Fatal Masquerade Page 19

  For a moment it occurred to her that Mrs Zeilovsky had approached Jake first, with more information about his past and his conviction in hand, and somehow convinced him to work with her.

  Blackmail, manipulation, money.

  Perhaps even mind control?

  But no.

  She didn’t want to believe, not even for a single moment, that Jake would desert her. He cared for her and for their partnership.

  He would help her at the right time.

  ‘You just said, Lady Alkmene,’ Mrs Zeilovsky whispered, ‘that I shouldn’t have killed Cobb. Maybe not. But nothing puts people under more pressure than sudden death. Imagine how it would look if Denise was found to have fled her father’s home, right after a servant was killed, right after...’

  She pursed her lips. ‘The body of her best friend was found in that same boathouse? Stabbed that same way? You discovered Cobb’s dead body? What if you caught a glimpse of the killer? What if you… knew it had been Denise? She’d have to kill you, too, right? She would have had to...’

  ‘This will never work,’ Alkmene protested. ‘Denise left the house hours ago. If you kill me now, the police will know the times don’t fit. Besides, you just said you gave a bottle to Mrs Carruthers with my name and fingerprints on it. Why would I have wanted to kill a housekeeper? Why would Denise then have wanted to kill me? This is ludicrous. You will never get away with it.’

  ‘The times would indeed never fit if your body were to be found here soon after I killed you.’ Mrs Zeilovsky sounded calm, as if she was discussing having chicken for dinner that night. ‘But if I dumped your body into the water where it would sit for a day or two… I think it would be harder to establish the exact time of death, don’t you?’

  Alkmene scoffed, despite the desperate feeling welling up inside her. ‘You won’t get away with it. Other people already know the truth.’

  Mrs Zeilovsky released the hand with which she had been holding Alkmene’s left shoulder. She reached into her pocket and produced a knife. ‘I think I already have got away with it. I can understand ambition when I see it, Lady Alkmene. I applaud you for trying to move up the ladder. But you wanted to go too fast. That is never very intelligent.’

  Alkmene felt the knife point pressing against her ribs.

  Mrs Zeilovsky said, ‘In fact, it is outright dangerous. Lethal.’

  At this last word, she wanted to shove the knife in.

  Alkmene shrank back as best she could, but knew she stood no chance.

  This was the end.

  Then the door crashed open, a figure jumped at Mrs Zeilovsky. She half turned, the knife in her hand.

  Alkmene screamed, throwing her hands up to her face. She didn’t want to see Jake stabbed by this crazy woman in her stead.

  He might have come a little late, but he didn’t deserve to pay so heavily for that mistake.

  There was crashing and thudding and grunting. Then it was silent.

  Alkmene stood, her eyes still closed, her hands clapped before them. She barely dared breathe. If only Jake wasn’t hurt. If only he wasn’t dead.

  A hand touched her fingers. Gentle, kind.

  Alkmene pulled her hands down. Then, with a deep breath, she opened her eyes, slowly.

  In a haze she saw Jake standing in front of her, his clothes soaking wet, his hair dripping water. She stared at him. ‘What happened to you?’

  ‘When I heard her tell about the laudanum given to Mrs Carruthers, meant to kill her as soon as she poured herself a dose, I lowered myself out of the boat and swam underwater out of the boathouse to the nearest bank. I hauled myself out and ran for the house. The woman had retreated to her room to administer a few of the coveted drops. I just managed to knock the glass from her hand before she took a drink.’

  ‘So she’s not dead?’

  Jake shook his head. ‘She’s alive and well, though shaken by the idea someone wanted to kill her using that laudanum. She’ll speak to the police, I’m sure, tell everything she knows about Cobb and the blackmail scheme. She’ll also confirm Mrs Zeilovsky gave her the laudanum.’

  ‘That’s good,’ Alkmene said with a sigh of relief.

  ‘I am a doctor’s wife.’ Mrs Zeilovsky spoke from her position on the floor. Her hair was dishevelled, her face smudged with dust and cobwebs from the struggle. Jake had bound her with some rope that had lain in the corner. ‘I have access to laudanum and know it does no harm.’

  Jake eyed her with a grave expression. ‘At a low dosage, maybe not. But we have what you gave her. And it will be tested.’

