Page 24 of The Quarterlands (Dark Water #4)

“Thrilling enough to kill for?” Josiah asked. Gideon’s eyes flashed. “You did kill him, didn’t you? You shot Elliot Dacre.”

“I wouldn’t insult you with a denial.” Gideon’s expression was crafty, but he also looked more than a little bit pleased with himself. “Of course I did, but you knew that when you came here. Tell me, when did you work it out?”

“Not until this morning, when I watched your memorial service.”

“Ah. I thought that might be a clue, but I couldn’t be sure you’d see it. I hoped you would. What tipped you off?”

“You played Alex’s song at the end – Make me a Channel of Your Peace . It felt like a message, so I rewound it and saw you sitting at the back, right at the beginning, before you left. You were wearing a hooded coat, but I knew it was you.”

“Oh, yes. It was so delicious to be present at one’s own memorial service.” Gideon smiled. “I couldn’t stay and risk being recognised, but I wanted to drop in briefly.”

“That wasn’t why you were there,” Josiah said, watching him closely.

“Really?” Gideon’s face became closed and guarded.

“No. You came to see if she’d be there.”

“She?”

“Madeleine Selcourt. Your houder.”

Gideon took a sip of his tea, but Josiah noticed his hand was shaking. “Well, well, you really are very good at this, which I suppose I knew. Yes, I wanted Miss Madeleine to be there. I adored her.”

“But she didn’t come, did she? She told me she was a very busy woman, and you were, in the end, just a servant.” He watched Gideon’s eyes darken. “She didn’t feel obliged to attend, despite the millions you made for her running Belvedere.”

“She told you? You went to see her?” Gideon leaned forward eagerly. “At Belvedere?”

“Yes, I went there yesterday.”

“And today you’re here. That’s really very impressive.”

“Is that why you killed Elliot Dacre?” Josiah asked. “In a fit of pique towards houders because Madeleine didn’t come to your memorial service?”

“Good lord, no.” Gideon took another sip of his tea.

Josiah raised an eyebrow. “It was the catalyst, though, wasn’t it?

You were devastated. You’ve been rejected your entire life – by your father, the Arkians, and now by the one person to whom you’d offered your devotion, your life’s service.

She turned out to be no different to all the others who let you down.

It was enough to make you contemplate murder, wasn’t it? ”

“A very interesting piece of cod psychology, but no,” Gideon said waspishly.

“I’d already planned Dacre’s murder. Why else hold a fake memorial service?

I wanted people to believe I was dead, so that I’d be left alone to observe you and Alex from afar.

Not that I care about going to jail, given I won’t be there for very long, but I didn’t want you solving it too soon. ”

“Too soon for what?”

“I’m a very precise person. A completist. I like things to be just so, as you can see.” Gideon waved his hand around the tidy room. “I hate loose ends, Investigator Raine, and I’m dying.”

“And before you die, you want resolution to the one big, unresolved story of your life?” Josiah said slowly.

“Quite.” Gideon inclined his head. “How is poor dear Alex?”

“Surviving. Just.”

“I’m glad. He really hasn’t had an easy time of it, but then few of us do, do we?” Gideon sighed. “I’m very fond of that boy. In all my years working at Belvedere, I never came across anyone with such a remarkable story.”

“He said he told you everything.”

“Well, almost everything.” Gideon gave a secretive smile. “He told me all about his dear friend Solange, and how George Tyler killed her.”

“Yeah, that pissed me off. You could have helped him, you could have reported Tyler.”

“I could have done no such thing,” Gideon exclaimed. “Nobody would have believed Alexander Lytton. They barely believe him now and he has you on his side. I would have ruined my houder’s business and reputation for confidentiality, and all for what? For nothing.”

“You could have spared Alex what he’s been through these past few years.”

“If I’d reported George Tyler to the Thorities, Alex wouldn’t be alive right now,” Gideon told him crossly. “Come now, Josiah, you know that.”

Josiah had to concede there was some truth to that.

“So, you taught him how to hide his true self in order to lull Tyler into a false sense of security, hoping that one day he would find a way to obtain justice for Solange.”

“Precisely. He needed to learn how to be a servant. That’s what Tyler wanted, and it’s precisely what I taught him.”

“What you taught Alex almost killed him.”

“No, it kept him alive,” Gideon declared passionately. “Don’t you see, it was the only thing I could teach him, Josiah. The only thing in my power to bestow upon him – the ability to pretend to be the perfect servant. He was a wonderful student, in the end, when he realised it was his only hope.”

