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speechless, and stalked back to his seat. Th e
    detector tugged at his guide until the clerk brought him
    over to me and Clark.
    Th e old man held out his hand but didn’t touch me.
    He seemed to be fanning me as if he were afraid I’d faint.
    “Remarkable. I can almost feel it.”
    “Feel what?” Clark wanted to know.
    “Nothing that is lost is gone forever, my dear,” the
    detector said to me, but not in a kindly or reassuring
    manner. He sounded so stern it almost seemed like a
    reprimand for some wrong I had done.
    I felt puzzled, but he had supported Fourth, so I tried
    to be polite. “I will remember that, sir.”
    “Yes.” His lips drew back from yellowed teeth in a
    pained grimace. “I think you will.”
    “If it pleases the court,” Fordun said, and barely waited
    for Newton’s nod before he continued, “I believe from the
    detector’s address of this defendant that she has somehow
    tampered with his ability to carry out his duties. Indeed,
    she may have bespelled him as well as her aid-solicitor
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    before being brought before Your Honor.”
    Th e detector chuckled and shook his head. “As she is,
    she can bespell no one and nothing.”
    “You were not asked to testify,” Fordun fl ared.
    “Th ank you for your service, detector,” Newton said,
    and gestured for the clerk to remove the old man. As
    soon as he left, the magistrate clasped his hands and
    regarded Fordun. “Barrister Fordun, in consideration of
    your previous service to the Crown, I will not issue an
    arrest warrant for you on charges of obstructing justice
    and accepting bribes. However, I do intend to fi le a
    lengthy and detailed complaint with your superiors. If
    you have accepted some sort of remuneration for these
    theatrics of yours today, I suggest you spend it at once, or hide it under your mattress evermore.”
    Th e prosecutor paled. “You cannot suspect me of
    wrongdoing, Your Honor. I am charged with enforcing
    Her Majesty’s law.”
    “Th en, sir, you have utterly failed the Crown today.”
    Newton toyed with his gavel as he regarded me. “Miss
    Kittredge, I would very much like to hear precisely why
    you are really here in my court, but I daresay that once I
    know the reason it will cause an equal amount of havoc
    in my life.”
    “Doubtless it would, Your Honor,” I agreed.
    “Very well.” He glared at Fordun. “I fi nd that the
    Crown has not fulfi lled its obligation of presenting
    proper evidence or any lawful substantiation of the
    charges against the defendant. Th e charges against Miss
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    Disench anted & Co., Part 1
    Kittredge are hereby vacated, and this case is dismissed.”
    He slammed his gavel down once.
    “You can stay the holidays at the farm,” Doyle said as he
    tucked the riding blanket over my skirts. “Mum wouldn’t
    let you leave before Christmas, and the snow usually cuts
    off the roads up there until well into February anyway.”
    “I’m not going to your parents,” I told him for the
    third time. “I have to work—I have to fi nd a new offi ce—
    and my home is here in the city.”
    He didn’t start the motor. “Lord Walsh will be out for
    blood now, Kit. He won’t rest until he’s driven you from
    Rumsen, and that might well be in a gravecart.”
    Snow was beginning to fall, so I pulled up my hood
    and tugged on my gloves. “If that happens, Chief
    Inspector, then I’m counting on you to send him to the
    gallows.”
    “Hang you , Kit.” He thumped the dash with his fi st.
    “You’d rather lose your life than give up this damned
    independence of yours?”
    I saw a dark fi gure standing between the two court
    buildings. Not a fl ake of snow marred his long black hair,
    and not an ounce of pity softened his eyes. I thought he
    might approach us, but he simply stood there watching.
    “If I can’t live as I want,” I countered, looking away
    from