Murder on Cold Street (Lady Sherlock #5) - Sherry Thomas Page 0,109

our investigation that I thought it best for me to speak with you again.”

“Oh?”

Mrs. Sullivan’s eyes shone. Did she also shiver?

“Indeed. Mrs. Sullivan, you told me, when I called yesterday, that on the night of Miss Longstead’s party, your husband did not come home before he went to Cold Street. You said that he must have gone directly from work. Am I correct in my summary?”

“Y—yes,” said Mrs. Sullivan, a hint of wariness to her reply.

“But it would have been a nuisance to go directly from Cousins, wouldn’t it? Mr. Sullivan would have had to take his evening attire with him to work that morning. He would have had to make sure that nothing became wrinkled during the day. And he would have had to leave his work clothes behind in his office when he left.” As she spoke, Charlotte counted her reasons on her fingers, in an exaggerated fashion. She then looked to Mrs. Sullivan. “Not exactly a reasonable course of action, was it, when everything would have been so much easier if he’d first come home?”

“Ah . . .” Mrs. Sullivan smoothed her skirts in a rather jerky motion. “I didn’t see him leave in the morning. So I can’t tell you whether he took his evening clothes with him.”

Charlotte tilted her head. “I think it’s much more likely that Mr. Sullivan had a secondary residence in town. You labeled him a proudly sinful man. How remiss of me not to take into account the possibility that he might have kept a mistress.”

Mrs. Sullivan’s mouth compressed. Then she rolled her eyes in an expression of resigned annoyance. “That’s not exactly unheard of.”

As Charlotte had thought, Mrs. Sullivan knew of the existence of this secondary residence.

“So you agree that he most likely didn’t change at work, but instead at his mistress’s place, where he already had evening attire waiting, and where he would have been able to bathe and shave and make himself properly presentable?”

Mrs. Sullivan’s tone turned peevish. “As I said, I didn’t see him at home and I don’t know where he changed exactly. Cousins seemed as good a place as any.”

Charlotte regarded Mrs. Sullivan. At first Mrs. Sullivan stared back defiantly, then bit by bit her gaze slid away.

“Mrs. Sullivan, you have not been very forthcoming with us,” said Charlotte sternly.

The corners of Mrs. Sullivan’s lips trembled, as if she were sincerely hurt by this accusation. “How could you say that, Miss Holmes? I’ve told you a shocking amount.”

“You have also elided over many things. Going by what you said earlier, that you were awakened the next morning by the arrival of the police, I must conclude that no carriage from this house left to pick up Mr. Sullivan from the party or you would have known much sooner that something was amiss. How did he expect to reach home at the end of the party? Hail a hansom cab at two o’clock in the morning on a residential street?”

“He always managed just fine on the evenings when he didn’t take me anywhere.”

“And you knew not to worry because you knew that he had a mistress, set up in a household with its own conveyance. He went to the party in that carriage and he would have gone back to his mistress’s in that same carriage.”

Mrs. Sullivan gave a righteous toss of her head. “Well, you could scarcely expect me to speak of that.”

“Why not? You already spoke of him lusting after other men’s wives.”

Mrs. Sullivan sputtered.

“Allow me to make a conjecture,” continued Charlotte. “You didn’t mention the mistress, her household, or her carriage, because you wished to omit them from the narrative. You wanted to be able to gratify yourself by speaking of your husband’s terrible sins, but still keep your own part of the night away from investigators.”

Mrs. Sullivan jerked. Her fingers dug into the padded armrests of her chair. “My part? I did absolutely nothing. I was here all night.”

Charlotte smiled slightly. “It will not be difficult for me to discover where the mistress resides. Mr. Sullivan’s solicitor is certain to know it, as he would have been expected to deal with the expenses associated with that household. And once I have the mistress’s address, I will be able to question her coachman. What do you think he would tell me, if I were to ask him what he did that night?”

Mrs. Sullivan, eyes large, face white, said nothing.

“He would tell me that after he dropped off Mr. Sullivan, instead of waiting for