“What are you thinking?” Marguerite murmured when she saw the thoughtful look on Joe’s face. He was up to something.
Joe quickly explained what he suspected, including what might have happened to her father. While she winced, she didn’t start to cry or betray much emotion at all. In fact, she took the suggestion quite calmly, but studied the jewellery he held with much more distaste.
“It may be why Sayers wants you to go with him. You are the one person who could report your father missing, in which case this shop would then have to close,” Joe added.
“If that’s the case, why did he bring the magistrate with him?”
Kerrigan and Joe looked at each other.
“It is just a guess but, the magistrate wanted to search the house. Sayers knew that there was a body still upstairs because he had left it there, and had been watching the place to see if it was moved or not. If Lucas had managed to take a look around the house, the body would have been found. You, Marguerite, would have been arrested for murder,” Joe explained.
“Exactly. You would be guilty until proven innocent seeing as you were the only person in the house with the corpse all morning,” Kerrigan added.
“You would be at Sayers’ mercy, Marguerite,” Joe added. “I don’t doubt you would also have been framed for your father’s suspected murder, seeing as he couldn’t be found. You wouldn’t be able to prove your innocence because you had no witnesses to confirm your whereabouts last night. You were out all alone.”
Kerrigan swore. “Sayers would have gotten you out of the way quite neatly. It would then leave this place empty for him to use at will, and without any fear of being challenged.”
“It could take years for Eustace to be officially declared dead and his estate broken up,” Joe added. “There are a lot of clocks in that shop which are worth a veritable fortune. Sayers wouldn’t be able to keep his hands to himself.”
“Oh, good Lord,” Marguerite whispered.
“We are not saying it is definite, you understand? We are just considering the possibilities right now,” Joe added hastily.
“I had never met the man before last night. No wonder he was so determined to cart me off,” she whispered.
Suddenly, she looked back at what happened last night from a fresh perspective, and realised then just what a blessing Joe’s appearance in her life had truly been.
Heaven only knows where I would be if it wasn’t for him, she mused as she studied him.
He looked exhausted, dirty, and was probably as hungry as she was, but he didn’t moan about it or show any outward sign of discomfort. He was so focused on getting to the bottom of the mysteries surrounding them that she suspected he could continue to work for several more days yet and not be affected. Unfortunately, Marguerite was flagging dangerously. She was beyond tired. So much so that she wasn’t sure she would be able to run anywhere else if the need arose. She was certainly struggling to comprehend what was going on, especially when her mind preferred to focus on just how handsome Joe looked bathed in the solitary glow of flickering candlelight.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
“Joe,” Kerrigan murmured suddenly.
The intensity in the man’s voice warned Joe that he had found something. Joe looked across the room and saw the hesitant look Kerrigan threw at Marguerite. He knew immediately that whatever Kerrigan had just found in the packaging crate was not good news.
They all ventured closer. Kerrigan left the contents undisturbed and stepped back.
“What is it?” Marguerite’s entire being froze when she looked inside the crate. Her stomach dropped to her toes. She wanted to demand if it was her father, just so she could deny it was possible.
“Oh, my word,” she whispered.
“I do believe we have found Sayers’ stolen hoard of gems,” Kerrigan declared with no small measure of satisfaction.
“God, how much is there?” Jacob whispered as he stared down into the box within which lay numerous small packages.
Joe lifted a single pouch out of the box. Untying the laces he stared in disgust at the emerald necklace and earrings set worth a veritable fortune nestled in the palm of his hand. At first count, there were at least another dozen or so packages like it still in the box. Carefully wrapping it back up, he placed it back where he found it and swore as he stepped away.
“Are there any markings on the box to say where it is destined for?” he murmured. He bent down to study all four sides to the box.
Marguerite lifted the lid and tipped it over. “Paris,” she said and lifted the box up to show him the pencilled address.
Kerrigan puffed out his cheeks and shook his head. “This just gets worse and worse and worse.”
“Well, he is going to be desperate to get us away from here so he can squirrel this lot out of sight, isn’t he?” Joe sighed.
“Yes, but unfortunately, it now means that we cannot leave,” Jacob snapped. “Well, I am not sitting here waiting to be swamped with killers.”