Page 39 of Dark Embrace

Killian made noreply.

“Let’s just step over here and have a brief chat, shall we?” said theother.

Killian walked with them to the side oftheroom.

Sarah followed, lifting soiled items from the floor as she went, hiding her interest behind themundanetask.

“So you were here the nights all five patients were killed. Can you tell us what you recall?” the dark-haired constableasked.

Killian looked around the ward. All eyes were trained upon them; all ears strained to hear. “May I suggest we adjourn to the corridor?”hesaid.

The constables agreed and the three of themsteppedout.

Sarah lifted the water bucket, then wove her way between the beds, close enough to the open door to listen to whatwassaid.

The dark-haired constable—she knew his voice now—repeated his questions. Killian replied with information both truthful and sparse, offering not a single word more than was absolutely required. As Sarah dipped the ladle and offered water to a patient, she realized that Killian never mentioned that he had seen her the night the woman had died in the sick ward. He never mentioned that she had been by Mr. Scully’s bed, that she had seen a shadow. He never mentioned her at all. He kept her outofit.

The constables let him talk, listening, notinterrupting.

When he was done, the second constable asked, “So that patient, Mr. Scully…he asked you to kill him? Did you do it out of pity? Is that what made youkillhim?”

Sarah bit back a gasp and took a half-step forward before she could stopherself.

“I believe Mr. Scully’s exact words were, ‘“Kill me and be done with it. You know the way of it, Mr. Thayne,’”Killiansaid.

The dark-haired constable said, “So youkilledhim.”

“No.”

“When you killed him, did you think it an act of mercy?” the second constableasked.

“I did notkillhim.”

Sarah tightened her grip on the bucket handle as the constable threw another question at Killian and another, his colleague chiming in, until the drone of their voices buzzed as they challenged and prodded. Killian answered each sally with calmequanimity.

Sarah noticed they asked the same question again and again in different ways.Were you with Mr. Scully when he died? So, what did you do for Mr. Scully at the moment he expired? When Mr. Scully died, how was he positioned in the bed? On his side? On his back?They were not merely questions; they were thinly veiledaccusations.

Though Killian remained calm, they were increasingly disinclined to believe his replies. Their doubt was evident in the tone of their voices and the cadence of the questions that came faster andharshernow.

For the third time, one of the constables asked him, “And exactly where were you at midnight last night, Mr.Thayne?”

For the third time, he answered, “Occupiedelsewhere.”

He sounded amused, and Sarah thought his attitude only further inflamed the officers, inclining them to believe the worst of him. She set down the bucket and glanced around to make certain that no one watched, then she edged forward so she stood at the open door and had a clear view of the three men. The constables stood side-by-side, facing away from her. Killian faced them, which meant he saw her there in the doorway. He offered no recognition of her presence in expression oraction.

“And this morning? At dawn? Where wereyouthen?”

“Occupiedelsewhere.”

“I am afraid that will not do, sir. I need details of your whereabouts, and witnesses who can attest to your activities during the time inquestion.”

Sarah held her breath, her throat tightening, horror and fear congealing in a sickening knot. They believed that he had done this thing. They were convinced that he had killed this man in a hideous, unthinkable manner. No, not justthisman. Many people. They thought Killian was responsible for all the questionable deaths on thewards.

Her first thought was for him. Her second was for herself. If he told them where he had been last night, what little security she had would be sliced away like a scalpel slicing away skin and muscle. If he said he had been with her, her position at King’s College would be forfeit. What would happen to her then? She had managed to scrape aside two pounds four shillings in savings that she kept in a tin beneath the foot of her mattress. That money would not last her long if she found herself withoutemployment.

She wet her lips, trying to think, to plan, to see a way clear of thisdisaster.

Killian’s gaze met hers, and he made a small jerking movement of his head, as though willing her to leave. She understood then that he meant to protect her, even to his owndetriment.