Page 94 of A Whisper in the Shadows

Blanching, Mrs. Walters sent an apologetic look toward Tilda. “I didn’t mean to push you. I—I was just trying to get away.”

Chisholm grunted. “Regardless, you could have caused her great harm. We’ll verify what you’ve told us.” He narrowed his eyes at her. “And we’ll know if you’ve lied.”

“I haven’t,” she swore, her voice climbing with distress. “I hoped to change his mind, to persuade him to take the money from this society and be done with it all. What reason would I have had to kill him?”

“Perhaps you didn’t mean to,” Hadrian said blandly, though there was a dark glint in his eye.

Everyone knew what Hadrian was saying. Mrs. Walters swallowed.

Tilda could think of at least two reasons Mrs. Walters had for killing her husband—anger at his betrayal of their plan, and jealousy if she somehow learned of his association and potential affair with Mrs. Atkins. But she didn’t voice them. Phelps’s murder was Chisholm’s investigation, and she wasn’t sure he’d appreciate her input.

Tilda glanced toward the inspector before fixing her gaze on Mrs. Walters once more. “I’ve one last question. Did your husband hire Eaton as a canvasser to recruit people who were sick and overcharge them for fees and dues?”

Mrs. Walters’s brow furrowed. “We didn’t ever use a canvasser before, and Philip never admitted members who were ill. That would have drawn attention. If he was doing that, it’s no surprise the scheme failed. I knew he was too greedy.” She closed her eyes briefly.

“Thank you, Mrs. Walters.” Tilda nodded at Chisholm to indicate she was finished.

“Wait, I have a question,” Hadrian said. Tilda looked over at him, curious what he wanted to ask. “Mrs. Walters, do you know who Mrs. Atkins is?”

She shifted on the bench, and her features hardened. “She’s a benefactress who’s been supporting the Amicable Society.”

“Have you met her?” Hadrian asked.

Mrs. Walters’s amber eyes flashed with surprise before darkening. She hesitated before responding. “Yes.”

Tilda glanced at Hadrian, so pleased he’d started this line of questioning. “When?”

“I called at her house on Monday.” Mrs. Walters cast her eyes toward the floor again and spoke in a quieter tone.

“What happened?” Chisholm demanded. “You should not be keeping important information from us.”

“Nothing happened,” Mrs. Walters replied defensively. “I said I knew ‘Phelps’ from before he came to London.” She said the name ‘Phelps’ in a derisive tone. “I told Mrs. Atkins he was a philanderer, and she should not trust him. She laughed and said she liked philanderers because they didn’t expect much.”

“Take her back to her cell,” Chisholm said to the constable.

Hadrian stepped forward quickly and offered his hand to Mrs. Walters to help her up. “Thank you for your honesty today.”

Tilda knew he was trying to see a memory, perhaps to determine if the woman was hiding anything else. She took a step toward them as Mrs. Walters stood, hoping to give him a little more time to see something. “It speaks well of you that you’re forthcoming now and admitting your crimes. If there is anything else you ought to divulge, you must do so now.”

Mrs. Walters shook her head, then withdrew her hand from Hadrian’s. “I didn’t see anyone else. After I saw my husband had been killed, I rarely left the boarding house until I went back to his house on Thursday. I was too upset. And perhaps a little afraid.”

“Why?” Tilda asked gently.

“If someone would kill Philip because of what he’d done, mayhap they’d kill me too. I doubted anyone here knew about me, but I couldn’t be sure.” She sounded genuinely frightened, which—at least to Tilda—supported her declarations of innocence.

Chisholm inclined his head toward the constable, who then led Mrs. Walters from the room.

Once they were gone, Chisholm exhaled. “That was very helpful. Now we know Phelps was killed between ten, when Mrs. Burley saw him enter the house with Nevill, and one.”

Tilda couldn’t help thinking Nevill was now the prime suspect in both murders. He had motive and was seen at both murder scenes. Of course, only Tilda and Hadrian even knew where Eaton had been killed. She looked to Chisholm. “Mrs. Walters is almost certainly the woman Mr. Burley saw.”

“Agreed,” Chisholm said. “Still, I’ll confirm the time she says she was there with Burley.”

“I imagine this will conclude Maxwell’s investigation,” Chisholm said. “Mrs. Walters confirmed that her husband started the Amicable Society with the intent to commit fraud.”

“We still don’t know if he and Eaton were working together,” Hadrian said.

Chisholm’s brows drew together. “Does that even matter at this point? I’m sure the victims of this crime only care about recovering their money.”