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“So I was stuck,” Keeble said. Everyone else in the room remained silent and still and listened as he went on, “And then I learned about the gun running. I told myself that no one else would think to investigate from where the lads were getting their new funds, but then I thought of Thomas and wondered if he might notice, and once I’d thought of that—of someone else knowing and possibly alerting the police—I couldn’t rest until I’d learned if Thomas knew or not.

So I went to his office on Tuesday morning, and I didn’t even have to mention the guns—he told me and explained what he intended to do… ”

Penelope thought that, in their minds, the entire group stood in Thomas’s office and watched Keeble sitting in escalating panic before the desk.

Morosely, Keeble shook his head. “I tried to steer him away, to suggest we shouldn’t act precipitously, but he told me he’d already made discreet inquiries regarding how to go about it.

” Abruptly, Keeble looked up, his expression pleading.

“I had to do it. He gave me no choice. He wasn’t going to listen to reason!

I had to stop him before he went any further—before he spread the secret any further!

” Keeble’s gaze locked on the ledger in Montague’s hands.

“If you knew the four men behind that business, you would understand.”

“So tell us who they are,” Barnaby said. “If you want us to understand why you killed Cardwell, why you felt such an overwhelming compulsion to do so, then tell us who you fear.”

Keeble’s eyes rounded, his expression aghast. “I can’t! They’ll kill me!”

“Keeble,” Penelope gently said, drawing his anguished eyes to her. She captured his gaze and held it. “You’re going to hang for Thomas Cardwell’s murder. If, as you claim, your fear of these four men drove you to it, then shouldn’t they pay as well?”

Keeble stared at her and continued to stare as, clearly, her words sank in.

They were all holding their breaths when the office door opened.

The entire company turned, surprised and prepared to be annoyed at the interruption.

Grim-faced, Walsh stepped inside, turned, and held the door wide as Morgan manhandled a rough-looking man into the office. A second scrawny, disreputable specimen followed, propelled inside by O’Donnell.

Mudd and Rawlings brought up the rear, and Rawlings closed the door.

Mudd dipped his head at the pair struggling in O’Donnell’s and Morgan’s grips. “Saw them eyeing the front of the place, then they headed around the back and checked along there before coming around to the front again.”

“We saw they were lugging this.” Rawlings held up a large battered canvas bag and grinned. “All the goods one needs to set a place alight.”

Stokes and Barnaby rose.

Stokes looked at the men, who had finally realized the futility of struggling and were standing half slumped in O’Donnell’s and Morgan’s holds.

Before Stokes could speak, O’Donnell said, “We already asked.” He tipped his head toward Mudd and Rawlings. “Seemed sensible to take advantage of the situation we found ourselves in.”

Stokes arched a brow. “I see. And?”

“And it seems they have orders to torch the place and make sure Keeble dies in the blaze,” O’Donnell reported.

“In their words,” Morgan added, “they were to make sure Keeble went up in smoke along with his records.”

“Oh, dear Lord,” Keeble whispered. Although he, too, had got to his feet, he was hidden from the newcomers by the searchers.

Staring at the floor, the man in O’Donnell’s grip shook his head. “We was paid to do it—didn’t seem all that bad. The geezer as paid us said this joker Keeble had double-crossed his boss.”

Stokes turned his head and looked at Keeble. “You’re right about your masters arranging your demise. If you leave them unnamed, they won’t let you live long enough to meet the hangman.”

In a pensive tone, Penelope observed, “Burning to death is said to be a terrible way to die.”

“Who knows what they’ll try next,” Barnaby said. “Poison?”

“If you tell us their names,” Stokes said, “they’ll be too busy trying to save themselves to worry about visiting any horrific retribution on you.”

Peeking between the intervening bodies, Keeble fastened his gaze on the men sent to kill him.

It took a good minute for his resistance to completely crumble, but eventually, he looked at Stokes and, in an utterly defeated tone, said, “Toby Mavenpick, Edgar Wallace, Gordon Conroy, and Elias Mitchell.”

As if saying the crime bosses’ names aloud had released some of their hold on him, in a firmer voice, Keeble told Stokes, “I don’t want to die in some horrible way—hanging will be bad enough.

Just get the four of them and their lieutenants behind bars, and I’ll explain everything about that ledger and throw myself on the mercy of the court. ”

Barnaby nodded. “An excellent decision. It’s the best and really only thing you can do.”