  Mrs Zeilovsky laughed. ‘You have such confidence in the justice system, Mr Dubois. Even though you’ve been on the receiving end of it yourself.’

  Jake gritted his teeth.

  Alkmene spoke up to defend him. ‘It’s different when you are wrongfully imprisoned.’

  ‘Wrongfully?’ Mrs Zeilovsky laughed even harder. ‘So, you don’t know the truth. How odd that people claiming to be the best of friends always keep secrets from one another. Worried that if they open up about their past, the friendship will be over.’

  She held Alkmene’s gaze. ‘You believe you know who the criminals are and who the sweet, innocent people are who should be protected. But you could be wrong, Lady Alkmene. You could be so wrong.’

  Jake swiped back his hair, his hands leaving dirt on his face.

  Alkmene looked at him for a moment. He had never told her about the nature of his conviction abroad. She had fished for it, of course, but not been too eager either.

  Was she afraid she might learn something about Jake that would be hard to stomach?

  Harder to stomach as time went by and they solved more cases together and began to mean more to each other?

  ‘I’ll call the police,’ Jake said curtly and walked to the door.

  Alkmene followed him hurriedly. ‘I’ll stay here with her to make sure she doesn’t get help and flee. But while you’re at it, ask where Denise is. Find out if she came back from her ride. I have a bad feeling about it. Mrs Zeilovsky said...’

  She lowered her voice so the woman inside couldn’t overhear. ‘She suggested something might have happened to Denise. I won’t feel at ease until she’s turned up again, with no harm done to her.’

  Jake nodded. ‘I’ll ask. And I’ll send people over to watch her with you. She must be given no chance to make an escape.’

  Chapter Nineteen

  The police had been to study the scene, heard Alkmene and Jake’s testimony, then turned to the still-shivering Mrs Carruthers. Her brush with death had broken her last reserves, and she was a blubbering bundle of nerves.

  ‘I hope they’ll even believe her,’ Alkmene said to Jake as they sat alone in the sun room. ‘I have the unpleasant feeling that maybe, in a trial, this won’t be enough to convict Mrs Zeilovsky.’

  Jake held her gaze. ‘If she does go free, you’ll have made a very dangerous enemy.’

  ‘Even if she’s convicted, I’ll have made a dangerous enemy in the London blackmailer who’s lost part of his ring here. Cobb dead, Mrs Zeilovsky in the hands of the police. Mrs Carruthers won’t be available either.’

  Jake said, ‘I wonder if a man like that bothers much with a small cogwheel like her.’

  ‘You keep saying it has to be a man. I would love for the mastermind to be a woman.’

  ‘I thought you suspected the Comte Margres.’

  ‘Oh, he is part of it, no doubt. But is he at the top?’ Alkmene rubbed her arms. ‘I’m glad you saved Mrs Carruthers’ life, of course, but I do hope, next time, we can end it before the knife is pulled out. I still feel like I walked on the edge of a very deep cliff.’

  Jake nodded at her. ‘I took a risk. I wanted to stay and ensure your safety. But I couldn’t let that poor, desperate woman die.’

  Alkmene smiled. She remembered Mrs Carruthers’ pleading voice in the wine cellar, her despair over her life. Her conviction she might even be better off dead. Still, Jake had thought it worthwhile to
save her. Hoping, probably, that once the need for the drug passed, she’d see she still had things to live for.

  She touched his arm and squeezed. ‘You did the right thing.’

  Jake looked at her. ‘Mrs Zeilovsky was much more dangerous than we thought.’

  Alkmene sighed. ‘You don’t have to tell me that. She had me fooled at first, looking like the wife who supports her husband in everything, mainly because she doesn’t know his field like he does and his credits also give her glory. But later on, I started to doubt that. He’s a pompous man who thinks people take him seriously. But she’s the active one. I saw her with Denise and wondered what she was really up to here.’

  ‘She had to pick up the information and pay Cobb.’

  Alkmene nodded.

  ‘But,’ Jake frowned, ‘if Cobb was intending to pass over information at the boathouse, why was all of his paperwork hidden away in his hiding place?’

