Given the speed at which he rattled off the questions, he couldn’t truly expect verbal answers. What was Mr. Clemens’s strategy?
“Was Billy Poe as meticulous as always? Or now that he knows who Dupin is, has he taken to adding his own panache? Perhaps placing chocolates or roses with the dead body as a show of affection?”
When Abraham stiffened, Mr. Clemens’s smile grew.
So that was it. Mr. Clemens was reading Abraham’s unconscious responses. The body had a language all its own, and apparently Mr. Clemens was fluent—just like the Billy Poe she’d penned when she believed him valiant and superior. The flesh-driven part of her wanted to reach out and strangle Mr. Clemens for ruining Billy Poe. However, Spirit-filled conviction demanded she get hold of that murderous thought and discard it. Murder was not justice.
Maybe she was changing. Nevertheless, at the moment, it would be nice to shove aside conviction and give in to her fleshly desire to slug the man.
“Richards, escort him to the station. I will stay with Miss Pelton.” Abraham glared at Mr. Clemens. “Let’s see how you like cooling your heels in a jail cell.”
“Are you charging me with something? Because if not, I’m free to go as I please. You cannot hold me.”
“Detain him as a suspect in Mr. Ross’s murder.”
Clemens shook off Richards’s reach for him. “What? That is an outlandish and falsified reason.”
“Is it? Your description of the crime scene is reason enough.”
“Anyone who’s read her books could describe the scene up there. I haven’t even seen it, and evidently I did a good job of it.”
“Take him in. I’ll be in to question him later.”
Richards gripped Mr. Clemens’s arm. “Come on, Eugene. I’m sure it will get straightened out at the station.”
Mr. Clemens held his ground. “What did I say that makes you think you can blame me?” After a moment of silence from Abraham, his eyes widened and lit with delight. “It was the comment about chocolates and roses, wasn’t it? It’s the only thing not described in the story. So which was it? Flowers or chocolates?”
Abraham pointed toward the end of the street. “Get him out of herenow!”
Mr. Clemens rubbed his hands together. “How’s that for romantic overtures, Miss Pelton? It appears the Killer Queen of Romance has found her king.”
No doubt he’d make that tomorrow’s headline. At the rate he fanned the flames of Cincinnati’s fury, she’d be burned alive at the stake before sunset.
Abraham stepped closer, fists clenched and ready to finish the job Marcus had started. That would never do.
Lydia jumped from the carriage and placed herself between the two men. Foolishness, she knew, but she wouldn’t have Abraham getting in trouble for starting fisticuffs with Mr. Clemens, even if Mr. ClemenswasBilly Poe.
Lifting her horseshoe-clutching hand, she jabbed a finger of her other hand toward Officer Richards. “Do what you’ve been told, Mr. Clemens. I’d hate to see you hurt.”
Mr. Clemens eyed the piece of iron and laughed. “Are you trying to threaten me or wish me luck? Because I have to say, that is the oddest weapon I’ve ever seen.”
Abraham reached around her and plucked the horseshoe from her hand. “Go with Richards, Clemens. The more uncooperative you are, the guiltier you seem.”
Clemens glanced toward the row house, and his face lit with excitement. “Ah, so he left roses for her. A far cry from the earlier wildflowers.”
Lydia stepped back, colliding with Abraham. There was no way he could have known about the wildflowers. Tipsy had most of them eaten before even she arrived.
Mr. Clemens really was Billy Poe.
Detective Lawson joined them, carrying a vase of pristine roses, their beauty defiled by the stench of decomposition. “You’re not welcome here, Clemens. This is an active investigation. You can get your details at the station once we’re done.”
“I’ve already instructed Officer Richards to escort Clemens to Central for questioning.” At Detective Lawson’s responding scowl, he added, “He knew about the flowers.”
“I only suggested there might be flowers or chocolates in response to Miss Pelton’s enlightening comment.” Mr. Clemens snagged a rose and sniffed it before making a face and extending it toward her. “You wanted overtures. It appears Mr. Poe is quite ready to give them. A man doesn’t like to be rebuffed, so I’d be careful of your next move. Billy Poe has already proven himself unstable.”
When she didn’t accept the flower, he dropped it to the ground.
“What a shame. It appears I will have to spin this as a tale of unrequited love.” He tsked and strode off with Officer Richards.
