“Jax! There you are,” Perry called from the top of the staircase, his unruly curls plastered to his forehead with sweat. “Carriena has been looking for you. She and Hazel are about to,” he lowered his voice, “visit Grandeair.”
Jax felt her stomach clench. “Hazel?”
Perry nodded. “Carriena demanded Monsieur Grandeair be examined, but she sided with your suggestion of keeping it secret for now. Hazel will be asked to take some oath of the Ancient Faith that binds her to secrecy. Apparently, Carriena learned of it during her studies at the Academy.”
Jax recalled that Carriena had taken a special elective course in the Ancient Faith, considering Isla DeLacqua had a large population of its followers living amongst its watery borders. Jax had opted to take a class called The Art of Persuasion during that term. “And are we certain this is an oath Hazel won’t break?”
Perry looked at her grimly. “Apparently, if she does break it, the gods of the Ancient Faith will burn her family alive. So, yes, we are as certain as we can be in this situation.”
Jax heaved her shoulders with a hint of defeat. “So be it. Let’s go.” As they made their way up from the service quarters, Jax and Hendrie filled Perry in on what little they had learned from the guards, as well as their speculations regarding the murderer entering from Grandeair’s balcony. At the entrance of the lower deck, Hendrie departed to find Uma and the other guests, while Perry and Jax continued down the long hallway where Captain Solomon stood guard at the deceased banker’s door.
“Lady Carriena and the High Priestess are inside. Hazel has already pledged her oath of secrecy,” George reported, opening the door for Jax to enter. She tried to squash her disappointment that she hadn’t been present herself to hear it. Hendrie’s veiled accusation gnawed away at her, her thoughts being twisted against her friend. Had George actually heard the oath? What if Carriena and Hazel were in on this together? Pushing her poisonous thoughts aside, she walked calmly into the dark room, the growing smell of blood and decay assaulting her nose.
Chapter Seven
“Oh, Jax, thank goodness you’re here,” Carriena blurted out, forgetting to use the Duchess’s full name in front of a relative stranger. The young woman looked sick to her stomach, her skin barely reflecting any color. Was guilt getting the better of her?
Jax chided herself inwardly, trying to shake away the unsettling thoughts. “I’m sorry it took me so long, my dear friend. I was speaking with the guards to try and figure out what may have happened.”
“What have they got to say for themselves? How could they let this happen on their watch?” Carriena nearly shrieked.
Jax lay a calming arm on her friend’s shoulder. “Neither shift saw anything unusual in the hallway. I’m afraid we’ve got quite the mastermind on board.”
“Oh Virtues, help us! We’re stranded in the middle of the sea with a killer.” Carriena wept openly into her hands, her shoulders shaking uncontrollably.
Jax was well aware of Hazel’s stoic presence, the High Priestess’s face almost bored in its expression. “Priestess, have you looked at the wounds?”
“Only superficially, Your Grace, but now that you are here, I will examine them closer.” With fluid grace, Hazel knelt at the dead man’s side, gingerly pulling off the bloodstained dress shirt, revealing a pimple-pocked, flabby back. With the tunic removed, Jax could plainly see that the man had been stabbed five or six times.
Hazel studied the body in silence for a few, tense moments, Carriena’s muffled weeping the only sound in the room. “I believe this to be the first blow, here.” The High Priestess pointed to a gash just beneath the man’s left shoulder blade. “It also killed him rather instantly. It severed something near his heart. Without cutting him open, I won’t be able to tell exactly what the blade nicked, but you can see that this wound had the most blood protrude from it, and the other wounds are shallower and less gory. The heart had already stopped pumping blood by the time they were made,” Hazel surmised with an unnerving calm that Jax rather admired.
“A blade you say? Do you know what type of weapon did this?” Jax asked in a hushed tone.
Hazel frowned, apparently unsure. “The wounds have morphed a bit, as the body has started to stiffen, but I’d say something akin to a dinner knife. Certainly nothing large, like a sword or dagger.”
“A dinner knife? We’ve all had access to more than one over the past three days,” Carriena sobbed, helpless in her grief.