  ‘Oh, he was supposed to hand it over, but he hadn’t brought it. Just the one little letter about Joseph and the racehorse to show her he had something worthwhile. He told her he had much more and wanted to make a new arrangement. More money. I guess Mrs Zeilovsky acted like she agreed, gave him bearer bonds, and while Cobb was smugly counting them, she pulled out the steak knife and stabbed him, then pulled the bearer bonds from his dead grasp. A little piece of paper stayed in it. Mrs Zeilovsky lost the charm or planted it on purpose to have someone to incriminate. She planned Cobb’s murder from the moment she saw him wink at me and then heard Hargrove say I had a knack for the criminal. She was worried Cobb would go too far in his ambition and harm the entire ring. She took the steak knife from the dinner table in the commotion after Mrs Hargrove left so abruptly. Cobb had said he was serving as a gondolier that night, at the boathouse. A signal to her and to me. He just wanted to do business with the highest bidder.’

  Alkmene rubbed her hands. ‘I do feel bad about Denise’s absence. It’s almost as if their hold on this family hasn’t ended yet.’

  At that moment the door opened, and Zeilovsky came in. He stood as tall as a short man can and demanded, ‘What did I hear? Has my wife been arrested?’

  ‘Why don’t you ask the police?’ Alkmene said. ‘They’re still here questioning people.’

  Zeilovsky didn’t flinch. ‘I am asking you. I hear they’re holding her on a charge of having assaulted you.’

  ‘With a knife, yes.’ Alkmene held his gaze. ‘She tried to kill me for having figured out she had killed Cobb.’

  Zeilovsky smiled. ‘You’re lying. You’ve thought up lies to taint my career. All because you didn’t like what I said to you. But I merely tell facts as they are.’

  Alkmene raised both hands. ‘You tell your facts, I tell mine. I was hurt by your wife. Jake saved me.’

  Zeilovsky scoffed. ‘So only the two of you can attest to this supposed assault. That will make a very poor case in court.’

  ‘Not exactly,’ a voice said, and Keegan walked into the room. He brushed past Zeilovsky and asked Alkmene, ‘Are you all right?’

  Alkmene nodded and shot at once, ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘I can testify to what Mrs Zeilovsky did. I watched the exchange in the boathouse. I have to confess that… I was fooled for a long time into believing you were on the same side. Only when she started to attack you did I know you were a victim, not one of them.’

  Alkmene blinked. ‘And may I ask why you did nothing to help me?’

  ‘I saw Dubois rushing back from the house. I thought he could help you. He’s more used to… uh… physical violence.’

  Jake scoffed. ‘It might have taken me too long to reach Alkmene. Why did you not at least go in and surprise Mrs Zeilovsky?’

  ‘In case you haven’t noticed yet,’ Keegan said tightly, ‘I am more a man of books than action. But I’m more than willing to testify in court about what I saw. My testimony will carry weight.’

  Zeilovsky turned away. ‘This is insanity. I’ll call a lawyer. A whole team of them.’

  ‘Do whatever you want,’ Jake called after him.

  Alkmene smiled at Keegan. ‘Thank you for wanting to testify. Most people are worried a trial will drag on and they’ll get a bad response from friends because of their involvement.’

  Keegan returned her smile. ‘Not at all. I am a lawyer; court cases aren’t abhorrent to me.’

  He nodded briefly and left the room.

  Jake stared after him pensively. ‘I wonder...’ he said.

  ‘What?’ Alkmene asked.

  ‘Nothing. Just that Keegan might have had a reason to watch your confrontation with Mrs Zeilovsky and do nothing to save you.’

  Alkmene held his gaze. ‘What reason?’

  ‘That he wanted you to die there.’

  Alkmene gasped. ‘What? He just offered himself as a witness against Mrs Zeilovsky.’

  ‘Exactly. He had to, once her plan failed and you lived to tell your story. Because he pretends to be on our side now, he is walking away free while she’s arrested. He can even help get her convicted. She is lost to the ring anyway now she’s in the hands of the police. But as long as he’s not implicated, Keegan can continue his part in the blackmail.’

  Alkmene was stunned. If Jake was right with this audacious theory, Keegan had been playing a very dangerous game right after the murder, pretending to work with her to find out who had killed Cobb. Could he really be a part of the London blackmailer’s group? A strait-laced lawyer?

