Since they’d never leaked the information that The Viper put the word whore near his victims, it was safe to say that Evelyn’s murderer and the one who’d killed the Mercy House girls were one and the same. Looking at fragile, broken little Miss Morton, he couldn’t imagine that she’d had the strength nor intent to commit these crimes. She was exactly what she appeared, a grieving loved one.
“I’m sorry to have upset you,” he said, feeling like an ass. “I appreciate you coming down here today, but I think I have everything I need from you. You’re free to go.”
She blinked up at him, her dark eyes luminous pools of pain. “Promise me you’ll catch him. Promise you’ll make him pay.”
He swallowed, wishing she hadn’t asked this of him, wishing he didn’t have one more person depending on him to make things right. “I’ll do my best,” he said, hoping his best was good enough.
* * *
SEBASTIAN SPENT THE rest of the day trying to find out everything he could about the Blackstone brothers, all without alerting anyone else that he was looking into them. This was somewhat difficult to do, given that they were aristocrats and one was his immediate supervisor.
The only one he felt he could trust with this information was O’Brien, and since Quinn didn’t even officially work for the police anymore, there wasn’t much his friend could do.
As the day had worn on, he’d become more and more convinced that one of the Blackstones was The Viper. Though a fat lot of good that knowledge did him. There was no way he could prove it, and coming forward with his theory would almost certainly cost him his job, which wouldn’t help Jocelyn or Miss Morton at all.
At the end of the day, reluctant to go back to his empty flat and obsess over the fact that tomorrow night he might not be alone there, he made his way to O’Brien’s house in Belgravia.
The butler showed him into O’Brien’s office, and as he waited for his friend, Sebastian strode across the room to the wall that was full of their wildest theories and guesses about The Viper’s identity. Never once had they guessed it might be the assistant commissioner or his brother.
Sebastian wasn’t certain which would hurt him more, that Blackstone was the killer or that he knew it was his brother and had been covering for him this whole time.
Had Blackstone promoted Sebastian just so he could see whether he or his brother were under suspicion? His stomach churned at the thought that perhaps he’d been made inspector not because he was the best man for the job but because he was the worst. Did Blackstone think that Sebastian would never solve the murders? What better way to avoid getting caught than to control the investigation?
“Ness!” O’Brien said as he entered the room. “I wasn’t expecting you tonight.”
“I’m sorry for dropping by unannounced,” Sebastian said, turning around and shaking O’Brien’s hand. “But everything I’ve learned since the funeral has pointed toward one of the Blackstones, and there’s no one else I can talk to about it.”
O’Brien frowned and went to shut the door. “I’ve been afraid of that myself.”
With a sigh, Sebastian caught his friend up on all that had happened after the funeral and what he’d learned from Jocelyn. “So you see my dilemma,” he finished.
O’Brien nodded grimly. “My money’s on Danbury. I’ve never cared for the man. Something about him has always set my teeth on edge.” He strode back over to the wall and looked at their prior work on the case for what Sebastian was certain must be the thousandth time. “After Polly Keys’ murder, he walked into my office while Blackstone and I were discussing it. He asked about how the case was progressing with a sick sort of glee.”
“I think it’s him, too. I’m just not certain if Blackstone knows. Is that why he’s been acting so erratically? Ordering me not to interview Lady Aston? Is he protecting the sick bastard?”
O’Brien sighed grimly and took his seat behind his desk, waving Sebastian toward the other chair. “I hope not. That would cost him his career, and I’ve always liked the bloke.”
“As do I,” Sebastian agreed. “But if he’s known of his brother’s activities this whole time and done nothing to stop him, I think he should lose more than his job. He might have been able to save Evelyn’s life.”
Drumming his fingers restlessly on the desk, O’Brien nodded. “I hate to think this of him, though. I’ve always thought he was one of the few in his position who was actually trustworthy and moral. Perhaps he’s been acting so strangely because he suspects his brother but isn’t certain? This isn’t the sort of thing you’d accuse your own brother of if you weren’t sure. Maybe he’s been running his own investigation into the matter?”
“I hope so,” Sebastian said with a sigh. As an only child himself, he had no real idea of the lengths one might go to help a sibling. “But it’s counterintuitive to be working against us this way.”
“So, what do you want to do about it?” Quinn asked, raising a brow.
“What can I do?” Sebastian groused. “I’ve been looking into both of the Blackstones, but there’s not much I can find out without alerting them that I’m doing it. And I’m not certain enough that one of them is The Viper to ruin my whole career.”
“I’ll start looking into them as well,” O’Brien said. “My brothers-in-law might know something. They run in the same circles and might have heard if there were any rumors or gossip about them.”
“Do what you can,” Sebastian said with a nod. “I really appreciate all your help on this.”
“I want to catch this bastard, too,” O’Brien replied with quiet intensity. “He crippled me for life, made me quit the job I loved, and killed women under my wife’s care. I have a thousand reasons for wanting to stop him.”
“We have to figure this out,” Sebastian agreed. “I don’t think I could live with myself if this bastard kills anyone else under my watch.”
O’Brien sighed and turned back toward the wall of photos and notes. “I’m interested in the lock that was found on the gardener’s shed. It’s better quality than the one that was there originally. So our man breaks open the original one but brings along one of his own. He could have just broken the lock and left the door open, but he obviously wanted to buy himself some time. Slow us down so that we wouldn’t find Evelyn’s body right away. I thought we could start investigating shops that sell high-quality locks. See if anyone remembers selling one like the one we found to any of the men on our list.”
“Well, it’s not much to go on, but at least it’s something. At least it gives me something to do.” Sebastian came to join his friend at the wall, hoping against hope that this time, he’d see something he hadn’t seen before. That somehow, all the pieces of the puzzle would slide into place.
“I wonder how Lady Evelyn received the note asking her to meet him at the park and what happened to it?” Quinn mused.
“That’s a good question. It doesn’t seem like the killer would have been brazen enough to deliver it to her house, nor that she’d have run into him at one of her meetings. So how did she get it?”
He and Quinn passed ideas back and forth for another hour before Sebastian finally decided to call it a day. He needed to get home and bathe, straighten his rooms, and hope that Jocelyn didn’t come to her senses.
Or maybe he should hope that she did because he had a very bad feeling that once he’d made love to her, it would be even more difficult for him when she inevitably walked away.