Despite the merriment of those skating along the Serpentine, Katherine remained firmly on the bank, shivering in the cold air and staring toward the smoke wafting from the roasting chestnuts on the far bank.
“Aren’t you going to skate?”
Katherine jumped at the sound of Lyle’s voice, even though she’d seen him approach earlier. They’d stood in companionable silence, letting the joy of the Hyde Park Frost Fair wash over them. Since Katherine had confronted Mrs. Dillinger, it was one of the few times she had been able to remain still and relax.
Despite the darkness in that woman’s heart, happiness still existed in this world. It showed in her nephews as they flopped on the ice, held up only by their parents’ hands. It showed in the careful way her father made sure Susanna stood on the sidelines away from any ice that could cause a fall, adjusting her hood when it fell back from her forehead. Her family was whole and happy, and even Susanna was able to smile today despite the loss of a friend.
“I don’t skate,” Katherine answered. “Would you?”
Lyle grunted. “I signed up to watch the crowd and keep the peace.”
“Has the date for the trial been set?”
After Pru had hit her over the head, Mrs. Dillinger had been knocked unconscious, hurt but not killed. She had been remanded into a special room at Bow Street, one that her father had paid for privately.
“Lord Rochford tried again to negotiate the magistrate down to paying a fine rather than incarceration or death for the murder.” Lyle’s voice was tense. When Katherine glanced at him sideways, she found his jaw clenched with anger and his hands balled at his sides. “He might have succeeded, too, if not for Lord Conyers.”
“Conyers stepped forward?” Katherine asked, surprised.
“Lady Rochford had no family to speak of, no one to avenge her if her husband did not. Lord Conyers is set to testify against Mrs. Dillinger, having proof that she tried to frame him for the crime.”
“What proof?”
“His neighbor saw Mrs. Dillinger plant the ring. She is able to identify her and has also agreed to testify. Not to mention his own testimony that she tried to bribe him to confess to the murder.”
An eye for an eye, a life for a life. Even if it would keep someone with as much hatred and desperation as Mrs. Dillinger from hurting anyone else, it still didn’t sit easy with Katherine. Her heart ached for Lord Rochford. He’d lost a wife and two children.
“That’s something, I suppose.”
Lyle clapped her on the shoulder, jolting her nearly out of her skin. “The verdict is for the magistrate to decide. You did your part in catching her, Katherine.”
“Thank you.” She didn’t feel appeased.
Pru skated into view and stopped neatly in front of them on the ice. Her eyes gleamed. “Katherine, you’ll never believe what I’ve just heard!”
Katherine searched the throng for Lord Annandale. “Where is your fiancé?”
“Over there with Lord Bath and Elizabeth. He got cajoled into escorting Grandma Bath around as she tries to hand out samples of the Bath water.”
“They must be frozen over,” Katherine muttered under her breath with a shake of her head. Louder, she added, “You left him there alone?”
“He’s with three other people,” she said, amusement in her voice. When Katherine continued to look, she added, “If it’s Wayland you’re hoping to find, he isn’t here today. A shame, since you’re wearing something halfway decent.”
Katherine ignored the taunt, too weary to complain. Wayland had come to their rescue at Mrs. Dillinger's, but they’d already had the killer well in hand. But how had he even known she was there? Had he followed her, despite pretending to be aloof? Pru had later told her that Wayland hadn’t left with her. And he’d even complimented Katherine on her skills of deduction. She’d almost felt that they could be friends.
Likely Wayland did not feel the same, though she did find it curious that the day her father attended the Hyde Park Frost Fair, Wayland did not. Papa still refused to be any more specific as to why he disliked Wayland, but there must be a reason for them to avoid each other like that. Why, then, did Wayland seem to always seek her out?
Forcing a smile, she asked Pru, “What did you learn?”
Her face brightening, the other woman gushed, “I’ve been speaking with Lady Brackley about her next book.”
At that, Katherine chuckled. “Lucy is always nattering on about her next book. Or about her past ones, if you ask.”
“Her book was brilliant! I couldn’t stop reading, so I’m more than willing to hear what she has next. But that isn’t why I came to speak with you.”
“No?” Katherine raised her eyebrow.
Pru reached out to clasp Katherine’s hands even though it put her on precarious footing. “She wants to do some research about an old, unsolved murder here in London. Her next book will have something to do with the mystery, but she needs to solve it first, and she wants our help, Katherine!”
Returning to the present more fully than she had since Mrs. Dillinger’s arrest, Katherine found her friend’s enthusiasm infectious. “Finding us jobs, are you, Pru?”
Grinning, Pru winked. “Of course. I wouldn’t want to be bored over the winter.”
Lyle said, “You know I’m willing to lend a hand, too, in any way I can.”
“What do you say, Katherine?”
Katherine couldn’t say no to two sets of eager eyes. She smiled. “Very well. Let’s talk with Lady Brackley and see if this investigation isn’t too old to be solved.”
It would be more convenient if Katherine could invite her back to a townhouse of her own, where they wouldn’t be overheard by prying ears. Now that this business of the murder investigation was over, she wondered if Lord Conyers might be persuaded to sell her his townhouse on Charles Street. In her line of work, having a neighbor as observant as Mrs. Ramsey could come in handy.
*********
Read the rest of the Lady Katherine Series:
An Invitation to Murder (Book 1)
The Baffling Burglaries of Bath (Book 2)
Murder at the Ice Ball (Book 3)
A Murderous Affair (Book 4)
Murder on Charles Street (Book 5)
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