Page 77 of Marigold and the Marquess
Well, he was now getting ahead of himself.
Marigold seemed to be reading his thoughts. “Leo, we will do our best to stay out of your way, but you must promise to be careful. Your return to London obviously has important people scared. This must be why they killed Denby. They had to silence him before you could question him. It must have beenyouspecifically the murderer was worried about. Why else wait until now to kill Denby if it did not involve you?”
Julius nodded. “That is a good point, Marigold.”
“I will be careful,” Leo promised. It was no sacrifice to give his word since he was always vigilant. Even while on his mission four years ago, he had suspected something wasoff. He’d meant to keep a close eye on Denby once they arrived at the negotiation table. But Denby must have sensed he was being watched and had to contain Leo. With him and Beldon in that delegation, and who knew what others were already in Denby’s pocket or had been paid off, Leo was outnumbered and had no chance of escaping his fate.
But here in London, he had the backing of powerful friends.
Denby and Beldon must have panicked when they learned of his return, although it did not stop Beldon, the sick bastard, from pretending to court Marigold.
“All right,” Leo said, his heart a little lighter as he shared his burden with Marigold and her friends. “Let’s set out what we have before us. First, my capture and the fact I was not simply killed at the time. Also, the fact no one else in my entourage was taken. Beldon and Denby were in that entourage. The wounds they incurred were superficial and meant just for show.”
Gory pursed her lips. “Whatever story they gave at the time to cover up what they had done will not hold up now that you are free and back in London.”
“This is why they are all running scared,” Leo said. “Second, no ransom request.”
“Another oddity,” Octavian murmured.
“Third, the need for a closer look at Denby. He was reputed to be wealthy, but his home is a townhouse in disrepair and he kept a skeleton staff of servants. He displayed no signs of wealth. How is it possible? A man of his stature? A royal envoy and he appears to have had not a shilling to his name?”
Marigold picked up the track of his thoughts. “He would be rich as Croesus if he possessed those Carpathian mining contracts, right? So, it is obvious he was merely working for others. Or he was the only one involved, but the Carpathians stopped paying him and now he is out of funds because of his spendthrift ways.”
“Implausible,” Gory said.
Marigold nodded. “I don’t believe it either. So, are we all agreed? Denby was just a front man for other powerful individuals.”
They all nodded.
Leo shrugged. “Ian will be looking into this financial aspect with the assistance of Mr. Barrow. They might call in Finn Brayden, too.”
Marigold looked at him, surprised. “My cousin Belle’s husband?”
“Yes, he’s the best there is when it comes to financial matters. He’ll know how to decipher Denby’s records back these four years and earlier, if it becomes necessary. He will immediately spot anything amiss. It is my hope Denby’s financial ledgers will lead us to those with ties to those mining contracts and other sabotaged Crown deals. As you said, Denby was merely a front man for someone far more powerful, someone directly in the royal inner circle. Denby could never have gotten in among them without proper introduction.”
Octavian rose to pour himself a drink. “So, it could be that the funds were diverted straight into a secret account held by that powerful man and Denby was merely his lackey who only got the scraps.”
“Just enough to make it appear he was wealthy?” Julius asked.
“It might have been more than scraps at first,” Syd remarked, “but those payments may have dwindled as Denby became more of a liability than someone useful.”
Marigold glanced at Leo. “I cannot believe he was bought off so cheaply when he was the one taking all the risk and knew all the parties involved.”
“Promises may have been made to him,” Leo said, “but what could he have done if those above him reneged on those promises? He stayed alive by keeping his mouth shut and accepting whatever they deigned to give him.”
“I suppose he was in a bind,” Octavian said. “He was in this conspiracy as deeply as those in charge. And he would have hanged along with them even if he were the one to turn on them and expose their crimes. Well, for purposes of our discussion, does it really matter what he did or did not do? Or whether he was well paid for his role or not?”
Leo shook his head. “Only to the extent it is easier to trace funds coming in and going out of his account. I don’t know that it matters much how and where he spent his funds.”
“It would help to form a more complete portrait of the man,” Gory said. “Gambling debts? Blackmail? If his home was as shabby as you indicate, he certainly did not spend anything on himself.”
“Let’s set the reasons aside for the moment.” Leo leaned a shoulder against the fireplace mantel, his gaze remaining on Marigold and her friends. “Finn will be able to tell us within a few days what came in and went out of Denby’s account. He’ll know if the man had any vices. He’ll also be able to confirm whether Denby’s betrayal of the Crown extended beyond this one negotiation.”
“As you believe it did,” Julius said.
“Yes, I think there is no doubt of it,” Leo said. “People were bribed and strategically placed. My imprisonment was carefully set up. Denby could only have been a front man, for he was someone with no obvious connections, no friends or family to otherwise put him forward as a Crown envoy. Everything was too carefully crafted to be only a one-time affair.”
“And what of Beldon?” Marigold asked. “Was he involved only the one time on your Carpathian mission or was he in it as deeply as Denby was?”
