Butterfly Palace

by Colleen Coble

  Lily turned away from the admiration on Belle’s face. “We are all the same inside. We have the same heartaches and joys, the same fears and ambitions. Money doesn’t change who we are.”

  “Such a novel concept, but I suppose you’re right. It’s something I need to learn more about. I’ve watched you and Mr. Hawkes, you know. You’re very fortunate. I’ve never been loved for myself alone. Stuart only wants me for my status and money.” She sighed and turned away.

  A figure approached from the street, and Lily recognized the wide shoulders. “Drew.” She rushed down the steps, and everything in her sighed when his arms came around her in a solid embrace. He pressed his lips to her hair.

  “Where have you been?” she whispered.

  “I’ll explain.” There was a strange weariness in his voice.

  Belle came to join them. “I want to hear everything.”

  Lily had her hand on his arm, and she could feel the tension in his muscles. “What’s wrong?”

  Drew looked weary, with drooping lids and circles under his eyes. “I’ve failed. I still have no idea what the plan is.”

  Belle put her hand to her mouth. “We have to tell Uncle Everett then. There’s no choice. I have to make him stay home on Tuesday night.”

  “He’ll pooh-pooh your concerns,” Drew said. “You can try, but I don’t believe there is any way of making him stay home.”

  Lily tightened her grip on his arm. “Then what can we do? Inform the authorities and have the police stake it out?”

  Belle nodded. “Could we have the police arrest Stuart? I’m his fiancée. If I turn him in, surely the police will listen.”

  Drew hesitated. “There seems to be an even bigger matter at stake. A possible assassination attempt on the governor or even Roosevelt. I still don’t know who all is involved. Even my boss doesn’t know yet. We can’t tip our hand until we know.”

  “So you’re willing to let my uncle be killed instead?” Belle pointed her finger at Drew. “Well, I’m not. If you won’t help, I’ll inform the police of all I know.”

  “Give me a few more days,” Drew pleaded. “I won’t let anything happen to your uncle. I have some sources to check.”

  “And if you are unable to find the assassin?”

  Drew held her gaze. “Then we’ll go to the police together.”

  Belle pressed her lips together. “Very well. You have until Tuesday morning. If this plot isn’t terminated, I’m telling Uncle Everett.”

  “Telling me what?”

  Lily whirled and saw Mr. Marshall in his robe standing on the steps of the porch. Close enough to have heard everything. She glanced at Belle to see if she would be able to cover what they’d said.

  Belle took a step toward her uncle. “About these two sneaking around behind my back.”

  Mr. Marshall came down the steps. “It hardly involves a plot. You’d better tell me all of it right now.”

  Lily glanced at Drew who was staring at Everett. Perhaps they’d been discovered for a reason.

  Drew pocketed his hands. “I’ve uncovered a plan to kill you after you’re elected.”

  Mr. Marshall frowned. “What’s the reasoning?”

  “The person involved plans to be appointed in your place,” Belle said.

  Mr. Marshall laughed. “That hardly sounds like a surefire way to get to be senator. What if the governor changes his mind? Or do you think the governor is in on it?”

  “No, we don’t believe the governor is involved.” Drew explained what they knew so far.

  “Who is this assassin?”

  “I’d rather not say, Everett. Give me a chance to find out the rest of the key players before I reveal his name.”

  Mr. Marshall stroked his chin. “More than one conspirator, then.”

  Belle stepped closer to him and put her hand on his arm. “And if we can’t stop them, you must stay home on Tuesday night.”

  “Then Drew must find them because I won’t hide in my house when my supporters deserve my appearance to thank them. What kind of man would I be if I huddled behind the curtains?” He patted her hand still on his arm. “Say nothing of this to your aunt. I don’t want to worry her. And put the entire problem out of your head. Drew and I will handle it.”

  He looked at his niece. “And I have talked to the police. They admit they have no real evidence against Jane. Their best investigator thinks Jane is too small to have delivered such a deep cut. Mrs. Karr was taller, and the angle would have been wrong. She’s being released tonight.”