  Of course, through his work, he did know sensitive secrets about people...

  And the cutouts he had been collecting about Denise? Were they evidence of a romantic interest, or work for the blackmail ring? It had never struck her as very likely that Keegan was pining for Denise from a distance. He seemed too single-minded for that.

  Jake said, ‘Keegan’s exact part in it doesn’t matter now. We have to focus on Denise for the moment. We have to find her. Where can she have gone on horseback? Do you have any idea?’

  Jake had barely said the words when Hargrove entered the room. He was grey under his tan and clutched a piece of paper in his hand. He held it out to Jake.

  Jake accepted it and read aloud, ‘I am tired of being in a house where I am not wanted. Nobody listens to me or values my opinion. I am going away with someone who loves and values me. Who will never forsake me. Don’t try to find me, for I am dead to you from now on. Denise.’

  Alkmene gasped for air. ‘That can’t be true. She didn’t mean that, she...’

  Hargrove shook his head. ‘She left and didn’t return. I checked her jewellery box and she took all her valuables. Also some money I had given her recently for dresses. Also her mother’s locket and a few other mementos. She did leave, for good. She eloped with that miserable comte.’

  Alkmene glanced at Jake. The comte wasn’t just a man who turned women’s heads. He might be extremely dangerous. Denise shouldn’t stay in his power for any longer than was strictly necessary.

  Jake thought a few moments, then he said, ‘The comte will try to take her out of the country as soon as possible. I’ll have to get in touch with a few people to see if we can stop them from boarding a ship to cross to France. If they have already left, I’ll follow.’

  He nodded at Hargrove. ‘I’ll find her for you.’

  He dashed from the room for the telephone.

  Alkmene stared at Hargrove. Suddenly the truth dawned upon her. ‘You hired Jake to prevent Denise from eloping with this comte?’

  ‘Does it matter now? She’s gone. She might never be back. She writes here that she is now dead to us, meaning it in her dramatic way. But I believe he will kill her like he killed the others, just as soon as he has her money at his disposal.’

  Alkmene’s thoughts raced. ‘Can you block her access to the money?’

  ‘I’m afraid the harm has already been done,’ a voice said, and Felicia appeared in the room. She looked at them, pale and haggard. ‘I know you’ve found out about my husband’s actions. How he fu
nnelled money away and even sold a racehorse belonging to you. Joseph did this under my orders, for Denise.’

  ‘What?’ Hargrove gasped. He stared at his sister-in-law in disbelief.

  Felicia said, ‘She had told me you were withholding her mother’s inheritance from her and I was angry about it. I… still miss my sister so much and you seemed to have replaced her with a new wife, hopes for an heir, a boy, the son my sister failed to give you. I was blinded by emotions and helped Denise get her hands on all that money. Now I realize what she wanted it for. How she will hand it over to this despicable man and thereby sign her own death warrant.’

  She burst into tears.

  Her brother-in-law came over to her and touched her shoulder. ‘Now, now,’ he said softly, ‘you mustn’t take it so hard. Denise can be very persuasive when she wants to be. And I can understand you still miss...’

  His voice caught, and he lowered his head.

  Felicia looked at him. Her lips wobbled. She reached out and hugged him.

  Hargrove hugged her back.

  Alkmene turned away from them. They deserved to be alone in these precious moments of reunion. At least their grief and shock weren’t pushing them further apart, but drawing them together in a new way. It was a little ray of hope in this whole dark affair.

  She went into the hallway where Jake had just put down the receiver. ‘I’ve asked some friends to jump into action right away and stop them at the ship if they possibly can. Now I must pack my things and leave myself.’

  He looked her over. ‘I realize you’ll want to come with me, Alkmene, but I won’t have it. I can move better on my own. And if we can still catch them before they leave the country, things might be resolved quickly.’

  Alkmene nodded. ‘I hope so.’

  Jake went up the stairs, two steps at a time.

  Alkmene stayed where she was, kneading her hands.

  A door opened down the corridor, and the chief of police appeared with two helpers, leading Mrs Zeilovsky away. The chief of police said, ‘Megan will be released right away. She will be brought back here in a police car.’

  The sergeant nodded at Alkmene with a satisfied smile, as if he was glad the girl’s innocence had now been proven without a doubt.