“It looks as if he succeeded,” she said. “Now no more talking. Let’s get this dress off you and we’ll see how bad it is.”
She worked efficiently and her calmness calmed me too. Although I must admit I got a shock when I saw the slash along the side of the dress and the great red stain spoiling the light silk. At that moment I believe I was more upset by the loss of the expensive dress than the size of my wound. When Mary had me undressed and washed the wound we could see that it was a gash, about three inches long, but mercifully not too deep. The doctor arrived, examined the wound, and pronounced me fortunate. “A little deeper and the knife would have struck your kidney,” he said. He produced a salve then applied sticking plaster liberally. “You are not to move until this is healed. No stairs. No walking,” he said, wagging a finger at me. “Bandages to be changed every twelve hours and the wound to be kept clean or it may turn septic. It should heal well but you’ll probably be left with a scar. That can’t be helped. I shall return to examine you tomorrow.”
I lay back on my bed, feeling suddenly exhausted and close to tears. The memory of that knife in my side was suddenly all too vivid. He had been planning to kill me. That was clear to me now. And what would Daniel say when he saw my scar? I had tried to do the right thing and taken foolish risks again. I looked up as there was a light tap at the door. Sid and Gus stood in the doorway, not daring to come in. Gus was holding Liam.
“See, there is mama. She is taking a rest right now,” she said. “She’ll be ready to play with you soon. But let’s go and build another castle, shall we?”
Sid tiptoed in and sat beside me. “Molly, I’m so sorry,” she said. “You took all these risks for me, and it nearly cost you your life.”
“At least we now know who killed Reynold Bryce,” I said. “It was Maxim Noah.”
“My cousin?” She looked shocked.
“Not your cousin, I’m afraid. Not in any way related to you. He tricked you, Sid. He overheard you telling someone about your quest to locate your family and decided that a rich American relative was just what he needed.”
“Oh, dear,” she said. “I’ve been a fool, haven’t I? So naïve of me. Now that I think about it, he played me beautifully. He got me to say the name of my relatives, to give their history. I fed him all the information he needed to make his claim. How stupid of me.” She shook her head angrily.
“He was a very appealing young man,” I said. “And Gus had a handsome cousin here. Perhaps you wanted one too.”
This made her laugh. But then she said, “So he was the young Jewish man they saw running away from Reynold Bryce’s house, and all this time I thought it was me.”
I nodded.
“Why did he kill Mr. Bryce? Because he insulted Jews?”
“That was only part of the reason. The young refugee girl I told you about is his sister. Reynold Bryce had a predilection for young girls. He was painting her and then he couldn’t keep his hands off her. When Maxim went to confront him Bryce was most insulting—not only about Jews but also about his painting. In fact he told Maxim that he’d only promised to include his paintings in the exhibition because he wanted Maxim’s sister. The knife was lying there on the table. Maxim was in a blind rage.”
“So he didn’t mean to kill Reynold Bryce,” Sid said. “He wasn’t a natural killer.”
“He meant to kill me,” I said. “He had a knife pressed into my side and was trying to drag me into the middle of the cemetery, but Monsieur Degas came by. I shouted out to him and managed to escape. I got a little cut as I wrenched myself away.”
“A little cut? It looks awful.” Sid took my hand. “Molly, you’re so brave. And you’ve saved my life. I thought I was headed for the guillotine. I’m not allowed to hug you, I suppose.”
“Probably not.” I looked down at the strapping at my waist then squeezed her hand.
“What can I do to make it up to you?” Sid asked.
I looked at her fondly. “You and Gus have done plenty for me over the years. You don’t need to make it up to me. But just don’t disappear and scare me again!”