Page 28 of Murder in Disguise (Mary and Bright #5)

Portman Square

Marylebone, London

Night of the All Hallow’s Eve Ball

Pride for how lovely the house had been decorated for this event mixed with worry in Gabriel’s chest as he popped in one last time to the drawing room.

Vases and baskets of flowers of different varieties and autumnal colors were strategically placed all over the room.

Swags of flowers mixed with greenery and branches adorned the doorway and windows.

Roman columns occupied all four corners.

Potted ferns provided a pleasant backdrop to the polished floor.

Candles in the chandelier gleamed and the crystal twinkled.

Other candles in sconces flickered with soft light.

In truth, everyone who’d worked on the decorating had done amazingly, and they were still at it, attending to last-minute details, for the first guests would begin arriving momentarily.

I am the most fortunate of men.

By the time he went upstairs—he’d changed for dinner earlier—his mood had lifted, and he hummed a few bars from a popular waltz. In the dressing room, he nodded to Mary’s maid as well as his valet.

“If you will both excuse us?”

His valet softly cleared his throat. “Do you need additional assistance with your toilette tonight?”

“I do not, for you have done your job all too well, Jameson.” When the maid, Maggie, snickered, he winked at her. “And it seems that my lovely wife has already been put into her gown. We’re nearly done here, wouldn’t you say?”

“Do hush, Bright,” Mary murmured, but there was a faint blush in her cheeks, and her blue eyes shone like gems.

“Pardon me for my assumptions,” Jameson said with a cheeky grin. “Ring if you should change your mind.”

“Thank you, and Maggie, thank you for your help with the decorations. Everything is lovely. I know Miss Swanson will adore the efforts.”

“You are quite welcome, Inspector.” She ducked her head as she moved toward the corridor door. “If you should have need of me, Mrs. Bright…”

“I’ll ring, but we are almost finished here. Why don’t you go down the hall and make sure Adelaide is ready. The poor thing is probably beside herself.”

“Of course.” Then the maid and the valet left the suite.

“Finally alone,” Gabriel said with a waggle of his eyebrows.

“You are incorrigible, yet I’ll let it pass because you are quite handsome in that tailcoat.” She presented him her back. “Why don’t you do up the laces for me. You know that is one of your favorite tasks.”

“Yes, of course. Allow me one moment.” Before joining her, he moved to a tall bureau, opened one of the shallow drawers, withdrew a rectangle-shaped jeweler’s box, and then crossed the room to where she stood. “I have a little gift for you before we go down.”

“Oh?” Mary glanced over her shoulder as he removed a ruby necklace from the box. “You procured me jewelry? That hasn’t happened in a long time.”

“I did, and besides, you always tell me you don’t need jewelry.

” After tossing the box away, he fit the piece about her slim neck.

The gold slipped over her skin, but the six faceted oval-shaped rubies glittered like mad in the candlelight.

“One of my errands this week was to pick up this necklace. “I chose it because you’d told me your gown was red. I wanted this to match, but I also wished for you to know how much I adore you. Over this past month, you have worked so hard to pull this ball together.”

“Well, I did have help, you know.”

“I do, but I am not married to all the rest.”

“True.” She trembled, and he felt the acceleration of her pulse as he manipulated the clasp at her nape. “That is so sweet of you, Gabriel.” When she drifted her fingertips along a couple of the stones, a happy sigh escaped her. “How does it look?”

“As if it was made exclusively for you, and I desperately want to kiss my way around that necklace to your bodice, but I fear once I start, I won’t easily be able to stop ravishing you.

” Instead, he pressed his lips to the crook of her shoulder, and at her next shiver, he grinned.

It was good to know he could still affect her.

With efficient movements, he slightly tightened the laces at the back of her garment then tied them off.

“Even though you are beyond beautiful tonight in that gown and with your hair upswept in the way that drives me mad, you are gorgeous every day, and I’m so damned fortunate you are mine. ”

“Such a gentleman, or a rake depending,” Mary murmured as she turned to face him. She rested her palms on his chest. “I adore the necklace. Thank you.”

“My pleasure.” Easily, he tugged her into his arms, for what sort of husband would he be if he didn’t kiss his wife?

“In the event you wondered, Miss Madison is dead wrong about you; your face and form consistently ignite fires in my veins.” Mary had told him about the conversation she and the housekeeper had overheard.

“I would choose you again and again, for there is more to selecting a life mate than looks.”