  “Uncle Everett!” Belle threw her arms around him and kissed him on each cheek. “You are wonderful.”

  He harrumphed. “Well, I hardly want the brat squalling in the house all the time.” He shuffled back toward the door.

  Lily put her hand to her throat. “Let’s go get Jane!”

  Mr. Marshall turned back a moment. “It’s already done. Nathan is bringing her back here right now. She should be to the house in a few minutes.”

  Once Belle disappeared into the house behind her uncle, Lily turned to Drew and went into his arms. “I was so frightened. Was it terribly dangerous?” He smelled of soap and a manly scent that was all his own.

  A lone buggy rattled by in the street, and the chorus of cicadas ebbed, then roared back.

  He wrapped his arms around her in a comforting embrace. “It was a little tense for a few minutes, but it wasn’t dangerous. Neither of them had a gun.”

  “Neither of who had a gun? Who did you see?”

  He went quiet a moment. “How do you know when your trust is misplaced?”

  “It was someone you knew?” She’d sensed something was troubling him. “Someone you care about?”

  He nodded. “My boss, Ian Richardson. I’ve known him for all these years, but I’m not sure if he was telling me the truth tonight.” His sigh was from his heart, heavy with disappointment. “I don’t want to believe he’s lied to me, but even more than that, I don’t want to admit what the lie means.”

  “Lies about what?”

  “This concerns you, Lily. Let’s sit down.” He led her up to the porch, past the gaslight, to the darkness at the far end of the porch. He sat on the swing, then pulled her into his lap.

  She nestled in his arms and wished she never had to leave. His chest rose and fell under her cheek, and she wasn’t sure she was ready to hear what he was about to tell her. Was this about their fathers’ deaths? She wasn’t going to start the conversation until he did. Maybe she would be better off not knowing.

  His lips touched her hair, then traveled down the side of her face and across her cheek to settle gently on her lips. She offered him what comfort he could find in her kiss and wrapped her arms around his neck. The scent of his breath, the firm and confident way he held her, and the roughness of his chin anchored her in this moment. Her face and chest flamed with heat at the fire in his lips, but she didn’t break the kiss until he did.

  He exhaled. “You’ll be the death of me, Lily.”

  She loved the way he came to life at her touch. She loved the way every inch of her skin seemed overly sensitive when he touched her. When she was around him, she knew nothing but the wonder of the fact he loved her.

  She nestled against his heartbeat until he spoke. “I have to tell you.”

  “All right.”

  “Look at me, Lily.”

  She sat up and looked up into his face. “It’s that bad?”

  His eyes were anguished. “You were right about Ballard, if Ian is to be believed. According to Ian, Ballard’s not the evil man I’d thought he was all these years.”

  She tried to make sense of what he was saying. Drew hated Ballard. “Does that mean he didn’t kill our fathers?”

  Drew nodded. “He’s with the Secret Service too.”

  “Then who set the fire?”

  He sighed and ran his hand through his hair. “It’s all so murky. According to Ian, Ballard has been instrumental in bringing dozens of counterfeiters to justice over th
e years. His cover was nearly destroyed in Larson, which is why he had to move away so quickly.”

  She hoped Ballard might be a rescuer, a man of justice, like Drew. “I asked him about his wallet. He said it had been stolen several days before our fathers died. He suggested we check with the police, and we’d see he reported it.”

  “You went to see him again? Lily, you have to stop putting yourself in danger.”

  She nestled against him and ignored his exasperated tone. “But what about our fathers? Who killed them?”

  Drew held her close. “No one. It was what it always appeared to be—an accident. I was so blinded by my need for revenge that I took every clue and turned it into something more than it appeared.” He sighed and leaned his head back. “If I could allow my feelings to so completely blind me to the truth, what kind of agent does that make me?”

  She touched his cheek. “You had just cause for your beliefs.”

  He shook his head. “This shakes up everything I believed about the work I was doing. How can I go on with a mission this important when I could be led by the nose by my feelings? I thought I had a good smell for the truth, but I don’t.”