Jax buried her annoyance at the woman’s hysterics. “Hazel, is it possible to tell how long he has been dead?”
“Judging by the rigor in his limbs, I’d say the poor soul has been like this since well before dawn. It’s not much to go on, I’m afraid.” Her dark skin glowed in the candlelight flickering from the wall, casting shadows on her grim expression.
“Well, at least that narrows down that he was killed well before everyone left their rooms for breakfast,” Jax said as she folded her arms, thinking with renewed determination. “Carriena, I think it would be wise to send Captain Solomon down to the service quarters and thoroughly question all of the ship’s crew. Although it’s been reported that no one entered or left this room at any point in the night, perhaps they saw or heard something downstairs that could be of use.”
Carriena nodded blindly, wiping her eyes free of the torrent of tears. “Of course. Yes, right away. Goodness, I can’t believe that while I slept, a man was being murdered right below me.”
Jax squeezed her friend’s hand in sympathy, the action suddenly bringing a memory from last night to the forefront of her troubled mind. She had urged Carriena to retire early for the evening, and the young woman had obliged without question, not even staying long enough to hear Lady Giovanna perform a single song. Carriena, who had been a terror at the Academy, always staying up late, hosting the wildest of gatherings, had simply gone to bed without any protest, even at the prospect of a performance by a renowned bard. The unsettling realization haunted her footsteps as she left and walked into the hallway, where George and Perry stood waiting.
“George, I need you to go down to the service quarters and question everyone about last night and their whereabouts,” Jax instructed. “I’m particularly curious if anyone in the bunks beneath Monsieur Grandeair’s room heard anything suspicious. It appears the man was stabbed six times in the back, but Virtues have mercy, he died quickly after the first. Hazel seems to think the weapon was the size of a dinner knife, although the hardening of the body after death could have changed the size of the wounds,” she explained with a calmness she did not feel.
“I’ll keep my eyes open for such a weapon while I am downstairs. Do you want me to report to you and Carriena after I’ve concluded my interviews?” George asked.
Jax gave him a hard look. “No, only me. I’ll explain to you later, but we would be wise to consider everyone on this ship a suspect,” she warned, her voice low and barely audible.
She watched as George and Perry exchanged a surprised look, but they did not inquire further. George simply bowed and headed down into the belly of the ship.
Taking Jax by the arm, Perry briskly led her away from Monsieur Grandeair’s door and up the stairs to the main deck. “Mind telling me what that was all about? You are seriously considering Carriena to be behind all of this?”
Storming up to the bow of the ship, Jax seethed at the doubt lacing his words. “Yes, I am seriously considering it. It wouldn’t be the first time a childhood friend of mine has turned out to be a coldblooded killer,” she spat back at him, although unable to meet his gaze.
Instead of a heated reply, she felt a warm hand cradle her elbow, pulling her back into the safety of his chest. He didn’t chastise her, or tell her she was being senseless; he simply held her tightly until the flourishing pain in her chest subsided and she trusted herself to speak the words in her heart. “I know it’s cruel for me to think so poorly of her, Perry, but I’m just so afraid that I’m right.”
“I know,
my love. I know.” His arms gripped her more fiercely.
At his words, she pulled back, staring up into his beautifully sincere eyes. “Really? You do?”
A tender smile graced his lips. “Yes, I do. I know how you are feeling, and I love you for it. You’re such a strong woman, Jax. That, I know. I love that you can be vulnerable with me.” He gave her a delicate kiss on the forehead, all her worries and concerns vanishing for the moment.
“You and no other, Perry.” She buried her face in his shoulder, tears of relief cascading down her cheekbones. “I love you, too, Lord Pettraud. If I am sure about anything in all this madness, it’s that.”
Chapter Eight
They were interrupted a few moments later by the appearance of Charles, a book in his hand. “Greetings, Duchess. Quite the series of events that’s happened today, and it’s not even lunchtime.” The young man grinned with boyish exuberance.
The jovial scene in the dining hall seemed like ages ago, but Jax realized it was not yet midday. “Have I missed any stimulating discussions, Sir Charles? I’ve had a busy morning myself.”
