“Minnie.”
I tried to turn over and escape this bothersome person, but they were very persistent.
“Minnie,wake up.”
It was the note of distress that finally pulled me fully from sleep. I blinked and looked up to find a shadow hovering over me. It was my sister.
“Delia? What’s going on?” Then I sat up as alarm bolted through me. “Is it Tommy?”
Her face looked ghostly pale in the low light, but she shook her head. “No. He’s fine,” she croaked. “It’s Charlie. I think—I think he is dead.”
I reared back a little, confused. “What? But he was just here,” I said groggily, vaguely aware that I wasn’t making much sense.
Delia fell against me then. “I found him in his flat,” she sobbed. “There was blood and—oh, it wassoawful!”
I began to rub her back and made a soothing sound, while my muddled mind slowly whirred to life. “What did the police say?”
Delia stilled in my arms. “The police?”
“Yes. When they arrived.”
“I didn’t—that is, I haven’t—I came straight here. To you.”
I pulled back and frowned. “You mean you just left him there?”
Delia’s eyes were wide with fright, and she nodded. “Yes,” she whispered. “I was scared. I didn’t know what to do. Then I thought I heard something, and I left.”
“But, Delia, what if heisn’tdead?”
“He is,” she said quickly. “I’m certain. No one could survive … that.”
I turned away and pressed my hands to my eyes as my thoughts swirled. “We must go back there,” I said, once I was able to better focus. “Now. You might have left the scene of a murder.”
She looked bewildered. “Murder?”
“You said there was blood. And that you heard something,” I pressed, nearly shouting now. “Is there any chance it could have been an accident?”
Delia shook her head. “I … I don’t know.”
“My God,” I muttered as another thought occurred to me. “What time is it?”
“A little after two, I think?”
Then she must have left immediately after I went to bed. I threw back the covers. “We need to go to the flat and alert the authorities.”
Delia gripped my hand. “I can’t,” she begged. “I can’t go back there.”
“You must,” I insisted as I placed my other hand on top of hers. “It is the right thing to do. Besides, someone might have seen you there already,” I pointed out. “And then you will have much more to worry about.”
She swallowed hard as understanding dawned and released me. “Right. I see.”
“They will need to establish the timeline,” I explained as I began to dress. Unfortunately, the only gown readily available was the one I had just worn. “That will help to prove your innocence. You have an alibi in me and the footman. I suppose no one else saw you leave?” She shook her head, and I tugged the gown over my head, not bothering with a corset. The shape wasn’t as nice as before, but that was of no concern at the moment. “Did you walk?”
“Yes. His flat is just a few blocks away in Marylebone. It doesn’t take more than ten minutes.”
I gave her my back, and she began to button me up. “Why did you go there?” I asked softly, though the answer was perfectly obvious. Young ladies did not visit the homes of bachelor gentlemen in the dark of night for purely innocent reasons.
Her hands stilled on the last button. “I know what you must be thinking, but it wasn’t like that.”
