Page 49 of Taken to the Grave
“Perhaps they thought it was beginning to get out of hand. They might have disagreed with Gye about keeping it from the public.”
Thornton took a swig of his whisky. “You’re probably right.”
Hugh knew that tone. “But?”
“But…have you given any thought about whyGivenswas left to be discovered when the gardens were busy, but the other two were not?”
Hugh had given that some thought, though admittedly not enough. Not until now.
“If the Sanctuary is behind the deaths, as we believe, they might have grown impatient with the lack of publicity. Givens changed that,” Hugh said. “And then, immediately after,someone tipped offThe Morning Postabout the other two bodies.”
The new thoughts began to unravel with more speed. He sat forward. “What if it wasn’t a Vauxhall employee, but someone associated with the Sanctuary?”
“Why would the Sanctuary wish for their deeds to be made public?” Thornton asked. “One would think they’d want to keep things hushed, just as Gye wanted.”
“Gye wanted to keep things running smoothly at Vauxhall.” Hugh’s thoughts picked up speed. “What if the Sanctuary wanted the opposite? What if they wanted the pleasure gardens to suffer?”
“It certainly is now,” Thornton said with a nod. “Do you think the Sanctuary could have some vendetta against Vauxhall? Or Mr. Gye?”
It was something to find out.
“I’ll pay him a visit tomorrow, to see if he has any enemy in mind,” Hugh said, setting down his still full whisky.
“I’ll come with you. You may be concussed. And by the way, you meantoday,” Thornton said, standing to see him out. He tapped the face of his fob watch. “It’s nearly two in the morning.”
Hugh’s eyelids drooped shut on the ride back to Bedford Street, but when Norris called to the horses and the rhythmic sway of the carriage slowed, he snapped awake.
The lamps were still lit inside the residence, and when Whitlock answered the door for him, he’d barely handed the older man his coat and hat when he heard the sharp intake of air from the entrance to his study.
“What happened to you?” Audrey rushed toward him, her eyes scouring his face. “Your head is bleeding.”
“The Dowager Duchess of Fournier is here, my lord,” Whitlock languidly intoned.
“I can see that, thank you,” Hugh said, then dismissed his butler. The man moved at the pace of an elderly snail and spoke just as slowly.
Hugh led Audrey back into the study, where they both turned to one another and said simultaneously, “Tell me what happened.”
She crossed her arms and waited for him to answer first. She’d made herself at home, it seemed. A small glass of sherry had been left on his desk, along with an opened book. He pictured her as she’d likely been, reclining in his desk chair, her legs tucked up underneath her. It was a delectable image, one he wished he could have seen. It was then that he remembered they’d parted on tense terms.
“I got into a bit of a scrape at the Red Lotus, but I am fine. The important thing is that I now know how the three Vauxhall murder victims were connected.”
He went to his desk and sat in his chair, groaning at the ache of his muscles as he did. Audrey eyed him with concern but didn’t press him about his injuries.
“How?” she asked, remaining on the opposite side of the desk.
“Mr. Givens was working as security at the Red Lotus when Madame Lee and Stromburg were both killed. The two had decided to go to the police about the strangulation of one of Madame Lee’s girls, whom Stromburg had taken to the Sanctuary for initiation.”
“Strangulation,” Audrey echoed. “Like Bethany.”
“Yes.”
Her expression darkened at the mention of the young woman. “Do you think Mr. Givens heard them discussing it and thought he might profit by turning them in to the Sanctuary?”
Hugh shook his head, though only once. It hurt too much. “No. Givens would have no access to such an exclusive, well protected society club.”
“Then who did he tell?”
“If he was an informant, it was more likely for the police. He knew his way around Bow Street. Knew that officers paid people like him for information. Information that could lead to an arrest.”
