Page 69 of An Artful Dodge
The truth struck me like a blow to the chin. If I managed to do this dodge—the minute I had Sarah safe—we would have to flee Elephant and Castle, perhaps even London. I stood and went to the window to hide the trajectory of my thoughts. The door to Mr. Ardle’s shop swung open and shut as a customer left.
I turned and leaned against the broad sill, settling my hands on it. “Does Mr. Ardle know what you’re doing with the paste?”
“Of course.”
“You’re holding out hope to him, aren’t you? He thinks you’ll love him for it. Because he loves you.”
“He’sfoolishover me,” she corrected me, a bitter little smile twisting her mouth. “Love is just another long con that hasn’t ended yet.”
A dark belief, but no doubt hard-earned and fixed.
“When’s the dodge?” I asked.
She pursed her mouth. “You’ll go Sunday night.”
Six days. There wasn’t enough time to rehearse her plan, much less make a different one.
I stepped forward until I could rest my fingers on the top rail of the chair. My thumb found a crack in the wood. “And you swear that if I bring you the three diamonds, you’ll give me Sarah, safe and sound.”
She shook her head. “No. I need the story to break and see Simonson arrested.”
My fingers tightened around the rail. “That could take weeks!” I shot back. “Once I hand over the gems, you’ll have got everything you can out ofme. I can’t choose how quickly a story will appear or when Scotland Yard—”
“It won’t be weeks,” she interrupted. “The marquess will be advised to consult a second jeweler immediately.”
The thought of Sarah in some basement, trapped, tied up, terrified for yet more days—it billowed fear inside my chest, and I clawed it back down.She needs me, I reminded myself.I must keep my wits.
Even in the direst moments, there was something to be gained.
“The gems and the story, then,” I said stubbornly. “Not the arrest.”
She scowled and made an irritable motion with her left hand. “The gems and the story for Sarah.”
“The minute the story breaks, whenever it is, you let her go.”
“I said I would.”
“Swear it in a way I’ll believe you.”
Her eyes narrowed. “I swear it on my son’s grave.”
The words chilled me.
So she’d had a child in Swan River. She’d left his grave to return here. For this.
“All right,” I said. “But I’m staying here until Billy gets back with that letter.”
She was impatient at all these concessions, but she nearly had me, which was what she wanted most. “Fine.”
She sat in silence while I tallied our takes.
The scales were balanced. We both had something the other one wanted more than anything—she wanted revenge, and I wanted Sarah.
But I considered—could I tip the scales in my favor? Could I take this moment to learn something that might matter later?
I went to the window, peered out, and saw no sign of Billy returning. There were only three stray dogs, heavily furred at the shoulder and furtive as thieves.
I reclaimed my position behind the chair. “Does Billy know you killed Rose Pratt?”
