Benedict’s cool, controlled energy was contagious. A moment ago she had been drowsy and more than ready to slip into sleep. But now she was wide awake and very curious.
She got up from the bed and tugged the blanket around her shoulders. She could feel the chill of the floorboards through her stockings but she ignored the sensation.
“Whoever set that trap for us today is skilled in the rather arcane art of explosive devices,” Benedict said. He sat down at the table and opened the small notebook. “Do you remember what Charlotte Warwick said about her son’s personal inclinations?”
“She described him as having an artistic temperament and said that he had seemed to find his métier in photography.”
“Precisely. She gave us no indication that he was ever interested in engineering or scientific matters. It is highly unlikely that he would know how to construct a complicated mechanism for an explosive device, let alone put it together at the scene of the murder without blowing himself up in the process.”
“But Mrs. Dunning’s throat was cut with a sharp blade. She died just like Dr. Norcott and those poor brides.”
“Everyone who has been following the news of the crimes in the press—that would be most of London—knows how the killer committed the murders. It would be no great trick to duplicate the technique.”
Amity shuddered. “Assuming one didn’t mind the blood.”
“Assuming that,” Benedict said. He returned to his notes.
Amity watched him.
“Do you think someone other than Virgil Warwick murdered Dr. Norcott as well?” she asked after a moment or two.
“No. I can’t be certain, but that murder has some twisted logic behind it.”
“Yes, I know. You said that it made sense that Warwick got rid of the one man who knew how dangerous he was. He was afraid that Norcott might go to the police.”
“Right. But the killer also took Norcott’s medical satchel. That feels like something Virgil would do. However, even if he did know about his half sister and the fact that Mrs. Dunning was blackmailing his mother, it is very difficult to believe that he learned how to wire that explosive device and set it to go off when someone stepped on the carpet. That requires training and experience.”
“But who else would want to murder Mrs. Dunning?” Amity asked.
Benedict put down the pencil and sat back in his chair. The flames were reflected in his eyes. “The same person who tried to murder me on St. Clare and then arranged to make you the target of a crazed killer. When those plans failed, that individual went to Hawthorne Hall and murdered Mrs. Dunning because she knew too much about the Warwicks’ personal history.”
Amity tightened her grip on the quilt. “You’re saying Virgil Warwick is involved with the plot to steal Foxcroft’s notebook? But he seems far too unstable to be a successful spy.”
“I agree,” Benedict said patiently. “And I don’t think that he is the spy. But I believe that he is somehow connected to the person who took the Foxcroft notebook.”
“The person who tried to murder you on St. Clare.”
“Yes. That person knew Virgil Warwick well enough to try to use him the way one would a weapon. She aimed him at you but things did not go as planned.”
“She?”
“I think we are looking for a woman, after all.”
“Dear heaven.” Amity tried to stitch the pieces together in her head. “If you’re right when you say that she deliberately set Warwick on me, that means she knows what kind of monster he is and how to play to his obsession. Who except Mrs. Dunning and Virgil’s mother would know that?”
“The sister who was raised in an orphanage,” Benedict said very softly.
Amity absorbed that logic. “Yes, of course, the sister.”
“We will take another look at the guest list from the Channing ball when we return to London,” Benedict said. “But there is only one woman on it who is the right age to have been fathered by Warwick and who also possesses a motive for sending a killer after you.”
Amity took deep breath. “Lady Penhurst?”
“I think so.”
“But why would she want me dead?”
Benedict looked at her. “You are the first woman in whom I have displayed any serious interest since I ended my association with Leona two years ago.”
