Twenty-One Days (Daniel Pitt #1)(71)

Was the law going to be like that? The crusade to save someone, like Blackwell – or more like Graves, whom you wanted to see condemned with a sigh of relief. But mostly it would be petty burglaries, squabbles over mistakes, and the occasional grievous bodily harm.

‘Daniel?’

He turned and saw Miriam walking quickly across the platform. She was wearing a beautifully tailored suit of dark grey, with a crisp white blouse. It had just a touch of lace at the collar. Perhaps a hat was necessary, but he preferred her bright hair without it. He nearly said so, but realised it was far too personal a remark to make to a woman he barely knew.

‘Good morning, Miss fford Croft,’ he said, snapping to attention. ‘We have fifteen minutes. I don’t think it’s enough time to get a cup of tea.’

‘I had breakfast this morning, thank you. Didn’t you? And for goodness’ sake, call me Miriam.’

‘Yes.’ He hesitated. ‘Miriam. I had breakfast. Mrs Portiscale is trying to fatten me up. They might give us luncheon in the servants’ hall. It was very good indeed when I was there before. And you hear a lot by listening to their conversation.’ He fell in step beside her as they made their way onto the platform they needed. The train was already there, and ready to board. ‘Although I’m not at all sure they’ll invite us this time.’

‘Who have you decided to give this news to first?’ she asked, putting her Gladstone bag in the rack above the seat before he could reach up and do it for her. They had agreed to be prepared in case an overnight stay was necessary. He put his beside it, then waited for her to choose a seat next to the window, and facing the engine.

‘Sarah should be told first in respect for her being the elder child. Falthorne, the butler, is head of the household in all but name, but he would think it out of order for me to tell anyone other than Sarah first,’ he replied. If he had learned anything at all about Falthorne, it was his love of order. Daniel had learned from his mother that when life is in chaos, there is a certain comfort in order. Things don’t get lost, moved, or forgotten. One still needs to eat, to sleep, to have laundry done. The rhythm of housework, busy hands, can hold the world together when it seems to be falling apart. There had been a murder in the house – believed to be Arthur and Sarah’s mother. Their father was due to be hanged for murder less than a fortnight from now. Then Sarah and Arthur would be alone. The house would have to be sold, and the servants scattered to find whatever new positions they could. The shadow of the scandal would follow them.

Daniel saw from Miriam’s expression that she understood as much.

He determined to speak on something else on the journey.

‘Where did you study?’ he asked.

‘Cambridge,’ she answered with a smile. ‘My professor said I had an insufficiency of humility and an overabundance of opinions. I admit, if I possessed any of the genius my school mistress had believed of me, it was for fending off inconvenient questions. It was more than all the rest of the students put together.’

He smiled. ‘I think I knew him.’

‘I haven’t even told you his name.’ Then she realised his humour and laughed. ‘I guess he gets around.’

‘Did you enjoy it? There’s a lot in Cambridge, other than a few tediously pompous professors.’

‘Oh, yes. It’s a lovely city. I loved exploring it. And I belonged to the amateur theatrical society.’ She stopped and stared at him ruefully. ‘Ridiculous, isn’t it! Not at all a suitable thing for a chemist to do.’

‘But perfectly suitable for human beings,’ he said with certainty. ‘Which is more important. If you cut out anything other than mathematics, you may know everything about how the world is made, but you’ve missed the purpose of it all. That’s the difference between the wise man and the fool. It’s not counting stars, or knowing what they’re made of, it’s actually seeing them, and caring.’

‘Are you sure you’re right to follow the law?’ She looked at him earnestly.

‘No. Not really. Sometimes I am. When I got Blackwell off, I was thrilled. Graves, I’m not so sure about. The exactness of the law says I must pay attention only to whether he is innocent or guilty of this count. I won’t punish him for this, if he’s only guilty of wanting to ruin most of the people I love, and turning Special Branch on its head.’

Her face reflected all his emotions. Now it was anxiety. ‘So, what are you going to do?’

‘I wish I were certain,’ he answered. ‘Just find out whose body it really is. If Graves killed her, whoever she is, I’d be perfectly happy to see him hanged, except that it may take a while because he’ll have to be tried for that person’s death, if Ebony is still alive. Maybe long enough to finish this damn book and publish it. I don’t know what I can do about that. Blackwell may have some idea.’

‘And your father?’

‘I wish he didn’t have to know.’

Daniel wished that questioning Sarah Graves could be avoided, but since it could not, he would rather do it himself than trust anyone else not to hurt her more than was absolutely unavoidable. Her mother was dead, so far as she knew, and it seemed inevitable that her father would be also. Her brother was brave and sensitive, and totally dependent on her.

Daniel chose to do it in the sitting room. It was not as formal as the withdrawing room, and as far as possible from the room in which she believed her mother had been killed. But whether it was Ebony, or not, certainly someone had been killed there, and almost worse than that, disfigured.