Catherine focused on her husband. “You will call Stone right this minute and tell him to rehire those two policemen.”
“I will not! That would make me look uncertain in my convictions. Xavier is purposely provoking you. Those men are fine.”
“We will discuss this at home,” she stated and refocused on Xavier. “How do you wish to proceed from here?”
“Referring to your butler, the spy and attempted murderer?”
His provocative question didn’t faze her in the least. “Yes,” she replied calmly.
“If we bring in Stone, Conrad will learn Johnson has been arrested. He will tell his contact, who will tell Thurman. Then if Thurman has any sense, he will hire someone to silence both middlemen forever and all connection to him will be lost.”
“And if we do not bring in Stone? If I say Johnson has gone to visit family and hire a temporary butler to manage our house, what can that achieve?”
“We can follow Conrad, see whom he reports to…” Xavier smiled as the answer formed in his head. He already knew to whom Conrad reported. And according to Vic’s reports, the man has a parlor fit for a king…or a minister of the Parliament.
“Something just came to you,” Catherine insisted.
“Yes, I may know the middleman. We have been watching him for several days on a different case. However, Thurman has not been there.” He thought of another option. “You feel bad about those two men whose lives you ruined?”
“Yes,” she replied with unflinching eyes while Julius yelled at him ‘to forget the bloody policemen’.
“Then hire them as very well paid footmen and I’ll return Johnson to you so you don’t need to get another butler.”
“What the bloody hell will that achieve?” Julius demanded.
“It puts Johnson safely back into play with two policemen watching over him. I doubt Thurman ever visits the middleman without cause. Thus, you will provide Johnson with false information. He will share that with Conrad, Conrad will share it with the middleman, who will contact Thurman. Then, and only then, will we have proof of the link between your butler and Thurman.”
Xavier refocused on Catherine. “You will go to Stone this morning and apologize for meddling in police affairs and ask for the current addresses of the policemen fired so you may apologize to them, as well. Then you will go to the addresses, which will almost certainly be in a part of town you will not feel safe in, so I’ll loan you Tubs if you like.”
“You’ll do no such thing!” Julius exclaimed.
She covered her husband’s hand as she spoke to Xavier. “I would appreciate that.”
“You will tell them the truth. Your husband, who loves you dearly, took your complaint further than you intended. You want to reinstate them, but in order to do that, you need to give your husband a reason to change his mind. They will receive a handsome wage, more than they were paid at Scotland Yard to pretend to be footmen and watch over your nefarious butler while he completes his role as a spy.”
“How do you know Johnson will agree to do this?” Julius asked.
“He will,” Catherine replied. “For some odd reason he believes his excellent service is sufficient justification for us to forgive him of his sins.” Her eyebrows arched at Xavier. “And when this is over and I fire my butler, I don’t want any sob stories coming from your direction, young man.”
Xavier smiled. “Since he should be hung twice over, I think you are being most generous.”
“And when this is done, what the bloody hell are we supposed to do with those footmen?” Julius demanded.
“Reinstate them!” Xavier and Catherine replied at once.
Xavier added, “While you may not be able to bring charges against Thurman, depending upon the evidence we gather, I assure you there will be enough whispers about that you can make the firing of the policeman a piece of a very complicated trap set to ferret Thurman out.”
For the first time today, Julius smiled. “I like that. I could say I’ve known for a while Thurman had planted a spy in my house, so working with Scotland Yard, I demanded two of their best be fired so I could later ‘hire’ them as footmen. Excellent, this makes me seem almost Machiavellian.”
It was at that moment that Xavier realized Meridan’s wisdom, so often seen in his bills and opinions, wore a dress.
Catherine rose. “When can I expect Tubs? I wish to rescue those policemen as soon as possible.”
“I will send Tubs to you once we’ve finished with three years of confession.”
Julius pushed himself up. “Damn it all, I do not wish you to know my positions for the last three years!”
Before Xavier could respond, Catherine spoke. “Julius, please! Xavier has done us a great service this morning. We owe him our gratitude.”
The man opened his mouth to argue, but shut it upon looking at his wife’s angry visage. “Yes, of course.” He turned to Xavier. “I do appreciate your help, but this is all so unsettling.”
“I always find it unsettling when people try to murder me. Seventeenth time, if I haven’t forgotten any. Good thing I proved to have more than nine lives, eh?”
His comment caused Lady Meridan’s brow to furrow. “But you are fine now, are you not?”
“If you see Dr. Connors, be sure to mention I was in my bed, resting when you came to call.”
Her eyes grew more worried.
“Now off with you both, or I’ll have to bill you for my time. It is not my standard procedure to solve crimes for free you know. My employees need to be paid.”
“Send me a bill and I will pay it,” Catherine assured him.
“He kidnapped our butler!” Julian reminded her.
“Be sure to include Tub’s time, as well,” she added and led her husband from his office.
Xavier smiled at her departure. The old woman was growing on him.
Chapter 14
Tubs knocked on the door then entered Xavier’s office. “Lady Meridan is waiting outside to visit the policemen she fired. You want anything before I leave?”
Xavier roused sufficiently to answer his employee. “No, I’m fine.”
