“The symbol of Circe? I’m afraid so.” Byron ran his thumb over its face. “Now just what was our John Doe tied up in?”
“Circe?” Liza said, standing. “What’s that?”
Mira had quite forgotten that Liza wouldn’t know. She furrowed her brow, trying to think of the best way to describe it.
Byron turned the pin over in his hand again. “Circe is a criminal organization that it seems we can never fully escape.”
Mira’s frown deepened. “If he was a member of Circe, surely there must be something more to the thefts. If Selene was right about what she wrote in her letter, they rarely steal just for money’s sake.”
Byron tucked the pin into his vest pocket. “Agreed. And it makes it all the more probable that our John Doe had more than one accomplice.”
“You don’t think that Monty fellow is in on it, do you?” Walker asked.
“No...” Byron trailed off, tipping his head to the side.
Mira jumped up. “But he might know someone who is! He may have left that life behind, but he may still have some connections.”
Byron nodded. “He’s our best lead at the moment.” He turned to Walker. “Do you think you and Liza can keep the police and the Risewells busy long enough for us to speak with him?”
Walker smiled. “We’ll do our best.”
***
Mira paced in the Blue Room. Asno one was staying there, and it was unlikely that any of the other servants woulddisturb them, they determined it would be the safest place in the house to speak in. Byron had gone down to the servant’s quarters to find Monty, but the longer he was gone, the more she wondered if the ex-thief had quit his position and fled.
She crossed to the window and pushed the curtain away, looking across the grounds to the stable. Was Theresia out there with Verona? Or was she too upset to ride? Her chest tightened. She hoped Rudy would be all right, for his and Theresia’s sakes.
A soft knock came at the door and Byron stepped in with Charles Montague at his heels.
“I can’t speak for long,” Monty said once the door was safely closed. “Mr. Patterson will be expecting me back soon enough.”
“We won’t keep you,” Byron said. “We only have a few questions.”
“I thought the whole matter had been closed? First with the inquest, then with the arrest yesterday. Boh,” Monty said. “I never thought Mr. Foster was that sort. He was always so nice and good at his job.”
“It was an accident,” Mira said. “But we’re more interested in finding out more about the man who died.”
“We found this in his room.” Byron produced the pin from his pocket and held it out to Monty, whose eyes widened.
“He’s part of... why I never.” Monty licked his lip. “Goes to show what you know about people.” He grinned, showing his gold tooth.
“You knew, didn’t you?” Byron asked.
Monty’s fake smile faded. “Not for certain. Never knew the chap but he had that sort of air about him. You can usually tell. And he looked kind of familiar, so we might have crossed paths before.”
Byron nodded, tucking the Circe pin back in his pocket. “I know that you’ve left that life behind, but you wouldn’t happen to know anyone still involved, would you?”
Monty sucked on his teeth. “I mean, there’s Dennis, though I don’t know where he went off to, and I’d rather not go looking for him. The farther he is from Bath, the better, as far as I’m concerned.”
Mira stepped closer to him. “Is there really no one else? A thieves’ gang, perhaps?”
He raised an eyebrow. “What’ll you do with the information, eh? I may be a changed man, but loyalty is loyalty, even if it’s to thieves I ain’t associating with no more.”
“We want to find out who the dead man really was,” Byron said. “And we need to find out why Circe wanted him to steal from families here in Bath.”
“Right.” Monty sniffed. “You won’t, eh, be arresting them?”
Byron shook his head. “Even if I wanted to, I don’t have the jurisdiction.”
