Who Slays the Wicked (Sebastian St. Cyr Mystery Book 14) by C. S. Harris

Author:C. S. Harris
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2019-04-02T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 26

Lawrence McCay was alone when Sebastian pushed open the door to the showroom.

The furniture maker was shifting the position of a delicate Adam-style chest and had brought in an array of mirrors from the glass room, presumably in an attempt to make the stripped space appear less pathetic. At the bell’s cheerful jingle, he looked up, his face lighting with a leap of hope that drained away when he saw Sebastian. “Not you again.”

Sebastian closed the door behind him. “I’m afraid so.”

“But . . . why?”

“Are you familiar with a man named Sid Cotton?”

McCay looked puzzled. “Cotton? I don’t believe so, no. Why? Who is he?”

“A thief, murderer, and general all-around unpleasant character.”

He gave the chest a final scoot. “Then I’m glad I don’t know him.”

“He knows you.”

“How?”

“Ashworth tried to hire him to kill you. You didn’t know that?”

The furniture maker’s heavily lined face sagged. “You’re not serious?”

“I wish I weren’t.”

“Who told you this?”

“Cotton.”

“Perhaps he made it up.”

“It’s possible. Although that does beg the question: If so, then how did he come to know your name?”

McCay tightened his lips back from his teeth in the manner of a man wrestling with a difficult question. “I don’t know.”

Sebastian watched him carefully. “You do appreciate the implications, don’t you?”

“Of course I do. You take me for a fool?” McCay stood with his hands dangling at his sides as if unsure what to do with them. “You’re suggesting it gave me an additional reason to kill him, aren’t you?”

“If you knew.”

“But I didn’t! How the hell could I?”

“He could have threatened you.”

“Ashworth did threaten me—said he’d make me sorry for ‘bothering’ him. But I thought he meant he’d take legal action against me. I never dreamt he meant he’d have me killed. Who does something like that?”

“A man who has no problem killing his fellow beings. You don’t seem to understand the nature of the man you were dealing with. This is someone who used to abuse and kill street children. For fun.”

McCay stared at him, his eyes flooding with a disbelieving horror. Then his gaze shifted to the window overlooking the street. An instant later, the bell jangled as Julie McCay pushed open the door.

“Papa, you won’t believe what—” She broke off at the sight of Sebastian, the smile sliding off her face. “Why are you here again?”

“Miss McCay,” said Sebastian, bowing politely. The first time Sebastian visited the emporium, Julie McCay’s clothing had barely registered on him. But he paid attention now. Her white muslin gown was fashionably high-waisted but plain, with only a simple piping of green ribbon around the neck and hem. Respectable, but neither high style nor elegant. Not only that, but she was even smaller than he’d remembered—probably less than five feet. The blood-soaked gown retrieved from the Thames could not possibly have been hers.

She slammed the door behind her with a bell-jarring crash. “Why can’t you leave us alone?”

It was McCay himself who answered her. “He says Ashworth tried to hire some fellow to kill me.

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