Page 56 of A Dangerous Vision

“And what was she doing?” Gideon asked.

“Conversing with Miss Mahoney. I sensed a familiarity between them, a fondness. Miss Mahoney was quite discomposed, though I couldn’t determine why. The last thing I saw was her embracing Jane Wilson. It seemed as if she was offering comfort after shouting at her.”

Gideon settled back against the squabs and cast a look out at the buildings shifting past as they rolled toward Regent Square. He couldn’t see how Mrs. Wilson was in any way connected to Percival Pennington, though he did not believe Miss Mahoney’s claim, or the maid’s, that they were not familiar with the name.

But why lie?

“What is it?” Electra asked quietly, as if she hoped he might confide what was churning through his mind.

“I think perhaps this is a pointless venture.”

“The trip to Miss Mahoney’s club?”

He nodded. “I have a strong impression that the killer is a man, and yet the one man to have ever been overheard threatening Pennington was Gordon Callister, to whom Miss Mahoney gave an alibi. However, we both agree she was not telling the truth, so how much should I trust that alibi?”

“Why do you think it’s a man?”

“The depth of the stab wounds. Real force was applied, and yet the attack was quick. I suspect it would take significant strength to plunge the knife that deeply that many times.”

Electra lifted a hand to her throat, her gloved fingers tracing the shape of the pendant he knew she wore beneath her bodice. “This matter with Demeter Devlin. I wonder if there was jealousy between the brothers.”

“Miss Mahoney denied that there was, but, again, can we believe her claim?”

“I can’t think she would have any desire to shield Mr. Lance Pennington, if he only visited her club twice and formed an attachment with Mrs. Devlin that it seemed Miss Mahoney did not approve of.”

Gideon couldn’t dispute that logic. “You think she was telling the truth about that bit?”

He dug for the diary in his overcoat pocket.

“She wishes to protect someone,” Electra told him in a way that indicated she’d discerned the information through her inexplicable abilities. “Mrs. Devlin for certain, and perhaps Jane Wilson, since she definitely lied about knowing her.”

Gideon no longer doubted Electra’s ability to see what he could not, but even when she’d discovered some bit of information, he often did not know what to do with it or how it might fit into the puzzle of his investigation.

“But…” he said, thoughtfully, “whatever Miss Mahoney is hiding, whoever she is shielding, do you believe it is connected to Mr. Pennington’s murder?”

Electra nibbled at her lower lip, a habit that revealed her hesitation.

“I cannot say. It might simply be a personal matter in the case of each woman that she doesn’t wish to divulge.”

“Did you see anything else?” With your abilities, he did not add, but he knew she would understand.

“Miss Mahoney was upset. Gesticulating. All of this was shouted at the lady with the rings, which indicated that she was Jane Wilson. I suspect it was night, but I can’t say when. At one point, it was as if Miss Mahoney was pleading with her.”

Gideon knew if she had heard anything, she’d confide it, but he was quite curious why the ladies would be arguing.

“They embraced. I think it was an apology,” she said, “and I sensed they're quite close.”

Again, Gideon couldn’t imagine how these facts fit into his case. His fingers tapped the leather-bound diary in his hand. “She was lying about Pennington and Mrs. Devlin.”

Electra fixed her gaze on him. “Was she?”

“She implied that Mr. Pennington had not seen Mrs. Devlin recently, and that she’d transferred her affections to Lance Pennington. That part may well be true, but I believe Percival Pennington continued to see her as well.”

He opened the diary to the previous week, indicating the notations of meetings with a D. D. at Regent Square.

Electra reached out and ran a gloved finger along the ragged edge of a torn page. “Someone ripped pages out.”

“Indeed.” Gideon still needed to determine who and why.