Mystery in the Darkest Shadow

by Byers, Beth

  “Can I?” he asked with a laugh.

  “We’ll be acquiring the things that Sister Sophie and I need for my stay here.” Her gaze challenged him to fade out now that he knew they were going shopping, but he took the news manfully.

  “Oh good,” he lied. “That does sound like a delightful day.”

  Bernadette lifted a brow and then glanced at Severine. “You have until I am done caring for Lisette.” She then lifted a tray and walked up the back stairs.

  “So,” Chantae breathed out. “I didn’t realize when your nuns arrived that they would take over, Severine.”

  “Just Bernadette,” Sister Sophie said sweetly. “Severine knows the secret of Bernadette.”

  “What is that?” Chantae and Charles asked in unison.

  “Do what she wants,” Severine laughed. The look on their faces was priceless and Sister Sophie shook her head.

  “Don’t tease, Severine. They think you’re serious.”

  Severine rose, yawned deeply and said, “Can’t I just have one cup?”

  “Your headaches won’t stop if you do.” This time Sister Sophie’s voice had the thread of iron.

  “Headaches?” Chantae demanded.

  “She has them all the time,” Charles added. “She just doesn’t say anything.”

  “They were quite the problem when Severine first came to the nunnery. We worked it out then, but she stopped all of the things we taught her.”

  Severine rolled her eyes. “Chicory coffee is the nectar of the gods.”

  “Not, darling one”—Sister Sophie’s sweet voice was cool and even—“when it makes you ill.”

  “Maybe the fact that my brother is trying to kill me and my cousin wants to love him anyway is why I have them.”

  “I’m sure those things are contributing,” Sister Sophie agreed.

  Severine slammed up the stairs of her house as though she were twelve years old again and it was perfectly normal to throw a fit. Almost spitefully, Severine locked the door of her room. She drew herself a bath, threw in a random assortment of salts and oils and slid into the water.

  She knew she was throwing a bit of a tantrum and had to admit there was comfort in it. She’d thrown more than one tantrum when she’d arrived at the nunnery and never been more surprised when they loved her all the same. She had been, Severine realized, entirely different for the nuns than she’d been for her parents. They’d given her enough room to be a child, and Severine had pushed the boundaries. Severine dunked her head and grinned under water. She couldn’t believe they had arrived.

  She left the water before long, lingering over dressing despite knowing that, instead of being put out by the wait, Bernadette would simply busy herself with the list of things she had given herself to do until Severine appeared. Sev chose a black dress embroidered with black roses. She applied her red lipstick and tied a gray head-wrap around her head with the knot behind her ear. She added a small pin in the shape of a rose on the left side of the wrap.

  Severine added black gloves and a coat, threw a scarf around her neck given the skies were gray, and arranged her things into a clutch. She paused at the door of her room and returned for the small notebook and pencil, adding them to her list. While they purchased the things Bernadette needed, they could make their plans for the next steps of the investigation.

  Severine found Charles and Bernadette speaking in the foyer and came upon them just as Bernadette said, “I should like a list of those addresses.”

  “It’s important that we be careful,” he told Bernadette, hesitating.

  “Don’t be foolish. An old woman is much less interesting to the world than a young, obviously well-to-do young man.”

  Severine bit her bottom lip to hold back a laugh as Charles attempted to protest again and then failed in the face of the unflappable former Sister Bernadette. Severine didn’t bother to hide her humor when Charles caught her watching.

  “Are we ready then?” Severine asked as if she weren’t the last to arrive. Charles shot her an amused look while Bernadette sent her an equally unamused expression. Severine ignored both of them and winked at Fabien and they left, Anubis at her heels. The dog leaned into Bernadette nearly as much as Severine, happy to have his old friend back, and Bernadette seemed equally happy as she chose to sit in the back with the big dog.

  Severine drove while Bernadette repeated the list of what she wanted, and they found their way to a furniture store and purchased the furnishings she requested. Once they’d arranged for the items to be delivered and walked to a nearby restaurant, Bernadette said, “You instinctively didn’t trust the police here, which is good.”

  They had taken a table for lunch and Severine had ordered coffee despite Bernadette clearing her throat. Severine would either have coffee or crumple into a ditch and nap for days. They’d added po’boys to their order as Bernadette insisted on trying the regional food.

  “What do we do then?”

  “They can’t all be corrupt,” said Bernadette. “It was fine before that last officer appeared, right?”

  Severine paused and then nodded. The first man was either a much better liar or he wasn’t involved.

  “The law office—don’t fire them.”

  “Don’t?” Charles objected. “We know they’re in someone else’s pocket.”

  “You should just hire a second one.”

  “And pay the first for no reason?”

  “You pay the first in an attempt to discover who is pulling their strings.” Bernadette rejected her sweet tea almost immediately and tried to steal Severine’s coffee away from her, but she’d grabbed it the moment it was set on the table and was almost curled around the cup, prepared for just such an action.

  “I don’t like keeping Severine around people we can’t trust,” Charles said.

  “Severine isn’t an idiot, and she doesn’t need you to put her on leading strings,” Bernadette said without even a shred of gentleness. She watched Severine finish her coffee and then took the cup away and handed it to a passing waiter before Severine could order a second cup.

