“You’re right, it’s not, but I think I know why you haven’t told Paul about the baby.”
“You don’t know anything about it.”
“Yes, I do. I know about Paul and his friend, Mr. Zeller. And I know about your father-in-law and what he did.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about!”
“You tried that before, but I know you do. I also think Paul will be very surprised to find out you’re with child, won’t he?”
She lifted a trembling hand to her throat. “Why are you doing this to me?”
“Because two people are dead, and at least one of them doesn’t deserve to be.”
“Who are you talking about? Roderick? That’s no one’s fault. He killed himself.”
“Who told you that?”
“Paul did. No, wait, his mother. She told everyone. He was distraught because Paul told him he had to leave.”
“And you believe that?”
“What else could it have been? You can’t think someone poisoned him.”
“Yes, I can. In fact, I’m sure of it.”
“But why? What had he ever done to anyone?”
“He knew who stabbed Mr. Devries.”
“How could he know that?”
“He knew everyone who had been with Mr. Devries that morning, Garnet. And he knew everything that had happened.”
Garnet uttered a strangled cry, bolted to her feet, and ran across the room. Dropping to her knees, she began to wretch into the chamber pot that had been beneath her bed.
Sarah hurried over, grabbing a towel from the washstand, and knelt down beside her. When Garnet had finished, Sarah handed her the towel and helped her to her feet and back to the chair, where she slumped wearily. Sarah rang for the maid, then went to get the chamber pot so she could set it outside the door, but when she knelt down again to pick it up, something shiny lying under the bed caught her eye.
A nut pick.
FRANK HAD BEEN DREADING THIS CONFRONTATION, BUT he’d given Sarah enough time to get in to see Garnet Devries, and he could put it off no longer. The maid who answered the door didn’t bother to conceal her concern when he asked to see Paul Devries alone. To his credit, Paul didn’t keep him waiting.
The maid showed him into the formal parlor, where Paul stood stiffly in the center of the room, his face pale and his hands clenched at his sides.
“Have you discovered who attacked my father?” he asked when the maid was gone.
“Not yet. I need to ask you some questions, Mr. Devries. Could we sit down?”
“Yes, yes, of course.” He cast about and chose a pair of chairs near the fireplace.
Frank cleared his throat. “I understand that you met with Roderick after supper on the night he died.”
Paul seemed momentarily confused, but he recovered quickly. “Yes, I did.”
“Can you tell me what you talked to him about?”
“I had to tell him we were dismissing him. He was my father’s valet, you know, and with Father dead …”
“Why didn’t you keep him on as your valet?”
“I already have a valet.”
“But wasn’t Roderick more experienced?”
“I’m perfectly satisfied with Winston.”
“Does that mean you weren’t satisfied with Roderick?”
Paul frowned. “I don’t like to speak ill of the dead, you understand, but I never cared for Roderick.”
“Why not?”
He shifted in his chair. “I always thought he was a bit…sneaky.”
“Sneaky? You mean he stole things?”
“Oh, no, at least not that I ever knew, but he was a sly one. In fact …”
“In fact what?”
“Well, I hadn’t thought of it until this moment, but that last time we spoke, he seemed to think I should be afraid of him for some reason.”
“Afraid of him? Why?”
“I’m not sure, but he was quite shocked when I told him we were letting him go. He could stay until the end of the month, I told him, and I would give him an excellent reference. He should have been expecting it, but he tried to argue with me.”
“What did he say?”
Paul frowned as he tried to remember. “He said I was making a mistake because he knew what had happened.”
“What did he mean by that?”
“I had no idea, and I told him so. That seemed to surprise him, too.”
“What did he do then?”
“Nothing. I mean, he didn’t argue anymore. He seemed very…This sounds odd, but he seemed disappointed. He’d obviously thought he could convince me to keep him on.”
“Is that why you gave him the whiskey? To cheer him up?”
“What?”
“The decanter of whiskey from your father’s room. You gave it to him and told him to drown his sorrows.”
“I most certainly did not! I would never encourage a servant to drink alcohol.” His outrage seemed genuine.
“But you knew he would.”
“Knew he would what?”
“You knew he liked a nip now and then, and he’d need one that night, after you told him you were letting him go. You knew he’d go to your father’s room and take the whiskey and drink it.”
“That’s ridiculous. How could I know a thing like that?”
“You said yourself he was sneaky.”
“I also said I’d never known him to steal. Besides, what harm would it do if he did take it?”
“Because you’d put arsenic in the decanter.”
Paul jumped to his feet.
“You put rat poison in the decanter of whiskey—”
“—and you told Roderick he was losing his job, and maybe you even suggested he help himself to the decanter because you felt so bad about having to dismiss him and—”
“Are you insane? Where did you get an idea like this!”
“Because that’s how Roderick died, Mr. Devries. He said you gave him the decanter of whiskey, and it was full of rat poison, and that’s what killed him.”
Paul was scarlet with fury. “Why would he say I gave it to him when I didn’t? No one encourages their servants to drink! That would ruin your staff.”
To door burst open and Mrs. Devries came charging in. “What on earth is going on in here?”
13
SARAH’S HEART WAS POUNDING AS SHE ROSE AND CARRIED the chamber pot to the