  What was he saying? “You’re good at what you do, Drew. Even Ian would tell you that.”

  He leaned back and exhaled. “I’m going to resign, Lily. I’m a failure as an agent. I’ll have to find another line of work.”

  Even while everything in her leaped for joy because this line of work was so dangerous, she couldn’t ignore the depth of his disappointment in himself. “What will you do?”

  “I don’t know yet. I’ll have to consider everything.”

  “I’ll go wherever you want, Drew.” She kissed him, trying to infuse him with her trust and confidence. “We’ll be all right.”

  Lily’s face hurt from smiling. She watched Jane hug Hannah to her chest. The little one reached up and patted her mama’s cheek. “She missed you.”

  Tears shimmered in Jane’s eyes. “I can’t believe I’m free. Thank you all so much.” She glanced at Drew and her brother, then back at Lily who sat in the other chair at the table with her.

  “Cook sent over some food. Are you hungry?” Lily lifted the lid on the pot of beef stew.

  “Not just yet. I want to hold Hannah.” Jane brushed her lips over the baby’s hair.

  They talked a few more moments until Jane’s head began nodding. “I’m so sorry. I haven’t slept at all since I was arrested. People are screaming and shouting all night long.”

  “You’d better get to bed.” Lily rose and opened the bedroom door for her. “Hannah is falling asleep too.”

  The men said good night, and Nathan left for his job while Drew lingered a moment. “I’ll walk you out,” Lily said.

  She stepped out into the night air with him and rubbed her upper arms. An engine roared from somewhere down the street. “It’s getting chilly at night now.”

  “Well, it is November.”

  His voice was quiet. She touched his arm. “Are you all right?”

  “I just don’t know, Lily. My life is turned upside down right now. I’ve been manipulated and lied to. The worst of it is, I realize my instincts aren’t what I thought they were.”

  “You knew Ballard was hiding a secret. That was a good instinct.”

  He shook his head. “Good try, but it’s little comfort.”

  She opened her mouth to try to reassure him, but she heard something from inside. A sliding noise, then a thump as though something had fallen. “I hope Hannah didn’t fall off the bed.” She yanked open the screen door. “Jane?” There was no answer, but the air had a still quality. No crickets chirped. She went toward the door with Drew on her heels. “I’d better go first to make sure she’s decent.”

  She rapped on the door. “Jane? Are you all right?”

  When her friend didn’t reply, she turned the doorknob. “It’s locked.” She pounded harder on the door. “Jane, open the door.”

  “Let me try.” Drew moved her to one side, then yanked and twisted on the knob. When it didn’t move, he took a step back. “Hang on, I’m going to bust it in.” His powerful kick splintered the wood around the door frame. The second one released the lock, and he shoved open the door.

  The first thing Lily noticed was the cloying coppery stench in the air. Then she saw Jane on the floor with blood pouring from her throat. As soon as she fell to her knees beside her friend and touched her arm, Lily knew she was dead.

  THIRTY-FOUR

  Drew’s eyes were gritty as he wrapped his hands around the hot coffee cup at the table in the dining room. The police had been here all night, but they finally left, carting poor Jane’s body with them. The sweet scent of pancakes made his stomach rumble, but he didn’t think he could eat. Not after seeing what that butcher had done to Jane.

  Lily’s eyes were red and swollen from crying. She hadn’t let go of little Hannah since they’d found Jane. Luckily, the baby was fine. She’d slept through the whole attack.

  “How did he get in?” Christopher asked. He was pale from lack of sleep, and his red hair stood up on top of his head.

  Drew’s gaze met Lily’s. The bed had been moved. Could the killer have come through this house, even be a member of the household? They’d told the police all they knew, but he didn’t want to worry the maids or Mrs. Marshall, who had spent all night calming her servants. They were all threatening to quit.

  Christopher, Lily, and Drew were the only ones in the dining room, so he decided to speak freely. “Were you aware there is a secret passage running through the property?”

