Crystal Gardens (28 page)

“No, Evangeline, I do what I must because of the nature of my talent. You could say that I am driven to do it.”

“You may feel compelled to save others and to destroy those who would prey on the vulnerable, but that is hardly a character flaw. For heaven’s sake, Lucas, you are quite clearly the master of your talent and therefore of yourself.”

His eyes heated a little. “Not entirely. Not around you, Evangeline.”

She tensed. “If you refer to what happened between us last night—”

“I do, most certainly.”

“Then I would remind you that I was the one who set out to seduce you, sir.”

He smiled. “Is that how you remember it?”

“My memory is quite accurate on the matter,” she said firmly. “Now, then, to return to the subject of your association with this man you called the Master.”

“It was that case, the one in which I killed a man for the first time, that attracted his attention. He contacted me. We talked. In the end he took me under his wing and taught me many things. He showed me that hunting killers was the greatest challenge of all. For a time we hunted them together and we did so in secret.”

“You hunted them?” She frowned. “Or you investigated murders?”

“Ah, yes, I see you grasp the distinction.” Lucas’s smile held no amusement, only sad regret. “I congratulate you, Evangeline. You understood the difference much more readily than I did.”

“I’m sure the line between investigation and hunting is a very thin one, at times indistinguishable.” She hesitated. “I think that perhaps it does not always matter.”

“It matters.” He began to prowl the library. “To return to my story, the Master was a wealthy gentleman who lived a double life. He moved in society and belonged to the best clubs. He kept his paranormal abilities and his interest in murderers secret. He taught me to do the same.”

“That seems quite sensible to me.” She smiled. “As we all know, gentlemen do not claim psychical talents and they do not dabble in murder investigations.”

Lucas’s cold smile came and went. “Yes, of course.”

“Very well, you and this gentleman hunted murderers together for a time. I assume the Master had some connection with the police?”

“He never revealed his identity to the authorities,” Lucas said. “But, yes, he often made certain that they stumbled upon evidence that led them to the killer. A few arrests were made.”

She blinked. “Only a few?”

“Several of the killers simply disappeared from the streets.” Lucas
must have seen the way she was looking at him because he shook his head. “Not my doing.”

“The Master set himself up as judge, jury and executioner?”

“In several instances, yes. But it took me a while to tumble to what was happening. The Master was very, very good at covering his own tracks. Mind you, the murderers he dispatched were evil. I felt no sympathy for them. But I soon realized I could not do what he did.”

“You could not become a cold-blooded killer, even in the name of justice.”

“What I eventually came to understand is that the Master enjoyed the business, not just the hunt, as I confess I do, but also the kill. Inevitably there was a confrontation between us. He said I was too soft, too weak to do what had to be done. I agreed that I was not cut out to be his true heir. We parted ways. A few months later the killings began.”

“What killings?”

“This was over a decade ago, thirteen years back to be precise. The victims were all mistresses of men who moved in society. All of the deaths were made to look like bizarre accidents but it wasn’t long before the police and the press realized that they were the work of a vicious murderer. The killer always left a token at the scenes. The newspapers ran wild with the story. They even gave the killer a name.”

Evangeline did some brief calculations in her head. “Are you talking about the Courtesan Killer?”

“You remember the crimes?” Lucas frowned. “You would have been very young at the time.”

“I was thirteen or fourteen. The accounts in the papers left a very strong impression on me.”

“And on me, as well,” Lucas said grimly. “They caught my attention immediately because they did not fit the patterns I had learned on the streets. The predators I had been trained to hunt usually chose victims
who would not be missed, at least not by respectable society. They take prostitutes, beggars and street urchins for the most part.”

“I see what you mean. These victims were prostitutes but they were very elegant prostitutes. Courtesans.”

“It was as if the killer was challenging those who moved in the better circles. Several gentlemen packed their mistresses off to the Continent for extended vacations. Others hired bodyguards. But most left the women to fend for themselves. I went to the scene of the first two murders and realized that there was a pattern. Before I could work it out, however, there was a third murder. I managed to get to the scene of the fourth crime while the woman was still alive.”

“I recall reading that the fourth courtesan survived and that the killer was found dead at the scene. The victim claimed that she had been saved by a stranger who happened to pass by and realized that she was in desperate straits. The stranger was never found. That was you, I assume?”

“It was all supposed to end somewhat differently. The killer had sensed that I was closing in on him. He planned to kill both the courtesan and me and leave evidence at the scene that would make it appear that I was guilty of the murders. But by then I knew the real identity of the killer. I arrived well before I was expected.”

“You saved the fourth woman and you dispatched the murderer. I have forgotten the name of the villain who perpetrated the Courtesan Murders but I do recall that he was a gentleman who moved in the highest circles of society.”

“Edward Cox,” Lucas said. “My mentor and teacher. The Master who taught me how to hunt and how to kill.”

L
ucas stood over his desk, hands flattened on the large map of the abbey grounds that he had spread out and pondering the three odd marks that Chester had made. Something told him the marks were important but he could not see why. There were no notes.

