Determined to stay on task, Anthony veered the conversation back to the jewels. “Ever heard of the King’s Prize before this?”
Timmons stepped around the animal to brush its other side. “Never. You?”
Anthony shook his head. “No. Have the other men said anything to you about it?”
“Not much more’n Walstead told ye.”
The cool indifference in Timmons’s tone was concerning. “What do you think of Ames and Broadstreet?”
“Worked t’ Swendel Bay transport job with Broadstreet. Why?”
“Curious. Is he a good sort?”
Timmons shrugged. “As good as any of the rest of us, I suppose. Keeps to ’imself. Nerves of steel.”
“And Ames?”
“Never met ’im. Must be on Walstead’s bad side if ’e stuck ’im out ’ere with us.”
After leaving Timmons, the tense conversation stayed with Anthony. Nothing about it sat well with him, but even so, he was fairly certain Timmons did not know the whereabouts of the King’s Prize. But at the moment, he had another pressing matter to consider: two other watchmen were on the property—neither of whom Anthony knew.
That needed to change.
Anthony found Ames as he was patrolling the back garden and jogged to catch up with him in the day’s fading light. After Anthony called his name, the shorter, stockier man turned.
“Haven’t had a chance to introduce myself,” Anthony said as he approached the other watchman. “Walstead said this is your first assignment for him.”
“That’s right,” Ames responded, his voice low and raspy. “Never expected to be stuck out in the country, though.”
“This is an unusual assignment. I’ll give you that.” Anthony fell into step with him as he walked toward the back garden.“How’d you go about getting on with Walstead? Last I heard he wasn’t taking on new men.”
“I was a thief-taker in London, with Thomas Smith. He recommended me to Walstead.”
Anthony knew the name. “Why’d you leave London for Leeds?”
“I was part of an undercover assignment, and my identity was revealed. Doesn’t scare me none, but it put the men I work with in danger. So I left London, and Walstead took me on. How about you? How long you been with Walstead?”
“Almost three years.” Anthony shifted his efforts to finding out what Ames knew about this case. “Walstead said that the hunt is on for these emeralds.”
Ames snorted. “Awful lot of fuss for some jewels that may or may not even be in the country. But the mill workers feel they’re owed something, and you know what lengths folks’ll go to when they feel like their backs are against the wall.”
“Are there any leads to their location?”
Ames shook his head. “Some say Roland Prior hid them in Wolden House. Some say they’ve already been sold. Some say he gave them to his wife; others say he gave them to his mistress. There’s no telling with a man like Roland Prior. But Mr.Walstead and Mr.Prior have a team of men searching for them ’round the clock.”
Suspicion that Ames knew more than he was letting on flared. After all, Charlotte said she thought someone had been in her chamber. He tried to gauge the man’s intent. “And you? Do you suspect Mrs.Prior has them here?”
Ames shrugged a bulky shoulder. “Suppose anything’s possible.”
Anthony did not want to say anything else on the matter, not until he’d had a chance to talk with Broadstreet and gauge what he knew about the situation. Regardless of what he would learn, however, Anthony was on alert. Never had he been on a case when he did not trust the watchmen he worked with, and that lack of trust was dangerous—for everyone involved.
Chapter34
The sound of the wind gusting against her east window and the wooden rafters creaking overhead pulled Charlotte from her erratic sleep the next morning. A gentle roll of autumn thunder echoed in the distance, and a steady rain pattered the panes.
As soon as her senses were fully about her, she reached under her pillow and then, after confirming the King’s Prize was still there, she let her head fall back against the pillow in relief.
She had known all along that it would be difficult to make a new life here in Hollythorne House, but the tides had turned in unexpected ways. Her thoughts drifted to Anthony, as they had so frequently as of late. In an environment where it seemed no one could be trusted, his sincerity and familiarity shone as a beacon.
