❝ I'm not standing STILL; I am lying in WAIT . ❞

“No.” His smile slackened a bit. “I expect that trail is long cold by now. And if your suspicions are correct—one culprit is already six feet below.” 

“But, if I’ve not had my fill after these killings are dealt with—perhaps I’ll look into it. Might be a welcome shift in gravity.” His mouth twinged faintly.

A thin smile crossed his mouth. “He’s made no mention of it to me.”

He blew out a gradual breath, eyebrows risen, nodding a bit as the other man finished. “I see. Well.” He paused, seeming to consider all of this, and then began again, his expression skeptical; mouth creasing inwards.

“I can’t speak for Carrington, but it sounds a mite steep for Valentine. Whatever his gripe with you at the time, whatever his financial concerns—I’ve never known him to enjoy indulging great risks to his person—at least, not of that sort. That wouldn’t have been a comfortable nor easy job in practice, and to be caught in the midst of it likely would’ve been even more perilous than being nailed down afterwards.”

He looked up, frowning, eyes narrowing—his expression drawn somewhere between perplexity and disbelief. “—the robbery? God’s my life—you’re not serious, surely.”

He glanced up again, brows lifting, his manner still notably cool.

A grim, faintly somber twinge pulled along the edges of his mouth, chest falling as he sighed. “I expect they would both agree with that statement. Regrettably, there’s little to be done about it now.” 

“Regrettably------and now she lives off of my good will.” His expression here grew momentarily more dry; then his eyes fell, and his voice became somewhat cooler.

He exhaled, brow giving an ironical tilt. “Little enough. A path to most of the necessary rooms, I suppose.” The timbre of his voice had turned rather dry.

He said nothing at this------didn’t raise his eyes, the line of his lips giving a humorless twitch.

“Thursday last. And he often calls at Trenwith.” He paused. 

“—of course, I advise him to keep his head down, for whatever good that may do.”

“I shall endeavor to keep him on track, though—truly I’ve no ranking over him.” He shifted, hands joining behind his back. “I don’t believe it’s this task that truly ill suits him. His record is commendable—up until a point. It’s his other interests that do him no credit.”

“May God speed you in your efforts.” He spoke dryly------looked off again, thumbing slowly through a stack of the papers lying atop his desk.

“No doubt. Expect most of those who try are quick to be trodden on.” He met the other’s gaze for a moment, his faint smile lingering, and then he slackened, eyes lowering. “—but then it’s not a force we need, it’s a few decent investigators, instead of these preventative men who’ve spent the last twenty years doing nothing but ratting out petty criminals.”

He looked over, the knit of his forehead lifting a little higher. “There is always talk of change in Parliament, I believe it’s the action bit where they get lost.” A dry, though not altogether ill-natured smile tugged at his mouth. “But, of course I should welcome it as much as the next man.” 

He looked the other man over, brows lifting, his own expression becoming rather dry.

His mouth twinged bleakly. “They have their pride—and their Cornish disdain for interlopers.” He sighed again, brow lifting a bit. “And no doubt the London officials think they’ve bigger fish to fry as it is—I expect it might take more than a few dead women to truly garner their attention, beyond whatever men they’ve got sitting around who aren’t up to scratch.”

“No doubt. And that is precisely the reason I should prefer to keep this well in hand. It’s only a matter of time before a few dead leads to mass unrest in the county------particularly given the spread of these killings, if the man responsible is not caught.” He looked up again after a moment.

He exhaled, eyes lowering, his expression grim and vaguely apologetic. “—indeed, regrettably there are few others of his qualifications who’ve made themselves available.” He paused, grimacing faintly. “—of course his propensity for distraction is no help to us. I’ll see if I can speak to him.” 

“Indeed. I would doubt if his qualifications are proving to be of much use to us in light of it, either.” He paused here; looked down, the line of his mouth hardening, hands clasping stiffly behind his back as he spoke.