Caleb jammed his hands in his pockets, feigning a casualness that he did not feel at the sight of so many uniformed men. “And how may I be of service? Have you made some progress in Miss Hammond’s case?”
“Well, yes, we do have some new information regarding the matter.”
Caleb let out a breath of relief. “What is it?”
“Does this look familiar, Mr. Bishop?”
The earring the constable held out did look familiar. Caleb had given Rose just such a set of earrings and a matching necklace when he had proposed to her. “That’s Rose’s earring,” he said.
The constable and officers shared a look, and Caleb caught sight of a pair of irons in one of the policeman’s hands. They couldn’t possibly be here for him, could they? Whitby had assured him that he was a free man until his trial, that there probably wouldn’t even be a trial if they continued to investigate other possible suspects. “We found this in your parlor, shoved beneath the cushion of a chair.”
At this, his mother couldn’t contain herself any longer. She hurried to the bottom of the steps, as fast as her voluminous black skirts would allow, shaking her fist. “These men just forced their way in! I tried to stop them, but they are unmannered beasts!”
“I...” Caleb trailed off, the blue jewel winking at him in the afternoon sun. “I don’t know how that got there,” he said weakly. “But she was my fiancée, for God’s sake—you can hardly fault me for being in possession of a piece of her jewelry!”
He racked his brain, trying to think how the earring had found its way into his parlor. He supposed Rose might have dropped it during one of her visits, but Larson or Betty the housemaid would have surely found it before now. Rose had never mentioned having lost it. Glancing down the street, he wondered if he ran fast enough if he’d be able to chase down a passing carriage and catch a ride to freedom.
As if reading his thoughts, the constable raised his palms in a placating gesture. “Now, Mr. Bishop, no use making it harder than it has to be. Come with us willingly and I’ll even ask Smith here not to use the irons.”
The man named Smith looked a little disappointed, but Caleb nodded. The last thing he wanted was to further agitate his mother by ending up under a pile of burly policemen. “Lead away, Constable.”
As the officer’s hand clamped around Caleb’s arm, it was not the prospect of returning to prison that made his heart plummet in dread, but the thought that Tabby was somewhere out there, missing, and he was powerless to do anything about it.
14
IN WHICH IT MAY BE TOO LATE.
“MISS COOKE!” THE guard stationed at the front desk sprang up from his seat as soon as she set foot inside the old prison. “What a pleasure to see you again!”
Tabby stopped in her tracks. Officer Hodsdon. His boyish enthusiasm at seeing her was at odds with the dreary walls and musty smell of the old building. “I’ve come to see Mr. Bishop,” she said, trying to ignore the heavy staleness in the air, the muffled shouts that came from somewhere deep within the bowels of the prison.
Was it her imagination, or did Officer Hodsdon look disappointed at this? But then he was clearing his throat, and giving her a genuine smile. “Of course. It’s not visiting hours, but I can let you see him for five minutes. Our secret,” he said, leaning in and tapping a finger to his nose in a conspiratorial gesture.
It wasn’t nearly enough time, but she knew it wasn’t worth arguing. Nodding, Tabby allowed Officer Hodsdon to lead her through a set of double doors and down a long hallway lined with barred cells. A few men leered as she passed and Officer Hodsdon yelled at them to mind their manners.
When they finally stopped, it was not in front of the general holding room in which Caleb had been the first time, but a solitary cell with a slit for a window, and a floor covered in musty straw. He was a sorry sight to behold, sitting on a hard bench with his head in his hands, his fine golden curls mussed and wild. Gone was the rebellious spark in his eye, the flippant air that he’d had the last time she’d visited him in this dismal place.
When he looked up and saw she was his visitor, he leapt to his