The Art of Deception (The Lucy Lawrence Mysteries Book 3) by Lecky Pam

Author:Lecky, Pam
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-12-10T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 22

Lucy stared at Phineas, her thoughts tripping over each other as she tried to fathom it all out. How did Edward’s death relate to the theft of all those paintings? And why did Phin need the likes of a seedy private investigator to pursue the case?

“Phin, you had better explain it to me,” she said with some reluctance. “I must be missing something, for this isn’t making sense.”

“What do you want to know?”

“Everything!”

Phin settled back against the pillows with a sigh. “Initially, the murder of Edward Vaughan, looked at in isolation, made no sense to me. McQuillan’s enquiries indicated Edward had no enemies, no outstanding debts and no connections to criminals. Who could have a motive? At first, it appeared the only motive might well be my desire to rid the world of Mr Vaughan and to help a lady in distress: a theory offered so helpfully by Alice that night.”

“Yes. I still say she has questions to answer.” Phin raised a brow. “Well, she does, Phin. If you were being set up, the use of your cane was not by chance either.”

“Yes, indeed, that was rather clever of them. So, all the circumstantial evidence pointed to me. But even McQuillan thought it was all a bit too convenient. As you surmise, the only logical conclusion was that the murder had been carefully planned to ensure the police would suspect me. However, what the murderer or murderers didn’t count on was that McQuillan and I are old friends. We quickly realised that Edward’s murder was a red herring. The true intention behind the murder was far more sinister.”

Lucy mulled this over for a few moments, then gasped. “I see … to frame you … because you were getting close to discovering the Apollo syndicate. But then Alice is not involved.”

“You sound disappointed, my dear.”

“Hmm.”

Phin cast her a knowing look. “You must abandon that theory.”

“But what changed? Why did McQuillan decide to charge you?”

“With no evidence to clear me, the chief inspector’s hand was forced by his superior, and he had no choice but to let things take their course. I must admit, I was worried for a while. McQuillan cut it fine producing that evidence.”

Lucy sat back, flabbergasted. “It was an extremely clever plan. But it went awry when you were cleared. Is that why you were shot?”

“I would think so, yes.”

“Do you or McQuillan have any idea who the real murderer might be?” she asked.

“McQuillan’s enquiries are ongoing. Trust me, he is working night and day on it. We can be certain now that our assassin was one of the hired servants, placed in the house that night by whoever is behind those art thefts. However, although the agency Lady Sarah used provided names and addresses of the hired staff that night, half of them have proved to be false. Seemingly a common enough occurrence. Whoever the perpetrator was, he has slipped back into the gutter without a trace. For all we know, he may have left the country.

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