“Me!” She flapped a hand at him. “Proceed.”
He gave a slight bow. “Yes, ma’am.”
Harmony’s gaze narrowed but she didn’t retort.
“Thomas Adams called on me last night,” he said.
That got my full attention. “And?”
“And he told me he spoke to Lord Wrexham’s coachman, but subtly, like they were just having a conversation to pass the time at the pub. The coachman let slip that he often takes his lordship to a physician’s clinic on Harley Street.” He pulled a folded piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it to me. “Thomas wrote down the details and asked me to give them to you.”
I read the paper and committed the address to memory.
“There’s more,” Victor said. “Thomas says the coachman took Wrexham to the clinic on the afternoon of the murder, but when Thomas tried to get a precise time out of the coachman, the fellow closed up and stopped talking.”
“If he was at the doctor’s that afternoon, he has an alibi for the murder.” I sighed. “He didn’t do it.”
“Unless he went from the doctor’s clinic to the Playhouse.”
Harmony read the note over my shoulder. “There are a lot of physicians and doctors on Harley Street, many of them specializing in some ailment or other. Does this one have a specialty?”
Victor shrugged.
I tucked the paper into my purse. “I’ll find out. Thank you, Victor, that’s immensely helpful. I’d better payThomas a visit at The Nag’s Head and thank him personally. He risked his job by speaking to the coachman and I didn’t even ask him to do it.”
“I don’t reckon you should,” he said. “You’ve got an admirer in Thomas.”
I frowned. “I don’t see how those two statements are connected.”
“You don’t want to get too close to him.”
Harmony took more offense at the comment than me. “Miss Fox is hardly going to fall for the likes of your friend, Victor. She’s far wiser than that and can do much better, thank you very much.”
Victor shrugged. “I agree. I’m just saying, be careful of Thomas. You don’t want him liking you too much, Miss Fox, if you know what I mean.”
I didn’t. Not really. “I think you’re wrong about him. If he has offered me compliments, they’ve been heavily disguised.”
“That’s his way. But he likes you, make no mistake, or he wouldn’t have gone out of his way to help with the promise of nothing in return.”
“Then I’ll pay him for the information so there can be no misunderstanding.”
Victor rubbed his hand over the hilt of his knife. “Ordinarily I don’t agree with paying someone who hasn’t demanded it, but in this instance, I think it might be wise. Thomas is not someone you should give mixed messages to.”
Harmony clicked her tongue. “I knew a friend of yours would be trouble.”
“We’re no longer friends.”
She headed for the door. “You ought to have warned Miss Fox beforehand.”
“I didn’t know he was going to end up admiring her,” Victor said, following her.
Harmony spun around, eyes flashing. “And why wouldn’t he? She’s got a lot of admirable qualities.”
“That’s not what I meant.” For the first time since I’d met him, Victor looked ruffled. It was curious, and rather sweet, that Harmony was the one to upset his usually smooth feathers. “I just meant that I didn’t know he was capable of admiring anyone. If they cut him open, I’d be surprised ifthey found a beating human heart in his chest and not a mechanical device.”
I laughed, only to have Harmony turn her glare onto me. “I don’t see what’s so amusing. Thomas Adams sounds like a horrid character. I’m glad I don’t have to deal with him. If you must visit him, Miss Fox, take Mr. Armitage with you again. I’ll feel better if you have a man with you.”
She led the way outside, picked up my breakfast tray, and stood aside for Victor to pass her. “Make sure no one sees you leaving this floor.”
