“It was nothin’, y’know? Just a little thing.” Maggie wrinkled her nose. “Still can’t understand why it set him off.”
“What was the little thing?” Lavinia asked.
“His cravat,” Maggie said.
Lavinia felt her blood run cold in her veins.
At the window, Tobias did not move. She sensed the hunter in him catching the scent of the quarry.
“What about Pelling’s cravat?” he asked very softly.
“Well, he wasn’t wearin’ it that last time, y’see,” Maggie said in her gin-thickened voice. “Properly dressed, he was, like he’d just come from his club or a fancy ball, but no cravat.”
Lavinia met Tobias’s eyes. Impossible, she thought.
“It looked odd,” Maggie said. “Like his valet hadn’t dressed him properly. So I teased him about being so eager to visit me that he had started to undress before he arrived. Asked him if he’d lost his bloody neckcloth somewhere along the way. That’s when he went mad with his rage.”
Chapter Twenty-seven
“I KNEW THERE HAD TO BE A CONNECTION.”
Tobias pulled himself up into the hackney behind Lavinia and slammed the door. “There had to be a link between Hudson and Pelling. It was just too much of a coincidence that both men linked to you showed up in London at the same time.”
The fierce, hawklike anticipation in his eyes was unsettling. It was at times like this that she was most keenly aware of the dangerous edge that was always just beneath the surface of the man. She did not fear him at these moments; she feared for his safety. When his blood was up he was inclined to take risks.
The new revelations called for logic, she thought. Not immediate action.
“We must proceed slowly and carefully,” she said. “I admit that the fact that Pelling lost his cravat the night that Celeste was strangled with one is an exceedingly strange coincidence. But what possible connection could there be between Pelling and Celeste?”
“I suspect that for some reason Pelling, too, is after the Medusa bracelet. It would appear that he hired the Hudsons to steal it for him. Perhaps he became Celeste’s lover. Regardless, she went to meet him that night and he murdered her, either because they quarreled or because he believed that he no longer needed her to help him get the bracelet.”
“And realized too late that she had hidden the artifact before she met him at the warehouse?”
“The logic holds,” Tobias said with satisfaction.
She held up her hand. “Not entirely. Only think for a moment, Tobias. If Howard knew about Pelling’s involvement, then he must know that Pelling is the killer. Why would he hire us to find Celeste’s murderer if he already knew his identity?”
“Because Hudson is after the bracelet, not justice for his dead wife. He must have realized the fact that Pelling doesn’t have it, so he set us on the trail, hoping that if we turn over enough rocks, we’ll find the bloody antiquity before Pelling does.”
She spread her hands. “But why would Pelling want the bracelet in the first place?”
“Is he a collector?”
She thought back to the handful of conversations she’d had with Jessica Pelling. “To be honest, I do not know. The subject never arose. All I can say with any certainty is that he is wealthy enough to afford to collect rare antiquities.”
“I think I know someone who can answer the question for us.”
Twenty minutes later, Vale and Joan Dove walked out of the mansion onto the terrace where Tobias and Lavinia waited together with Emeline and Anthony. Emeline had fetched Lavinia’s cloak a few minutes earlier and brought it out to her.
Vale took in Tobias’s disheveled appearance in a single cool glance. His brows climbed. “Anthony informed me that you wished to consult with me but that you were in no condition to enter the ballroom. I see what he meant. Do you mind if I ask what happened?”
“It’s a long and somewhat boring story,” Tobias said.
Lavinia gripped his arm very tightly. “Actually, two men tried to murder him.”
“Obviously they did not succeed,” Vale said. “My congratulations, sir.”
Tobias glanced at Lavinia. “I had some help from my partner.”
Vale inclined his head. “The two of you clearly make an excellent team.”
“Indeed,” Lavinia said firmly.
Vale turned back to Tobias. “What can I do for you?”
“Tell me if you know whether or not Pelling is a collector of antiquities,” Tobias said.
Vale did not answer immediately. Lavinia got the impression that he was running through some private logic of his own.
“Not to my knowledge,” he finally said very slowly. “It is possible, of course. I certainly do not claim to be acquainted with every serious collector in England. But I am not aware of Pelling having a scholarly interest in relics. He has made no bid to join the Connoisseurs.”
Lavinia’s spirits plummeted. She realized that she had been holding her breath. So much for Tobias’s brilliant theory, she thought. She glanced at him to see how he was taking the bad news.
To her surprise, he appeared undaunted.
“Hudson wants the Medusa bracelet for reasons that have nothing to do with a scholarly interest in antiquities,” Tobias said. “Perhaps Pelling is also obsessed with it for some unknown reason.”
Lavinia frowned. “Maggie said that Pelling went mad for a while the night he came to her room after the murder. If he is not entirely sane, he may want the bracelet for reasons that no one can comprehend.”
“Unfortunately, we have no evidence,” Tobias said. “I doubt that there is much we can do about Hudson at this juncture, but Pelling is a killer and must be stopped. If you’re willing to help, Vale, it may be possible to lure him into a trap. Perhaps he can be persuaded to incriminate himself in front of two men whose oath would be unquestioned.”
“I assume I am to be one of the witnesses,” Vale said. “Who is the other?”
“Crackenburne.”
Vale looked thoughtful. “It might work. How do you intend to set your stage?”
Tobias smiled slowly. “With the assistance of Mr. Nightingale.”
Vale and Tobias exchanged glances.
“With luck we have time to bait and set the trap tonight,” Tobias said.
Even in the shadows there on the terrace, Lavinia could make out the cold pleasure of the hunt in the eyes of both men.
But Tobias’s predatory anticipation Dissolved a short time later when he sent a carefully crafted message regarding a very private auction to the inn where Pelling was staying.
The response came back immediately. Oscar Pelling had packed his bags and departed sometime after midnight. No one knew where he had gone.
“One of the more annoying aspects of this matter,” Lavinia observed over a glass of sherry just before dawn, “is that Mr. Nightingale demands to be paid for his time, in spite of the fact that the scheme was unsuccessful. And we seem to be running short of clients to cover our expenses.”
Chapter Twenty-eight
Tobias arrived for a late breakfast the following morning in a mood that boded ill for everyone around him.
Anthony, looking no happier, followed him into the breakfast room.
Emeline’s initial start of pleasure at seeing him faded to a look of deep concern. “Oh, dear, something else has gone wrong.”
Lavinia lowered her cup back down onto the saucer.
“What happened?” she asked.
Tobias took his customary chair and reached for the coffeepot. “They have both vanished.”
“Both?” Lavinia searched his face and then glanced at Anthony for assistance.
“It is not just Pelling who has disappeared. We called at Dr. Hudson’s rooms a short while ago. He is gone also.” Anthony hesitated politely, one hand on the back of a chair. “May I sit down?”
“Yes, of course,” Emeline said quickly.