Footsteps sounded in the hall. Two people, he concluded, a woman and a man. Both were almost running. He looked up as Beth and Tony arrived in the doorway.

Beth had one of Chester’s notebooks clutched in her hands. She was alight with excitement. Tony looked equally exhilarated.

“We think we may have found something of great importance in Uncle Chester’s last journal,” Beth announced.

Her enthusiasm brightened the atmosphere around her. No wonder she did not want to marry one of the dull, stiff-necked men who were
courting her, Lucas thought. She needed someone who could appreciate her intelligence and her bright spirit.

“Come in, both of you,” Lucas said. “Tell me what you think you’ve discovered.”

“We found a reference to two of Uncle Chester’s colleagues who apparently visited him here at Crystal Gardens about a month before he died,” Beth said. She walked to the desk and put the notebook down on the map. “Unfortunately, Uncle identified them only by their initials, not complete names, but the initials of the given names fit with the names that you heard them call each other last night, H and B.”

“Horace and Burton,” Lucas said quietly. Energy crackled across his senses, arousing the hunter in him.

“Yes.” Tony came to stand next to Beth. He, too, was flushed and energized. “What is more, the last initial of each is the same, T.”

“Meaning they may share the same last name,” Lucas said. “They might be related.”

“Exactly,” Tony said. “It occurred to us that it may be possible to go through Uncle Chester’s correspondence and discover names that match the initials and, with luck, the addresses of the two men. It is obvious that Chester invited the pair here to the gardens. There ought to be some record, a letter or a telegram.”

“This is excellent news,” Lucas said. “Well done, both of you.”

Beth glowed. Tony grinned.

“Show me what you found,” Lucas said.

“The first references to HT and BT are in early June.” Beth opened the notebook to the place she had marked with a strip of paper and pointed to one of the handwritten entries. “Uncle Chester writes that he has invited the pair to view the results of his latest experiments. A few days later he says he received a telegram stating that the two men would arrive the following Friday. He mentions in passing that Mrs.
Buckley was not pleased at the prospect of guests, but he adds that she has been in a bad temper for some time. He sounds irritated with her.”

Tony reached out to turn a few pages. “These notes are from the following week. HT and BT have arrived and are staying here in the house. Uncle Chester is very excited because the two guests have brought a new device that can be used to navigate the Night Garden. He says it looks rather like a small lantern and that it is powered by a crystal.”

They all looked at the small brass-and-glass lantern that was sitting on a nearby table.

“Son of a—” Lucas began. He remembered that Beth was standing right in front of him and stopped abruptly. “That certainly gives us at least a partial answer to one of the questions we are dealing with. You’re right, the next step is to identify HT and BT.”

“If you have no objection Beth and I will start going through Uncle Chester’s correspondence immediately. We have a good notion as to the dates. Shouldn’t take long to find those names.”

“There is one problem with that plan,” Lucas said. “I have already gone through Chester’s correspondence, what little there is of it. He was too impatient to write letters, for the most part, and he rarely kept the few he received.”

Tony’s eager expression was instantly transformed into disappointment.

“Damnation,” he growled. “I was so certain we had found the answers.”

Beth was equally downcast. “I suppose we should have known that it wouldn’t be that simple.”

“We may have another option,” Lucas said. “Chester was a man of the modern age. When he did bother to communicate, it was generally by telegram. I suggest you go into town and have a chat with the telegraph operator. There should be records of telegrams sent and received
by Chester. And while you’re there, talk to the train station manager and old Mayhew who operates the cab. Little Dixby gets a lot of visitors at this time of year but most come to tour the ruins in town. There were never many visitors here at the Gardens. Someone may remember something of note.”

Tony cheered instantly. “Should have thought of that myself.”

“We shall walk into town immediately,” Beth said. “With luck, we will have some answers within a few hours.”

They rushed out of the library before Lucas could respond. He went back to the desk and contemplated the map. He was still at it a short time later when he heard more footsteps. He smiled in anticipation just before Evangeline appeared.

“Molly tells me that Beth and Tony are on their way into town,” she said. “Did they discover something of interest?”

“They found two sets of initials in Chester’s last journal that could very well belong to the two men we encountered in the maze. They are going to ask a few questions at the train station and interview the telegraph operator.”

“That is very good news, indeed, but it may be unnecessary. Molly’s cousin, Norris, just arrived with word that the doctor was called out early this morning to attend a gentleman who was running a strange fever. Evidently the doctor returned home fearing the worst.”

Lucas came out from behind the desk and went swiftly toward the door. “Address?”

“A cottage on Willow Pond. According to Molly it is only about a mile from here if one takes the shortcut through the woods at the end of the lane.”

“Within walking distance,” Lucas said. The energy of the hunt whispered through him. “If they survived the energy storm, they might have made it back to the cottage.”

“I’m coming with you,” Evangeline said.

He paused in the doorway. “No. There is no telling what sort of reception we will get. If HT and BT are at the cottage, they may be armed.”

“It sounds like one of them may be dying,” Evangeline said. “If he is suffering from the same fever that you endured last night, you will need me.”