Before she could answer, Detective Sergeant Garrard, who’d also risen to his feet, spoke up, “The lady may come see me whenever she wishes, as regards her brother or any other matter. Please wait in the next room.”
“That’s all right,” she said with Owen seething beside her. It was plain the detective was annoyed with the viscount. His bluster and brusqueness probably rubbed the hard-working policeman the wrong way. “I believe we have concluded our discussion, detective. I am sorry to have taken up your time. I hope your headache improves.”
“Thank you, my lady.”
She turned to Owen, nodded, and tried to pass by him.
“You may stay if you wish,” he offered. “After all, anything to do with the murder involves your brother and hence you, too, I suppose.”
It was her turn to seethe. “I do not believe anything to do with the murder involves my brother at all. Nevertheless, since he is already locked up, what more do you need from the detective?”
Owen took a breath. “I want to know if there were other murders in that same area.”
The detective gestured for them both to sit and sank again into his chair. “Do you meanafterLord Smythe was taken into custody? Are you trying now to clear his name?”
Owen glanced between Adelia and the detective. “No, in fact, I meant prior to his incarceration. I wonder if he killed anyone else.”
“What?” Adelia surged to her feet, and both men stood again. “Why would you think such an outrageous thing?”
“I’m sorry, Lady Adelia. My father needs to know why this happened. I thought, perhaps, my sister was one in a pattern of heinous behavior.”
Adelia pursed her lips. She was angry but couldn’t blame Owen. On the other hand, she wouldn’t sit again while this vile line of questioning continued.
“Answer his lordship, please,” she instructed the detective.
“There were no other similar killings,” the detective said firmly. “We have more stabbings than stranglings, to be honest. Occasionally a drowning or a knock to the head. But none of those this year had anything to do with the aristocracy, nor did they occur in that establishment. I see no connection.”
Owen sighed, which also annoyed her.As if more dead women would help his family.
“Is that all?” the detective asked.
“Actually,” Owen said, keeping his gaze upon her, “there was one other thing. I paid a visit to Mr. Beaumont—”
“What?” Adelia exclaimed again.The gall of this man!
Owen addressed her this time. “To determine if he had heard anything about your brother and my sister.”
“And had he?” asked the detective.
Owen shrugged. “I believe you should question him.”
“Surely, he didn’t have anything bad to say about Thomas,” she insisted.
“No, he didn’t,” Owen admitted, “but I saw Beaumont one night in the East End, and strangely enough, he seemed to be following your brother and Miss Moore.”
“Why didn’t you tell me this before?” Detective Sergeant Garrard asked.
“I am ashamed to say I’d had a bit too much to drink that night.” He gave Adelia a sheepish look. “Only when I met with Beaumont again did it come to me he was the one I saw that night.”
The detective nodded. “Very well. I shall speak with him.”
“This is all madness,” Adelia said, feeling defeated, then she recalled the barrister’s defense. She wouldn’t tell Owen about that as he might try to figure out a way to stop Mr. Jaggers. And, at that moment, she was beginning to think having Thomas declared insane was his only chance not to hang.
In any case, she intended to ask Mr. Beaumont why he had been following her brother. If he had a reason, maybe he’d done it more than once and could provide Thomas with an alibi on the night of the murder.
Keeping her plan to herself, she walked out of the police station with Owen at her side.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
