“Nothing. They know better than to spout about another Sinful Rose. They’ll be worried about their own throats.”
“Fredrick, stop it! You know I’m not one of them. Stop teasing me and get me out of here!” My heart is thumping that hard I can feel it hopping about in my chest but I breathe deeply. There’s little proof of any wrongdoing on any of our parts. Lydia has done her time in prison and Charlotte’s husband is sitting in Davenport Manor. There’s no solid evidence that Alice Longmire even knew Eve Good, never mind killed her. Much as I’m anxious, my brain is settling into the hope that this is almost over and there’s nothing men can do against us all.
I take to smiling at Fredrick like I want to seduce him if he opens the locked gates that are keeping me from my freedom. I’d do damn near anything to get out of here, that’s for sure and he knows it. What is Laurie thinking? There’s a stab to my guilty heart to think of him. Again, Laurie is a casualty of circumstance.
“I was just at a meeting. We’ve committed no crimes. What does Laurie think?” I ask, sinking backwards into the cold cell and onto the thin mattress on the low bed. My hands go into my hair. “We caught Charlotte and Lydia, I suppose. But we don’t have much proof. Other than our testimonies of what we heard them admit to. But there’s not much else is there? Laurie has ruined my work.”
“Exactly,” Fredrick says. “It was my fault. I sent him Eve’s letter as he asked me what I thought. I always felt he should know about it and so I sent it. My fault, I know. I’ve explained this to him on the telephone and told him there’s nothing to be done now. I’d advise you both to let these women off to do whatever they do. Unless we get proof of their direct involvement in murders, our hands are tied – for now at least. We must walk away.”
“And …” I say, “when you say for now, does this mean you will let me continue this work?”
Fredrick comes closer to the bars and says, “Someone has to keep an eye on these dangerous women. Does that make you happy, Norah? I thought you’d be running home to Ireland and to safety.”
“You really mean it? You really mean that I’ll have a role at Thistleforth House?” I ask, peering at Fredrick. “You’ll let me stay on the case of the Sinful Roses? Be a detective for you? Really?”
“Well, let’s see if there’s a need for all that. There’ll probably be no more about it after we’ve scared them sufficiently. I’d say there’ll be no more of that silly rabble in the future. I cannot see them bothering us further.”
“But I’ll be consulted if they show up again? Please say yes, Fredrick? Go on!”
“I’m sure that’s the last we’ll hear of this murdering wives club! But … I do know somewhere where you can do a good job.” He raises his eyebrow and adds, “You need to get back to Davenport Manor as soon as possible. You’ll go, won’t you? Laurie will want you back once he knows the truth. I’m sure of it.”
“Let me out of here!” I snap and try not to leap into his arms in gratitude when the gate is opened. I look around the great walls and small space and thank God for my release.
It seems that Giles and Laurie were not privy to all of the meeting. They didn’t hear the first few minutes where I made an oath to be a Sinful Rose forever more. If they did, I’d never be allowed back in Davenport Manor.
My mouth is dry and I feel weak as water. Walking out towards the front door, I realise that I’ve had a lucky escape. But, as the cold air hits me, something tells me that I’m far from being a free woman. Much as Fredrick thinks they’ve all gone away, I know damn well that I’m a Sinful Rose now. And death, in one way or another, is my only escape.
“Does Laurie want to see me?” I ask, worrying myself sick.
“We’ll have to explain things to him. Talk him around a bit,” Fredrick says, marching for the main door to the street. “But there’s no better woman to do that now, is there?” He winks and slightly taps my arse.
I stretch to put on my coat and breathe a deep sigh of relief when I hear Fredrick suggest, “How about I just take you home to Davenport and we take it from there?”
Chapter 45
Laurie Davenport
I’m by the window in Davenport Manor, letting the sun warm my knees, when Giles comes in with the jingling china teacups on the trolley. It seems that an aging Giles doesn’t trust himself to carry a tray any more. I feel for him. We are all falling apart in so many ways. Time and life itself is cruel. What is the point of anything?
Despite all of Freddie’s protestations about what went on in Kensington, his words have not sunk in. He taps my knee again to waken me from my wide-awake nightmare.
