Harper raised his shaggy head and thumped his tail on seeing the boys come back together.
“Peregrine thinks we should trust you,” continued Raven. “I’m willing to take the risk because if he’s right, then we will have a good chance at apprehending an evil miscreant who has done great harm to both our family and our country.”
The midshipman acknowledged the statement with a solemn nod.
“Go on,” urged Peregrine.
“Wrexford encountered a man while looking for proof of skullduggery at a laboratory involved in work on an oceangoing propulsion system,” said Raven carefully. “I can’t tell you where Wrexford was, but he had obtained some critical evidence that would help identify the criminals.”
He hesitated. “However, the man—who was clearly up to no good—attacked Wrexford before he could leave. In the course of the hand-to-hand fight, Wrexford ripped the piece of cloth from the man’s coat collar, but alas, he got away before Wrexford could identify him.”
“I’ve been looking at the pattern of colored threads on the scrap,” offered Hawk, “trying to see if I can discern what the design might be. That might help us narrow down the possible suspects.”
“We have reason to believe the man and his co-conspirators are not only responsible for arson and murder but may also have been involved in selling British military secrets to the French during the Peninsular War,” added Raven.
Shoulders squared, Horatio stood at rigid attention . . . and then let himself slump. “Damnation, I—I feared that something was terribly wrong,” he said in a tight voice, “but I didn’t wish to believe it.”
The midshipman closed his eyes for an instant. “In the course of performing my regular duties in the storage areas of the King’s Dockyard, I overheard several conversations that stirred some frightening suspicions. I tried to tell myself that I must have misunderstood, and that the man whose voice I recognized all too well—my superior!—was authorized to pass on such sensitive information. But then, there was some talk about the past that made my blood run cold.”
He shook his head in disbelief. “I was so confused . . . my superior was being called Eel by the other man—”
“Eel!” exclaimed Hawk. “That ties your superior to a recent murder in Oxford.”
“Osprey, you need to tell us the man’s name,” pressed Raven. “I swear, he’s a dangerous traitor.”
Horatio slid his hand across the desktop and pulled the piece of fabric from beneath the book. “I know what this is. And to whom it belongs.” He hesitated. “You’re right. I am convinced that he deserves no loyalty.”
Tightening his hold on the scrap of fabric, he uttered a name.
“Holy hell,” intoned Raven. “We need to tell Wrex and m’lady just as soon as they return home.”
* * *
Pain knifed through her head, cutting into every nook and crevice.
A good thing, Charlotte told herself. For perhaps it meant she was still alive.
Then the pain came again, even sharper this time.
On second thought, death might be preferable.
However, as the vague sounds around her shaped themselves into words, Charlotte realized that she was still in the here and now.
“The servants have all been sent to the other establishment. The house is now empty and ready to be locked up.”
How long have I been unconscious?She had no idea. An hour? Two? Her wits were still fuzzy.
“Seizing Lady Wrexford wasn’t part of the plan.” It was Lady Kirkwall, and her usual sangfroid sounded badly shaken.
“We had to improvise,” came the reply. “Her husband left us no choice. He’s getting too close.”
Charlotte racked her brain to recall where she had heard that voice before. And nearly moaned from the agony of the effort.
“She’s coming to,” said the same voice. “We all need to move.”
“Good Lord,” intoned Lady Kirkwall “W-What are you going to do with her?”
“That’s not your concern,” snarled the voice. “Taviot, take your sister to the carriage. We’ll meet at the appointed rendezvous.”