“You want to go upstairs so you can sleep better?”
“No. It appears I’m the last man standing…more like sitting. If I go upstairs, no one will be here to take appointments.”
“Davy’s here, if you need him,” Tubs added. “You sure you’ll be all right? You don’t look too good.”
“Just tired,” he muttered.
***
The next moment, Xavier felt a smooth hand upon his cheek. “Davy, I said I’m fine.”
“You certainly aren’t if you can’t tell the difference between me and Davy.”
The female voice was clearly not his driver. But try as he might, he couldn’t get his eyes to open. “You’ll need to make an appointment. I don’t talk to clients without one.”
“Davy, he seems delirious. Do you know the name of his doctor?”
“I’ll go get him now,” Davy said.
“No.” Xavier attempted to raise his hand but only his forefinger managed a twitch. “Leave Connors alone. I’m just sleepy.” He eased back into the haziness of nothing.
***
A sharp slap across his cheek jarred Xavier’s eyes open. He stared in confusion at the young woman before him. She’d hit him and he didn’t even know her.
“Davy made you coffee. Try to drink some,” she said, raising a steaming cup to his lips.
Not again! He slapped the cup away from his mouth and sent it crashing to the floor. Still so very tired, he closed his eyes.
“It was only coffee,” the woman said, her voice thick with distress. “I thought it might help wake you up.”
“Kill me more like it. If it doesn’t work the first time, try, try again.”
“What are you talking about? Oh thank, God. Are you his doctor? I arrived an hour ago and found Xavier in a state of delirium.
Someone pried a lid opened and tried to burn his eye out wit
h a mirror redirecting the sun’s rays. Xavier managed to get in one solid blow before he was confined. “You can’t kill me. Seventeen have failed before you. You’re wasting your bloody time.”
“What’s wrong with him?” the female voice asked.
“I’m not sure. He has a slight fever, but nothing to account for delirium. I may have misdiagnosed the poison he took. Where’s Tubs? I need to take Xavier back to my office.”
“Connors?” Xavier forced himself awake.
“Yes, it’s me. Can you tell me how long you’ve been feeling attacked?”
“Since some strange woman tried to force coffee down my throat.”
“That was me,” a woman spoke.
“And who are you precisely?” Connors demanded.
Xavier opened his eyes, for he wanted to know the same.
“I’m Alice Bienora, Jacko’s wife.”
The young woman’s swollen belly showed beneath her garment. “You’re still pregnant? Shouldn’t your baby have been born almost a year ago?” Xavier asked.
A smile appeared on her worried face. “This is our second child.”
He slapped away Connors listening to his heart with a stethoscope. “Stop fussing. I’m merely tired. I haven’t slept since…I don’t even know since when…Yes, I do. Since the night before I was poisoned.” He stared at Connors. “How long ago was that?”
“Two days ago. Which part of my recommendation to rest and drink lots of fluids did you miss?”
“Sorry, all my employees are on missions. I had no choice but to man the fort.”
“The front door was unlocked, his office door was open and I found him unconscious in his chair,” she told the doctor.
A sudden gasp from Alice made Xavier follow the direction of her stare.
Connors turned as well then relaxed. “Tubs, can you carry Xavier up to his bed?”
“Sure.”
“Stay where you are,” Xavier snapped. He was not about to be carried like a baby, certainly not with a damn audience in attendance. “Connors, return to your office and tend sick people.” He then glared at Alice. “And if you are here to demand the return of Jacko, the answer is no. I am clearly not capable of carrying my full weight just now. Therefore, I require your husband’s assistance, end of discussion.”
Instead of going away as he hoped, she turned to Connors. “I will see to his care. Are there any signs of complications I should watch for?”
“No!” Xavier snapped. Damn it all, neither she nor Connors listened to a word he said. Instead, Connors gave her instructions to his care and listed symptoms that would require the good doctor’s immediate notification.
The symptoms were those produced by other types of poisons. “For the love of God, Connors, you diagnosed me correctly the first time. It is not strychnine or wolfsbane. Tubs, tell them!”
“The butler confessed to putting a half cup of arsenic in the cup of coffee.”
“How are you even still alive?” Alice asked.
Tubs started to reply, but Xavier waved him off, as he hated others to answer for him. “Tubs, see Connors out. I’ll deal with the lady.”
Once the two men were gone, Alice closed the door and sat on the edge of one of the guest chairs. “I know you require a twenty-four hour wait before granting an appointment. However, I have a matter requiring immediate assistance before Jacko is aware I’m in town.”
Xavier sighed in relief. She wasn’t here to demand Jacko’s return to the country. “I am quite firm on my rule, but given you helped rid me of Connors and moreover, you look ready to give birth any moment, I will forego the twenty-four hour rule. How may I be of assistance?” With any luck, he could finish with Alice and send her off within the hour. Then Jacko need never know she’d been here.
The young woman pulled a letter from her purse and passed it to him. “I received this in the post this morning.”
He opened it, but his eyes would not focus.
“Would you like me to read it?” she asked.
Leaning his head back, he closed his eyes. “Yes, read it slowly with clear articulation, if you please.”
