David ordered gags removed, saying, “No one will speak unless spoken to. I will ask the questions. Gags can be put back in place.”
From her place in the back, Lucy could see no facial expressions, but Spangler’s grip on the chair and rigid posture expressed sheer terror.
Eli, Morgan, and Gibbons stood to the side with Goodfellow, and Maddy leaned on the back wall on one side of Lucy, with Rob on the other, shoulder to shoulder with her.
The countess stepped forward. “Really, David, is this theater piece necessary? I borrowed the family carriage. Surely—”
“Quiet.” David’s cold hard words had the desired effect. “You can make this easy by answering my questions. We’ve already spoken with the criminals sitting in front of you. You can simplify these proceedings by answering me.”
The dowager’s chin tipped up. “Is this any way to treat your mother?”
David didn’t hesitate. “I’m not sure I understand that word, madam. Your behavior flouts every ideal of motherhood I know. For the moment, you are accused of criminal activity and, as magistrate, I have questions.”
The dowager turned to glare at Rob. “You cannot possibly believe the word of that, that misbegotten whelp!”
“You may certainly face your accusers. They are arrayed in front of you.” David gestured toward the men in chairs. “Shall we begin with fraud,” he said, indicating Spangler, “or at the other end with attempted kidnapping and murder?” David gestured toward Miller and Higgins.
“What can they possibly have accused me of?” she demanded, her voice beginning to wobble.
“To begin with, you are accused of fraudulently conspiring with Mr. Spangler to subvert your husband’s will and skim money from the heirs.”
“Nonsense, I—”
“We have Mr. Spangler’s testimony regarding my father’s will.”
“You can’t believe a lying cheat!”
“Perhaps not.” The accused began to preen, but David unfolded the sheaf of papers Lucy had watched Morgan hand to him. “Then again, his words ring true when matched to this list of bank accounts. Since I know well the size of your widow’s portion—about which you complain regularly—and am aware that you have no source of ready income—as you remind me daily—can you explain the movement of money into these accounts?”
“What accounts? My name is on no accounts.” The ostrich feathers quivered above her head.
“Of course not. Your man of business—Mr. Ransome, I believe—did an excellent job of masking your name, but that they are your accounts, I have no doubt. At first blush, it appears you’ve been skimming money from the estate for a long time. The bank has been notified that the estate has an interest in the accounts, and they are frozen.”
Lucy wondered if he bluffed, but the countess obviously believed him. She began to sputter; David raised a quelling hand.
“Do you deny recruiting Spangler to subvert the intent of your husband’s will?”
From her place behind but to the side, Lucy could see the dowager’s face flush red. “That worm took advantage of your father when impaired at the expense of the estate. Willowbrook, the money, all of it belong to… you.” Everyone in the room heard her hesitation. Lucy, for one, believed she meant to say “to me.”
“Thank you, your ladyship,” David intoned. “You just affirmed what Mr. Higgins told us. I will take that as an admission of guilt.
“Guilt? I defended your honor. I—”
“Quiet!” David overrode her. “Don’t make me restrain you.”
“You—” The countess’s voice shook with rage.
“Don’t test me.” David’s merciless tone had the impact he desired.
“She’s gritting her teeth so hard she may harm her jaw,” Maddy murmured.
David took a deep breath and got to the heart of the matter. “You are accused of orchestrating an effort to terrorize Miss Lucy Whitaker from Willowbrook, to replace her with a false heir, an effort that intensified when the true heir appeared, culminating with injury to Mr. Robert Benson, innkeeper of Ashmead, and of attempts to abduct Miss Whitaker, and in the murder of Lieutenant Robbins, who came to her aid.” He scanned every face in the room, returning to fix on the dowager. “There may be more, but that will do for now.”
The dowager remained upright and silent for the barest moment before she began to shake, and Lucy braced herself for an explosion that surely must come. She glanced up at Maddy, who stood rigid and white-faced at her side.
Maddy leaned her head down. “I’m so sorry, Lucy,” she whispered.
Lucy sagged against her friend, but still no words came from the countess in the face of David’s unrelenting accusations. “These men face prison, transportation, or hanging for crimes you ordered. They won’t protect you.”
