“What is happening inside that hackney?” Tobias demanded. “Tell me everything you can. Be quick about it.”

“Celeste stole the bracelet and met you at the empty warehouse.” Lavinia touched the silver pendant. She knew now that Pelling was not entirely impervious to mesmeric suggestion, as he claimed. But he was certainly not an easy subject, especially under these extremely difficult circumstances. The best she could hope to do was distract him and, with luck, perhaps influence his logic to some degree. She was buying time. “Did you murder her because you thought you no longer needed her?”

Pelling’s eyes darted briefly toward the twisting silver. He appeared confused by it. He looked away and back again.

He had not heard her, she realized.

“Why did you murder Celeste?” she whispered.

He stared at her. “I killed her because she informed me that she wished to alter our bargain.” A mad rage flared once again in his eyes. “The stupid bitch sent word that she wanted twice as much money for the damned bracelet. I agreed to meet her at the warehouse and hand over her fee in exchange for the Medusa.”

“That’s when you strangled her.”

“She deserved it. She struggled, of course. Waved that damned fan at me. Tried to put me in a trance. But I killed her before she could utter another word.”

“And then you realized that she had not brought the bracelet with her to the warehouse that night. You had miscalculated. Murdered her too soon. What a problem you faced. You had no notion where she had hidden the relic.”

“I tried making a few discreet inquiries the morning after the murder.”

“But you only succeeded in starting rumors about the missing Medusa,” she said, thinking of Nightingale’s late-night visit to Howard and Lord Vale’s sudden interest in the search. “That was how the rumors concerning the theft of the Medusa got started so speedily.”

“Yes. And then Hudson hired March to look into the matter. I must admit, it was a rather ingenious move.”

“Actually, Dr. Hudson employed me to look into it.”

He ignored the small correction, lost in his tale now. “I searched several of the antiquities shops, thinking that Celeste might have made a more profitable bargain with one of the dealers.”

Clearly he did not know about Mrs. Rushton’s inadvertent theft of her own relic, Lavinia thought. All he knew was that Celeste had obtained the Medusa, but she evidently had not told him how she got hold of it. Perhaps she had considered such details to be professional secrets.

Lavinia paused in the act of turning the pendant. “It was you I surprised that day in Mr. Tredlow’s shop.”

“Yes. I thought at the time that it was fortunate that you did not see me. I did not want to kill you at that point. I wanted you to continue your search. Indeed, I thought it quite possible that with March’s connections the two of you might well find the thing.” Pelling smiled again and raised the point of the knife. “And that is just what happened, is it not?”

“Yes.”

“Where is the Medusa bracelet, Mrs. Lake?”

She drew a breath. “You don’t really expect me to tell you, do you? I know that you will kill me the moment the bracelet is in your possession.”

“You will tell me,” Pelling promised. Something snakelike slithered just beneath the surface of his eyes. “In the end, you will be only too happy to tell me the location of the bracelet.”

The hackney rattled to a halt a short time later. Lavinia could smell the river. When Pelling opened the door, she saw sagging docks and shabby outbuildings swathed in fog. She heard the creak of dock timbers, but the water itself was invisible in the gray mist. There was no indication that anyone else was about.

She tried to think of what to do next.

Pelling used the tip of the knife to motion her out of the cab. She jumped down cautiously and looked up at the coachman. One glimpse of his rough features destroyed her small hope of help from that quarter: The man on the box was one of the two men who had attacked Tobias in Maggie’s front hall.

He did not meet her eyes, his entire attention on Pelling. “This is the end of the matter as far as I’m concerned. Where’s the rest of my money?”

“Here.” Pelling tossed a small sack at him. “You’ll find that it is all there. Take it and be off.”

The villain loosened the string that secured the sack, glanced inside, and then nodded, satisfied. He picked up the whip and gave the horses the signal.

The hackney clattered off and was soon lost in the fog.

The thickening mist might provide some concealment, Lavinia thought. If she could run fast enough, she might be able to escape Pelling’s knife and lose herself in the gathering darkness. She collected her skirts.

“Do not think that you can escape me, Mrs. Lake.” Pelling reached into the pocket of his greatcoat and produced a pistol. He smiled again. “You may be able to outrun a knife, but you cannot outrun a bullet. I am an excellent shot.”

“I do not doubt that for a moment. But if you kill me now, you will never learn where Celeste hid the bracelet.”

“Rest assured that the bullet I lodge in you will not kill you. Not immediately. There will be ample time for you to tell me everything you know. Now, then, we are going through that door over there.” He pointed with the knife. “Move quickly, Mrs. Lake. I am growing extremely impatient.”

She touched the pendant again. “You told me that you were a strong man. I believe you, sir. I have great respect for a man of your power.”

He glanced at the pendant. “Stop fiddling with that damned necklace.”

“Your power makes me anxious.”

“As well it should.”

“It makes me feel small. As if I were far away from you at the end of a very long, very dark hall.”

“Stop talking.” He jerked his gaze away from the pendant with obvious effort. “Go through that door, Mrs. Lake. Be quick about it.”

“I know where the bracelet is,” she said gently. “Shall I tell you now?”

He shifted restlessly and looked away from the pendant. “Where is it?”

“Celeste hid it well.” She took a step back toward the quay that edged the river. “It is at the end of a very long hall. Can you see the hall in your mind? It is the same hall in which I am standing. I look so small there at the very end of the hall. You will have to come closer to see me.” She fell back another step. “I have the Medusa here with me at the end of the hall. You must come down this long hall to find me and the bracelet-”

“Bloody hell, cease prattling on about hallways.” But he took a hesitant step, following her as she edged back through the mists toward the river. “I do not want to hear about the long hall.”

“But you must go down this long, long hall if you wish to find the Medusa.” She continued gliding slowly toward the gray wall of fog that cloaked the river. From the corner of her eye, she watched for an alley or passageway between buildings that might provide cover for a few seconds. “Come with me down this hall. You know it well.”

“No. No, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

But he followed, as if drawn by a string. Unfortunately, the pistol in his hand never wavered.

“It is the hall you go down whenever you find it necessary to beat a woman. It is the place where you are in control. The place where you are powerful. When you are in this hallway no one is stronger than you.”

“Yes.” He continued walking toward her, moving more quickly now. “I am the strong one.”

“Women cannot control you when you are in this place.”

“No. Here I am in command.” His voice altered slightly, rising in pitch. “She cannot hurt me here.”

“Who cannot hurt you?”

“Aunt Medusa.”

Lavinia nearly missed her footing. “Aunt Medusa?”