Page 22 of Speculations in Sin

“I will see Joanna today,” I assured him. Mr. Kearny’s softening expression when he spoke Joanna’s name made me suspect he was sweet on her. She’d neither need nor welcome his awkward attempt at comfort. “I have no doubt this will becleared up soon. After all, the police will need evidence that Mr. Millburn actually committed the crime. Not just the wishes of his superiors.”

“I don’t have much faith in the peelers, Mrs. Holloway,” Mr. Kearny said darkly. “Or the law. They decide who to bang up, and that’s it. Small comfort when the judge is proved wrong long after a bloke’s been hanged.”

My spirits plummeted at the thought of Sam facing the gallows. I could not let that happen, but truth to tell, I didn’t have much faith in the law myself. I’d been arrested for murder once upon a time, and only Daniel, with the assistance of Mr. Monaghan, had been able to get me released.

Miss Swann abruptly opened the door to Mr. Zachary’s office, sending a draft down the hall to flutter my skirts. I hastily made for the stairs and began to descend, with Mr. Kearny clattering after me in a hurry.

“Who is she?” I asked him when we reached the ground floor. Miss Swann banged her way into another room and did not follow us—hopefully, she hadn’t noticed me lingering.

“Miss Swann?” Mr. Kearny’s brows climbed. “She’s Mr. Zachary’s guardian angel. He’ll do nothing without her by his side. There’s nothing romantic, mind you.” He sounded amused. “She is a cousin of the Daalman family and knows more about this bank than anyone. Raised in it. Mr. Zachary trusts her completely.”

Miss Swann had made a show of being the perfect factotum, serving us tea and backing away to write in her notebook while Mr. Zachary spoke. But as soon as the unexpected intruded, she’d taken over.

I had assumed that Mr. Zachary was the cousin, based on Daniel’s information, but I now had to rearrange my ideas.Daniel hadn’t indicated whether the cousin was a man or a woman.

Mr. Kearny escorted me along the hall and gestured toward the front door, where the liveried doorman stood at attention.

“Good day to you, Mrs. Holloway,” Mr. Kearny said. “Please greet Mrs. Millburn for me. Tell her that if I can help her in any way, she has but to ask.” His eagerness would have been comical at any other time, but I could not indulge in his obvious fancy for Joanna now.

“Do you think it would be possible for me to speak to you again?” I asked him. “If need be, to convince the police Sam is innocent?”

Mr. Kearny appeared doubtful. “Don’t know what good we can do, Mrs. Holloway. It’s in the hands of Providence now, I suppose.”

Abandoning all effort to the Lord was in my opinion a weak-willed evasion of a problem.

“Even so.” I adjusted my hat and hoped I could find the coat that had been taken from me. “I will try my best to see that Sam is freed.”

Mr. Kearny regarded me in confusion, obviously wondering what a smallish, plump young woman in an outdated brown frock could do in the face of the police and the rulers of Daalman’s Bank.

“Good day, Mr. Kearny,” I said firmly. “And thank you.”

“Good day, Mrs. Holloway.” His farewell was more hesitant.

With no more to say, I marched toward the vestibule and the imposing door to the outside world. The youth who’d taken my coat darted into the cubicle and fetched it for me, to my relief.

I donned my wrap, then sailed out of the unnervingly quietbank. A brisk wind blew down the narrow lane as I stepped into it, as though trying to scour away the secrets of London’s financial world.

* * *

The coach waited for me at the end of the lane, with Cynthia already inside it. The boy who’d held the horses handed me up, and I landed in the seat beside Cynthia. I was too agitated to search my bag for a tip for the lad, but Cynthia tossed him a penny, which he expertly caught.

“Ta, miss,” the boy called, and then disappeared into the heavy traffic of Leadenhall Street.

The lane to the bank emerged opposite the Leadenhall Market, an enclosed building teeming with shoppers for produce and all sorts of goods at this hour. It would normally have beckoned me, but I barely noted it as the coach inched past.

“Well, they were cold fish, weren’t they?” Cynthia said decidedly. “Don’t worry, Mrs. Holloway. They’ll release Mr. Millburn right away, when they see he had nothing to do with it.”

She was trying to be kind. I knew full well that people like Sam—of no consequence in the world’s eyes—were blamed for whatever crime needed a culprit. My only hope lay in the fact of Inspector McGregor’s interest, and that Daniel would move the earth to help.

For the moment, Sam was off to a lockup, and Joanna would be alone.

Cynthia did not remark upon the fact that I’d sunk down onto the seat next to her, instead of taking the rearward-facing seat as I ought. Another kindness.

“Can I be let down in Cheapside?” I asked. “I must see to Joanna.”

“I have already instructed Dunstan to do so. Would you like me to come with you?” Cynthia added. “To break the news?”

She spoke without hesitation, ready to lend her compassion to my friend in need. Her continued generosity had me in danger of becoming a melted wreck.

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