Strike at Midnight(28)

Ginger settled next to the tree where I had left Dainty before, and she started nibbling on the grass. Our shadows were cast on the ground, so it was clear she would have enough light from the lower window to make her feel comfortable. I don’t think I would have been very happy if someone had tied me to a tree in the forest in total darkness.

Happy she was settled, I headed up those dreaded stairs.

“Good evening,” Rapunzel said as she looked over from lighting another candle on the wall-mounted holder. Her whole floor space flickered in candlelight.

“And to you,” I said, once I had caught my breath. This time, I crashed down on her small sofa after dumping Sir Raymond’s list on her desk. “I can’t stay long because I’ve left a horse downstairs.”

“Oh,” she said, blowing out her candle lighter and racing to her desk. “Of course.”

Did I mention that she also loved animals?

“Have you found out anything useful?” I asked, and she picked up a pile of parchment to sort through it.

“I wouldn’t say it was useful, but I suppose it rules out a few things.”

“Like what?”

“There is definitely no brother. Or at least there were no births of a twin brother or sibling of any kind having been registered at birth. Only the duke.”

“I thought that would be the case.”

She nodded. “Me too. But I had to check. The only living relative he has is a cousin who is a duke in his own right. He married into the title, but his parents passed away too—by natural causes at different times throughout the years. The Duke of York’s parents were in a carriage accident that killed them, a horse, and the driver of the colliding carriage. Nothing suspicious about it, and the duke was a teenager at the time. More than old enough to take charge of the lands and own the title.”

“Bit of a shitty way to inherit, though.”

“That’s what I thought. And after speaking to a few people on his estate, they felt that was the reason why he hadn’t married anyone yet. He has been so used to trying to live a lifestyle that protected himself from being hurt, that they worry over him ever settling down.”

“Worry?” I asked, remembering the conversation I’d had with his staff. “If they had been so worried, they would have raised the alarm sooner about the duke missing at the same time the new guy hadn’t turned up.”

She nodded again. “I got that too. The housekeeper…” she looked at her notes, “Mrs. Muffet, she told me about the driver, Billy, and how the regular driver conveniently became ill so he could take over. Looks like we have a potential suspect.”

“Did she say that he had conveniently become ill, or was that your conclusion?”

“She did,” Rapunzel said with a knowing smile, and I crossed my arms in defiance.

“She knew nothing of the sort,” I said, wanting to stick that feather duster right where the sun didn’t shine. “I found it a bit strange that none of them had raised a concern about the duke earlier. And they had accepted the imposter duke in their midst readily enough.”

“I know,” she replied, then chuckled. “Not everyone tends to be as astute as you and I, and I could see straight through her, Rella. No need to worry. But I tend to charm people rather than threaten to ram spiders down their throats.”

“She told you that, then?” I asked a bit sheepishly. So I wasn’t a people person. Sue me.

“She did. But she also told me how good the duke had been when he had received his title. He had no grandparents, no parents, and no other family to show him how, yet he had taken to it like a duck to water. He managed the accounts, the lands, all from the age of fifteen.”

Fifteen. Only a year older than I was when I had fled the only home I had ever known. My prison may have been a cellar under the house, but the duke’s had been that large home with a noose of responsibility around his neck. It made me feel sorry for him in a way I hadn’t before.

“Anything else?” I asked.

“Nothing of importance. There was nothing in the journals, including the historical ones, that even hinted towards anyone using illegal magic in such a way. There were no women banging down his door demanding a ring on their finger—in fact, he never entertained any females in his home. The only person who tended to visit him on his lands was Sir Raymond. Your client.”

“And if it hadn’t been for him, the imposter would most likely have gotten away with it.”

“It does look like he was targeted specifically.”

“We can work through the list, and I can try and see if we can question a few people on there from a staff angle. I still need to think how we’re going to approach the lords and the ladies.” I shuddered at the thought of having to squeeze into another gown. “Sir Raymond said that the Camemberts, the Collinses, the Darlings, and—” Crap. I’d forgotten the other one. “—and another bunch, who I’m sure will come to me in a minute, tend to host a lot of balls. It might be worth starting with their staff to see if they have hired someone of Billy’s description over the last few months. He could have been hired to spy as well as to kidnap the duke.”

“You don’t think he’s behind it all?”

“He could be. But it would be a bit of a long shot that he worked somewhere with access to large events and saw both the duke and someone who looked exactly like him. That would mean distance—seeing as the duke and this lookalike had never run into one another—and that would mean they would need money to travel between cities. Workers don’t tend to do that unless they’re desperate.”