The Third Circle (Arcane Society Book 04) by Amanda Quick Read Free Book Online Page B

secrets of some of his rivals. She had performed her role brilliantly. Lately, however, she had become difficult. She had begun making annoying demands, even going so far as to hint at blackmail. The time had come to get rid of her but Lancing had bungled the business.
    Lancing raised one shoulder in a graceful shrug. “For some reason she came up here. I suspect she planned to meet one of the guests. I followed her to see what she was about. When she saw me her fear was as thick as perfume.” Lancing’s mouth curved in a reminiscent smile. “She guessed what was to come. There was no way she would have agreed to let me escort her home. I had no choice but to silence her immediately.”
    “Even if you felt you had to act on the spot, there are neater methods,” Delbridge pointed out. “Why the devil did you cut her throat and leave her here? What if one of the other guests had come into the gallery, discovered the body and rushed downstairs to sound the alarm? I would have had no choice but to summon the police.”
    “There was a great deal of blood,” Lancing said, still smiling. “It utterly ruined my coat and splashed my trousers. I went to one of the bedrooms to clean up and change my clothes.”
    Suspicion surged through Delbridge. “You brought a second set of clothes with you tonight?”
    “Of course. I always carry a change of clothing when I know I will be amusing myself with one of my little entertainments.”
    In other words he had planned all along to kill Molly here in the mansion, not in her town house. The beast had no doubt savored the thrill of getting away with murder in a house full of gentlemen who considered themselves his social superiors. Delbridge suppressed a sigh. Hulsey was right, Lancing was neither entirely sane nor entirely controllable. The thing was, he was extremely useful.
    “How long did it take you to clean yourself and put your clothing to rights?” Delbridge asked, striving for patience.
    Lancing gave another delicate shrug. “Twenty minutes perhaps.”
    Delbridge set his back teeth very tightly together. “Yet you did not come to tell me that the crystal was gone and that the two guards were unconscious until three-thirty.”
    “Nancy Palgrave came looking for me.” Lancing smirked. “When I left the bedroom, I found her on the first-floor landing. Naturally I invited her into one of the bedrooms. What else could a gentleman do under the circumstances?”
    That probably ought to count as another one of Lancing’s weaknesses, Delbridge thought. The hunt and the kill aroused him sexually. Finding an attractive woman waiting for him would have been too much temptation for him to resist.
    More time had been lost because it had been impossible to attend to the crisis until the last of the guests had departed. In addition it had been necessary to wait until the staff that had been hired for the evening had also left. He had then sent his housekeeper and her husband, the only two servants who actually lived in the mansion, to their beds. They had served him faithfully for years; both knew better than to question his orders.
    A thought occurred to him. He paused in his pacing and frowned.
    “Perhaps the stone was stolen earlier in the evening before you followed Miss Stubton up here,” he suggested.
    “Perhaps.” Lancing was unconcerned, as usual, with minor details.
    “Are you certain you can tell me nothing about the thief?” Delbridge asked for what must have been the third or fourth time.
    Lancing went to stand in front of the cabinet that had held the crystal. “I’ve explained to you that I can only detect the spore left by intense emotions. Fear. Rage. Passion. That sort of thing. I don’t sense any of those here.”
    “But the thief must have experienced some very strong emotion when he removed the crystal and inhaled the vapor,” Delbridge insisted. “Shock? Fear? Something. ”
    Lancing cradled the lock in one long-fingered hand. “I told you, this is