Her voice was so soothing, he’d almost dosed off at the point the writer claimed to have seen Jacko passionately kissing a young woman yesterday evening. That bit of news jarred him wide-awake. Jacko had been watching Vic yesterday evening.
“Who wrote this?” he demanded.
“The writer claims to be Margaret Thurman. However, I assure you, Lady Thurman would never write me, nor would she declare herself my friend. But just to make certain, I came to town today and called upon her. The butler said she has been in Europe for several weeks.”
“Thurman?” Xavier held his hand out for the letter and once received, slammed it on the desk and forced his eyes to focus.
“Were you friends with this woman before you married Jacko?”
“Margaret Thurman has never spoken to me in my life. However, I do know of her, and she would be the last person to write such a ridiculous letter.” She then scooted the chair closer to Xavier’s desk. “I know this sounds preposterous, but when the butler said she was in Europe, all I could think of was how that was the same excuse my step-father used when he had my mother committed to Bedlam. So I was hoping to ask Vic if he would stop by the asylum and ensure Mrs. Thurman wasn’t there, only I realized Vic is probably banned for life from stepping foot in the place.”
Xavier smiled at her last comment. His pup’s riot resulted in injuries to many of the fine gentlemen who were there for sport and pleasure of the less fortunate. “I will see to this at once.”
“But you are near death,” she protested. “If the butler truly put a half cup of arsenic in your coffee, even a single sip should have killed you.”
“I spit out my first and only sip. Licking clean a chimney would have been tastier.”
Alice chuckled. “Thank God the butler purchased a product cut with soot. Indigo coloring in coffee might not have warned you, depending on the base used.”
He ignored her senseless chattering and focused on the important point of the letter. Someone, other than Mrs. Thurman had written this, someone who claimed Jacko was kissing a young woman while he was supposed to be watching over Vic.
God, if only he had a few hours of sleep, he was certain there were strings lying about that could be properly tied. “As I said, I’ll look into the matter. I will need to keep this letter.”
“Yes, of course,” she stated and stood up. “Thank you for seeing me right away. You should get some rest. Truly, you look half-dead. I will see myself out.”
He watched her depart without requiring any further encouragement or prompting on his part. Amazing! Jacko chose well.
“Tubs!”
His giant employee appeared at the door. “Lock the front door then assist me upstairs. I need to sleep now.”
***
Xavier fell into oblivion the moment his head hit the pillow. Then all those loose strings wiggling about in his unconscious brain tied themselves into a nasty little bow.
The sudden image of Jacko kissing Jane Eyre caused him to bolt upright, his heart pounding against his chest. “Tubs!”
The giant arrived within seconds. “Something wrong? Want me to fetch the doctor?”
“No. I want you to retrieve Vic. We’ve got all we require from her end. I need her back here. And tell Jacko to go home…no wait, I may need him.”
“And Ben?”
“Yes, bring them all home. Take Davy and the carriage. Just don’t let anyone see you.”
“Can I wait ‘til dark, then?”
“Of course…What time is it?”
“Ten past two.”
“I only slept for an hour?”
Tubs grimaced and nodded.
“I’m going back to sleep. Wake me before you leave.”
***
Tubs hurried back to the kitchen and shared the news with Davy.
“Thank God!” Davy muttered.
Tubs nodded in
agreement. “I have to do this without being seen, so I’m thinking maybe we can locate Jacko and tell him to round up Vic and Ben. We’ll park on Hanson Street, which ain’t got no lights, and wait for them there.”
“Why can’t we get them now?”
“Mission ain’t over.” Tubs leaned in and whispered, “I’m worried Mr. Thorn is sicker than he lets on.”
That alarming possibility sent Davy out the back door, harnessing MaryBell to the carriage and flying to the Lower Docks.
***
Jacko noticed Xavier’s carriage, driven by Davy, the moment it rounded the corner. Either Xavier had arrived with Stone to arrest the owner of the apothecary, or Davy was worried about Vic and had decided to check up on her himself. In either case, Jacko intended to ignore the carriage and its occupants.
Davy clearly had other plans. He pulled directly in front of Jacko and whispered, “Somebody poisoned you know who.”
Jacko stared at his feet, so hopefully no one would realize he was conversing with Davy. “Who’s you know who?”
“My boss,” Davy hissed in exasperation.
No longer caring who saw him, Jacko leapt into the carriage. “Drive!”
Davy did, but not nearly at the speed Jacko expected. When the man stopped five blocks down, Jacko leapt from the carriage and onto the driver’s seat. He tried to take the reins, but for an old guy, Davy put up ample resistance.
“For God’s sake, Davy, give me the reins. You drive as slow as molasses. And why did you come to me? You need Connors.”
Davy held tight to the reins. “Shut up and listen. I took him straight to Connors. But you need to wrap things up here.”
“We’re trying!” he hissed.
“He’s ordered Tubs to come get you tonight, but if something were to happen to Vic in the meantime, I’d never forgive myself. So I’m here to pick up Vic…and Ben if you know where he is.”
Jacko stopped fighting for the reins. “Has your boss solved the case?”
Well Kept Secrets (The Adventures of Xavier & Vic Book 4) Page 14
