On a Wild Night (Cynster 8)

Luc glanced at Martin, his dark blue gaze sharpening. "We need to think of this as a challenge, coz-we rarely failed, not when we put our minds to something."

Martin looked at him, met his gaze, then his lips twisted wryly. "You're right-a challenge, then: how to prove Edward's guilt. There must be a way-there is a way. So what is it?" Luc looked at Reggie. "How did he get up north?"

"It sounds like he went via Nottingham."

They tossed questions back and forth, defining how Edward must have acted, trying to see where evidence-something they could prove-might lie. Amanda and Reggie joined in; Jules brought in platters and decanters. They drank and ate, and racked their brains.

After an hour, Martin sat back. "This is getting us nowhere. Even if we prove he was up there, it's another thing to prove he pulled the trigger. And even if we did, there's nothing to connect that with Sarah and Buxton."

Luc grimaced, but his eyes were hard. "It's Sarah I'd like to see him pay for. That's where it all started." He sighed. "If only she'd said something-chattered to her nurse…?"

Martin shook his head. "Mrs. Crockett was adamant, and she wouldn't have forgotten-"

"Wait!" Amanda grabbed Martin's arm. "That's it!"

"What? Sarah left no clue-"

"No. But only the four of us and Mrs. Crockett know that."

&

nbsp; Luc's eyes narrowed. "We fabricate something-"

"Not exactly." Amanda waved for silence. "Listen. This is what-as far as anyone beyond this room knows-is going on." She drew breath, her mind whizzing from point to point as the details fell into place. "Martin has offered for my hand, and that means he has to resolve the old scandal. So for the first time, he's revisited the scene and asked questions of the people involved. The murderer knows Martin's been back home, so all that fits.

"One of the people he'd naturally have spoken with is Mrs. Crockett. While she didn't know anything, after we'd left, she rummaged through the trunk where Sarah's father had put Sarah's belongings. She hadn't previously looked because she'd assumed Martin was guilty."

Amanda glanced at Martin. "I know that's not the case, but it's better for my story if she thought all these years it was you. That explains why she didn't until now look in Sarah's diary. You were hauled away, essentially convicted of the crime-no proof was needed years ago. Now… after we left, Mrs. Crockett remembered the diary, but wasn't sure it still existed. But when she looked in the trunk, she found it, and in it, of course, Sarah doesn't name but describes enough to identify the man who forced her, the one who's babe she was carrying."

She glanced at her audience. "All men think young girls write everything in their diaries, don't they?"

Luc shrugged. "If one was dealing with innocents, it would be a concern."

Amanda nodded. "Just so. Mrs. Crockett sent word to Martin, asking what you wanted her to do with the diary. You wrote back to send it to London." She looked at Martin, Luc, Reggie. "The diary will be delivered here, on a certain day at a certain hour, because it'll come down with the coach, so when it arrives will be fixed. And we'll be here, waiting for it to be delivered, to open it and read what's written there-"

"And Edward will move heaven and earth to stop that happening." Luc sat forward, his expression intent. "It might work."

"And," Martin said, "the scheme will work even if it isn't Edward." When the other three looked at him, he went on, "Other than circumstantial evidence, we have no proof it is Edward. We'd be foolish to assume it's definitely him." He glanced at Amanda. "Which is why your plan is so sound-it'll work no matter which of the five on our list is the one. Whoever he is, he'll try to stop us reading the diary."

"But we haven't got a diary," Reggie said.

"Any book will do." Martin glanced at the shelves all around them.

"No, it won't," Amanda countered. "It should at least look the part. I've an old schoolroom diary with ribbons and roses on the front. It hasn't got my name on the cover-I'll write Sarah on it. That will look convincing."

Luc frowned. "If it was me, I'd try to get the diary back from Mrs. Crockett. I'd turn up at her cottage and say Martin sent me to fetch it."

"You won't have time," Martin told him. "We're going to settle this quickly." He glanced at them all. "The diary will arrive tomorrow evening-the coach from the north arrives at St. Pancras at five o'clock. To make it more realistic, and to make sure the diary arrives here and no attempt is made to waylay it en route, I'll send Jules up north to fetch it. In reality, we'll wrap the diary, give it to Jules, and one of my grooms will drive him to Barnet at dawn tomorrow. He'll be there to catch the coach when it stops on its way south later in the day."

"But what about Jules?" Amanda turned to Martin. "We know the murderer's dangerous. We don't want Jules harmed."

"You needn't worry about Jules-he can take care of himself." When Amanda didn't look convinced, Martin's grin turned wry. "Jules is an ex-Corsican bandit, an assassin, among other things. He was once sent to kill me."

Luc considered Martin. "He obviously wasn't much good at his job."

Martin raised his brows. "Actually, he was very good-I'm just better."

The cousins exchanged cousinly glances, then turned back to the business at hand.