“Are you there, Laurie?” he asks, all joyful. “We unmarried or divorced fellows must stick together, eh? You too, Giles. Bachelors should be given medals for stamina in the face of pressure to marry!” He snorts and Giles chuckles. “Thank you for the tea, ol’ boy. It might help the mood in this room. It’s like a funeral in here. Laurie, you do know that you are safe now? And this whole sorry thing is sorted once and for all? Mission completed!”
“Fuck you, Freddie!” I snap. He knows full well that I did sweet damn all to rescue myself or the situation. “I did nothing and well you know it. And you just let those women walk free.” I gesture widely with my arms, wondering where I might land a good hard thump on someone to ease this aggravation.
“Don’t be so cross,” Freddie groans. “All of this would have gone unnoticed had you not been so adamant that Charlotte tried to kill you. You were right and I never doubted that. Not once and you don’t give me one bit of credit for being the best friend in the world to you, old boy! Not one bit of credit do you give!” He flips his fingers off my arm in a playful way. I long to punch him good and proper. “You’re not to blame yourself for any of this, Laurie. It has all worked out fine. Like I promised. Didn’t I tell you it would all be fine?”
“Fine?” I say, breathless. “How in the name of God is any of this fine?”
“Not one man was murdered,” Freddie jokes. “It’s always a good day when no-one we know dies.”
“Stop being foolish! And if you had trusted me through all of this, I would look a lot less foolish too,” I say, holding back some threatening tears.
“I know Norah and I should have told you the truth, Laurie. But really you aren’t detective material, are you, old chap? If you had stayed on at the Ravenscairn house you would have seen the police raid the place. They took Charlotte, Lady Dornan and Alice Longmire away. Norah did amazing work to get them all there at the one time. It tooks weeks of preparation. Which you almost destroyed, I might add. But thankfully, they know what’s what now.”
“I should have known what you were both doing!” I say. “You should have told me. And nothing happened to those women! Not a thing. Their names aren’t even in the paper. It’s a disgrace!”
“Now, Laurie, even I didn’t know exactly what Norah had planned. That was the whole point. The fewer people who knew the better. Especially you. You’re not good at keeping secrets.”
“Giles and I heard Alice Longmire admit to the most heinous of crimes. I mean really! Walking free? Murdering women. Is there no justice!”
“For justice there must be a proven crime.”
“Stop talking, Freddie. I am seething!”
“Well, that’s good news. Shows you are still with us and well in body and spirit.”
“Dear God, I really want to break your nose, Freddie! And you sent Norah here under false pretences.”
“Norah being here in Davenport Manor and infiltrating the Roses meant I knew you were safe and also what those bitches were up to,” Freddie says. “But there’s little we can do to them without solid proof. Norah did her damnedest – but such is life.”
“You toy about with people’s lives,” I say, spittle leaving with the words.
“We just thought it for the best that you weren’t involved at the very end. That’s all.”
“All?” I start shouting. “All! Norah convinced me it w
as all in my head. She tricked me! I cared for her and she lied to me constantly.”
“She didn’t lie to you constantly, Laurie. That’s most unfair! When she left she just didn’t tell you where she was going. That was for the best. You couldn’t have gone to the Ravenscairn with her anyhow. Stop making a mountain out of this tiny molehill.”
“Molehill!”
“And what would you have done there? You almost ruined all of her hard work. You should not have been there! It’s a Murdering Wives Club, Laurie, and the last time I looked you’re not someone’s wife.”
“Neither is Norah.”
“She had the brainwave to write them a warning letter and say she would keep them informed. She built trust.”
“She’s good at that!” I shout again. “How long was she playing with me? From the beginning?”
Freddie coughs.
Giles hands me a teacup and says, “Sir, I think Norah was always building trust with everyone. Including me. Don’t annoy yourself unduly. I think at heart Norah is a good woman.”
“Is that supposed to make me feel better? Am I supposed to feel better that you were fooled by her too? Am I not supposed to worry that I fell for a woman who was not what I thought she was? Again!”
“Laurie, you really are making a bigger deal of this than it is, my good man,” Freddie says with an annoying chuckle. “Norah spent time communicating secretly with both Charlotte and Lydia since they came here to Davenport Manor. That was all that was hidden from you. It was something that might or might not have worked.”
“And there was no point in burdening the blind idiot!”
“We weren’t keen on Norah becoming a Sinful Rose as we thought she needed a husband to be one. But it seems that wasn’t altogether necessary. She kept me in the dark too, old boy, until she was about ready to pounce on them all. I could take umbrage too about that, but I don’t. Because I see that she was right and got the job done.”
