Page 106 of Marigold and the Marquess
“Where is he?” Leo growled.
“I don’t know who ye’re talking about,” the man said, sniveling as he lied through his teeth.
The man had shifty eyes. Leo knew all he would get out of him was lies, unless he put the pistol to the man’s head. Which he now did. “I am of noble rank. I can splatter your brains against the wall and no one will convict me. What is it to be? Your life or that of the man who left you here to face my wrath?”
“Ye wouldn’t kill me for innocently tending a man’s dog, would ye? I swear to ye, m’lord. I had no idea it wasn’t his. Take him, if ye say he’s yours. I don’t want no trouble.”
“Tell me where the man went.” He struck the cur lightly with the butt of his pistol when he began to make up an obvious cock-and-bull story. That shiftiness in his eyes gave him away and frustrated Leo as he was about to be lied to again.
“He said he had something important to do and would be back later. He ain’t told me where he was going or what it was he had in mind to do. Just tend the dog, he says to me. Why would he tell me his plans? I’m only good fer mindin’ his dog…and it wasn’t even his. He wasn’t comin’ back, was he? Just left me here to take the blame. Double-crossing snake.”
Leo still held his pistol to the man’s forehead. “You have to the count of three to tell me where he is going. One…two…”
“Wait! Don’t blow me brains out! It’s all I know, I swear it on m’mother’s grave. He was a gent and paid me to watch the dog. That’s all. Ye can have what he gave me. I don’t want the money.”
“My lord,” Homer said quietly, “go home to your wife. I’ll take the man to the magistrate and have him held until we catch your cousin. This knave, if he wishes to escape hanging, might think harder and come up with some helpful information.” He then turned to the sniveling weasel. “It is not enough to prove your innocence by identifying the gent as the thief who snatched the dog. He also attacked my runners. They will be able to identify him, too. So, if you want your freedom, think hard and come up with something helpful that we do not already know.”
Leo kept his weapon trained on the man. “Call your men in, Mr. Barrow. I’ll have the hack driver drop you off at the magistrate’s office.”
“No, m’lord. Let the driver take my nephew back to my office. There isn’t room for me, this scurvy fellow, and all my men to fit. We’ll make our own arrangements. But will you do me the favor of escorting Wilbur? He’s young and a little too enthusiastic for his own good. I do not need him getting shot because he thinks to play the hero.”
“Yes, no worries. It is right along my way home. I’ll see him safely delivered.” Leo had no idea how these Bow Street runners would get out of here, but they were resourceful and knew everyone. As for him, his Archimedes was a massive war horse and knew how to defend himself from attack.
“With your permission, my lord, I’d like to stop by your house afterward to check on my men. Would it be all right for me to stop in once I put this knave in the magistrate’s hands?”
“Yes, of course.”
He strode out of the establishment, no doubt catching the eye of several cutpurses who would just as soon cut him up as grab his coin purse. But his glower warned them off. It was a glower mixed with a tinge of madness, for this is what Leo was feeling. Anger. Frustration. Fatigue and exasperation. He was to the point of snapping.
His cousin was proving to be infuriatingly slippery.
He marched to the carriage, trying to calm himself down. “Wilbur, you are to come with me.”
“Yes, m’lord.” His eyes brightened until Leo told him he was merely to be dropped off at the Bow Street office.
“But surely, there is more to do!” the lad protested.
“Your uncle’s needs you at his office to coordinate the day’s assignments. This can only be left to someone he trusts.”
Wilbur appeared crestfallen. “All I do is follow my uncle’s orders.”
“It is excellent training. Pay attention and you’ll soon be as good at the job as he is.” After making this quick stop, he watched Simmons drive the hack off to Ogilvie’s stable, and then started for home.
Marigold would be worrying herself sick over Mallow.
The little pup was still trembling in his arms. He licked Leo’s face while Leo petted him to calm him down.
As soon as he turned Archimedes onto Chipping Way, Mallow began to bark excitedly. At first, Leo thought the dog was rejoicing to be home. But he realized something was wrong when Mallow growled and leaped out of Leo’s grasp. “What the…?”
He dismounted and ran after Mallow who was pattering down the cobblestones in a mad dash toward Number 5 Chipping Way, home of the elderly Lady Eloise Dayne.
Bollocks.
Marigold came running out of the house. “Leo, I–”
“Blessed saints! Get back inside. Now!”
She came to an abrupt halt, turned, and ran back in.
