“Yes, I am!” Felicia said weakly.
“In that case,” Wilbred said, “You will hang for your crimes rather than spend the rest of your days in an asylum.”
That triggered another bout of keening and crying.
“And my point is proven,” Inspector Wilbred finished with glee. He clicked his fingers and headed out towards the open doors. Felicia was dragged along by the fearsome matron, and the policemen closed around them, preventing anyone from getting close.
Adelia felt as if she had been stuck to the floor. Theodore was at her side, and he held onto her arm. It was as much for his own comfort as for hers.
Percy watched them go and then ran after them, standing helplessly on the top step outside, his shoulders shaking.
Doctor Netherfield glanced around and then went up to Percy’s side. Percy struck out with one hand and the doctor nodded and stepped away, leaving the man in his grief and his shock, alone, but watched by his family and friends.
“I cannot believe he has done this,” Theodore whispered to Adelia.
“I can,” she replied, bitterness making her words taste bad in her mouth. “I have the measure of that weasel-like little man now. He wants to be correct and he will stop at nothing to make the facts of the world twist and distort until they fit what he wants them to be. And with the law at his disposal, I think that even your Commissioner Rhodes will be unable to undo today’s evil deed.”
Twenty-two
Four men now crowded into the room above Percy’s study and library. Theodore was a little nervous about revealing to Percy exactly how much he had changed in the makeshift laboratory, but Percy’s mind was quite clearly elsewhere. He didn’t seem to care at all about the shifted furniture and ransacked cupboards – and he remarked that if it meant that Theodore could prove Felicia was innocent, “You may as well knock down every wall in the castle to that end.”
Along with Percy and Theodore were Doctor Netherfield and Captain Everard. Captain Everard had come rushing up to the castle in the hours after the shocking arrest of Felicia, saying that he would offer any assistance possibly as any matter that concerned Lady Agnes was a matter that concerned him, too. Percy had bristled slightly at that, but again, soon passed over it. It had become clear to Percy that his aunt was embarking on a love affair, and though he might have had an issue with that, he also recognised that he could do nothing about it. Yes, she was technically under his protection as a spinster female relative, but no one could imagine Percy standing in her way. And it was a minor issue compared to the fact that Percy’s own wife was now locked in a cell.
Although, due to Theodore’s incomparable wife’s forthright actions, Felicia was not exactly in a cell.
“Adelia has gone back to Plymouth again,” Theodore told the other men while a servant brought them in a tray of food and drink, mostly spirits and wine and a pot of very strong coffee. “She followed Felicia of course, but when Felicia went to the police station, Adelia went straight to Commissioner Rhodes’ office, and I rather pity the man who would have suffered under my dear wife’s full wrath. Anyway, the result is that Felicia is now housed under constant guard in Rhodes’ own house rather than the cells of the police station. A matron is in her room at all times, and policemen are stationed outside in the corridor. It’s not liberty, but it’s something better than incarceration at any rate.”
“It will not do! It is a scandal, a disgrace, an insult to me and my family and our very name!” Percy thundered.
“Listen to me,” Theodore said in as commanding a voice as he was able to muster.
To his surprise, Percy stopped and looked at him, and there was something like pleading in his eyes. Theodore thought back over all the things he had spoken about with Adelia. Percy was a lost sort of man, he realised. He wanted direction or he would forever vacillate. Theodore decided therefore that he would give the direction that Percy so clearly needed.
“Listen,” Theodore said again, as everyone’s attention now focused on him. “I can tell you exactly who the culprit is. The only likely suspect in this matter, for both deaths, is Oscar Brodie.”
“He keeps getting mentioned – I know that he is something of a bugbear to you – but I cannot see why,” Doctor Netherfield said. “Would you explain what evidence you have?”
“Let’s find the lad and drag him here and make him confess,” said Percy, leaping up towards the door.
“Sit down. We must not do anything that might prejudice the investigation.”
“Inspector Wilbred could not inspect his own face in a mirror.”
That was the politest way of putting it, but it certainly accorded with Theodore’s own views. He said, “Should this come to court, and it will, then we need to be absolutely above reproach with every step that we take, or it will be seized by the defence as an excuse to throw everything out and acquit the guilty party. Don’t you see? We are up against the law and must be perfectly correct in all of our dealings. So, we cannot force any kind of confession out of Brodie and we must have watertight evidence. Sadly, at the moment, all I have is a sneaking suspicion.”
“A man cannot be convicted on a suspicion,” Captain Everard said. “But tell us what they are.”
Theodore knew that he had to choose his words very carefully. Percy was on a short fuse and liable to grasp anything to give himself an excuse to run out after Brodie