  Christopher’s brows rose. “You mean like in that house in Chicago, Holmes’s place?”

  The serial killer in Chicago had been caught ten years ago after murdering as many as two hundred people. He’d conducted his butchery via hidden passageways.

  Drew shrugged. “Something like that.”

  Christopher poured maple syrup over his stack of pancakes. “Mother has never mentioned it. Did you tell the police?”

  “I told the police. They are going to check it out.”

  “How interesting. Could you show me how you get in? I’d like to explore such a strange thing.”

  “We should probably stay out of there until the police make sure there’s no killer lurking about.”

  Lily paced in front of the window. “Can we not talk about it right now? I can’t bear it. And what about Hannah? She’s motherless. Nathan can’t care for her on his own.”

  Drew wanted to assure her they could marry and help with the baby, but if he quit his job like he was contemplating, he had no idea how he’d support her.

  His future yawned as black as that secret passage.

  The past few days had been a blur as Jane was buried. The papers luridly speculated about how a killer might have murdered a killer, but Drew knew the truth—the killer had come to finish the job. Jane was the only one who could identify him.

  Drew and Nathan rode in Drew’s automobile in the middle of the morning. “Thanks for coming with me, Mr. Hawkes. I can’t stand the way everyone is talking about Jane. I want to clear her name.”

  “We’ll find what happened to the butterfly. That will lead us to the next clue. We’ll get to the bottom of what happened.”

  Drew followed Nathan’s directions to the place of business, but the area of town was a surprise. The houses along the street were small but neat, and there was no trash along the ditches. Children played in the yards, and the few shops appeared reputable.

  Drew stopped the automobile where Nathan indicated, and the two men approached the bungalow. Two small boys in knickers played hoops in the side yard, and a young woman, the hem of her skirt muddy, knelt over a tomato patch. Drew glanced at Nathan with a brow lifted, and Nathan shrugged, then rapped on the door.

  “Door’s open,” a male voice called through the screen door.

  Nathan pushed open the door, and Drew followed him into a small hall that opened into a parlor. A man about thirty years
old knelt among cases of insect and flower specimens. There was a peculiar odor in the air.

  When he saw them, he stood and dusted his hands on his pants, then smiled. “I’m Fred. What can I do for you?”

  Drew shook his hand and introduced himself and Nathan. “We’re looking for a butterfly specimen for a client.”

  Fred waved his hand expansively. “Butterflies are my specialty. Look around and see what you think. I have a new shipment that just came in from Africa.” He grabbed a box from atop a cabinet in the corner. “Just look at these glorious creatures, especially this Euphaedra janetta. It’s a real beauty.”

  For a second, Drew thought it was the one he sought, then he saw the yellow mixed in with the blue on the wings. He admired it, then turned to look at another case. “How’d you get into this business? I wouldn’t think there would be all that much interest in insects. Not in Austin.”

  “Don’t you read the papers? The craze for butterflies is everywhere. I know men who have hired African explorers to bring back specimens.”

  “We need a particular butterfly. A Blue Morpho.”

  The man’s smile faded. “Why that specific one? It’s very rare. Found only in South America. I’m not sure I can get you one.”

  “I’m willing to pay double the going rate.” Drew pulled out his wallet.

  One of the boys banged into the house shouting for his father. Fred went to talk quietly with him a moment, then returned with a more confident air. “I’ll see what I can do. It might take a few days. I do have a lead on one.”

  “A lead?”

  Fred nodded. “It’s well known I deal in insects. A woman offered to sell me one a few days ago, but the amount of money she wanted seemed outrageous so I turned her down.”

  “I don’t care what it costs. I want one.”

  “Fine. I’ll get in touch with her.”

  A woman. Drew turned the knowledge over in his mind. Could it be someone who worked for Karr? He was nearly as obsessed with butterflies as Everett. “Do you have her name?”

  The man laughed. “Do you take me for a fool? If I give you her name, you’ll contact her yourself and cut me out.”