The River Knows by Amanda Quick Read Free Book Online

did it end up in Hastings’s safe?”

    “An excellent question.” He held up the book he had been perusing. “This journal belongs to a young lady named Julia Montrose.”

    “I’ve met her. She was recently engaged to Richard Plumstead. It is considered a spectacular match. Plumstead is in line for his father’s title.” She frowned. “This is all quite bizarre. Why would Hastings have these diaries?”

    “I can think of one very good reason off hand.”

    She took a quick breath. “Do you think that he is blackmailing those people?”

    “I doubt if young Julia or Sara has sufficient income of her own to pay blackmail. They likely receive only quarterly allowances. If Hastings is extorting money from anyone, it would be from someone else in the family. In the case of Julia, it would have to be her great-grandmother, Lady Penfield. She still controls the fortune in that family.” Anthony paused. “She is quite elderly and not in good health.”

    “Lady Ashton said something about Sara Brindle’s elderly aunt having control of Sara’s inheritance.”

    Anthony opened the last of the small volumes. “This, I suspect, will prove to be a record of extortion payments.”

    “We must return those items to their rightful owners immediately,” Louisa said.

    “I agree. But some discretion will be required.”

    “Yes, of course. We cannot reveal our own identities.” She paused. “What of the business papers?”

    “Those I will keep,” Anthony said coolly.

    “But they belong to Hastings. It is one thing to take the blackmail items, but I think we should restore the papers to the safe.”

    He looked at her, his eyes pitiless in the soft light. “The bastard is not only a blackmailer, he is also a cold-blooded murderer. I feel under no obligation to return anything to him.”

    She felt everything inside her turn to ice. “That is the second time you have said you believe him to be a murderer. Do you have any evidence?”

    “I didn’t until tonight.”

    He withdrew a black velvet pouch, opened it, and turned it upside down. She watched a cascade of gold and blazing gems spill into his fingers.

    “Good heavens,” she whispered. “It must be worth a fortune.”

    “It is. And it also proves that Hastings is guilty of murder.”

    “I don’t understand. You took that from his safe tonight?”

    “Yes.”

    She stared at the glittering pool, stunned in spite of herself. “You really are a jewel thief.”

    “This necklace belonged to a woman named Fiona Risby.”

    She jerked her gaze back up to his grim face. “Your fiancée? The woman who threw herself off a bridge?”

    “I was never completely convinced that Fiona committed suicide. Finding this necklace in Hastings’s safe proves I was right. He killed her.”

    “You’re certain that is her necklace?”

    He poured the necklace back into the pouch. “Yes. It is quite distinctive. A family heirloom. Fiona wore it the night she died.”
    “What are you going to do? Now that you have taken it from Hastings’s safe, it is no longer evidence against him because it is not in his possession.” She paused delicately. “I hesitate to point this out, sir, but if the police discover that you have the necklace they might well consider you a suspect.”

    “I couldn’t leave it behind in the safe; it would never be found there. Hastings would never allow the police to search his mansion.”

    “I see what you mean. But what are you going to do with it?”

    “I’m not sure yet,” he admitted. “But by the time I call on you tomorrow, I hope to have a plan.”

    “You are going to visit me in Arden Square tomorrow?” she asked, suddenly cautious.

    “Of course.” Anthony’s smile was dangerously enigmatic. “I have yet to collect my fee for this night’s work.”

    5

    Anthony let himself into the darkened town house. There was no one around to open the door. His small staff knew that they were not expected to wait up for