Vow of Deception (The Ministry of Curiosities #9)(49)

No answer. I let Seth go and joined Lincoln. Behind me, the gentlemen spoke in shocked whispers to one another.

"You saw that," came Swinburn's voice, spoken loudly to carry back to them. He stood just beyond Lincoln, a gun in his hand. It pointed aimlessly at the ground. The furred body of a large wolf-like creature lay at his feet.

"Gawler?" I whispered.

"Is it him?" Seth demanded of Swinburn.

Swinburn looked to Lincoln then to the gentlemen, now approaching cautiously along the alley toward us. "You saw that, sir? And you too?" he asked the men. "You saw that beast attack me?"

"Y-yes," one said, voice shaking. "What is it?"

"A dog," Lincoln said.

"Bloody big dog," said one of the gentlemen. "Pardon my language, miss."

"Swinburn?" Seth said again. "Who is it?"

Swinburn turned back to the body on the ground. He nudged it with his toe then let out a long breath. "I couldn't begin to guess what it is," he said with an emphasis on "what." "I'll leave identification to the experts. All I can say is, thank God I was armed. Thank God I came across it before it attacked someone else."

"A woman and a baby walked past," said one of the gentlemen, glancing over his shoulder. "If it had got to them first…"

Swinburn went to move off but Lincoln grasped his shoulder. "I'm going to send for the police," Swinburn told him. "Everyone must remain here to give witness accounts, of course. Did you see anything Fitzroy?"

Lincoln merely glared at him.

Swinburn shook Lincoln off and strode out of the alley.

Movement in the shadows caught my eye. Something smoky floated in the breeze. But there was no breeze in the narrow alley. The wispy tendrils coalesced into a human shape, that of a naked man. Gawler. My heart sank. He ignored me and followed Swinburn, but only as far as the alley entrance.

"Gawler," I whispered to Lincoln and nodded in the spirit's direction.

The two gentlemen circled the dead animal, inspecting it from all angles. One crouched near its hind legs, but neither went too close to the head.

"Did it attack first?" Lincoln asked them.

One gentleman shrugged. "Sir Ignatius wouldn't have shot it if it hadn't," the other said.

"You know him?" Seth asked.

"We're his neighbors."

"What do you think of him?"

"A fine fellow, keeps to himself."

"He's always friendly," the other man said. "Lucky he was armed."

"Yes," Seth said drily. "How fortunate."

"Not for…" I swallowed down the name. "Not for that dog."

"Ugly beast," one of the gentlemen said. "Look at the size of its paws. That's no ordinary dog, miss."

"Do you think that's what killed those people in the slum?" the other man asked.

"Must be. Unlikely there are two of these things walking around the city. Someone would have noticed." He poked it in the back with his walking stick. "To think it could have killed someone here, in Kensington."

"If not for Sir Ignatius."

I walked out of the alley, unable to listen to any more, and stood near the hovering spirit of Gawler. I dared not speak to him, lest the witnesses overhear. Gawler took no notice of me. He simply drifted silently back and forth across the alley entrance, his gaze on Swinburn's house.

I wanted to ask him if he'd attacked first, if he'd been intent on killing Swinburn in retaliation for speaking to Salter and the police. But a more burning question bothered me. Had Swinburn lain in wait? If so, who'd warned him that Gawler was on his way?

Harriet?

I felt sick. I leaned a hand against the cool stone of the wall near the alley entrance and concentrated on my breathing.

"Are you all right, Charlie?" Seth asked.

I nodded. "A little shocked."

Voices and movement came from Swinburn's house. A footmen hurried down the street while another knocked on Lord Ballantine's door. Soon, Swinburn returned, bringing Ballantine with him. Ballantine's nostrils flared upon seeing me, but he otherwise ignored me and strode into the alley.

"If you could wait on the street," Lincoln said to the gentlemen. Seth ushered the witnesses out of earshot and Lincoln faced Swinburn. "Who was it?" he asked, even though he already knew.

"Gawler," Swinburn said. "He'd accused me of being a traitor to our kind then he attacked me."

"How did you know he would be here?"

"Sir Ignatius doesn't have to answer your impertinent questions," Ballantine bit off.

Swinburn looked down at Gawler's werewolf body, while Gawler's spirit looked down on him. It shimmered. "You think I planned this?" Swinburn said quietly. "You think me that callous? He came to my house and challenged me. We entered this alley to talk without being disturbed but he didn't talk. He changed shape. I did not. I'd brought a weapon and when he attacked, I used it to defend myself."

"Liar!" The spirit swooped around Swinburn, circling so fast his head almost caught up to his feet. "What innocent man carries a gun with him around his house?" He did not refute the claim that he attacked first.