Whoever had just come into the house had entered through the front hall. If she moved quietly, she could retreat the same way she had come, down the back stairs.

She crossed the carpet and paused at the doorway to listen.

“I am well-aware that you are up there, Lavinia,” Aspasia called from the foot of the master staircase. “Come out at once or I will lodge a bullet in the old man’s head. That should take care of his faded dreams once and for all, don’t you agree?”

A queasy, weightless feeling seized Lavinia. Aspasia had taken the old man hostage.

“I knew from the start of this affair that you would likely make things difficult,” Aspasia said. “You never cared much for me, did you? That is why I set a pair of street boys to keep an eye on you today, even though the affair of the Memento-Mori Man was supposedly over. When they saw you leave the shop and start toward my house, they came to tell me.”

She sounded closer now. Lavinia heard heavy, muffled footsteps and realized that Aspasia was forcing the old man up the stairs.

She took off her silver pendant. Holding the end of the chain in one hand, she stepped out into the hall and went slowly forward to stand overlooking the railing. When she looked down, her fears were confirmed. Aspasia and the old man were halfway up the staircase. She had a pistol leveled at his temple.

The old man was breathing heavily. The air rasped in his lungs. He grasped the railing in one hand and clung to his walking stick with the other.

He paused and looked up at Lavinia. “Forgive me, my dear,” he managed between labored gasps.

“Let him go, Aspasia.” Lavinia moved her hand slightly, letting the silver Minerva pendant catch the light streaming in through the high windows that illuminated the stairwell. “He cannot hurt you.”

Aspasia was amused. “Of course he cannot hurt me. But he is useful at the moment. I have learned a great deal about you in recent days, you see. You have much in common with Tobias. You both have a noble streak. Neither of you would allow another to die in your place while you fled to safety.”

“I am not fleeing, Aspasia.” Lavinia let the pendant dangle with what she hoped appeared to be a supremely casual lack of concern, as though she did not even recall holding it in her hand. But she made certain that it glinted and glittered in the sun. “See? I am standing right here. You can let him go.”

“Not yet.” Aspasia frowned at the pendant and then shook her head once, as though the sight of the gently swinging silver confused her. She prodded the old man with the pistol. “Not until we are closer. Pistols are so very unreliable at this distance, you see.”

“You would know, wouldn’t you?” Lavinia asked. “Indeed, you are an expert. How many people have you murdered, Aspasia?”

“Counting the deaths that Zachary and I plotted together?” Aspasia laughed lightly. “Thirteen in all.”

“An unlucky number,” the old man wheezed.

“Quiet, you fool.” Aspasia pushed the nose of the pistol against the side of his head. “Or I will pull the trigger now.”

“No.” Lavinia leaned out over the railing and swung the pendant steadily. “Aspasia, look at me. Listen to me. He has nothing to do with this matter. You can let him go.”

“My advice is to run.” The old man halted once more on the stairs, clutching the banister for support, and drew another ragged breath. “She’s got only the one pistol, I believe. In the time it takes her to reload after she shoots me, you will be able to escape.”

“I warned you to be quiet, old man.” Aspasia raised the pistol and made to strike him with the handle.

“You shot the hairdresser last night, didn’t you?” Lavinia asked quickly, hoping to distract her.

“Yes.” Aspasia lowered the hand holding the pistol, frowning intently at the glittering pendant. “I had no choice. He was blackmailing me. I was to leave the first of what he no doubt intended to be many payments in a small lane off Bond Street. As if I were one of his clients, if you can imagine.”

Lavinia saw a shadow shift in the hall below the staircase. Her first thought was that it was a trick of the light. Nevertheless, her spirits lifted a little.

It was suddenly vital to keep Aspasia talking.

“Why was Mr. Pierce blackmailing you?” she asked. The pendant continued to sway in a gentle arc. “What did he know about you?”

Aspasia gave her a dazzling smile. “You mean you haven’t reasoned it out yet? You disappoint me, Mrs. Lake. I not only became Zachary’s lover, I also became his partner.”

Lavinia was stunned. “His partner!”

Why do you find that so odd? You and Mr. March are partners, are you not? Unfortunately, Zachary kept some of his secrets to the end. Evidently he took the precaution of writing a letter. In it he confided the nature of my connection to some of his business affairs. For some reason that I do not understand, the letter must have disappeared for a time. But it somehow found its way into someone’s hands quite recently.”

“Why did Elland make you his partner?”

Aspasia smiled coldly. “Because he loved me, and because he recognized a kindred spirit.”

“Tobias was right in that regard.”

“Do you know, Zachary rather enjoyed his role as the daring spy. I think he actually considered himself something of a hero. But unfortunately, that sort of thing rarely pays well. In fact, it did not pay at all. So Zachary continued to ply his trade while he worked for Crown and Country.”

“You assisted him?”

“He enjoyed teaching me his craft, and I discovered that I loved the thrill of the business. There is no drug or elixir quite like the rush of intense excitement that comes with the kill. There is such a feeling of power. You cannot even imagine the sensation unless you experience it yourself.”

“But if you loved him and you were partners, why in heaven’s name did you kill him?” Lavinia demanded.

“Zachary began to revel far too much in the games he played with March. In his mind, they were two consummate chess players engaged in the ultimate match. But I could see that March was closing in rapidly. I insisted we get rid of him. Zachary and I quarreled over the matter. He would not listen to me. He was so sure that he could continue to outfox his pursuer. He had a strange obsession with March. I think he wanted to prove to himself that he was the superior hunter.”

“But you knew that it was only a matter of time before Tobias had him taken up on charges of murder, didn’t you?”

“Yes. I also knew that when that happened, the truth about my connection to some of the deaths would come out. I thought about trying to kill Tobias myself, but in the end I decided that it would be simpler and ever so much safer to get rid of Zachary.”

“When it was finished, you moved to Paris.”

“I thought it best to leave England for a time.” Aspasia smiled. “I wanted to give Tobias a chance to forget any nagging questions that might lead him to me. Then, about two months ago, I returned to London to resume my life.”

“And your career as a murderess as well?”

“For me, it is a sport, not a profession,” Aspasia said. “I went hunting on several occasions in Paris and had planned to continue the pastime here in London. I find my little adventures a very effective tonic for ennui. But the morning of Beaumont’s house party, I received the first blackmail note and that bloody ring.”

Understanding struck Lavinia quite forcefully. “You did not know who the blackmailer was, though, did you? So you employed Tobias to find him for you.”

“We each have our talents. I am expert at making the kill, but I admit I have no particular skill for the investigation business.”

“What happened last night?” Lavinia asked.

“After you identified Pierce as the killer, I set some street boys to watch his lodgings for me. The same urchins who followed you today, as a matter of fact. In any event, when Pierce left to carry out his commission, they came to tell me. I went directly to his rooms to search for Zachary’s letter.”