Sheffield frowned in thought. “So Quincy’s purchase of the small shipping company based in Martinique likely had to do with transporting the plant specimens from Spanish America to South Carolina.” He thought for a moment longer. “And probably the poor souls needed to cultivate the swampland as well. It would have been easier to land the original boatload of enslaved souls on one of the smaller islands, and then transport them in smaller ships to America, where the illegal entry could be done in one of the myriad tidal coves and rivers along the coast near his plantations.”
“That’s exactly what was planned,” confirmed the valet.
“So why did Lyman and Adderley decide to turn on DeVere and Quincy?” asked the earl. “I’m sure they were being paid handsomely.”
Tyler hesitated, glancing first at Charlotte and then at her brother.
Wrexford suddenly realized what the answer likely was. But Charlotte wouldn’t thank him for trying to hush it up. It was best to get it out now. With Wolcott here, there could be no discussion about it, but he would deal with her in private.
“Go on,” he said evenly.
Tyler’s gaze now dropped to the dregs of his drink. “They were concerned about the stirring of public awareness concerning the shoddy maintenance practices of Quincy’s shipping company. They feared that further probing into the business might reveal their involvement in the slave-trading side venture. Lyman couldn’t afford that.”
Charlotte’s expression remained neutral, but Wrexford didn’t miss the swirling of emotion beneath her lashes.Guilt?He clenched his teeth. Much as he admired her steely sense of right and wrong, there were times when he wished it could bend just a little.
“And it so happened that they got an alternative offer for their services, and decided it was a more attractive one,” finished the valet.
Wolcott frowned. “By Jove, didn’t that scribbler, A. J. Quill, do several drawings about how the company was risking the lives of their sailors and the property of their clients?”
Their friends all shifted uncomfortably. Charlotte’s brother, of course, knew nothing about her secret identity.
“Yes—and Quill ought to get a medal for it!” Cordelia’s emphatic voice broke the silence. “DeVere and Quincy were wicked men. Their plan would have shattered countless lives, enslaving poor souls and tearing them from their families and homeland.” A martial fire blazed in her eyes. “Murder is an abomination, and vengeance is not a substitute for the rule of law. But in this case, I believe they got what they deserved. For me, there is a poetic justice to the fact that evil exterminated evil.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” said Henning quickly, and the others all added their assent.
Wrexford fixed Charlotte with a meaningful look. He would keep his words for later.
To his relief, she nodded and murmured,“Malum facit sibi malum.”The lamp flame flickered, throwing her face in shadow for an instant.“Evil begets evil,”she translated. “Those who foment it must suffer the consequences.”
“Amen to that.” Henning rolled his glass between his palms. “And what of von Stockhausen, Tyler? Did you learn anything about how his plot took root, and how he came to make the connection with Lyman and Adderley?”
“Yes, von Stockhausen took pleasure in explaining that in great detail,” said the valet. “We all knew that he was part of von Humboldt’s first scientific expedition through Spanish America, and that Becton traveled with the main party for several months before striking out on his own.”
“That’s how the two of them became acquainted,” Wrexford pointed out.
“Yes, but what we didn’t know was that von Stockhausen also met Adderley on that trip,” continued Tyler. “As we learned before, Adderley was part of an American naval mission to Granada, in Spanish America, and the Spanish viceroy had a reception for the American officers. As von Stockhausen and von Humboldt were both Prussian aristocrats, and happened to be passing through the city on their way back to Europe, they, too, were invited.”
“And von Stockhausen and Adderley discovered that they were kindred souls with criminal minds,” muttered Cordelia.
“That explains how Adderley and Lyman became connected to von Stockhausen,” mused Wrexford. “But what interests me more is what turned an obscure Prussian scholar into a malevolent murderer.”
“The answer is simple—jealousy and ambition,” answered the valet. “Von Stockhausen apparently resented the fact that von Humboldt, his fellow Prussian, became famous for his scientific exploits, while his own scholarly papers garnered little notice. The anger festered over the years, and when he got hints from Becton about a momentous discovery based on a botanical specimen found in Spanish America—the two of them had kept up a casual correspondence—he again felt he had been cheated of fame and fortune. So, knowing Becton planned to keep it as a secret until he was ready to reveal it to the world here at the symposium, he began to plot how to take the discovery for himself.”
“Good Lord!” exclaimed the dowager. “What a thoroughly despicable man. To think of murdering an old friend for money . . .”
“It wasn’t just the money, as von Stockhausen is quite wealthy on his own,” said Tyler. “It was the obsession with being lauded by his peers as a luminary in the world of science.”
“No matter that it would be a fraud?” exclaimed Alison.
“A fraud, indeed,” mused Wolcott. “I’ve read some of his papers, and while I am no expert in the field, his work struck me as mediocre.”
“Men like von Stockhausen are delusional,” responded Charlotte. “They are willing to betray the truth, as well as any other moral principle.”
“Thank heaven that Wrexford and you—and all your friends—managed to stop him and his cohorts,” replied her brother. “I’m . . . well, I’m deucedly proud of all of you.”
Charlotte smiled. “I firmly believe that love and friendship is more than a match for the dark side of human nature.” Raven and Hawk had quietly crept over to sit on the padded arms of her chair. She clasped their hands, twining the three of them together. “It’s a never-ending fight, but surrender is unthinkable.”
Wolcott looked thoughtful. And then, as he eyed the boys, his expression became uncertain. “I can’t help but notice that the boys appear to have played some role—”
