Roswell walked towards the rear of the townhouse and entered the study. A shadowed figure sat in an upholstered armchair, a drink in his hand.
As he reached for his pistol that was tucked into the waistband of his trousers, the familiar voice said, “Please do not shoot me.”
Kendrick.
Roswell felt himself relax as he went to light a candle. “Why are you loitering in the darkness?” he asked.
“I didn’t want to make my presence known so I didn’t light a candle,” Kendrick explained.
With a glance at the open window, he confirmed that Kendrick didn’t come through the main door as most of his guests did. “Why are you here?”
Kendrick leaned forward and placed his drink down onto the table. “Lord Chester died earlier today. Well, he was murdered, to be exact, but we paid off the coroner to sign off on an accidental overdose of hemlock.”
“Overdosing on hemlock is a cruel way for someone to die.”
“It is,” Kendrick agreed. “Someone must have wanted to ensure he died in the most painful way.”
“Do you have any leads?”
“None.”
Roswell walked over to the drink cart and picked up a decanter. After pouring himself a drink, he positioned himself to sit across from Kendrick. “Caleb and I will look into this tomorrow.”
“Good, good,” Kendrick muttered. “Do be careful.”
“Why the sudden concern for us?” he asked lightly. The spymaster had a gruff demeanor, yet he had a kind side. He'd displayed it a few times, but he most likely wanted to keep that part of himself hidden from others.
Kendrick picked up his drink and took a sip. “You two are good agents, and I do not want to go through the bother of training your replacements.”
“Ah, so your reason is practical.”
“Partially,” Kendrick said. “If someone is ruthless enough to kill with hemlock, I would stray on the side of an abundance of caution.”
“Do you think Lord Chester knew we were onto him?”
“I can’t answer that, but it is probable.”
“Who else knew about Lord Chester?”
“Only a handful of agents,” Kendrick replied. “When you are investigating a lord for treason, you don’t want too many people involved.”
Roswell nodded his understanding. “I wonder if he had discovered the piece of paper that held the code had disappeared.”
Kendrick shrugged. “Who knows, but it proves that more people are at play in this dangerous game.”
“There always are,” Roswell said. Though the room was dimly lit, he could make out the shadows below Kendrick’s eyes which showed his fatigue, mentally and physically.“Are you all right?”
“I am,” came the spymaster’s quick reply. Too quickly.
“You look tired.”
Kendrick huffed. “My work is never-ending, I’m afraid. Wars, rumors of wars, and rebel meetings are just some of the things that keep me up at night.”
“Those are always going to be around.”
“I know,” Kendrick said, rising. “That is why we must be one step ahead of them at all times.”
Roswell rose. “Would you care to leave out the main door?”