Stokes had whipped out his notebook and was jotting down the names. “That and pray that the judge hearing your case understands your reasoning, for I think it’s safe to say”—he looked at the faces of the searchers gathered all around—“that ultimately, we do not.”

Stokes raised a hand and beckoned Walsh to him.

When the constable approached, Stokes nodded at Keeble. “Take him and them”—he pointed to the men in O’Donnell’s and Morgan’s charge—“to the Yard.”

Stokes followed his men to Scotland Yard to arrange for Keeble and the two others they’d apprehended to be put into the cells.

Meanwhile, the rest of the triumphant company made for Johnson’s Steak House. Barnaby organized a private room, and they sat and drank and waited for word from Stokes.

Eventually, Stokes strolled in, with O’Donnell, Morgan, and Walsh at his heels.

The company sent up a cheer, and uncharacteristically beaming with delight, Stokes sat and informed them, “There were inspectors in other departments who’ve been after those crime bosses for years and couldn’t believe their luck.

I left them poring over Keeble’s ledger, and they’ll speak with him soon, but I’ve been able to pass off that side of the case entirely to them.

” He glanced around the group. “And in the matter of Thomas Cardwell’s murder, we’ve reached the end and solved the case. ”

Stokes looked along the table to where Ruth was sitting next to Jordan.

“Miss Cardwell, I know that nothing—no amount of kudos—will ever fill the hole in your family left by your brother’s death, but please know and let the other members of your family know that, through Thomas’s insistence on doing the right thing—namely, insisting to Keeble that the authorities had to be informed of the gun-running scheme—even though that action led to Thomas’s death, his integrity resulted in not only the gun runners being arrested, Chesterton as well as his three backers, but also brought about the fall of four of the most notorious crime bosses currently operating in the capital.

” He paused and inclined his head to Ruth.

“The Commissioner asked specifically that I convey his regards to you and your family, and his condolences on Thomas’s death along with his commendation for Thomas’s action that ultimately led to the downfall of so many villains. ”

“Hear, hear!” echoed around the room, and everyone raised their glasses.

“To Thomas Cardwell,” Barnaby said. “He might be gone, but he will not be forgotten.”

“He left his mark,” Penelope stated with a grateful nod directed at Ruth.

Ruth blushed a trifle under their regard. “Thank you. I will let the family know.”

The serving girls arrived to take their orders for food and more drinks, and the company settled to eat, slake their thirsts, and relive various parts of the case.

Montague, Violet, Thomas, and Rose had yet to hear of all the twists and turns—of the Fox Orsett and the warehouse outside Tilbury, or the guns illegally sourced from the Royal Small Arms Factory, or Penelope’s interviews with Keeble’s staff—and were eager to hear the whole tale.

Later, as the talk turned to other subjects, Penelope overheard Jordan tell Ruth, “Thomas sounded like the sort of man who would have taken comfort in knowing that his death wasn’t in vain, that it led to so many serious villains being brought down.

” Jordan paused, then went on, “I only met him on three occasions, but I suspect he believed that, ultimately, justice rules the world, and what’s happened has proved him right. ”

Ruth squeezed Jordan’s hand and nodded. “That’s exactly how Thomas would see it.

” She looked into Jordan’s eyes. “And it’s a comforting thing to be able to tell Mama, Bobby, and Gibson that Thomas has been avenged, his murderer caught, and that, because of Thomas and his honesty, justice has been served. ”

Penelope decided she couldn’t have put it better and turned her attention down the table, leaving Jordan and Ruth to their own devices.

After the meal, Roscoe, Miranda, Mudd, and Rawlings, along with the Glendowers and Montagues, departed for their respective homes.

“A lovely little interlude filled with excitement and satisfaction,” Thomas said with a smile. “But now, it’s back to real life and the daily grind of investments calling my name.”

The others all laughed, and those leaving waved and walked off to find hackneys to ferry them to their destinations.

With Stokes and his men, Barnaby, Penelope, Jordan, and Ruth returned to Scotland Yard.

Barnaby had never seen that venerable institution so abuzz with excitement. The speculation and expectations generated by the impending arrests of four major crime bosses flooded the corridors with an atmosphere of enthusiasm, hope, and determination.

Their party settled in Stokes’s office and waited to hear the news as the arrests were carried out.

It wasn’t long before the inspectors who had taken on the connected cases started to drop by with verbal reports for Stokes.