The Custom House Murders (Captain Lacey Mysteries #15) - Ashley Gardner Page 0,15

Eden might call out a man or best him in a fair fight, but he’d certainly not pick up the nearest brick and smash it over a man’s head.

I would have to discover more about this blow, and whether it had been delivered from behind. If so, I would dismiss entirely the idea that Eden had killed him. He might do so if defending himself, but even then, Eden had very firm views on honorable ways to fight. Also, the Eden I knew would then find a constable and confess he’d accidentally killed a man.

Of course, I hadn’t seen Eden for more than five years. He’d traveled to the islands where life was difficult, and men could change. I certainly had changed since I’d seen him last.

I wished for pen and paper so I could make notes about my thoughts and what I needed to discover, but I did not bother asking. I finished the bread and coffee, and at last heard Brewster noisily descending the stairs.

I’d been left on my own in the dining room, though as soon as I stepped into the hall, two large men flanked me. Denis trusted me somewhat by this time, but he’d not allow me to run tame in his house.

Brewster reached the ground floor. He said nothing to me but departed through the front door, and I could only follow.

Gibbons had procured a hackney for us. I had become accustomed to walking the few blocks northward up South Audley Street to my new home, but Brewster hustled me into the cab, darting suspicious glances across the sparsely populated street.

“Not safe to walk,” he said as we rumbled the short distance. “Matter of fact, why don’t you go off to the country for a time? Her ladyship has that great house in Hampshire you could visit.”

The house, strictly speaking, belonged to her son, Peter, but he would not run it until he reached his majority.

“They’ll be harvesting,” I said. “Mrs. Lacey does not want to disturb the steward by opening the house and distracting everyone from that business.”

Brewster, not a country man, looked a bit baffled, but shrugged. “Or your own estate in Norfolk. In the back of beyond, that is.”

“Why the sudden whim to rush us out of town? What did Denis tell you?”

I expected Brewster to give me one of his put-upon sighs, but his face set in grim lines.

“That chess piece you delivered to Mr. Creasey. It was a signal. Creasey has been interfering in Denis’s business of late. They dance around each other, those two, neither wanting to confront the other, have done for years. His Nibs has just told him that their truce is at an end. That’s why Creasey said he could kill you where you stood. It means you are no longer untouchable to His Nibs’ greatest enemy. None of us are.”

CHAPTER 5

A s Brewster’s words fell around me, my ire rose. “He sent me to deliver a threat? He’s given me such an errand before. I did not appreciate it the first time.”

That had been in Norfolk, and I’d ended up hastening the threat’s recipient out of the country.

“This isn’t the same, guv. Not so much a threat as a challenge. His Nibs had no choice. Creasey has been nicking things what belong to Mr. Denis, apparently, costly merchandise he acquires for clients who aren’t happy they’re not getting their goods.”

“Why use me?” I scowled out the window at the spattering rain. “He could have sent any of his men to hand over the parcel, or had a delivery service take it, or even dispatched it by post.”

“Because any of his lackeys, including me, might have been beaten and sent back on the spot. You, Creasey didn’t know what to do with.”

I returned my glare to Brewster. He retained his grim expression but his tone was much too calm for my liking. “Why didn’t you explain this before I went to see Mr. Creasey?”

“I didn’t know.” Brewster shrugged his large shoulders. “I didn’t understand what the white queen was about until His Nibs told me just now. He instructed me to look after you, is all.”

“I see.” I made myself cease speaking lest I rage at him, and this situation was not Brewster’s fault.

The coach halted, and I opened the door and climbed to the ground before our footman Jeremy could hasten out of the house to assist me. Jeremy held the front door open for me, reaching for my hat, and I barely remembered