“Besides the announcement of poor Monsieur Grandeair’s passing?” Tucking the book under his arm, Charles motioned to the sweeping sea all around them. “Well, it seems as though the Sea of Intelligence has plans to keep us all together for longer than we expected.”
Taken aback by the young scholar’s nonchalant mood concerning the banker’s death, Jax glimpsed up at the limp sails. “I hope no one is troubled by that.”
Charles laughed rather flippantly. “I certainly am in no rush to arrive in Isla DeLacqua. I’m perfectly content holding off on my training and onto my freedom for as long as possible.”
Jax frowned at the Hestian’s sudden difference in tune. “When we last spoke of your physician residency, you were excited about it. Has something changed?”
Charles walked to the railing, leaning against it, and looking out into the distance. “I guess it finally dawned on me that I’ll be alone in Isla DeLacqua for who knows how long. My sister doesn’t plan to stay more than a fortnight before returning home to our father and mother. And when she does, it will be just me,” he shared, a sweet, innocent sadness radiating from him. Turning back to face Perry and Jax, he continued, “I’ve always looked after my little sister, you know. I’m the one who’s kept her safe in the circles she runs in. You know the reputations bards and actors have. I’m afraid she’ll go astray without me being there to protect her.”
Beside her, Jax felt Perry bristle. She wondered for a moment if any of his older brothers cared for him as fiercely as Charles did for his sister. “I’m sure Lady Giovanna will be just fine. You’ve set a good example for her, but you must allow her to live her own life, as well as live your own to the fullest,” Jax advised with wisdom she hoped did not sound false.
In response, Charles bowed low. “You are the great ruler the realm proclaims you to be, Duchess.” He backed away from the couple, giving them their privacy on the main deck once more.
Perry chuckled as Charles disappeared.
“What’s so funny?” Jax asked.
“An overprotective brother at his finest. Obviously, the poor lad is worried that his sister is falling for our resident master builder,” Perry said with mock slyness.
She gave a dismissive shrug. “Well, she’s an adult woman, she can fall in love with whoever she wants.”
“Eh, I’d be worried, too, if my one and only sister was being swept off her feet by that skirt-chaser.”
“Perry!” Jax was astounded at his use of such a lewd term. “How dare you?” She couldn’t suppress a fit of giggles, feeling a bit guilty after the morning’s events. “What on earth makes you say that?”
“I guess you can’t always catch everything, even when it’s right in front of your eyes, Duchess,” Perry teased. “That man has tried to corner every woman at some point during this trip. Poor Uma was fighting him off the first night at dinner, and Hazel didn’t give him the time of day. Goodness, he even was flirting with Lady Florence as he escorted her to breakfast this morning. I could practically hear it from clear across the ship! At least the cad had the sense not to go anywhere near you.” Perry smirked, leaving Jax to wonder what her suitor’s reaction would have been had the craftsman tried to seduce her.
“Maybe I should have a talk with Lady Giovanna, just to make sure she knows what she’s getting into.” Jax’s eyes followed the stairs from the bow leading down to the rest of the main deck. “I’ll go see if I can find her now.”
Giving Perry a secretive kiss on the cheek, Jax scanned the boat, looking for any sign of the singer. Vincent and Ernest were playing cards, Archer was once again reading, and Hazel and Lady Florence were sitting in chairs, drinking tea. No one seemed the least bit affected by the news of Grandeair’s passing.
“You look like you are in search of something, Duchess,” Vincent’s smooth voice beckoned her over to the card table. “May we be of assistance?”
“I was hoping to speak with Lady Giovanna. Have you seen her?” she asked, looking between the two contrasting men, as different in appearance as the moon and sun.
Vincent sat back in his chair, his long, sinewy limbs gleaming under his ebony skin. “I thought I saw her disappear below deck a little while ago. Perhaps she is still there?” He cleared his throat as she turned to leave, indicating he was not done speaking. “I know your consort was asking my Hazel if she carried any cloveroot on her person. For his painting?” His words were spoken with a slow, lilted drawl.
