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I uttered a few choice words under my breath as the other two watched me in trepidation.

Jane fleeing might have nothing to do with Lord Alfred’s death, I told myself.

The theory went that a guiltless person had no reason to run from the police, but I knew that in reality, plenty of people who’d done no wrong had been banged up, myself included.

The instinct to take to one’s heels was understandable.

Even so, it would be far better for Jane to stay and face Sergeant Scott than give him an excuse to arrest her.

“Tess, take our wine out of this crate and put it with what we brought,” I said. “Then go down the hall and speak to Sergeant Scott. Mary, carry on with what you were doing, and under no circumstances allow Mr. Armitage to come in here and abscond with more bottles. I will find Jane.”

So speaking, I removed my apron, snatched up my hat, and charged out of the house, taking the outside steps as rapidly as I could.

It was a bright, sunny Easter afternoon, perfect for families who lived on the square to stroll in Portman Square’s small park, as many now did.

Children smiled at mothers and fathers, who put aside their aristocratic arrogance to teach games to their sons and daughters, nannies hovering to ensure their charges were on their best behavior.

No one bothered to take note of a woman in cook’s garb rushing along the street, searching every which way for an errant kitchen maid.

If Jane knew London well, she could be far away by now, gone to ground as only born-and-bred Londoners could. We might never see her again.

I doubted very much that Jane had stabbed Lord Alfred, but Sergeant Scott or Inspector McGregor might decide to arrest her in absentia and send out constables to scour the streets for her.

I headed down Orchard Street, reasoning that Jane would flee east and south as quickly as possible. She might have family or friends in that part of the metropolis or across the river who would take her in.

Long before I reached Oxford Street, I found Jane.

Or rather, I saw her struggling hard against Daniel, who was still dressed in his shabby clothes and trying to hold on to her.

I neared them just as Jane gave Daniel a hearty kick in the shin. Daniel winced, but his grip did not loosen.

“Stop,” I commanded Jane.

She swung to me, her eyes wild. “Mrs. Holloway, help me get away from ’im. ’E’s a madman.”

“No, he is not. He is a friend, and you need to cease.”

Jane’s surprise stilled her. “A friend?” She studied Daniel in distaste. “What sort of friends you got, Missus?”

“Very good ones,” I said. “Why are you trying to run, Jane? The sergeant will immediately suspect you’re guilty, when I know you are not.”

“Course I ain’t. Who says I am? I never stuck a knife in the young master. Why should I? I keep myself well away from the likes of ’im .”

“Exactly,” I said. “You were in view of me the whole time today, which I have already told Sergeant Scott. But taking flight will not help. Why did you run?”

Jane began to struggle again, but this was futile against Daniel’s strength. “Make ’im turn me loose,” she wailed.

“I think I’ll hang on to you a bit,” Daniel replied cheerfully.

Jane glared at me. “Are you a procuress? And here I thought you was pure as the driven snow.”

“Certainly not.” My tone was stern. “I am neither of those things.”

“Then why won’t you let me go? It ain’t your business, and I can be well away.”

“If the sergeant and inspector take it into their heads that you’re guilty, they’ll hunt for you across London and not stop until they find you,” I said. “You’ll never work again, and you’ll endanger any family or friends you run to.”

Jane stilled, as though she hadn’t considered this. That she hesitated to endanger loved ones raised her in my estimation.

“Tell me , at least, why you ran,” I went on. “We’ll decide what the sergeant needs to know.”

Jane’s eyes widened. “You wouldn’t peach?”

“That rather depends. Have you been pinching things from the house?”

“No.” Her quick outrage made me believe her. “I ain’t a fool. I’d get the noose for that.”

“Then why?”

Jane went quiet in Daniel’s grip, though he was experienced enough not to release her. “I think her ladyship killed him,” Jane said mournfully. “Only, I don’t blame her, like. His young lordship was always so awful to her. I don’t want to say nuffink that will get her into trouble.”

I listened in surprise. I hadn’t thought Jane an admirer of Lady Babcock, though when I thought it through, she’d been more dismissive of Lord Babcock and his first wife. It had been Mrs. Morgan who’d told me the second Lady Babcock had been no better than a tart, and Mary who’d derided her.

“Why do you say this?” I asked Jane. “Except for the fact that Lord Alfred was rude to his stepmother, there must be another reason you suppose it.”

