Page 43 of Stolen By the Cruel Duke
Iris wasn’t sure. She didn’t have any answers. All she knew was that after she and her mother had searched the study, the correspondence between Lord Carfield and the man he’d hired to kill Phineas’ parents was gone.
Iris penned a quick note to Phineas, which she had delivered to his club, where she assumed he had gone after storming out that morning. She also called the Constable, and once he arrived, she tried to answer all of his questions as honestly as possible, although it wasn’t possible to tell him everything.
For example, she couldn’t mention that she suspected her father of orchestrating the theft. It might not be safe to admit this to the Constable. After all, he could be one of the many Bow Street Runners who was reportedly on her father’s payroll.
The Constable was just asking if he could interview the maids when Phineas burst in through the front door of the townhouse, followed closely by James. Her husband cut an impressive figure, his cloak billowing behind him and his eyes flashing. And for the first time since meeting him, Iris understood why people said her husband was the most dangerous man in England.
Phineas looked as if he were capable of taking down a single army by himself. His jaw was set, his eyes were bulging from his head, and there was a cold fury radiating from him that chilled Iris to her very bones. She was sure that her mother and theConstable could feel it as well. Her mother took a step back as Phineas came into the hall, and the Constable shrank slightly.
Iris, on the other hand, felt a surge of relief. Her husband had arrived, and now everything would be all right. If anyone could figure out how to fix what had happened, it was Phineas.
Chapter Fourteen
“What has happened here?” Phineas boomed. His piercing eyes found Iris’s, and he rushed over to her. “Are you all right? Were you harmed?”
He took her hands in his, and she smiled and shook her head. “My mother and I were out when the men broke in,” she reassured him. “We are all right.”
“And my servants?” Phineas asked sharply. “Were they harmed?”
“Mr. Malloy took a blow to the head, but he’s fine now.”
Phineas’s eyes blazed again, and he released Iris’s hands and turned toward the Constable. “Who were these men? What did they want? And what did they take?”
“We are still trying to determine that, Your Grace,” the Constable replied quickly. His voice was oily and obsequious,which made Iris dislike him even more. “From the report your butler gave, we believe the men are hired bandits. They were too organized and too violent to simply be a team of petty thieves. Thieving gangs are usually made up of children, often vagrants, and they never strike during the day, when they could be seen.”
“Get to the point,” Phineas snarled, and the Constable coughed and stood straighter.
“These men clearly knew how to cause the maximum amount of damage in the shortest amount of time. They didn’t try to pick any locks, they broke down doors. My best guess is that they work for one of the larger criminal organizations south of the Thames.”
Phineas’s jaw tightened, and Iris thought she saw a vein throbbing in his temple. She had never seen him so angry—not even at her mother this morning, and that had been deeply frightening.
“And why,” Phineas said, his voice sharp like a knife, “are members of a large criminal organization breaking into my house and stealing from me? It is my understanding that men like that only work for the gang boss that employs them. I have no quarrel with any gang bosses, so tell me, why were they here?”
The Constable swallowed audibly. “These criminals have also been known to… well, sell their services… to wealthy members of the ton. It’s possible that someone like that could have been responsible for this attack.”
Phineas’s nostrils flared. “Aren’t you and your associates at the Bow Street Runners supposed to be watching these gangs? Don’t you know when they make moves into Mayfair? How could you allow something like this to happen?”
“We can’t keep an eye on everything they do,” the Constable whined.
Phineas glared at him so ferociously that he flushed and stopped speaking.
“Not only did these men come into my home and injure my staff,” Phineas growled, “but had they arrived just a few minutes earlier, they would have encountered my wife. Do you have any idea what would have happened if they had harmed one hair on her head? Do you understand what the consequences might have been?”
“Your Grace, I promise you, we will do everything in our power to uncover who did this and bring them to justice.”
“What did they take?” Phineas asked, changing direction in the blink of an eye.
The Constable blanched. “We will have to take an inventory of everything here and cross-reference it against an inventory of your valuables from before. I’m sure your butler will have such a list…?”
Iris stepped forward. She knew that the words she said next would anger her husband, but she just had to hope he would be able to rein in his temper.
“The correspondence that my mother brought you this morning is gone,” she said quietly. “I checked myself. As is the bill of sale that my mother witnessed.”
Phineas’s jaw clenched, but he didn’t look surprised. It was possible that he had also guessed who had ransacked his house.
“At least you weren’t hurt,” he said more quietly. “We were lucky in that regard.”
“I don’t think it was luck,” the Constable interjected, shaking his head. “According to witness statements, it seems the burglars purposefully waited until after Her Grace and Lady Carfield had left. They very much wanted the Duchess to be gone.”
