“Forgive me,” he pleaded. “Forgive me for what I’ve done to you—to your friend. I made a grievous mistake.”
“Tell me why you did it.”
“To right a wrong, to get answers I couldn’t find in paperwork.” Ben swallowed. “Does it matter? I hurt you.”
“It matters,” she whispered. “It matters...if Leith was well and truly murdere—”
“He was,” Ben said without a hint of doubt. “Trust me, please.”
“And your father?” she asked, fear and realization mingled in her expression.
He gave her a solemn nod. The anguish in her was written across her face, and the grief he imagined she felt at the truth was tangible. Remi sank to her knees, and he went with her, the joy at their reunion replaced by inconsolable sorrow.
Finally, she managed to say, “It’s Hugo.”
“What about Hugo?”
“The letters,” she paused. “He wrote the letters. It’s no wonder Sylvie was so distressed. I can’t imagine what he said or did to her.”
He’d been right to suspect her uncle’s associate then. “How do you know?”
“He tried to stop me from seeing you.” She bit her lip. “And then he admitted to it...just before he confessed his love for me.”
“Did he hurt you?” Ben’s anger slammed into him like a forgotten door in a long passage. “What about Soleil? Did he mention my sister?”
“No,” she said. “He made no mention of Soleil. Do you think perhaps it was him who pushed her?”
“It could very well be,” Ben said, no happier about being proven right than he would have been if his assumptions had been wrong. “He could have wanted her for money—he’s the type to kill for it.”
“Oh, Ben.” Her eyes were wide like saucers as she rubbed absently at her wrist. “If it’s true—if it was him—I’m sorry.”
“He’ll get what’s owed to him. Rest assured,” Ben said as he reached for her hand and brought it to his lips through the bars. He muttered against her knuckles, “I saw him as well. He was there the day they brought me, watching from the crowd.”
She looked incredulous. “But why?”
“Jacques and I…” Ben hesitated, unsure of his suspicions. Both of them had wondered if Hugo was the true culprit, and if the letters were his, then it aligned. If it hadn’t been about money, then it had to be about Remi. “We thought it might be him. He’s been sneaking around and poking his head into everything.”
Quickly, he added, “Of course, the letters he’d been sending to you were a piece of the puzzle that didn’t fit...until now.”
“Then...you think he killed Leith?” Remi asked. Ben remembered her question outside of the study some nights ago. She’d only speculated at Leith’s untimely passing, but it seemed possible now that jealousy had driven Hugo to the brink. Greed had done his sister in, of that he was sure.
“Possibly.”
“And that’s why the bodies were...in the cellar?” She hesitated, afraid to bring it up.
“Yes.”
Remi bit her bottom lip. “Edgar as well?”
“Strangled. He’d been beaten and stabbed,” Ben said, not withholding the gruesome truth. “When we looked, the wounds had been stitched up with a sloppy hand. Someone was trying to cover their tracks.”
“That’s horrible.”
“It is.” Ben’s tone dropped to a warning and whispered to Remi softly through the bars. “Now listen—Inspector Marceau believes me to be innocent. He’s heard my side and wants to help, but we need proof. We need to provide him with something solid.”
“The papers from Lamotte’s office?” Remi asked, remembering the stack in the guest room.
Ben shook his head. “Perhaps, but those don’t incriminate him. They paint a colorful picture, but otherwise, they prove nothing.”
Remi’s face scrunched in thought as she postulated the situation further. Finally, a light went off in her head, he could see it in the way her eyes brightened. “Didier!”
“Who is Didier?”
“Leith’s lover,” Remi stated. “He stopped me on my visit with Leith’s mother. He said that he saw someone, that Leith had been attacked. I didn’t want to believe him, but perhaps he can help.”
“Yes!” Pride swelled in Ben’s chest. “But why didn’t you tell me this sooner?”
Remi blushed. “We were...preoccupied.”
“Ah.”
They were silent for a moment, Ben lost in the memory and Remi seemingly embarrassed at how easily she had forgotten something so important. Finally, she broke their individual reverie. “I’ll find Didier, but what should I do about Hugo? He may return for me. There’s no saying what will happen then…”
“One step at a time, love,” he said softly. “Find Didier, and when you do, ask him to speak with the inspector. No one else.”
Remi nodded.
“Go home, lock the doors,” Ben instructed carefully. “Find the papers and come back with them tomorrow. Deliver them only to the inspector.”
