel of Fortune and see. Good night!”
Each performer stepped back just as the curtains drew to a close, disappearing from sight.
I turned on Thomas, hands wrapped around my goblet to avoid strangling him. “Are you quite mad? You could have been hurt!”
His gaze swept from my grip on my goblet to the tension in my jaw. He held his hands up, surrendering to my anger. “Easy now, Wadsworth. Perhaps we ought to move away from the cutlery and glass. I assure you I was perfectly safe.”
I snorted. “Of course you were. Who wouldn’t be perfectly safe while being sawn in two? Especially after someone was murdered yesterday! How very foolish of me to worry.”
“Audrey Rose,” Uncle warned. “Please control yourself until after dinner. I have enough to contend with after Liza’s performance.” He stood, tossing his napkin down. “In fact, I’m going to fetch her now. She’ll be joining you in your chambers.”
With that, he strode out of the room. Mrs. Harvey promptly picked up her empty glass, staring into it as if it might transport her from the table. “Would you look at that,” she said, calling an attendant over to pull out her chair. “I find myself suddenly overcome with exhaustion. If you’ll excuse me.”
I watched her go, too annoyed to contemplate being without a chaperone once more.
“Well?” I asked. “What sort of deductions did you come to before climbing into that box to deem it safe?”
He reached for my hand, then caught himself. While we were alone at our table, we were not secreted away in my chambers. His touching me in public would be most inappropriate.
“That box had a false bottom. I noticed the slight seam in the wood, an extra few inches that weren’t necessary. Once I’d gotten a better look at it, I saw that I’d actually be lying directly below the box in a sub-box in the table.” He smiled tentatively. “It’s really quite ingenious. The design allows the box to be cut in half while my hands and feet protrude from the holes. Whoever engineered it is brilliant. I’ve never seen anything like it before.”
“You’d deduced all of that before lying in it?”
“Mostly.” Thomas glanced at the tables that were slowly clearing of guests. Soon we’d be the only ones left. “It’s adorable when your nostrils flare so dramatically. There”—he grinned, dodging my swift kick under the table—“that’s the look. One day I’m going to have it captured by a grand portrait artist and hang it above the mantel in my study.”
“I truly dislike you sometimes, Thomas James Dorin Cresswell.”
“Even when I’m being valiantly heroic by sacrificing myself?” He removed the two cards from inside his suit jacket and waved them in front of me. “I’d wager you hate me less now.”
“Marginally.” I plucked the cards from his grasp. One was an Ace of Clubs, the second was a hand-drawn tarot—Justice. I sighed and set the
m down. “What do you make of these?”
“Well, the scales of justice appear wildly off-kilter. It seems too great a coincidence that Chief Magistrate Prescott’s daughter was slain. It’s worth looking into his background as a judge. Clearly, someone doesn’t find his rulings fair. It might be a good motive.” He tapped the playing card. “And the Ace of Spades is likely a distraction.”
“What about the Ace of Clubs left on Miss Prescott’s body?” I countered. “Maybe the tarot card is the distraction.”
Thomas shrugged. “Perhaps they’re both meant as decoys. Or maybe these simply were misplaced. I believe we ought to search—”
A terrible ruckus interrupted us. It sounded as if a stampede of elephants had gotten loose and was charging through the corridors. Which, given the presence of the carnival, wasn’t entirely out of the question. Confused, I twisted in my seat, watching a few people run past the open door as waiters stuck their heads out.
Dread slithered through my limbs. People running with tears streaming down their faces were never a good sign. Whatever they were terrified of had to be quite bad indeed. They’d just seen a young man cut in half and had barely stopped eating their entrées.
“Hurry,” Thomas said, gently taking my arm and rushing us toward the door. “If it’s what I fear… there might be time to save the person.”
“Wait!” I wrenched free and ran to the nearest table, grabbing a knife. “Better to be prudent.”
Thomas wrapped his hand around mine and we moved as quickly as we could against the tide of passengers heading the opposite way. I kept the knife pointed down and close to my side. I’d never seen the promenade so crowded, and what had felt like a comfortable walking deck now felt like a funnel.
Men in top hats bobbed back and forth, some escorting their families away from the chaos and others diving into it. A few times my hand almost slipped from Thomas’s, but he was right there again, placing his body before mine as a barrier. People jostled him, but he steered us to where the crowd was the thickest.
“Please!” someone shouted, from where I couldn’t quite see. “Return to your cabins. Do not run, and do not panic. I assure you all I will keep you safe.”
“Like you kept her safe?” a passenger shouted back, earning cries of approval from those closest to him. “None of us are safe out here on the water. We’re trapped!”
“Now, now,” the first man called, “everything will be fine. Remain calm and return to your cabins!”
Thomas, using his added height, maneuvered us closer. Captain Norwood stood on a crate, motioning for crew members to disperse the passengers. My gaze traveled around him, searching out the cause for alarm.
