Derrick flinched. Selina said he hadn’t betrayed Barber, but of course he had. He’d kept her knowledge about their work secret for over a week. He’d kept his suspicions abouthersecret for days. And judging from Barber’s expression, they would be having words once Selina was gone.
Barber arched a brow. “I would never assume my partner betrayed me, I assure you. I trust him.” Those words were pointed, thrown toward Derrick like a casual bomb. A piercing reminder. “Tell me, Huntington, how much does she know?”
“That we’re here after the Fox,” Derrick said.
“I see,” Barber said. “And how many people have you told about our true reason for being here, Miss Oliver?”
“No one,” Selina said. She swallowed. Derrick saw the working of her throat, caught the hint of pink that briefly swirled on the exposed skin on her collarbone. Then it was gone. The tell erased. But he’d seen it.
Was she lying about telling others? Vale, perhaps? Her companion? Why? Idle gossip of a lady to her trusted servant? Or a thief to her partner? Vale, after all, was part of why Derrick’s suspicions had been raised against Selina in the first place.
Barber folded his arms and his expression was blank and unreadable. Derrick frowned. Barber was too good at hiding his reactions. He couldn’t tell if his partner believed her or not.
Believedhimor not.
The second stung like a bullet.
“You two look as though you have something quite important to say,” Barber said. “Otherwise, why would you barge in here and suddenly confess Miss Oliver’s knowledge of our case?”
“Yes!” Selina burst out, hands clasped before her. “Something has happened, Mr. Barber.”
Barber leaned back in his chair. “And what is that?”
“Selina has had something of hers stolen,” Derrick said, and nearly choked on the words. “We think it might have been the Fox.”
Barber paced away from the desk to the window. He stood there for a moment, staring out at the yard. Gathering himself? Derrick couldn’t tell. Barber was methodical in all things. It made him a good investigator.
He turned back at last. “Very well, sit down, Miss Oliver. And tell me all about what the was stolen from you and why you believe it was the Fox.”
Selina’s hands were shaking. Normally she would have fought to maintain control over that reaction. Physical reactions could easily reveal too much, especially to close observers like Derrick or Barber. But today she allowed it to happen. She hoped the men would read the fluttery reaction as fear over being robbed by an infamous thief. It could easily lend credence to the story she was telling. The lie.
However, she wasn’t certain of what either of them thought at present. It was frustrating to the highest degree. Barber sat at the desk across from her, fingers steepled before him, occasionally taking a note on a piece of paper before him. His expression was utterly blank.
And Derrick sat behind her, perfectly positioned so that she couldn’t see him at all. But she felt him there.
Oh, how she felt him.
“And so I opened my drawer and discovered my earrings were missing,” she said as an end to her short tale of the supposed robbery. “They were a present from my brother, Robert. You would have to ask him their worth, but I believe they were not an inexpensive gift.”
She frowned at that thought. She had loved those earrings. She mourned that she would likely never be able to wear them in public again thanks to this lie.
Robert would be upset, he would worry over her. She didn’t deserve that care. Or the replacement he would surely offer. God, but she hated this. Hated that she had been cornered into displaying her worst side. Hated that she had to lie to so many people she loved.
“And why would you think this was related to the Fox?” Barber asked, interrupting her thoughts.
She blinked. That was a good question. Derrick had mentioned something earlier about how the robbery of her earrings hadn’t fit into the style of the Fox. Of course it hadn’t. She knew that full bloody well. She had made the suggestion out of pure terror, just a quick way to get Derrick off her scent.
Luckily, she didn’t have to come up with an answer. Behind her, Derrick cleared his throat. “I meant to mention this to you, Barber. The Duchess of Roseford found me this morning while you were out and mentioned that a mysterious glove was found in Lady Winford’s chamber this morning. Selina’s glove. It was during our discussion about how it could have been found in the countess’s chamber that Selina discovered her missing earrings.”
Selina nodded. “I thought perhaps this Faceless Fox person had come to my chamber first and taken my earrings and my glove. That would explain the transfer of the glove to Lady Winford’s.”
Barber’s lips thinned. “Indeed, it does explain it perfectly.”
Selina almost flinched at the dry, flat tone. It was impossible not to like Barber, even as he all but stalked her across the room. He was a clever man and normally that sparked her interest in a person. There were far too few clever people in the world.
Only this clever person was hell-bent on turning his brilliant mind on her. Her lies. Her truths. And she could tell he had his doubts. Unlike Derrick, he wasn’t looking for a reason to believe her. He wouldn’t bend the facts in her favor.
“Funny that Lady Winford hasn’t reported anything stolen yet,” Barber added, leaning back in his chair and folding his arms.