  “That was the best cup of coffee I have ever had,” Severine told Bernadette with a grin.

  “Because it was full of defiance,” Bernadette told her. “Your headache later will be as sharp as the idiotic defiance you just employed.”

  “It was worth it,” Severine said. She sniffed. “I think we need to talk to Shaw about who all he talked to. We know someone was following him and that was probably the reason why Mr. Sidney was killed, but I think it’s worth pointing out that his questions could have triggered the murder as well.”

  “You know,” Bernadette said, “if you find out who that killer is—”

  “We might find another step forward with your father if we discover why that man was killed,” Charles finished. “All we know now is that he was a friend of your father’s from his childhood. Why would that be worth murdering over?”

  “Maybe he knew about Father’s transition from boy to villain.”

  “He may well have known who helped that transition,” Bernadette suggested. “If so, he might know who might have reason to have killed your father.”

  “Why wouldn’t he have said so before?” Severine demanded. “Father died years ago.”

  “Perhaps he didn’t have any proof,” Bernadette suggested firmly. “Your father’s death was momentous for you. For those in the city, it was a period of gossip and speculation. For most of the rest of the world, it was meaningless.”

  Severine rubbed her chest and then dug her fingers into Anubis’s fur. “We could ask that neighbor if the police have left. She clearly spent a fair amount of time looking out the window. I wouldn’t even be surprised if she saw who killed Mr. Sidney.”

  Charles examined his coffee cup, glanced towards their waiter, at Severine, and then put his cup back down. Severine shook her head. “You can have coffee.”

  “Too much coffee is bad for anyone,” Bernadette cut in. “Water, water with lemon, un
sweetened tea. Don’t think I didn’t realize you let me order iced tea, knowing what I would get.”

  Severine grinned at Bernadette, who shook her head. “She’s a child again to torment me.”

  Severine leaned over and kissed Bernadette’s cheek. “Would you like to go with me to visit the neighbor?”

  Bernadette shook her head. “I am of better use in other ways.”

  Charles gave Severine a worried look and then carefully asked, “What might those be?”

  Bernadette laughed and told him, “Don’t worry. I can handle myself.”

  Charles’s expression deepened into genuine alarm, and his eyes begged Severine to intervene. She had learned long ago, however, to let Bernadette do as she wanted. The only ones capable of holding Bernadette back were Mother Superior and Sister Mary Chastity.

  Severine shrugged. “Are you going to tell us what you intend to do?”

  “First, I will get some money from you. Then, I will get some things for Lisette’s poultices. I brought much with me, but she’ll need more than I have on hand. I shall then just see what there is to see and check in with the local priest.”

  Severine looked at Charles. “I should like to drive by Mr. Sidney’s home and see if the neighbor will talk to me. We also need to check in with Shaw and see what he has to say.”

  Charles frowned but he nodded. Severine’s list continued mentally. They needed to find a new law firm in case they ended up at the police station again, as well as look into the addresses of her father’s businesses. They needed to find out what was truth and what was lies. They needed to find out where the criminal activity lay and pull it apart.

  Maybe, Severine thought, that was where her real mission would be. Maybe then, Severine would find peace. She kept her thoughts to herself, however. “Shaw, the neighbor, what else?” she asked Charles.

  “Your father’s brothers might know this man. Perhaps it would be a good idea to ask them?”

  Severine didn’t want to. Her mouth twisted. They would pressure her, and they looked like her father, and her heart hurt when she saw them. There was this part of her that demanded that they love her, and yet, she knew they didn’t. Seeing that lack of love in a man who had the same eyes as her father was destroying.

  Severine huffed and glanced at Bernadette. “We’ll get to them in time, Severine,” she said. “If you want to find out what happened to your father, you’ll need to talk to them eventually.”

  Severine nodded. She had told Bernadette more than once about her uncles and aunts. Bernadette had wanted to know of the family who hadn’t fought for Severine and then hadn’t written to her. She remembered being a child and thinking that if something had happened to her, they would recognize that they should have cared more, but she had been gone, and they hadn’t cared.

  Luckily, she told herself briskly, her interior monologue sounding suspiciously like Bernadette, Severine had been loved by others and what was there to complain about in that?

  “It’s interesting to me,” Bernadette said idly, “that your brother was so thoroughly entrapped. Who knew you were going to be guardian of Severine, Mr. Brand?”

  Charles leaned back, surprise on his face. “It wasn’t a secret.”

  “Perhaps it should have been,” Bernadette said without blame. “Who knew the details of her father’s will?”

  “All of the family. Most of his partners. Anyone who might have the obvious motive.”

  “We can rule out those who have the obscure motives,” Bernadette replied. “Only those with the obvious motives would know or care about the details of Lukas DuNoir’s will would work in advance in that way. Someone is concerned that Severine will do what she’s going to do—which is to take apart anything criminal.”

  “How would they know what Severine would do?” Charles asked. “She was a child when she left.”

  “That part isn’t about Severine,” Bernadette said, her gaze landing on Severine with near sympathy. “It’s about Mary Chastity.”

