The watchman nearest Sadie spoke up. “She’s a mad Scot. Savages, every one. Who knows what they teach their women?”
Mairi huffed out a disgusted breath. “We’re not taught to kill men for grabbing a tickle. We’re taught to kick ’em in the bollocks.”
“Or hit him with a branch,” added Iseabail.
Lord Heath waved away their comments as if they were of no account. And maybe in his world, women had nothing of value to add. Sadie truly wanted to be insulted by that, but he was here defending her, so she held her tongue.
“The point is, she hasn’t a motive for killing the man.”
“He made lewd advances!”
Truth.
Lord Heath rolled his eyes. “As does every randy boy with a title. You know that as well as I. If she killed every man who tried to tup her, you’d have every lord in London demanding her capture.”
“I do have one,” said the constable. “Mr. Barrett was very clear.”
“Ah yes, about Mr. Barrett.” Lord Heath held up the dirk. “This is the Prince Regent’s. Do you know Mr. Barrett brought a nicely wrought dirk to Carlton House just three nights ago? To compare his with Prinny’s.”
Connall’s brows rose as if surprised. “You’re saying Mr. Barrett had a knife just like the murder weapon?”
“I am. And there’s more. Do you wonder if perhaps Mr. Barrett had a reason to kill his dear friend and neighbor?”
Connall frowned. “If they were dear friends, then what motive could he have for such a vicious attack?”
Lord Heath grinned. “Well, that requires a knowledge of Mr. Carr’s estate. You see, upon his death, his title passes to hiscousin, but that’s just the title. His father is a baron, you know, and very proud of the fact. The land, however, is owed to Mr. Barrett’s father. It was placed as security for a loan.”
Sadie’s mouth gaped open. “So on Mr. Carr’s death, Mr. Barrett gets all his land?”
“Yes. There’s been bad blood between the two families for generations. Neighbors aren’t always good friends and the Barrett family is a tricky bunch. With Mr. Carr, Mr. Barrett might have pretended to be his friend, and even loaned him money with generous terms.”
Sadie folded her arms. “How generous?”
“Payable upon the son’s death, the son being the heir and all. Normal interest and the like. It sounds like a neighborly thing to do, right?”
Connall grunted. “Unless you’re planning on killing the son.”
Lord Heath shrugged. “Well, Mr. Carr was shagging every girl he could get his hands on. It’s reasonable to bet that he’d get a disease sooner or later.”
Iseabail pressed her hand to her mouth in horror. “But they appeared to be friends,” she said. “He spoke kindly about Mr. Carr.”
“Yes,” Lord Heath said gravely. “There’s a dark twist in Mr. Barrett. Spend enough time with him and you’ll see it too. He revered Mr. Carr as much as he hated him. There’s a history between those two that started back in Eton. Ugly mess, more than once.”
The constable appeared to be considering the possibility. “A child’s spat is not the same as a man committing murder.”
“It’s not,” Lord Heath agreed. “But it makes much more sense than a slip of a girl stabbing a stranger thirteen times just because he’d tried for a kiss.” He looked at Sadie. “Did you say you were going to tell anyone about the attack? Perhaps involveMr. Barrett in it, as well, such that his status in society was threatened?”
Sadie nodded. “I’d already aligned the women against both Mr. Carr and Mr. Barrett. Everyone knows they cover for one another, so that means they’re equally to blame for their crimes. The countess agreed. No one was going to invite them to any parties ever again.”
Lord Heath nodded. “That would definitely infuriate Mr. Barrett. Going to parties was the only thing he had in his life, and that was because he was attached, socially speaking, to Mr. Carr. If Mr. Carr did something stupid—say, accost the wrong woman—and that threatened Mr. Barrett’s standing with theton?” The man shrugged. “Well, that would make Mr. Barrett very angry. Probably furious enough to kill.”
Sadie shuddered. She had no idea what dark things had been between the men. Meanwhile, the constable grunted, his expression sour. Clearly, he was beginning to see the logic, though he didn’t like it.
“Well,” inserted the countess with an airy wave. “It appears you have more investigating to do before you come willy-nilly into a person’s home to arrest innocent girls. I can’t imagine what the broadsides would say if they knew you took the word of a murderer over myself and Lord Heath, who is very close to Prinny himself.”
Of course, she could imagine it. They all could because the constable’s career would be over the moment the first caricature began to circulate.
Still, the man had to get in the final word. He pointed a finger straight at Sadie’s nose. “You’re not in the clear, miss. Not yet. I suggest you remain in London until this is sorted out.”