Jane cast a sidelong glance at Daniel. “Is this the Mr. McAdam you were talking about? The one you sent Tess out to find this morning?”

That she’d deduced this made my respect for her rise even more.

“At your service,” Daniel said in his most congenial tone. “You can tell us anything, Jane. We’re good at keeping things confidential.”

“You talk funny for a tramp,” Jane declared, then she heaved a resigned sigh.

“All right, I’ll tell you. Her ladyship and Cook have been arguing back and forth all week, going into corners and speaking sharply, arms waving.

I caught sight of her ladyship with Mrs. Morgan in the larder, and her ladyship never comes below stairs.

Mrs. Morgan went upstairs a time or two as well, which ain’t usual.

I expected Mrs. Morgan to get the sack any day, but then she grows powerful sick.

And now …” Jane’s voice grew thick with tears.

“I ain’t staying in a house where the family murders each other and poisons the staff. ”

I could not argue this last point. “If you believe her ladyship did these things, why do you not want to tell the police?”

“’Cause she’s been kind to me, hasn’t she?

” Jane turned to me pleadingly. “She made old Seabrook hire me, when I didn’t have nowhere to go.

Her ladyship caught me shivering on the street steps and told me to go into the kitchen, eat something, and then help out a while.

That were about a year ago—I been here ever since.

Seabrook tells us not to speak poorly of her ladyship, but she don’t like her, that’s certain.

I had to pretend I felt the same, in spite of her ladyship’s charity to me, so I could keep on Seabrook’s good side.

” She sagged. “I try not to talk about her at all.”

An interesting tale. It sounded as though Lady Babcock indeed had a kind heart beneath her vacant expression. Even if Lady Babcock had not, in fact, laced the tea with morphine, she’d been concerned enough about her cook, despite their quarrels, to look in on her.

I was impressed that Lady Babcock had retained her compassion after she’d been thrust into her husband’s family and lived for years surrounded by people who didn’t like her.

Would a person who took pity on a girl in the street murder her husband’s beloved son? As far as I knew, Lady Babcock had no children, so she wouldn’t be clearing Lord Alfred out of the way so her own son could inherit. She also didn’t sound like a lady who would lash out in a pique.

“It seems unlikely Lady Babcock stabbed him,” I told Jane. “She and Mrs. Morgan could have been arguing about what to serve for Easter dinner, which has nothing to do with the murder.”

I didn’t quite believe that, but I needed to reassure Jane.

“Suppose,” she conceded.

“Sergeant Scott only wishes to know where you were when the murder occurred. You were helping me in the kitchen. Tess and I had eyes on you the entire time. That is all you need to tell him.”

“Mary nipped out for a bit,” Jane said unhappily.

I came alert, as did Daniel. “Pardon?” I asked.

“After we sent up the fish and were in a bother about getting the ham and its fixings ready at the same time. I saw Mary slip out the back door and go up the outside stairs.”

Had she? I’d never noticed, but we’d been focused on the meal, and Mary had been elbow-deep in her sink, or so I’d believed.

“She was back down when Mrs. Seabrook announced his lordship’s death,” I recalled.

Mary had been more outraged than the rest of us when Mrs. Seabrook had told us the meal was off. Had Mary already known why it was, her reaction feigned?

Mary had professed great admiration for Lord Alfred. Had she been madly in love with the young man? If he’d rebuffed her, and she’d been upset … Oh, dear heavens.

“I will speak with Mary,” I said firmly. “Jane, you go back inside, tell Sergeant Scott when he calls for you exactly where you were before Lord Alfred was found, and remain silent about everything else.”

“I know how to keep mum,” Jane declared. “I only told you, because you and your man pried it out of me. I was afraid the Peeler would too.”

“You’ve confessed it to us, so your conscious is clear. Now, return before Sergeant Scott decides you’ve run away and sends constables out to find you.”

Jane nodded, as though agreeing to be sensible. Daniel finally let her go, and she walked away from us, squaring her shoulders as she went.

I kept a sharp eye on her, but she made for Portman Square without breaking stride. I’d be right behind her as soon as I finished speaking with Daniel.

I turned to him, my resolve cracking. “Please tell me Lord Alfred had so many enemies that anyone in London could have broken in and killed him in his own front hall. I don’t like to think someone who lives in the house did it, even though I know it’s most likely.”