I led Josette toward the worn divan and drew her to sit facing me. The room smelled faintly of old flowers, overlaid with the slightly stuffy scent of a room whose windows had long been closed.
'Because I know who killed Josiah Horne,' I said. 'In all conscience, and following duty, I ought to tell someone everything I know.'
Josette's face drained of color. 'Please explain what you mean.'
'The Runners arrested Bremer, the butler. He went to Newgate, but he died before he came to trial. They are satisfied. But Bremer didn't kill Mr. Horne.'
Her beautiful eyes shied from mine. 'You cannot know that. How can you?'
I held her hands gently. 'Alice must have told you that she believed Aimee was a captive in Horne's house. She had no proof, but you did not let that stop you, did you? Going to the front door would not help the Thorntons and Alice, so you decided to approach through the kitchens. You began making deliveries to the Horne household, possibly offering a greengrocer or seamstress your services.'
'I did nothing, sir,' she said weakly.
'I'd been so concerned about who'd entered Horne's house through the front door that day, that it never occurred to me to worry about who went in through the scullery. But the lad who lives next door to Horne saw you. You'd started making deliveries, he said, about four weeks earlier-right after Alice and Mr. Thornton discovered that Jane was living with Horne.
'The lad next door spent the day of the murder looking out of the window, waiting for his tutor, who never arrived. He told me that two delivery men and a woman with a basket had gone down the kitchen stairs and entered the house. I thought nothing of it, and neither did he. That day, at last, you must have been able to go from the kitchens to the study upstairs. I imagine no one noticed you in that chaotic household. Am I right?'
Josette pressed her hands to her face, tears leaking from her beautiful eyes. 'She did not mean to do it. Aimee was so frightened. And so desperate. She just struck out. She did not even know.'
Chapter Twenty-Five
I waited, my heart heavy, until Josette's weeping quieted. When she looked up at me, her black lashes were wet with tears.
I said quietly, 'You found Aimee in the study when you entered it.'
She nodded. 'He was on the carpet, with the knife in his chest, and Aimee lay in a swoon beside him. It had happened only moments before I arrived. Aimee did not even realize what she'd done. He'd taken her from the wardrobe where he'd locked her that day. The knife had been lying on the desk-I suppose he used it for opening letters or cutting open books. She simply picked it up and struck him with it. There was very little blood. A little on her hand; that was all.'
'If it is done correctly, a blow like that does not bleed much.'
'But I knew that if Aimee was found there, she would hang. No matter what the man Horne had done to her, it would be Aimee who paid.' Fire burned in the depths of her beautiful eyes. 'I could not let that happen.'
'No,' I agreed. 'You could not. So you wiped off her hands, renewed the bonds on her wrists, and locked her back into the wardrobe. Aimee was frightened enough and confused enough to obey you. You knew that she would likely be found after the murder was discovered, and of course no one would suspect her, when her hands were tied so tightly and the wardrobe was locked from the outside. If they didn't find her, you would return to the house as the concerned aunt, looking for her. It must have been difficult to leave her.'
She nodded fervently. 'It was, oh, yes, it was. But if I'd taken her away then, we might be discovered. They'd find Mr. Horne, and Aimee would be accused of the crime. I had to leave her.'
'It was wise of you.' Locking Aimee back in the wardrobe would have served two purposes-the obvious one of making it seem that Aimee could not possibly have committed the murder; and second, the discovery of her in the wardrobe would expose Horne for the bastard he was. A man having sport with a maid was one thing. Making a slave of her was something else.
Josette swallowed. 'I had to make certain that the bonds cut into her flesh, and then I had to walk away from her. I had to go home and wait, not knowing who would find Aimee and when. It was the next morning before Alice sent word that she was safe. I had no idea, all that night, if I'd done right. No way to know- ' More tears spilled from her lovely eyes.
I pressed Josette's work-worn hand between my own. 'But your deception worked. I voiced my opinion loudly to everyone who would listen that it was impossible for Aimee to have killed Horne. It wasn't until I speculated that two people might have been involved that I realized Aimee could very well have stabbed him. Her accomplice would have to have been coolheaded, brave, and utterly devoted to her. And I remembered that Aimee had an aunt who had raised her and was preparing to take her away to France.'
'You are right,' Josette said softly. 'I am devoted to her. And I'm as guilty as she.'
'You did one more thing before you left that room.'
She whitened. 'I barely remember it.'
I smoothed my fingers over the back of her hand. 'I would have been in a howling rage myself.'
'I was.' She raised her head, words angry. 'He had hurt Aimee so deeply, and there he lay, dying, beyond my reach. I wanted to hurt him back. He'd already taken down his trousers, and there he was, exposed for the world to see. I am not certain what happened then. But the knife was in my hand, and I- '
I saw again the yellow carpet bathed in blood, smelled the pungent odor of it. I saw Josette of the beautiful eyes, the knife in her hand, rage twisting her face, savagely cutting the man who had raped her beloved niece. Blood had poured from his body, exposing his sins. He had bled the same as any other man would bleed, though his soul was foul and black.
'What will you do, Captain?' Josette asked in a quiet voice. 'If you go to a magistrate, please, I beg you, let me take the blame. Tell them I killed Mr. Horne. Let Aimee go.'
I stood, leaning heavily on my walking stick. 'In two days, I will confess what I know to one other person and then decide what is best to do. If I wait longer, I will be tempted to hide it forever, and let the innocent Bremer be labeled the culprit. In two days, you can be in France. I advise you to tell no one exactly where you are going.'
Josette looked at me for a long time before she nodded. 'It will be as you say. I believe Aimee will be well enough to leave tomorrow.' She paused. 'You must think me hard, Captain, to do what I have done. But she is my only family. And what he did was unforgivable.'
I cupped her cheek. 'I think you are courageous, Josette. And quite beautiful.' I leaned down and pressed a kiss to her parted lips. 'God bless you,' I whispered, then I left her.
The next day, James Denis sent a carriage for me, and when I climbed into it, I found Denis himself waiting for me.
'Upon reflection,' he said, settling a rug with fine-gloved hands, 'I decided I wanted to be present when you interviewed my former coachman.'
I was not pleased at this turn of events, but I had no choice. If I wanted to find Jane Thornton, I needed Denis's assistance.
'To prevent Jemmy from telling me the wrong things?' I asked.
'Something like that.'
Denis did not much like sharing the carriage with me either, if his fidgeting with his gloves and his walking stick were any indication. Also, he'd squeezed one of his massive footmen into the seat next to me, and this man watched my every move.
We went to a house in a lane that opened from the Strand. I realized as I entered the house's dark interior that this might well have been the house to which Jane had been lured by the procuress.
Jemmy sat behind a plain wooden table in a ground-floor room. Two of Denis's large men stood near him, waiting for us. Jemmy started when he saw me, then sank back into his chair, his face pasty white.
A fire had been lit, and the room was warm, but the only light came from the flames on the hearth. When I sat down opposite Jemmy, red light illuminated his pocked face and glinted on his filed teeth.
'Where is Jane Thornton?' I asked him.
