I told him about Charles's accusations, Julia’s pregnancy, and the ugly web of suspicion tightening around our families.
His jaw tightened. "Nicky would never seduce a married woman," he said flatly.
"Perhaps not," I said. "But rumor cares little for truth."
Steele raked a hand through his dark hair. "This will spread."
"It already has," I said grimly. "And unless we act, it will consume them both."
He paced a few steps, thinking. When he turned back, the steel in his expression matched his name. "We must take matters into our own hands."
I stared. "You mean investigate Walsh’s murder?”
"Exactly."
For a moment, I could only blink. An investigation would mire us in a scandal. It was madness to involve ourselves in such an endeavor.
And yet.
"If we leave it to Dodson," Steele continued, "they’ll be railroaded before the week is out. He cares for expediency, not truth."
"You know him?" I asked.
"All too well," Steele said grimly. “Several years ago, he was placed in charge of an embezzlement investigation. All evidence pointed to a young accountant, someone I knew. He was innocent. I was sure of it. But that didn’t stop Dodson from clapping him in irons. By the time I discovered the true thief, the young gentleman was dead. Devastated by the shame the accusation brought to his family, he hanged himself.”
“Oh, dear heaven. I’m so sorry.”
“I took steps to have Dodson demoted. At the hearing, I argued that he should have conducted a more thorough investigation. But it proved to no avail. He was allowed to keep his rank, as there had been more than enough evidence to charge the accountant. The thing of it was if Dodson had been more diligent, he would have realized the documents had been forged by the young accountant’s superior. But with Scotland Yard resources stretched as thin as they were, there was no time, or inclination, to do so.”
“Dodson strikes me as a man who wants a quick solution to this murder.”
“He is. And Lady Walsh and my brother are easy targets.”
A sense of dread roiled through me. “We must be cautious,” I said slowly. “If word spreads that we are interfering, it could look like we are trying to hide their guilt. We might hurt more than help.”
“That is a risk,” he allowed. “But consider the alternative. If we do nothing, the law may very well claim them both, whether they are guilty or not. We must not let that happen.”
By the time he finished, my resolve had hardened into iron. “You’re right. We must do this,” I said. "For Julia. And for your brother."
He gave a firm nod of approval. “We’ll need to keep in close contact so we can compare notes as needed. There is much to be examined. For starters, I need to find out where Nicky was that night. He arrived late at the ball.”
“And we’ll need to find out what Walsh was doing in Spitalfields.”
He flicked a hand in dismissal. “He was visiting his mistress.”
“What?”
“I managed to pry that information out of Dodson while you were attending to your cousin. Apparently, Walsh had a twice-weekly rendezvous with her.”
“The dastard! How dare he?”
He glanced toward me. “Did your cousin know?”
“Of course not. She would have mentioned it.”
“Would she?” His hard stare questioned.
“Maybe not,” I conceded. I would need to find out.
