“Midnight,” he said softly. “They are giving you time to panic, yet not enough time to seek help.”
Elise swallowed. “They mean to burn it.”
“It appears so.”
She looked toward the staircase, toward the upper floors where the girls’ rooms lay empty and in darkness. “If the house burns?—”
“It will not,” he said with a certainty that startled her.
“You cannot promise that.”
“No,” he admitted, “but I can make it less likely.”
Elise clenched her hands into fists at her sides. “They want the key—and they think I will give it to them.”
He looked at her then, and the intensity of it made her breath catch. “Will you?”
Elise forced herself to speak steadily. “Of course not.”
“Good,” he said, and there was something fierce beneath the word—a satisfaction that was not merely strategic.
Elise’s mind raced. “If they cannot get it from me willingly, they will take it.”
She drew a long breath. “Where is the ledger?” she asked, though she knew the question was dangerous. “Does Holt have it? Is that what they have, in truth—a ledger in Charles’ code?”
Mr. Leigh scowled. “If Holt has it, he will not leave it unattended. Men like him keep their fortunes close.”
“You believe he has it on his person?” Elise murmured.
“I would wager upon it,” Mr. Leigh said.
“What should we do?” she demanded, because doing nothing would kill her faster than fear.
Mr. Leigh’s expression shifted. He seemed to be measuring what he could safely say, what he dared not say, and what was necessary.
“We cannot wait quietly behind locked doors,” he said at last. “If Holt believes you have the key, he will keep pressing until he has it—or until you are gone.”
Elise’s resolve firmed. “Then we give him a reason to come where we can see him.”
Mr. Leigh’s gaze darkened. “Yes.”
Elise heard her own voice, unwavering and, to her surprise, almost detached. “We set a trap.”
His eyes held hers. “Yes.” A silence followed. Then he said, very carefully, “Using the cipher.”
Elise felt her heartbeat stutter. “How?”
He paced once across the hall, a restrained movement that betrayed the mind at work. “If they can read part of it, they are reconstructing. That means someone within their circle has enough knowledge to attempt it—but not enough to trust what they have without confirmation.”
“They want the key to confirm what they have,” Elise whispered.
“They want the key to complete it—” he replied, “—to ensure they know everything.”
Elise’s mind jumped, connecting threads hither and yon. “We could send a message in the cipher. Something that draws them.”
“I am not sure if using it is wise. Then you are even more valuable to them.”
She paced about the room. “We could tell them I have no knowledge of any key. They have already searched and found nothing.”
