Mr. St John’s eyes widened. “Good God.”
“Indeed,” Ida murmured.
The waiter brought their food, which looked delicious. Ida proceeded to cut her lamb.
“I don’t understand,” Mr. St. John said. He sounded truly baffled. “Why on earth would anyone wish to harm you, Miss Strong?”
“Perhaps because she’s close to proving her father’s innocence and someone else’s guilt,” Simon suggested. “The other night’s attack is not the only one she’s had to suffer.”
“Heavens,” Mr. St. John said with wide-eyed dismay. “I’m sorry to hear it.”
Simon inclined his head. “All that matters now is for us to figure out who might have issued the order.”
“Of course.” Mr. St. John gave his own attention to his plate. “How can I be of service?”
“I was wondering if any of your investors or board members might have been well enough acquainted with Princhet to know he’d be willing to do something like this.”
“You clearly suspect a high ranking individual.” Mr. St. John held Simon’s gaze for a long moment before he finally said, “I might have seen the Marquess of Kirksdale conversing with him on a couple of occasions. The Earl of Elmwood and Mr. Nugent too, now I think of it.”
Ida sighed. “All three of them? You’re sure about this?”
“Princhet knew a great deal about weaponry. He liked to talk and the three men were keen to listen.”
“And would you be willing to testify to this in court?” Simon asked.
“It won’t help in a legal argument,” Ida told Simon, “unless there’s additional information suggesting one of these men hired Princhet to kill me.”
“I know,” Simon told her gently, “but it does help establish a connection which may prove useful along with the rest of the evidence.” He turned to Mr. St. John. “Well?”
“I’m happy to help in any way I can,” Mr. St. John assured him.
“In that case,” Simon said with a smile, “we’d like to know how much each of these men have invested in your company.”
Mr. St. John’s mouth fell open. He looked at them each in turn while Ida held her breath. “I can’t share that with you. It’s not done.”
“One of these men deserves to hang for what he did. Are you saying you want to protect him?”
“No. Of course not.”
“Good.” Simon straightened himself in his chair. “I’ll have my secretary pick up the records later today. All right?”
Mr. St. John puffed out a breath. “Very well. If it will help see justice served.”
Ida gave her attention back to her lamb. There was something too orderly about this entire conversation – something that didn’t feel right, from Mr. St. John’s coincidental mention of the exact same men she and Simon suspected, to his willingness to help with a situation that could prove disastrous for him as a business man.
“I don’t like him,” she told Simon once they’d left The Red Rose and were walking back to Bedford Street, “and I don’t think we should trust him.”
“Hmm,” Simon muttered. “Do you want to have him investigated?”
“I’m thinking it might be a good idea to do so. After all, we know next to nothing about him.”
“Agreed. I’m just not sure how to go about it without him finding out.”
She bit her lip. “Guthrie is already looking into the Shadwell Gun Works’ employees for us, so I think we should ask him to help with this as well.”
“I don’t know,” Simon hedged. “If Mr. St. John gets wind of it, he won’t want to help us anymore.”
“Guthrie is well connected and discreet,” Ida pressed. “He’ll get the answers we’re looking for without Mr. St. John being any the wiser.”
