Page 80 of A Whisper in the Shadows

He cocked his head. “Like how you mentioned at Mrs. Atkins’s?”

Tilda nodded. “Your eyes appear vacant—like someone who is lost in a reverie. I worry someone will wonder what’s happening if they see you in this state.”

“I’ll simply tell them I am lost in a reverie,” he replied with a smirk. His features sobered. “Did I look like that at the bank?”

“No. That was a quick handshake. I only notice it when the visions are longer—usually when you’re touching an object like that letter or the milk jug at Mrs. Atkins’s house.” At Hadrian’s nod, she went on. “What did you see?”

“Phelps, Furnier, and Dr. Giles together at Phelps’s house. Everyone was agitated and arguing. Giles, in particular, was gesturing wildly. Nevill wanted everyone to calm down. He saw the brass candlesticks on the table, and they held candles like the one we found at Phelps’s house last night. Then the memory faded.”

“I wonder if there is a significance to him registering the candlesticks,” Tilda said.

“I had the same thought, but it could be nothing. We may be attributing relevance to an innocuous glance at the candlesticks because we know the missing candlestick is the murder weapon.”

Tilda exhaled. “I would dearly love to find that missing candlestick.”

CHAPTER 18

Hadrian held the door for Tilda as they arrived at the Swan and Hoop shortly before the inquest for Timothy Eaton was to begin. They made their way to the private dining room where the inquest would be held and found that Maxwell was already there, along with Draper and a few others from the mercantile house.

Tilda pulled her pretend husband aside and told him everything they’d learned from Jarret earlier. Hadrian felt another jealous pang as he watched them together. He mentally chastised himself. Tilda had been hired to investigate this case with Maxwell. That didn’t make them permanent partners. It didn’t even mean they’d work together a second time.

But Hadrian wasn’t concerned about just that. He worried the two of them would enjoy working together so much that they would find a reason to continue doing so. Or that their connection would grow deeper than professional associates, just as his and Tilda’s had done.

Only Hadrian wished their relationship would progress even further.

Alas, it would not. Tilda had told him very specifically that her views on marriage hadn’t changed. So why was Hadrianworrying about Maxwell at all? Hadrian realized he was being irrational. Of course, generally speaking, matters of the heart weren’t logical.

Hadrian refocused his attention on their conversation as Tilda told the inspector about the note that Nevill had delivered, inviting Maxwell and Hadrian to speak with him and Furnier following the inquest.

Maxwell’s brows shot up briefly as he looked to Hadrian. “Are we to be offered positions?”

“That is my expectation,” Hadrian replied. He scanned the room, looking for Nevill and Furnier, but decided they must already be in the inquest room. However, Hadrian did see Ezra Clement. The reporter stood near the entrance to the inquest room. Clement met Hadrian’s and Tilda’s gazes but kept his features neutral.

Tilda leaned toward Hadrian. “I look forward to speaking with him at the Lion’s Heart later,” she whispered.

They moved into the inquest room. The jury of twelve men sat along the far wall, and the coroner, Abraham Thetford, had lined up his witnesses along the wall by the door. They included the society’s administrators, Nevill and Furnier, as well as Dr. Giles, and Hadrian also recognized Mrs. Vickers from the lodging house where Eaton lived.

Mrs. Atkins entered a moment later and took one of the witness seats. Hadrian had expected Amos Rippon, Eaton’s friend from the Prudential Assurance Company, to also be in attendance, but he was not.

Thetford looked over the room, which was not quite as crowded as it had been for Phelps, and called the inquest to order. “We are here to investigate the death of Timothy Eaton, who was, until recently, the canvasser for the Coleman Street Ward Amicable Society. He was found washed up on the banksof the Thames on Monday and identified on Tuesday, due to the absence of half the little finger on his left hand.

“His death was caused by a knife wound to the chest. I have determined the weapon used was a long, thin blade.”

Hadrian immediately thought of the dirk that Jarret had mentioned to Tilda and him earlier that day. He looked over at her, and she met his gaze, giving him a subtle nod. She was thinking the same thing.

Thetford went on to say that the weapon used to stab Eaton had not been found.

He first spoke with Mrs. Vickers from the lodging house, then moved through the rest of the witnesses with alacrity. None of them revealed anything that Tilda and Hadrian didn’t already know. The inquest concluded when the jurors rather quickly determined that Eaton had been murdered.

Hadrian immediately turned and, in hushed tones, told Maxwell about the dirk Jarret had mentioned.

Maxwell’s brow furrowed. “I reviewed the police report, and it included a description of the items found in Phelps’s house. I don’t recall anything about a naval dirk.”

“We didn’t see anything like that when we looked through the house after you left with Mrs. Walters the other night,” Tilda whispered.

“I should mention this clue to Chisholm,” Maxwell said, glancing toward the front of the room, where the inspector stood with Sergeant Kilgore.

“We need to speak with Furnier and Nevill,” Hadrian said. “They’re looking in our direction.”