“It makes you human,” Roderick replied, echoing Eleanor’s words without knowing it.
James looked away quickly, as if the room itself might judge him for remembering.
He forced his tone colder. “We are not discussing her.”
Roderick’s brows lifted. “You just did.”
“I should not have,” James snapped.
Roderick watched him for a moment, then nodded. “Fine. We will discuss tactics.”
James exhaled sharply. “Yes.”
Roderick moved back to the desk and began stacking papers in a different order. “We have been chasing the wrong thread. We are looking at men in service positions and trying to find motive.”
James frowned. “And that is wrong.”
“It is incomplete,” Roderick replied. “Servants can be bribed. They can be coerced. But they are rarely the architects. We need to identify the employer behind the employer.”
James’s pulse quickened despite himself. “Meaning?”
“Meaning we stop asking who held the knife,” Roderick said, tapping a paper. “We ask who paid for it.”
James went still. “And you think you can find that.”
“Yes,” Roderick replied.
“By tomorrow?” James demanded, disbelief sharp in his voice.
Roderick met his gaze. “By tomorrow.”
James scoffed. “You are indulging me.”
“I am saving you,” Roderick corrected. “And yes, I am helping you do it as fast as possible. Before you do something irreparable.”
James’s jaw tightened. “Do not speak to me like I am unhinged.”
Roderick’s voice was calm. “Are you not?”
James had no answer that did not sound like a lie.
Roderick continued, firm now. “I will speak with Harrowby if I must. I will speak with his steward. I will speak with anyone who has a ledger and a mouth. Someone will break. They always do.”
“And if they do not?” James asked.
Roderick’s eyes sharpened. “Then I will make them uncomfortable enough to wish they had.”
James stared at him. “You make it sound simple.”
“It is not simple,” Roderick said. “It is methodical. Which you cannot be right now, because you are exhausted.”
James dragged a hand over his face. His skin felt too tight. His bones too heavy.
Roderick pointed toward the door. “Go to bed.”
James’s laugh was strained. “I will lie there staring at the ceiling.”
“Then lie there,” Roderick said. “At least you will not be riding into the night and frightening innkeepers.”
