Page 16 of Peril in Piccadilly

He looked a bit uncomfortable at that admission, and who could blame him? The last thing he wanted was a wife who was a limpet. I had always known that it would be a bad idea to propose to Laetitia. She was obsessed enough with him that at this point, there was nothing at all he could do that would make her relinquish her hold.

“Was anything else taken at the other burglaries?” I wanted to know. “Other than jewelry and money, I mean?”

“A few small things,” Tom said. “An enameled snuff box, a gold cigarette case, other trinkets of that sort… small, valuable things that would fit easily into someone’s pockets.”

Yes, of course. Our burglar probably wasn’t walking around with a suitcase.

Unless, of course, he was.

But no, Laetitia shook her head when Tom inquired. “I didn’t notice anything like that. All I saw was that he was holding my engagement ring.”

“Finch said that there have been five burglaries in all,” I said. “Has anyone else seen this character?”

Tom shook his head. “So far, the burglaries have all taken place while the houses were empty—of anyone but the servants, that is—or while the occupants were asleep. He’s not inviting attention.”

“But the one time someone noticed him—Lady Latimer’s butler—he ended up dead.”

Laetitia squeaked and turned pale. “Well done, Darling,” Crispin told me, in a tone that indicated the opposite of approbation.

I smirked. “Sorry, Laetitia. I didn’t mean to imply that you were in any danger.”

Laetitia turned enormous, fear-filled eyes on Tom. “Detective Gardiner?”

“Detective Sergeant,” Christopher muttered.

Tom flicked him a look but didn’t respond. “Pippa is winding you up,” he told Laetitia instead.

“So it isn’t true?”

“It’s true that Lady Latimer’s butler is dead?—”

Laetitia squeaked again, and grabbed for Crispin’s hand.

“—but it was not something that the burglar did. The chap’s heart gave out. He was an old man, and the stress was too much for him.”

“So you don’t think that he’ll come after Laetitia because she saw him,” Crispin said, patting Laetitia’s hand.

Tom opened his mouth, but I got there before him.

“If that was going to happen, I’m sure it would have happened already. He was up there alone with her, after all. There was no one to stop him if he wanted to strangle her.”

Laetitia whimpered.

“Thank you, Pippa,” Tom said, in much the same tone that Crispin had employed earlier. “Let me handle this, please.”

“Of course. Be my guest.” I made a gracious gesture to cede the floor to him.

“Lady Laetitia.” He turned towards her. “Pippa’s right.”

Hah, I thought. Christopher glanced at me and smirked. I smirked back. Crispin, meanwhile, rolled his eyes hard enough that he practically gave himself whiplash.

“If this bloke had a problem with you seeing him,” Tom continued, “or he were inclined to violence, it would likely have happened before now.”

Laetitia nodded and sniffed. She was still clinging to Crispin’s hand while she used his handkerchief to dab at her cheeks.

“Now, you say you didn’t see him well, that he was wearing something over his nose and mouth, but every little bit helps. For instance, you would definitely say that the burglar was a man, wouldn’t you? No question about that?”

Laetitia shook her head. “Certainly not. And dressed in black with a scarf over his face and head. I couldn’t see his face aside from his eyes, or his hair.”