“Huh!” I set down the tea with a jolt and spill it over my hand. I refuse to squirm with the heat. Anger is bubbling and I’m determined that I shan’t get upset. A man is better to be angry than crying and I cannot be any less of a man right now. “There’s nothing done. They are walking about. Free to kill again!”
“They are exposed. Laid bare as it were. There’ll be nothing from those bitches for some time.”
“And you know that for a fact? Eve Good painted a very scary picture of what these women are capable of.”
“I sent you Eve’s letter just so you were on your guard again and that all of this was less of a shock. However, you weren’t supposed to go to that house and you weren't supposed to get it into your soft head that Norah was a Sinful Rose. That was a little unfortunate.”
“And you’re totally sure about Norah now? Are you sure that she isn't manipulating you too? Are you one-hundred-per-cent sure she is telling the truth?”
Freddie sounds shocked and says, “Norah Walsh is a great detective. And, yes, I know she’s a woman, and it has surprised me too that she’s good at it – but there you have it. She is one of the best. I aim to keep her employed in some shape or form. I’ve promised her that I’ll not forget all she’s achieved here. And our Norah also got you back on your feet. Don’t forget that.”
“General,” Giles says and pauses. “Shall I …?”
“Just a moment, Giles,” says Freddie abruptly. He claps a grip around my sleeve and whispers, “You care for Norah. If you want to be lonely and bitter for the rest of your life, that’s fine by me. But don’t forget that you care for the woman who got you through all of this. Don’t be a stubborn ass and ruin a good thing. Yes, Giles, go and show Norah in.”
Norah! I want to see her and don’t want to simultaneously. My mind and heart are in a muddle and I’m on the verge of fearful, angry tears. Freddie cannot witness that and I cough back emotion and find the teacup to sip at. It’s a man’s job to care and protect his wife, his woman, and here I sit wondering who is friend or foe.
There’s a slight creak of the door and Norah’s scent enters. I don’t know where to cast my eyes and start blinking and fumbling. I don’t know what to do with my hands or my feelings.
“Laurie?” she says.
Freddie and Giles’ footsteps retreat and hers come closer.
“May I talk with you?”
“No.”
She drags the chair over like she used to when we were Sherlock and Watson and deep in conversation. I hate that she lied and that I was fooled over and over again. I loathe that I want her close to me despite all that’s been hidden between us.
“I’m sorry,” she whispers. “I didn’t want to have to leave without telling you that we were so close to finding the truth. It might not have worked and –”
“Please don’t justify it. I was a fool. Blind Laurie, the fool. Don’t keep the lies going. You don’t care what I think. It’s a man’s job to protect his woman and here I sit, unable to do it. You don’t respect me.”
“You’re a wonderful man,” she says, attempting to take my hand, but I pull away. “You’re the best man I know. I hope that you can still care for me the way that I care for you?”
Soft skin touches my wrist and I let her take my fingers in hers. I want her so very much. Every ounce of bitterness and resentment fades as she tightly holds my hands in hers. I need her by my side.
“Forget everything else. We’re a good team,” she purrs. “I didn’t lie. I may have led you down a path but I didn’t deceive you too badly. I found the advertisement and sent them a letter. It took a long time to work on getting them all together. And then of course I had to go into the Ravenscairn alone.”
“Why take me at all on this process in the first place? Why bother with me, the burdensome idiot?”
“I came here to keep you safe and to keep an eye on Charlotte. Then Eve Good would only talk with a man and you needed all of this to realise life was worth living. You needed it.”
“I came to only need you.” It’s the truth and that’s all that swims in my mind now. I cling to her arms and pull her closer still. “I only need you.”
“Oh Laurie, that’s so sweet. I’m sorry you feel hurt.”
“I wish I could see you,” I tell her. “I want to know if your eyes are genuine. I don’t know what to believe.”
“Believe in us. You’ll know the truth when you feel this.” The palm of a hand leans against my cheek and slides around my good ear and pulls my head down. Norah’s sweet breath tickles and she whispers, “I’ll be your Watson, Sherlock. Let’s start again.”
Her lips meet mine. It is simply glorious. There’ll be no more talk of the Sinful Roses and, even though my world is full of shadows, I can see shards of sunlight dancing.
The END
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