Quicksilver - Amanda Quick [111]
“The plan was to kidnap you and hold you in Hollister’s basement until we could arrange to transport you here,” Welch said. “We reasoned that if anyone noticed that you had disappeared, the investigation would get no farther than the door of the mansion. Hollister would see to it that it was stopped at that point.”
“Hollister cooperated because you promised him that he could participate in the experiment, didn’t he?”
“Yes.” Welch smiled. “He was very excited. He even offered to toss in the little whore that he had picked up for his own amusement. Extra fuel, he said. Of course, he did not entirely understand what I meant by the word ‘participate.’”
“But Lady Hollister finally snapped that night,” Virginia said.
“It was something you said at the reading, you stupid woman,” Alcina hissed. “You told her that you saw the ghost of her dead daughter in the mirror and that the girl had been murdered by someone in the household, someone the child feared greatly.”
“Her own father,” Virginia said.
“I’m sure Lady Hollister had long ago guessed the truth, but she refused to acknowledge it to herself all those years. Perhaps the denial is what drove her mad. But that night you ripped through her illusions by forcing her to confront the ghost of her daughter.”
“Well, actually, I don’t see ghosts,” Virginia began.
“She thought you did,” Alcina shot back, accusation ringing in the words. “You were not awake to watch her lose whatever frail grasp she had left on sanity, because at that point you were overcome by the drug I put in your tea. Lady Hollister thought you had fainted. I told her I would arrange to have you sent home in a cab. She went to her bedroom and locked the door. I assumed she was taking her laudanum. Hollister and I got you downstairs. We were about to lock you in one of the cells.”
“That’s when Lady Hollister arrived with the kitchen knife,” Virginia said. “She stabbed him in the tunnel outside those cells.”
“Hollister was taken completely by surprise,” Alcina said. “So was I. By the time Hollister realized that his mad wife intended to murder him the knife was already in his chest. I won’t ever forget the look on the bastard’s face. Lady Hollister fled back up into the house. As he lay dying, I told my father who I was and that Jasper and I were going to inherit his entire fortune.”
“But then you panicked and ran.”
“I had no choice. I was afraid that in her madness Lady Hollister would summon the police. I did not want to be questioned by the authorities. They might have learned my real identity. I might even have been considered a suspect. There were no witnesses, aside from myself.”
“How did I end up on the bed in the mirrored room with Hollister’s body?” Virginia asked.
“I have no idea,” Alcina said.
“I think that’s enough chatter for now,” Welch said. “Let us be off, Alcina.” He leaned down to remove the keys in the three clockwork weapons. “We now have one minute to reach safety.”
Alcina was already at the door. She opened it quickly and rushed out of the room. Welch followed, yanking the door shut. There was an ominous, muffled click when he secured the lock on the other side.
“I am so sorry, Mrs. Crofton,” Virginia said quietly. She used her free hand to open her chatelaine purse. “I should never have allowed you to involve yourself in the investigation.”
“Nonsense. I’m the one who made that decision. What’s more, I’d make the same decision again.” Mrs. Crofton sighed. “But in hindsight, it would have been nice to have been able to take along a pistol when I went to see the Hollister housekeeper.”
“The Sweetwaters favor knives,” Virginia said. “They are also fond of lock picks.”
She took out the pick that Owen had given her and went to work.
Mrs. Crofton watched her intently. “Are you skilled with that particular device?”
“I’ve only had a few lessons,” Virginia admitted. “But it appears that manacle locks are very simple in design.”
She heard three ominous clicks. The tail