“Were you pretending, too?” Josiah asked. “To be the perfect servant?”

“No. I believe I was. Some of us like living in captivity, Josiah. I wouldn’t expect you to understand – you’ve made such a virtue out of your independence – but not all indies feel the same way. I loved service, I still do, and I loved her. I worshipped her.” Gideon looked away wistfully.

“And when you told her you had cancer, what did you expect? That she’d move you into her house and nurse you herself?” Josiah asked cruelly.

Gideon’s face seemed to collapse in on itself, as if he’d been punched. “No, but I didn’t expect her to cast me off like a shabby old coat, throw some money at me, and leave me to die alone. She broke my heart.”

“What was the nature of the attraction?” Josiah asked, leaning forward. “Why were you so besotted with her, Gideon?”

“She was perfect,” he breathed, his eyes shining. “She was everything I’d have wanted in a woman, if I’d been… otherwise inclined. Beautiful, cultured, intelligent. She was never boorish or uncouth.”

“And you never had to tarnish this perfect goddess with thoughts of sex,” Josiah murmured.

Gideon looked horrified. “Sex is for men and dogs. She was untouchable, unsullied, the perfect woman. She never bothered herself with men. She was cool, aloof, alone. I loved that about her.”

Josiah could see that Gideon’s strict religious upbringing had made him compartmentalise women and sex in this strange way. Of course Madeleine was the perfect woman to him. Forever unattainable, always sitting on the perfect pedestal he’d placed her upon.

“You dedicated your entire life to this goddess and she couldn’t even be bothered to come to your memorial service. Did you hope that she’d at least shed a tear for you?”

“Nothing so mawkish,” Gideon snapped. “I merely wanted her to attend. I hoped that she would prove, in the end, that I had been of value to her, that she held me in some regard, some affection. I hoped…” His voice faltered.

“But she didn’t,” Josiah said bluntly. “And you realised it was all a lie. A lifetime of impeccable service, wasted on a woman who couldn’t even be bothered to pay her respects at the end. No wonder you were so angry.”

“It wasn’t wasted,” Gideon retorted. “Service never is. It was, perhaps, misguided.”

“Were you surprised to see Tyler at the memorial service?”

“Not really. George Tyler is a man of great curiosity and energy. He almost certainly only attended to make sure I was actually dead.”

Josiah was taken aback. “Why?”

“I trained several of his servants after Alex. He was a paranoid man, with good cause, and I don’t just mean Solange.

He had much to hide, and he suspected that I’d learned at least some of his secrets.

He was always fascinated by what I’d done with Alex, and by extension, had a certain fascination with me.

I suspect all those elements explain his attendance that day. ”

“It’s quite something to fake your own death and arrange your own memorial service.”

“It was necessary for two reasons: one, to provide me with an indisputable alibi for Dacre’s murder, should you look in my direction; and secondly, to see whether she would attend.”

“If she’d been there, shedding a tear for you, might you have decided not to kill Dacre?”

“Unlikely.” Gideon shrugged. “I rather fear that Dacre’s days were numbered from the minute I found out that mine were.

Please don’t misunderstand me, Josiah. My mind didn’t immediately go to murder.

I did seek other ways to bring about the resolution I craved.

When I first left Miss Madeleine’s employ, I looked for Alex.

I’d heard very little about him in the intervening years.

There had been no news story about Tyler being arrested, so I knew Alex hadn’t been successful in his mission.

I did see his beautiful face on some holopics, but that’s a tedious art form and not one I’m interested in.

So, I wondered what had become of him. I must admit I was a tad disappointed that he hadn’t fulfilled the only thing in his life that held any meaning for him. ”

“You wanted Tyler to go down for Solange’s murder. Tyler was a bad houder, and you disapprove of bad houders,” Josiah guessed.

“Oh, I have no sympathy for Mr Tyler. He’s a thoroughly bad man.

” Gideon shrugged. “We who live to serve must believe that those we dedicate our lives to are worthy of our service. Mr Tyler was decidedly not. I thought maybe that Alex had lost his nerve, so I found a way to return his picture of Solange, to motivate him. It wasn’t enough, though.

I knew I didn’t have all the time in the world, so I decided to take more drastic action. ”

“So, Elliot was collateral damage in your quest to bring Tyler down?”

“Elliot Dacre was a bad houder, too,” Gideon said dismissively. “I gave him a sporting chance, though. I went to him and offered him all my money. I thought I could buy Alex and help him fulfil his vow to poor, tragic Solange. If Elliot had accepted, then he wouldn’t have had to die.”