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He smiled faintly in response "But we already know you’re too trusting My list is one entry long: you Are you certain about your brother? He’s an MP, is he not? How much of an embarrassment are you to hiaol If he wanted to stop me, he would have just left me in the lock hospital He always says that I’m extremely useful politically because I make him look like the reasonable Marshall"

"That’s ridiculous!" Mr Clark growled "You’re extremely reasonable"

"Mr Clark, did you just use an exclamation point? I could have sworn I heard one"

He didn’t even blink "Of course not," he scoffed "I borrowed one of yours It’s allohen I’ of you But this is neither here nor there You see, Miss Marshall, we know so now, and Delacey doesn’t knoe know it If your brother is not the culprit, it’s one of his staff It’s likely someone orks closely with him"

"That would make sense," she said slowly

"And while Delacey would never talk directly with an arsonist, ht make himself known to a secretary or a ly "That, Miss Marshall, is where we can get the proof we need to publicly hold hiestions as to hoill e that?"

"As it happens, I do" His slittered wolfishly "It’s silanced over at her "That is, assu the rules a little?"

Odd, what a strange thing trust was A week or so ago, she’d never have trusted Mr Clark, not for the slightest instant In that tied He was still a blacker He was likely even still a liar

But he’d saved her last night, and now they knew things of each other--things that seemed more important than such details as the nae He knew she had nightmares about the lock hospital; she knew he’d been in a fire brigade in Strasbourg

He sketched out a plan; she pointed out where her brother would coht not At the end, Edward took his leave There was, after all,a great burden a long distance, and the end was finally visible

She watched hi at her

She waited until he’d left the press before standing up Stephen Shaughnessy was still on the floor, giving his coluestured him over

He came in "Yes, Miss Marshall?"

He looked…so innocent Stephen was good at looking innocent; a necessary skill for a man who had a dreadfully mischievous sense of humor Most of the ti prior acquaintance with Mr Clark?"

He glanced behind him, toward the front door where the htfully "I don’t have a passing acquaintance with hiht" And yet now that it had occurred to her, she realized it s The first time she’d met Mr Clark, he’d asked her about Stephen They’d formed their partnership when Delacey had put Stephen in ier of arrest

It could have been a coincidence