  Severine’s gaze moved from the table to fixate on Bernadette.

  “I told you I had a letter for you for later when the time is right.”

  Severine’s almost ever-present headache stood up and took notice. She objected to the delay, but objections had never gotten her anywhere with Bernadette. “Why does Mary Chastity matter to anyone other than you, me, and Sister Sophie?”

  “Because she is your father’s sister.”

  Chapter 12

  Severine didn’t answer. She rose and walked away from the table. They were dining just across from City Park, and she darted across the street with Anubis at her heels. He barked joyfully at her run even though she was sure he knew she was upset. Either way, she rushed through the green at the side of the park and towards some of the big trees.

  Sister Mary Chastity had taken Severine under her wing when she’d arrived at the nunnery. The other nuns had come along one after another, with those like Sister Sophie naturally mothering the sniveling orphan that Severine had been. Bernadette, however—Severine shook her head and breathed in slowly, letting out her breath in long, low hoots.

  “Sev?” Charles asked gently as he approached. “Severine, are you all right?”

  She shook her head. A part of her was proud she wasn’t weeping into her handkerchief like an ingénue from an old novel and another part of her wanted to beat her fists into the trees over and over again.

  “Andre asked if I knew why I had been sent to that nunnery.” Her tone was flat and emotionless, which belied the tornado rampaging through her memories. Everything seemed different in the light of the new information. “I guess I was wrong.”

  “Or, you were right and there were other reasons as well,” Charles said gently.

  Severine closed her eyes and then picked up a stick and threw it as far as possible.

  “Bernadette said to tell you she’d make her own way home after she took all of my money.”

  Severine laughed weakly, throwing the stick for Anubis again. Hopefully, someone was playing with Kali and Persephone at home. Both of the girls were expecting pups if Severine was correct, and they needed to keep exercised.

  She needed to make sure that was happening. She needed to get a gift for Lisette to let her friend know she cared, and ask Charles about Mr. Thorne and Mr. Oliver, and start setting up that school for girls and…she was avoiding thinking about what she’d learned.

  “I don’t want to talk about it,” she announced. “Would you like to go with me to get bribes for that woman who lived next to Mr. Sidney?”

  He carefully looked her over, his gaze landing on her cheeks long enough to tell her she probably had two round circles of anger on her face. It landed again on her hands and only then did she realize her nails were digging into her palms. She left them be. It was either that or she let loose a fury that she didn’t want to deal with.

  “Bernadette also said for you to not indulge in melodrama.”

  Severine scoffed. “Any emotion is melodrama to her.”

  Charles let her keep quiet and his willingness to not prod at her and make her explain her feelings was enough to get him the medal for friend of the year. Of course, she realized all of the sudden, he had spent the last half-dozen years since her father’s death wrapped up in her business and her father’s business.

  “What were your plans before my father took over your life?”

  Charles laughed. His kind blue eyes met hers for a moment. “I wish I had some noble calling, but I didn’t. Without your father’s purpose, I probably would have just taken anything and been generally unhappy. Your father paid for my schooling, but—”

  “But?” Severine asked.

  “But it wasn’t like I knew what do with myself. Sometimes education is just a stalling tactic while we find our way. That’s what it was for me.”

  Severine took the arm he held out to her and he whistled for Anubis. She rolled her eyes at him and whistled again—longer, louder, and sharper. A moment later, A
nubis came thundering to a stop near her.

  “Well,” Charles laughed. “I’ll have to increase my capacity for whistling or lose my manhood I can see.”

  Severine shook her head. “Very little of what makes someone a good man or a bad man is associated with his capacity to whistle.”

  They returned to Severine’s home. Charles insisted on driving to Mr. Sidney’s neighbor’s house. Charles laughed when Severine loaded the back of his auto with things for the woman and her children. “Why all this?”

  “Somewhere behind that woman is a man who made all those children with her,” Severine said, “and we don’t know if he’s a good man who’s trying or another one of these drunk fellows who spurred the Noble Experiment, but the children need to eat. They were too thin.”

  Charles said nothing more and when they arrived at the house, they could see that the police had boarded up Nathaniel Sidney’s place. Severine made her way to the neighbor’s door and knocked lightly. A little girl opened the door. Her hair was in tight braids and she wouldn’t quite meet Severine’s eyes. A moment later, Severine caught an even smaller boy’s shoulder before he went darting out. “Mama’s not home.”

  Severine paused and then asked, “Is your papa home?”

  The girl shook her head.

  Severine bit down on her bottom lip looking at those big eyes with dark circles under them. “I brought some things for your mama. Do you think it would be all right if we left them?”

  The girl shrugged and left the door open, hauling her little brother back with her. Severine stepped into the small house and saw that every inch of it was scrubbed and clean. Some of the children were a little dirty, but Severine thought that had to do more with them playing outside than because they were neglected. She stepped back outside and waved Charles forward.

  While Charles unloaded the food, toys, and clothes, Severine sliced bread for the children and then paused in horror as they almost ate their own hands to gobble it down. The poor things were hungrier than Severine had ever imagined being.