Brewster shook his head. “I’d have to search through what you already did. You’d miss what I wouldn’t.”
I couldn’t argue with him. “You are our commander for the day.”
Brewster sent me a sour glance but mounted the staircase. Moreau followed him, and I brought up the rear.
The top story held an attic that had been divided for servants’ quarters, but no servants were obviously living there. The housekeeper might have a chamber lower in the house, or perhaps she went to her own home every night. When no one rented the place, the comte might not pay for her to live in.
The three of us quickly looked through these rooms. No mattresses rested on the bedsteads, as the straw would only grow moldy and have to be replaced when more staff moved in. The furnishings were sparse, the few armoires empty.
Brewster checked floorboards and loose bricks, as he had in Gallo’s rooms, but no hidden cavities were revealed.
The next floor down held more bedchambers, again with bare bedsteads. I could only be glad Brewster wouldn’t be cutting into mattresses and pillows, whose ruin I’d have to explain to the housekeeper and the comte.
Brewster did find, in a back bedroom, a large hollow behind a section of paneling. Moreau and I peered into it, but it held nothing but a few spiderwebs.
“Something was here,” Moreau said. Indeed, a clean square in the dust was likely the imprint of a sturdy box, now gone.
“Signora Ruggeri told me that everything had vanished,” I said as Brewster replaced the panel and moved into the next bedchamber. “It appears she was correct.”
“Do not despair yet,” Moreau advised me. “There is more of the house to search.”
True, but I knew in my bones we’d find nothing here.
The front bedchamber, with wide windows overlooking the street, was probably where Signora Ruggeri had slept. While the bed’s rails were bare, the hangings were intact—light blue silk brocade embroidered with yellow flowers. They matched the draperies at the windows, which also held soft hangings of lace.
The paneling in the room had been painted a light yellow, giving the place a sunny note. An ornately plastered fireplace adorned one wall, with deeply cushioned chairs pulled close to it.
A comfortable chamber as well as a beautiful one.
Brewster found another hiding place in here, under floorboards he pried up beneath the bed. Colonel Moreau and I shoved the heavy bedstead aside so Brewster could better access it, but the hollow below proved to be empty.
“Cleverly done,” Brewster said as he dropped the boards back into place. “There’s not even scratch marks on these to show they come up.”
“Were the niches here before Signora Ruggeri moved in?” I wondered. “Or did she or Gallo make them?”
Brewster shrugged. “Who knows? The one in the other room’s been there a long time, it looks like, probably put in when the house was built. You never know when you need to hide your valuable gear, do you? This one, though, could have been fixed by anyone since then. The boards are a bit warped from time, so are easier to lift now.”
Moreau and I heaved the bedstead back into place while Brewster moved into the staircase hall and began a search there.
“Why did you send for me?” Moreau asked quietly as we put the room to rights. “Yes, I asked to assist when you searched the houses, but you did not have to do me this favor.”
“Oh, the favor is not for you,” I said, trying to put some humor into my voice. “But for your lady. If we find her letter, you can take it directly to her.”
Moreau nodded, accepting my statement. “It is kind of you. I would like you to meet her.”
I stilled in surprise. “You would?”
“That is, she expressed a wish to meet the captain I continually encounter. I told her I would try to arrange it.”
I did not have to ponder the request long. “I would be honored.”
“Then perhaps when we finish here, we can adjourn to her home. It is not far.”
I raised my brows. “Her neighbors will not be shocked when she has two gentlemen callers?”
Moreau relaxed into a small smile. “The neighbors are all friends. I have been visiting Madame Paillard for many years.”
“You’ve never thought to marry?” I asked in curiosity.
