Page 38 of Silence of Deceit
The urge to clap back with her new name and title must have been difficult to overcome, but sealing her lips was imperative to ensure her visit went unnoticed and unremarked upon. It impressed him too; the fact that Audrey knew not to use her title to get what she wanted meant she had learned much since her first investigation into the murder of Miss Lovejoy.
They passed a few Bath chairs, some vacant, others occupied by men and women either morose, or lost in conversation with themselves. One man raised a hand, trying to catch Mrs. Derry’s attention, but the matron ignored him. Irritation barbed under Hugh’s skin as she finally stopped at a door, unlocked it, pushed it open, and stood aside.
“I will alert Superintendent Mathers to your presence. Wait here.”
She closed the door behind her, and the telltale click of a lock slid into place. The duchess stared at the door, her arms wrapping around her own waist. Her show of bravado trembled. She let out a shaky breath. “It is a different superintendent.”
Her trepid gaze jumped around the room, from corner to corner. There were dark mahogany shelves, tall windows, a few couches, and a divan. It looked like a study one would find in any grand manor.
“This is where they brought me when I arrived .”
He couldn’t control himself. Hugh joined her in the center of the worn rug, wanting only to gather her close and reassure her. And yet at the same time, he longed to punch something. Anything. “This time is different. You’re here on your own accord. Your worthless mother and uncle have nothing to do with it.”
She slanted a chastising look at him. “Hugh—”
“They will receive no quarter from me for what they did.”
She didn’t try to persuade him otherwise. Rather, a tiny grin tweaked the corner of her mouth. It didn’t last long. Audrey sighed. “I have forgiven them. It took some time, and I still struggle sometimes…but I found it helped me to let it go and move on.”
“You’re far more sensible than I,” he grumbled.
“I might ask you to repeat that at some later point.”
He didn’t care if he’d opened himself up to teasing jests; at least she was no longer so starkly afraid. However, the sound of the key in the lock brought back a shine of fear in her eyes. She whipped toward the door as it opened. A man entered. He was diminutive in nature; short and slight with spectacles, thinning hair, and a pointed nose.
After a terse and skeptical greeting, in which Superintendent Mathers regarded Audrey closely—Mrs. Derry must have informed him of her previous status as patient—Hugh cleared his throat. There was no reason to step gently or to tarry, especially not in a place such as this. As succinctly as possible, he laid out the situation—the murders, the blackmailing, the connections between the victims, and finally, the supposition that the blackmailer and murderer must also be connected to Shadewell. Further, that whomever it was, had access to the records of former patients.
“I’d like to take a look through your employee and patient records from four and five years ago,” Hugh went on, “during the time when Miss Montgomery, Miss Simpson, Lord Rumsford, and…Miss Haverhill were present.”
Audrey took a quick glance toward him. Gratitude for not exposing her new identity as the Duchess of Fournier brightened her eyes. Superintendent Mathers, however, looked anything but thankful.
“While I appreciate the severity of these crimes and understand the connection seems likely, I cannot provide patient files. Confidentiality is of the utmost importance, Officer Marsden,” he said, adjusting his spectacles. He peered again at Audrey. “A number of our former patients would suffer undue humiliation—even ruin—should their placement here be made known.”
Audrey spoke for the first time since the superintendent’s arrival. “No one understands that better than I,” she said, her voice steady and reserved. “Our aim is not to expose who was here, but to determine a suspect. This is a murder investigation, Mr. Mathers, and if what we think is true, there might be more former Shadewell patients currently being blackmailed…perhaps even harmed.”
The man appeared only slightly moved by her speech. “What exactly do you propose? Tracking down each patient from four and five years ago and asking them if they are being extorted?”
“No, not all. Just the ones who frequented the library,” she replied in all earnestness.
Bewilderment etched the superintendent’s brow.
“That is the connecting factor so far,” Hugh explained.
“I see,” Mr. Mathers said with an unimpressed sigh. He hesitated, thinking over the request, and surely contemplating how he might be held responsible should anything go awry.
“How long have you held the post of superintendent?” Hugh asked.
“Six months,” he replied, though for the heavy tone of his voice, he might have been answering six years. Hugh could only imagine the toll such a job would take upon a person. He’d only been here half an hour and already he wished to flee the bleak, oppressive air of the place.
“And has anyone come here in that time asking for patient records?” he asked.
“No,” Mr. Mathers scoffed, as though the question was ludicrous.
“Then our suspect, whoever it may be, must have come before your arrival,” he said, hoping to lift the burden of responsibility from the man’s shoulders.
Mr. Mathers accepted this with a scrub of his hand at the back of his neck. “Very well. Wait here. I’ll bring the files.”
He locked the door behind him upon leaving, and Audrey glanced over her shoulder at Hugh with a mischievous, and victorious, grin.
