Page 17

It was a good question. Cumberland Place wasn’t too far from the Harwoods’ home. It would have taken ten, perhaps fifteen, minutes to get there via horse and wagon in the poor elements.

“A maid at Messinger’s neighbor’s home told Sir that she saw a strange driver and horse-drawn dray around seven o’clock. She, too, noted that the hood and cloak of the driver were voluminous,” he explained. “She didn’t know if it was a man or a woman. I suspect it was a man, as moving a body would require a fair amount of strength.”

“The killer would have needed to depart Shepherd Street by at least a quarter to seven to arrive at the time the maid noted—if, indeed, she was correct in her memory,” Audrey calculated. He agreed.

“If Mr. Harwood left home around five thirty, then Penelope must have been killed between then and six thirty,” Hugh said.

“An hour or less to thoroughly cleanse the tiles and rip up bloodied herbs?” Audrey shook her head. “It isn’t much time.”

Hugh grimaced. “No, but it isn’t impossible. And perhaps the killer did return to do a more thorough cleaning job. If Mr. Harwood’s alibi checks out, he wasn’t back home until nearly eleven o’clock. I’ll have Sir pay a visit to Marsham’s.”

Audrey chastised him with a narrowed glance. “He is too young to be going to gentlemen’s clubs.”

Hugh answered her glance with one of his own. “You may be right, but the boy can handle himself. I’m more concerned about Tobias. He needs to account for his whereabouts last night.”

A rock sat in the pit of Hugh’s stomach as they arrived at Albany, a fashionable collection of bachelor’s apartments on Piccadilly. Carrigan stopped outside the closed gates to the private courtyard, and when Hugh presented Audrey and himself to a liveried porter, they were allowed entry.

It was still rather early, just shy of eleven in the morning, and after three rounds of knocking at Tobias’s door, Hugh suspected the duke’s brother was either still abed or had spent the night elsewhere. After the third attempt, Audrey touched his arm, as if to suggest they leave. But shuffling sounds of life came from within the rooms, a few grumbling complaints, and then, the door whipped open.

“It’s too bloody early for a—” Tobias sealed his lips when he saw them. His muddled expression and drowsy eyes went instantly alert. “Audrey. Hugh. Forgive me, I wasn’t awake. Did we…” He looked down at himself, touching his chest clothed in a loose linen shirt and no waistcoat. Thankfully, he was wearing trousers. “Did we have an appointment that I’ve forgotten about?” he finished saying, while blinking the fog from his eyes.

“No, this is an unexpected call,” Audrey replied. “We apologize for the early hour, Tobias, but it is important.”

Belatedly, Tobias stepped aside, allowing them to enter a foyer. It led directly into a large sitting room, which fed into a study. The sets at Albany were just as fine as any of the rooms at Violet House, the Duke of Fournier’s home on Curzon Street. However, Hugh was sure that Tobias liked his independence and being out from under the watchful eye of his older, staider brother, Michael.

He closed the door after his guests and followed them into the receiving room. He ran a hand through his bedraggled head of dark hair. “If this is about last evening, and the condition in which I arrived at your home for dinner, allow me to apologize. I really am mortified that I was in such a state.”

“Thank you, but that isn’t why we are here,” Audrey said. Hugh saw her swallow nervously, the slim column of her throat tense. She cared for Tobias and was as worried as Hugh was that the young man might have done something unthinkable in his drunken stupor.

“Please, have a seat,” Tobias said after quizzing them both with a look of confusion. “I can manage some tea, if you like, though the kitchen is one room in my set I tend to fall short in.”

“We’re fine, thank you,” Hugh replied. “Why don’t you have a seat as well?”

As Audrey lowered herself into an upholstered chair, her movements slow to accommodate her swollen belly, Hugh chose to remain on his feet. He preferred to stand when he was questioning a suspect. Unfortunately, that was exactly what Tobias was.

Again, the young man peered at Audrey and Hugh with a mixture of bemusement and concern. He crossed his arms and hitched his chin. “What is this about? I am beginning to worry.”

“As you should,” Hugh said. He didn’t look at Audrey, who would no doubt dislike his firm approach. But it was a method he trusted. “I need to know where you were in the hours before you arrived at my home last night.”

He hoped Tobias would not attempt to lie. But the way the young man blinked and looked off at the silk-papered wall to his left, then toward the bowed window to the right, he prepared himself for it.

“I was at a gambling hell just before I made my way to Berkeley Square,” he answered. “The Seven Sins.”

Hugh knew it well. The Seven Sins was a popular spot for the ton and demimonde alike to gather and indulge in all manner of vice. Ladies of finer reputation usually wore dominoes to protect their identity, as Audrey had once done while investigating the murder of an opera singer—a crime her first husband, Philip, had been charged with. At that time, Hugh had been utterly bewildered by the duchess, as well as annoyed and infuriated by her stubborn resolve and her reckless actions. Of course, those attributes had also been a few of the reasons why he’d fallen in love with her. In fact, he’d started to fall for her during that very first inquiry. It was wild to think that it had been just a few years ago. How different their lives were now, especially as they awaited the arrival of their first child.

“And before you were at the Seven Sins?” he asked Tobias, cutting his thoughts away from the past.

Tobias took in a deep breath and pinned Hugh with a challenging look. “Why do you wish to know? I demand you tell me what this is about.”

“We bring bad news,” Audrey said. “I really think you should sit.”

The young man, his expression softening as he looked at Audrey, did as she suggested and perched on a sofa.

“Your whereabouts before the gambling hell, Tobias,” Hugh pressed. “I want an answer before I discuss what has happened.”

Audrey gave Tobias an encouraging nod, and he tossed up his hands. “I went to see someone. A young lady. Miss Penelope Harwood.”

It was a relief that he hadn’t lied, and it gave Hugh hope. “What time were you there?”