Page 74 of A Whisper at Midnight

“Except we already found one piece and know what happened to three others,” Hadrian said with the optimism Tilda needed.

She smiled at him. “You’re right. But don’t touch anything until I motion for you to do so. I don’t want you to become overwhelmed by a terrible headache from multiple visions again.”

“I’ll be careful. And I’ll await your direction.”

Hearing a noise in the bedchamber, they both turned in that direction. Hadrian moved toward the doorway just as Massey appeared. He carried a bag.

“Thank you for coming,” Tilda said.

The valet must have come through the dressing room. “What is it you wish to speak with me about?”

Tilda reviewed what they’d learned from the other retainers. “Aside from the cakes and tarts from the dinner parties, can youthink of anything Mr. Chambers ate or drank that did not come from the household?”

“No, though I must tell you that he often allowed me a small serving of those cakes, and I have not been ill. Why would someone risk poisoning the entire household?”

“I want to make sure Mr. Chambers wasn’t ingesting something that was inadvertently poisoned,” Tilda replied. “Some flours contain arsenic. It’s to make them heavier so the seller can charge more. It’s possible Mr. Chambers wasn’t being poisoned on purpose. However, since you often ate those desserts, I think we can assume they were not poisoned.”

“Could the poison have been in his liquor?” Massey asked. “He drank plenty of it.”

“It could have been, but he likely would have noticed,” Tilda said. “Arsenic dissolves in hot liquids, so it is usually found in tea or other hot dish or baked into food. If it had been in his liquor, he may have noticed its presence, at least the texture.”

Massey nodded vaguely. “I can’t think of anything he ate or drank that wasn’t prepared here. I don’t think Mrs. Dunning cared for him. Nor did Mrs. Blank or Oswald.”

Hadrian arched a brow. “The list of people who liked him is rather short, I think.”

“Is there anything else?” Massey asked.

“Not at the moment.” Tilda eyed his bag. “All packed and ready to leave?”

“Hopefully never to return.” The valet looked to Hadrian. “Have you spoken to Mrs. Chambers yet?”

“I have not, but I will,” Hadrian said with a firm nod. “She is in the parlor.”

Massey wrinkled his nose. “Then I shall leave through the downstairs. I suppose I should say goodbye to the others.”

“Thank you,” Tilda said. “I appreciate you coming. Will we be able to find you at the brothel?”

“For now. I must find a new position posthaste.”

“I’ll deliver a letter of recommendation to your address tomorrow,” Hadrian said.

The valet blinked and offered a stiff bow. “Thank you, my lord.” He grabbed his bag and departed with alacrity.

“He could not leave fast enough,” Tilda noted. “We must consider that he may have been poisoning his employer, regardless of his insistence that he did not. I should think it would have been easy for him to add arsenic to tea.” She turned to survey the study. “Let us search here first, then the dressing room. I am satisfied I searched the bedchamber thoroughly the other day.”

They looked through every inch of the study and found nothing out of the ordinary. And there was no food or anything related to food—just a cabinet with several kinds of liquor.

“You didn’t ask me to touch anything,” Hadrian said.

“There’s nothing odd or suspicious. I wonder if you should go downstairs to the pantry and see if you can detect whether someone other than Mrs. Dunning or Mrs. Blank accessed it.” Tilda blew out a breath. “Though without the arsenic itself, that may be pointless. I wish you could touchthat.”

They searched the dressing room next and again found nothing that provoked Tilda’s curiosity or prompted her to ask Hadrian to touch anything. Frustrated, she told Hadrian they could return to the parlor.

As they walked from the study into the sitting room, they encountered Clara. She seemed to have been waiting and now flushed before looking away from them.

“Did you need something, Clara?” Tilda asked.

Clara hesitated. She worried her hands and chewed her lip. “I’m afraid,” Clara whispered. “Someone poisoned Mr. Chambers. And stabbed him. I don’t feel safe here.”