“I appreciate that, and I agree, but where you are concerned?” She lifted onto her toes as she gripped his shoulders.

“You are the most handsome of men, both inside and out. Never have I known anyone to treat others—including women—with such dignity and respect as you do.” Then, in a more lowered voice, she added, “To say nothing of your prowess in carnal endeavors.”

“You are playing with fire, my dear.” Then he brought his lips crashing down on hers.

As he made certain she knew exactly what she meant to him, Gabriel pulled her close to his body.

One of his hands slipped down her back, and at her arse, he squeezed a cheek, grinning when she uttered a soft squeal.

Unfortunately, and in line with their usual luck, an urgent knock sounded on the corridor door.

With a sigh that sounded heavily of regret, Mary edged away from him. “Answer that. I need to find my slippers and mask.”

Hoping to God whomever was on the other side of the door didn’t notice his cockstand, Gabriel strode across the room and then wrenched open the wooden panel to find Jameson standing in the corridor. “What is it?”

With a far too cheeky grin, his valet winked. “Pardon the interruption, Inspector, but it’s nearly time to open the ball. You and Mrs. Bright should go down. Collins sent me to fetch you, for he’s beside himself with his extra duties tonight.”

“Right. Thank you for the reminder.” He nodded. “We shall be down directly.” Then, as Jameson loped off along the corridor, Gabriel turned to Mary. “That’s odd.”

“What is?” She regarded him with dark desire in her gaze, and it was all he could do not to act on it, but this was Adelaide’s night, and he couldn’t disappoint her.

“The antique clock on the mantel in the bedroom should have chimed eight o’clock. It didn’t.” With a frown, he led the way into the adjoining room. “Had it done so, we wouldn’t have gotten carried away in that embrace.”

“I don’t believe that for a moment.” But she smiled and his world tilted as he looked back at her. “Perhaps we forgot to wind it last night.”

“I don’t think so. It’s part of our nightly routine; I can distinctly remember turning the key several times.

” Gabriel drifted over to the mantel. While Mary watched, he picked up the clock made of dark stained wood with metal decorations done in a baroque style.

It was an ornate and almost ugly piece, but it had come as a belated wedding gift from his brother.

In lieu of another clock—which he’d lent to Henry a couple of months ago—he had kept this piece.

“Is it still ticking?”

“Not that I can tell.” When he gave the clock a shake, there was a vague rattle inside. “Perhaps one of the pins has come loose.”

Mary shrugged. “I don’t know much about the inner workings of clocks. Do pins hold things together inside? Like cogs and wheels and the like?”

“So I would assume.” Again, he shook the piece.

Another rattle met his ears. Something had definitely broken.

In fact, the hands had stopped at nearly half past five.

“The innards of clocks, especially antique ones, are a delicate balance of things that use pressure and friction to keep working, which is where pins come in…”

Oh, shit.

“What?” Mary was immediately on alert.

“Dear God.”

“Good heavens, Bright, tell me before I go mad.”

He felt his eyes widen even as his chest tightened. “Do you know what a clock pin looks like?”

“No, why?”

“Neither do I, but I’ll hazard a guess that it’s a thin piece of brass with a tapered or sharp edge. Probably no longer than three or four inches. Like a nail or a tiny stake.”

“Oh, no.” Mary’s eyes rounded. “So the girls weren’t killed by a hat pin or a stick pin from a cravat?”

Gabriel shrugged. “They might have been, but a clock pin would serve equally as well.” The implications were horrid. He turned the clock around so she could see the round face. “And look at the hands. These are straight but don’t resemble an arrow. They are simply thin pieces of metal…”

“With a sharp point on one end that could have also been used as the murder weapon,” she finished for him a soft voice.

“Exactly, and remember, Miss Hopewell babbled about a tick tock sort of sound. I didn’t know what it meant at the time, but couple that with the possible use of a clock pin to kill the girls…”

Some of the color leeched from Mary’s face. “Do we know anyone who is connected to a clock maker or repair shop?”

“I don’t remember off hand, but perhaps it’s in our notes.” As Gabriel replaced the clock on the mantel, his hands shook. “At least we have possibly discovered the murder weapon.”

She nodded. “Yes, but we can’t do research just now. Adelaide is waiting for us. This is her night, and she’s looked forward to it for such a long time.”

“Fair point.” His frown deepened. “I can’t disappoint her.” Then he made his way back into the adjoining dressing room and to the bureau once more. “I have a necklace for her.”