Page 91 of A Dangerous Vision

The matter of Callister was not quite as neat.

“The scandal will cost him. He is expected to resign his seat within days.”

“The man concealed a murder,” Electra insisted. “A murder he once tried to procure.”

Gideon understood her frustration. “The Crown’s prosecution does not seem to have the stomach for charging him.”

Electra scoffed and rapped her fingers against the tabletop.

“He has been cooperative and claims that his failing to inform authorities was a brief, emotional lapse, not an attempt to thwart justice.”

“Do you believe that?” she asked.

Gideon didn’t. “Not entirely, no.” He lifted a brow as he looked at her. “Did you…sense anything that night in Pennington’s study?”

She glanced away, taking in the luxurious decor and the well-heeled at the tables around them.

“I did sense a ferocious anger in him, but emotions were running high. Though I do believe Lance Pennington when he says Callister offered to pay him.” When her eyes found his again, he saw a sort of righteous fury in hers. “If he would do so once and will face no consequences, what would stop him from doing so again? And succeeding?”

Gideon had always admired her fierce sense of justice, but he’d seen too much to feel as certain as he had when he’d first joined the police force.

“In his statement, Callister detailed how Pennington taunted him about his own relationship with Miss Mahoney during a drunken argument between them. Even claimed he would expose them and ruin Callister’s political career.”

Electra scoffed. “But Percival Pennington had a liaison with Miss Mahoney too,” she pointed out.

“Indeed. And it seems both men were in their cups. Callister, it seems, was not perceiving the matter with logic. Regardless, that was his given explanation for what the Pennington housemaid overheard—his threat to bury Pennington.”

“So, jealousy motivated both men?”

Gideon suspected it was a longstanding jealousy that went back years between the two men. “Callister spoke of Pennington as if he was more competitor than friend. Perhaps the supposed rivalry over Miss Mahoney was the final straw.”

“He seems a volatile man, and yet he will carry on, unlike Pennington.”

“We both know,” he began, weighing his words, “that the application of justice is imperfect. Sometimes thwarted. Sometimes delayed.”

They watched each other a moment, and he wondered if she was thinking of her father as he was. Did she resent him for his failure to find his killer? He had long felt he’d failed her, failed Erasmus Poole, by not being able to deliver justice in that case.

“Delayed justice is better than none at all. It seems Gordon Callister has avoided it entirely.” She finally took up her glass of water and drank a sip. “Except for the scandal. The ruined reputation.” Lost in thought for a moment, she emerged with a half-smile. “I suspect Miss Mahoney will want nothing to do with him now.”

Gideon chuckled. “I suspect not. How is Mrs. Devlin?”

Electra had intended to pay her a visit.

“She seemed well. Apparently, she has found a protector, though she would not tell me his name.” Electra tipped her head. “And Miss Faraday?”

“Initially, she wished to visit her uncle each day, and she was persistent about sending letters, asking me about the progress of the case. She informed me in one that she is engaged to be married to Mr. Worthington.”

Electra smiled. “Then something good has come of all this, I suppose.”

The waiter came to take their orders, and when he'd departed, Gideon couldn't help but tug on the thread.

“You consider marriage a good outcome then?”

Electra’s eyes widened. “For some, of course.”

“Not for you?” They never discussed such matters. He wasn’t certain what madness was making him press on a topic she had never broached with him.

Rather than answer, she tucked a lock of black hair behind her ear and then gave him a look of challenge. “What about you? Any nuptials planned in your future that I should be aware of?”