“I won’t leave the house like this. I can’t.”
“He uses a knife, Lady Benton. It won’t be pleasant if he finds you in his way. I don’t have the time to persuade you. I shouldn’t have left Walmer, as it is. I might not be able to get back to the Abbey tonight.”
Something in his voice reached her. “You’re saying I’m a distraction. All right, let me collect a few things—”
“Later. You must come as you are. There’s literally no time now.”
She went into the library, found the lead for Bruce, and snapped it on his collar. “It seems we’re taking a ride, whether we care to or not,” she said to him, and Rutledge moved the bench far enough for the woman and the dog to leave.
He had to unlock the gate, expecting to have to persuade Bruce into the motorcar, but the dog made short work of it, jumping in, settling into the rear seat, tongue lolling. Taking up most of it, crowding Hamish into a corner. As Lady Benton took her seat, Rutledge turned the crank and got in beside her.
He drove fast, reached the outskirts of Walmer, and only slowed when he saw one of Hamilton’s Constables just coming out of a house. “Any news?”
“Not yet, sir. We haven’t heard from the men down by the harbor.”
“Tell Hamilton where I am.”
The Constable tried to see who was in the motorcar with him, and leapt back when Bruce stood up and thrust his head out the window, over Rutledge’s shoulder.
Rutledge drove on to the hotel. “I’ll give you my key. Stay there until I come for you. You’ll know it’s safe then.”
“I’d rather go to Margaret. If she knows what’s happening, she’ll be worried for me. And I can get a cup of tea. I need it rather badly.” She smiled wryly. “In the war, I felt safe, with the squadron at my doorstep.”
He wasn’t pleased, but he drove on, pulling up in front of Mrs. Hailey’s door.
“I just remembered. We can’t take Bruce inside,” Lady Benton warned him. “Margaret has a cat. But we must keep him safe. He’s only borrowed.”
He waited by the motorcar, watching as she went up the short walk and tapped at the door.
Mrs. Hailey didn’t respond for a minute or two, and Lady Benton turned toward Rutledge, where he stood impatiently by the motorcar. There was a rueful expression on her face, and just then Mrs. Hailey opened the door. He could see that she was wearing a robe or her nightdress.
“I’m not well—” the housekeeper began apologetically, just as Bruce began to bark frantically from the rear seat of the motorcar, his head and shoulders pushing against the rear door.
And in the same instant, Mrs. Hailey was roughly shoved out of sight. Before Rutledge was halfway up the walk, a hand reached out, caught Lady Benton’s bad wrist, and pulled hard, dragging her into the house. He heard her cry out with the pain.
She was already across the threshold and the door slammed shut before Rutledge, shouting her name, could reach her. Bruce was out of the motorcar, jumping down and bounding toward the door, then throwing himself against it. When it didn’t open he began to leap frantically up and down, barking madly, in his efforts to reach Lady Benton.
Rutledge caught the dog’s lead and physically heaved him away from the door and across the front garden.
But his mind wasn’t on Bruce.
It was on the revolver Lady Benton was carrying with her.
If Miles Franklin found it, he could hold off any effort to break into the house.
18
Rutledge ducked as the glazing in the window next to the door shattered, and a shot went just wide of his head. He heard someone scream as he moved clear as swiftly as he could, yanking the dog with him across the side of the house, in an effort to get both of them out of range.
Another shot was fired, this time closer, as he reached the corner of the house and threw himself around it. The dog whimpered, and at first Rutledge thought he’d been hit, but Bruce’s foot was tangled in the lead.
Relieved, he caught the lead and managed to tie it to a fruit tree well out of range.
He heard men calling to his left, and the sound of running feet. Hamilton yelled something, and Rutledge realized he was shouting questions.
“Who’s firing? Damn it, Rutledge, where are you?”
Rutledge called, “I’m all right. But he’s got Lady Benton and Mrs. Hailey. And he’s armed.”
Hamilton was giving orders as Rutledge, bending low, was running toward the rear of the house. But the kitchen door was locked, and as he hit it with his shoulder to break it down, he realized that it was blocked from the inside.
The curtains had been drawn on all the windows, there was no way to look inside or even to hope for a good shot.
He made his way around the next house as lights came on, people calling to each other. Reaching the street, he stopped just as Hamilton came running down the street.
“I’ve been around to the kitchen door. It’s blocked. There’s no way in.”
“He’ll kill those women if we try,” Hamilton told him. “And if he harms Lady Benton, I’ll be demoted to Constable in the Outer Hebrides. What the hell happened? And where did that hairy monster come from?”
“She borrowed it from a neighbor.” They could hear Bruce barking again. “I wanted to take her to the hotel, where she would be reasonably safe, but she insisted that she would rather stay with Mrs. Hailey. And he was already there.”
“Clever bastard. We’ve seen nothing of the damned horse. I was just going to look in on Dr. Wister, in the event the wounded man had gone there, when I heard the shots. Who the hell is he? Johnson was trying to tell me something about a half-brother.”
“He’s many men. It’s a long story, but he’s wanted for a number of murders under different names.”
“How did you find out about him? Why did Lady Benton come into the village? Did she know him?”
“Not now, there isn’t time. It will be light soon. Clear out the houses on either side and across the street as soon as possible. Do you have anyone who can use a rifle?”
“No. And it’s rather chancy, trying to hit him in that house, shooting blind.”
“I was intending to draw him out.”
“Constable Brown was in the war. But he’s no sniper. He has a German rifle, a souvenir.”
“Does he have any ammunition for it?”
“No idea. I’ll find out. But I tell you, it’s madness to use it.”
“We might not have any choice.” He started to walk away.
“Wait, where are you going?”
“To move my motorcar. It’s in the way.”
“He’ll shoot you.”
“No, I don’t think he will. He’s got four shots left, and he’ll be as glad as I am to see it out of the line of fire.”
He walked down the street openly. Hamish was thundering in his head, and he ignored the warnings. Franklin had been a mechanic, not a foot soldier. He would very likely worry about what Rutledge was up to. Trying to think what the logic behind such a move might be. Whether a trick was involved. The only difficulty was, this would put him on edge. And that would be dangerous for Mrs. Hailey and Lady Benton.
Tensing as he came within range, he walked on, reached the motorcar, and as it shielded him, he took a deep breath. Then stepped out into the open to turn the crank.