He raised his eyebrows, his mouth twisting with a mocking half-smile. “Afraid you won’t be able to keep your hands off me?”
She took a deep breath, her chest expanding deliciously as she opened her mouth to, no doubt, offer a scathing retort.
“Let us discuss the case.” Dalton’s no-nonsense voice rang out with authority, heading off another ‘squabble,’ as he had called it. “A clerk named Phipps was found dead in his home three days ago. The coroner called it a fall, but I’ve seen cleaner assassinations. Also, the next day his wife disappeared.”
Alice raised her eyebrows. “You suspect her of killing her husband and escaping?”
“No. More like I fear she might have been killed as well. Or kidnapped. At best, we can hope she’s in hiding. But either way, she’s a key piece, and we need to find her.”
Alice nodded, frowning.
Dalton opened the leather folio resting on his desk and withdrew a letter. “This was discovered in a secret compartment of Phipps’ desk.”
Alice took it. “A love letter?”
Nathaniel came to stand behind her in order to read the letter over her shoulder. The delicate fragrance of her bath soapdrifted up from her warm skin to tease his nostrils, filling him with nostalgia. He frowned, and focused his attention on the letter. Which was no ordinary letter at all.
“At first glance, it appears to be a love letter. But it’s too deliberate,” Nathaniel murmured. “Look here—every line starts with a capital letter, even when it shouldn’t. And some words seem oddly chosen. ‘Yearn,’ ‘bloom,’ ‘veil’… They don’t fit the text.”
She nodded. “I see it, yes. It feels off.”
“Exactly. Let me analyze it for a moment, if you please?”
She handed him the letter, and he stared at it. Certain words jumped out at him, seeming out of place. This was definitely a ciphered letter. Not especially complex, but then again, the user was probably guarding against casual readers, not a code-breaking expert such as he.
“Dalton, I need paper and a pencil.”
The duke produced the materials immediately, and Nathaniel scribbled quickly, pulling words from the letter. It was a matter of five minutes to decode the message.
“The letter uses a steganography cipher. So I tested several frequency checks and extracted every fifth word.” He looked at the duke, who was observing him with something akin to triumph in his gaze. He didn’t have time to interpret that look now.
“Here it is.”
Deliver Red Ledger to Vulture. Spring Ball, Imperial Grounds.
Alice’s breath caught.
“Imperial grounds… Does that refer to the Russian embassy?”
Dalton nodded. “Most likely. The Spring Ball is this Friday. That seems to indicate that an exchange of information was to take place there during this ball.”
“So we start there,” Nathaniel offered.
Dalton nodded. “Our aim will be to learn who the Vulture is and what type of information was going to be delivered. I am invited to the ball and can procure an invitation for you, Greystone. Alice will go disguised as a server. I know the agency that supplies the extra staff needed for these events. It will be a simple matter to place Alice on their roster.”
“Why can’t Alice go with me as my wife?” Nathaniel demanded.
“She will be less conspicuous this way. Everyone knows that Viscount and Viscountess Greystone are estranged. For you to appear together may invite too much speculation. Besides, very few people in society know what Lady Greystone looks like. Let’s keep it that way for now. Her identity is an ace up our sleeve.”
“I agree,” Alice added. “Besides, the serving staff attracts no notice. We can go virtually everywhere without raising an eyebrow, and people often talk in front of servants as if they were no more than pieces of furniture.”
“Fine, then. We will go separately and will keep our connection secret for now. But we still need a way to communicate and exchange information.”
“Oh, that won’t be a problem. I’ll let you or Dalton know if I have any information to pass along.”
“No, don’t contact me during the ball. If absolutely necessary, talk to Nathaniel. Don’t approach me. That may cause suspicion and blow your cover. We will confer the next morning in my office and compare our findings.”
“You are right, of course,” Alice said.
