“Good lord.” Behind his spectacles, Ryker’s eyes went wide. “Don’t let Nell know. She has a fertile imagination and she likes to be helpful. If she decides you need to believe you are about to die, I’m not sure what she’ll do about it.”
Thalia gave that thought due consideration. “I will add that to my list of troubles. It’s possible that one of the people helping me might decide I need to believe I’m going to die.”
Ryker nodded. “Best to be prepared.”
Rogers the butler appeared in the doorway. “The lawyers have arrived, sir.”
“Show them in, Rogers.” Ryker muttered to Thalia as he stood, “At last. This will take some time. We might as well be comfortable here.”
Thalia followed his lead, heartily wishing she’d done something different with her hair.
“Mr. Aurelio Tewksbury and Mrs. Sylvia Hopkins of the law firm Tewksbury, Giorgione, Hopkins, and Associates.” Rogers ushered in a cross-looking elderly white man without a hair on his head and a middle-aged black woman with kind eyes. Both were dressed for an afternoon call in the most elegant of clothing. Thalia assumed they were both Traders.
Ryker did the honors. “Mr. Tewksbury, Mrs. Hopkins, allow me to present Miss Thalia Cutler.” He made sure his guests were seated comfortably. Nell slipped in quietly and sat on the nearby piano bench.
Thalia held Mrs. Hopkins’ gaze as she made her most polite curtsy to the older woman.
Mr. Tewksbury spoke first. “I must observe, Miss Cutler, you don’t look like a Trader.”
“Don’t be rude, Aurelio. Neither do you.” To Thalia, Mrs. Hopkins continued, “When the police returned yesterday, they had a warrant for your arrest. Fortunately, you had Traded to a swan. Well done. Excellent timing.”
“Even the dimmest policeman knows not to arrest a Trader in her alternate form,” said Mr. Tewksbury. “They’ll be back for you, of course.”
“Of course they will,” Mrs. Hopkins agreed. “But we’ll be ready for them.”
Ryker cleared his throat. “I’m sure we will, but it would have been helpful to hear from you yesterday. May I ask what was the delay?”
Mr. Tewksbury made a rumbling noise of disgust. “We were both with our respective spouses in Newport, I’m sorry to say, attending something the Mellons called a house party. It didn’t deserve the name. Chaos, I tell you.”
Mrs. Hopkins continued, “When we received your wire, which had been forwarded from our office, we immediately made our farewells, and returned to the city. Given the nature of your difficulty, some research was required.”
“That’s putting it mildly.” Mr. Tewksbury leaned back in his chair. “Any chance of refreshments, my boy? Dry work, research.”
“Nell?” Ryker turned to his sister, but she was already up and on her way out of the room. He turned back to the lawyers. “Trader law is clear on the subject of arrests while transformed. I am surprised your research took so long.”
Mr. Tewksbury barely suppressed a guffaw. “That wasn’t what we were researching.”
“We wished to explore the finer points of the case.” Mrs. Hopkins seemed not to notice Mr. Tewksbury’s amusement. “The police are interested in you only because of the circumstances of Von Faber’s death, Miss Cutler. Nothing more.”
“She knows that,” Ryker pointed out. “Did you need to investigate her background before you agreed to represent her?”
“Because Tewksbury, Giorgione, Hopkins, and Associates is competent and well thought of, Mr. Ryker, your family has had our law firm on retainer for many years,” said Mrs. Hopkins gently. “We would not have the excellent reputation we do if we failed to do our homework. It was necessary to familiarize ourselves with the facts in the case.”
Nell returned, followed by three servants, each bearing a tray laden with refreshments: coffee, sandwiches, and cake. Mr. Tewksbury rubbed his hands delightedly.
Ryker did not let the distribution of refreshments distract him. “You are here. At last. Therefore you and your firm are equal to the challenge. What happens next?”
“Three or four of these excellent little sandwiches,” said Mr. Tewksbury through a mouthful of crumbs. “A sip of coffee, a morsel of cake, and we’ll prepare Miss Cutler for her interview with the police.”
“The Von Faber case is clear-cut.” Mrs. Hopkins had ignored the sandwiches, but she was already on her second cup of coffee. “The police have hired an expert gunsmith to examine the weapon. That gunsmith is prepared to testify that someone tampered with the firing mechanism. Originally the chamber was designed to ignite only the charge in the lower cylinder. Some kind of tool,