Jax froze for a moment before finding the right response. “Yes, Lord Pettraud is extremely talented with a brush. I know he had been hoping to paint the sea while we sailed.”
Vincent nodded, pulling his hand of cards close to his rippling chest. “While he won’t find any on Isla DeLacqua, I know there is a reputable cloveroot farm in Beautraud. Perhaps you can stop by on your return to Saphire so he may replenish his stock?”
Caught in a dangerous lie, it amazed Jax that grumpy old Ernest unknowingly came to her rescue. “Bah, don’t bother going through Beautraud. That duchy has fallen into shambles in recent years. We traveled through it on our way from Savant, and it was a nightmare. Never have I tasted such horrible food than at the inns we stayed in.”
Jax grimaced, backing away from the card table. “Thank you both for your unsolicited advice. I’ll leave you to return to your game,” she said curtly, and resumed searching the deck once more for Giovanna’s slim figure.
While she was disappointed not to find the young singer, another absence troubled her more. Where was Carriena? Jax hadn’t paid close enough attention to her friend’s movements after the examination of the body. Was she still downstairs in Grandeair’s cabin? Could she be searching for the ledger Perry now had hidden away in his rooms?
Hoisting her skirts, Jax hurried at an unladylike pace toward the lower deck. Muttering a faint greeting as she barged past Ferdinand and Diego, Jax rushed down the long corridor, the dim candlelight creating an eerie path. Passing by cabins two and four, Jax halted, hearing a door open ahead of her. Looking around, and realizing there was nowhere to hide, she wondered how she could explain being on the lower deck when her suite was upstairs.
She saw a slender figure emerge from what appeared to be cabin eight. Thinking back to the manifest, Jax remembered it being the room assigned to Archer. Embarrassed for the encounter that was about to occur, Jax smoothed her skirts and walked casually down the hallway, feigning disbelief at running into Lady Giovanna.
“Duchess! What a surprise to see you down here,” the singer trilled. “Are you looking for someone? Last I checked, we were all up on the main deck, getting some sun.” She didn’t appear at all put off by the Duchess’s presence.
Jax was astonished that Giovanna showed no shame at being caught leaving Archer’s room. She had thought highly of the young lady, but now, wasn’t so sure of her innocent nature. “Yes, um, I was hoping to speak with your brother abo
ut his plans after his residency concludes. I have a few towns in Saphire that require a skilled physician.” The lie rolled off Jax’s lips with feigned finesse, but she had to cross her hands behind her back to keep from wringing them.
“Oh, he’s upstairs reading on the main deck. I was just grabbing a book from his room myself.” Giggling, Lady Giovanna held up a worn novel in her ageless hands. “He always packs much better than I do. Silly me, thinking my companions would be up for constantly entertaining me. My brother is a bit superstitious and is afraid to come down here, with a dead body and all, so I had to come fetch a book myself.” She hunched her shoulders. “You’d think an apprenticing physician would be used to death by now, but who am I to judge?”
“You were coming out of your brother’s room?” Jax asked, realizing as soon as the words were out of her mouth how crass she sounded.
“Yes, of course. Where else would I be coming from, Your Grace?” Giovanna’s question was poised with the innocence and naiveté reflective of her youth.
“Goodness me, I’m not sure. The dim light down here is playing tricks with my eyes, I suppose.” Jax forced a flippant laugh. She ushered Giovanna down the hall toward the stairs. “Please, don’t mind me. I guess I’ve been standing in the sun too long.”
The young actress studied Jax for a scrutinizing moment before backing away and going up the stairs to the main deck. Jax watched after her, her embarrassment beginning to simmer down. Turning her attention down the long passage, she put to bed her mistake, convincing herself that the flickering candlelight and seemingly endless walls played tricks on her eyes. She resumed her march toward the far room belonging to Monsieur Grandeair, reaching out to grasp the handle with a tentative hand. She was discouraged, yet not completely surprised, to find it locked.
A Voyage of Vengeance (Ducal Detective Mysteries Book 3) Page 8