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Wesley lay on a hard cot with his arm draped over his eyes as Clara and Marguerite entered. Clara could have wept. Though it had barely been a day, it seemed a lifetime. Clara hated the way he looked so defeated, so utterly alone. Disinterested, Wesley removed his arm to see who disturbed him.
"Clara!" he cried, leaping to his feet and running to the bars of his cage. She ran forward and pressed herself against the bars of his cell. He grasped her face in his hands, relief and love greeting her.
"And who am I? Chopped liver?" asked Marguerite as she paid off the jailor to give them a couple of minutes with the prisoner alone.
"Marguerite!" Wesley said. "Forgive me. I just... I..."
"You just nothing," she replied. "You got yourself in quite a pickle here, Mr. Lowenherz."
"We would have come sooner," Clara explained, "but they would not let us in to see you."
"By the way," said Marguerite, "I am adding the money I had to use to bribe my friends to your tab."
Wesley ran his fingers through his messy auburn hair. "I shall gladly do as many séances as necessary to pay you back once I get out."
Marguerite leaned against the stone wall, both hands upon the head of her cane. "We were a little frightened we wouldn't see you again until you were a ghost," said Marguerite.
"Never you mind," Clara tried to reassure him. "We shall get you out of this somehow."
"How?" he asked.
She thought of how Thomas had led them both this far. Surely he would not abandon them now. "I don't know yet, but somehow."
"Well, while 'somehow' sounds like a most excellent plan, Clara," Marguerite said dryly, "how about we start by getting you a good lawyer, Wesley?"
He sighed and leaned his forehead against the bars. "I apologize for all of this. I assure you that being arrested on murder charges was not my intention when I started down this road."
"And what was your intention?" Marguerite asked with curiosity.
He looked from Marguerite to Clara. "I believed that Lord Horace Oroberg murdered my sister," he finally said. "All this time, this career as a 'medium' was just to get inside his house to find out if he did it. But how do we explain to a jury Violet Nero and that accursed mummy heart murdered my sister fifteen years ago? How do we explain to a jury Julie Grey's ghost told us Alastair Beltza killed her and this led to Rhoda Beltza's suicide?"
Marguerite looked up at the ceiling in frustration. "It will sound like the ravings of a madman."
"They want to transfer you to an insane asylum," said Clara. She saw Wesley's face pale. He understood that such a transfer would mean worse than a death sentence.
"The prosecuting attorney will ask you what you intended to do once you got inside Lord Oroberg's house and if you decided to take it one step further and kill Lord Oroberg out of some sense of 'justice' if you even mention your suspicions," Marguerite advised. "I only hope that you didn't mention recent events on the record." She looked at Clara, knowing the question forming on her lips. "No, I don't have access to his record. We're lucky this jailor owes me a personal favor. And, honestly, I don't know if we'll be able to get back in again."
Wesley stopped her. "What do you suggest I do? You were there and saw everything that happened. How do we explain that to a court of law? There is absolutely no evidence—"
Marguerite sighed. "Evidence? You think that is of any use in this situation? Several other deaths have happened in this fair city, all after several wealthy people hired you to come in and do a séance."
Clara stopped Wesley before he could go on. "What if we prove that these séances brought forth malevolent spirits? Spirits responsible for these deaths?"
Marguerite shook her head. "They are going to demand a demonstration of your 'powers' in the courtroom if you make such a claim. Is that really where you want to go?"
"But we could," insisted Clara.
Marguerite stepped forward. "You know that, and I know that, and there are many others in this world who would like to believe that what we know as true is true, but we can't go unleashing unholy hell upon a court of law."
Wesley began pacing. Clara hated seeing him in such distress.
"Even if you bewitched every spook in a twelve mile radius and had them show up in the witness box, the Beltza pockets are deep. Every judge in this town will side with them."
"But Lady Grey's daughter was murdered by the Beltza family!" Clara pointed out. "Peter Nero embezzled a great deal of money..."
"All baseless accusations."
"Lady Grey can testify on our behalf."
"She has disappeared," said Marguerite. Clara's heart sank, knowing what that meant, not just for Wesley's innocence, but that something terrible must have happened to her.
Wesley leaned his head against the bars.
"But there is more," said Clara.
"More?" asked Wesley.
"Trevor Beltza arrived at my house just about an hour's time ago."
"Do not give that wretched boy anything, Clara," Wesley commanded, as if he could read where her thoughts were going.
"Oh Wesley," she sighed. "All he wants is money. And if it means your freedom, I would be happy to give it to him."
"But where on earth could you get such a sum of money?"
"I could sell the house..." she started.
Wesley stopped her. "No. No, you are not placing Mrs. Nan and Mr. Willard's safety at risk for this matter." He looked over at Marguerite. "I am afraid I am going to have to press you into service and demand that you keep an eye on Clara and prevent her from doing anything foolish."
"That is a tall order, Wesley."
"Do it all the same." Wesley clutched Clara's hands and pressed her palm to his lips. "All that I require is a good lawyer."
"Wesley, I cannot bear to think of you trapped in here."
"Then keep yourself busy. Your worrying will do nothing to make my situation better. Find out what your late husband did with the missing money. Throughout all of our interactions since Lord Oroberg's séance, someone has been looking for Peter Nero's funds. We now know that your husband stole it. Finish solving the mystery, Clara! I truly believe it is the only way I will ever be free."
Clara nodded, knowing in her soul from the way that Trevor demanded the money from her that Wesley was correct. Her love would never walk from the prison alive unless she found out what her dead husband had done.