The King of Hearts

The Arraignment

The Arraignment“Wake up.”

Someone pushed my shoulder.

Or was I dreaming?

“Get up!” Urgent, demanding.

A charcoal fog. I couldn’t feel my right arm.

This is gonna hurt.

“Young lady, you get up this instant!”

My mother-in-law, Molly.

I’d never dreamed of Molly before.

Or was I awake?

My arm began to tingle in a nauseating way. My left shoulder was grabbed tightly, shaken. My head throbbed. My mouth was so dry I couldn’t speak.

What happened? Where was Tony? Why was his mother here?

Then I remembered where I was: the bottom front room of my apartments on 33 1/3rd Street, Spadros quadrant.

I remembered why I was here: I was under house arrest.

I remembered why I left Spadros Manor: to flee Bridges with Joseph Kerr, the only man I had ever loved.

And Joe was dead.

“Jacqueline Spadros,” Molly snapped, “if you don’t get up right now, I’ll call Roy.”

I rolled off my arm, which tingled furiously. I squeezed my eyes shut, fighting pain, grief, despair. “Call him, then. Maybe he’ll kill me, and this nightmare’ll be over with.”

An angry stomp of footsteps retreating.

My beloved Joe was gone.

Holding hands as we walked in a late summer’s golden light … kissing in the moonlight … that one night of love before they stole me from him … the passion in his face as he held me in my lamp-lit study … his last words: but we have no time.

He’d been right. What was I thinking? The instant Joe said we might leave, I should have done so. What could have possibly been more important?

The footsteps returned, more slowly this time.

I killed him.

I killed Joe, just as surely as whoever pulled the trigger.

A cold shock!

I sat up, dripping wet. “What the hell?”

Molly stood in front of me, pitcher in hand. “You’re due at the courthouse on Market Center in an hour for your arraignment hearing. Yet here you are in bed! What’s wrong with you?”

My lady’s maid Amelia cowered in the corner, hands to her mouth, fear in her eyes. “You wouldn’t wake up, mum.”

Molly grabbed my right arm, and I cried out as the numb tingling nausea returned full force.

The room wavered. How many bottles did I drink last night?

Molly snapped at Amelia, “You, get over here.”

They stripped off the clothes Regina Clubb gave me at her hotel two days earlier as fast as they could.

No, wait, I thought, that couldn’t be right. I left the hotel on Thursday. Wasn’t this Saturday? Why would we go to the courthouse today? “A hearing? How was I supposed to —”

Molly glared at me. “The notice.”

A sealed envelope sat on my dresser. Was it there when I arrived? I couldn’t remember.

What day was this?

Clubb Hotel had been a nightmare all its own. The way that woman laughed …

I felt sick to my stomach.

Molly pulled me naked towards the tub. “This is going to be the fastest bath ever. Gods, you stink of booze.”

The water was cold!

Hands forced me under, pulled me out, water spraying across the room. They threw towels around me, rushed me into clothes, shoved me into a chair by my mirror.

Dripping thick curls, standing every which way, makeup smeared. Combs pulled my head this way and that.

Molly got out scissors. “These tangles must go.”

I clasped my head, horrified. “No!”

She began snipping. “It’s just the ends, dear.” She set the scissors down, dipped a soft cloth in cold cream, wiped my face. “We’ll do your hair in the carriage.”

Amelia winced as she knelt before me, tying my right boot.

Empty bottles littered the floor. A crow cawed in the middle of the empty street. Panicked dread hit me. “My bird!”

Pushing past Amelia, I rushed to its cage. My poor clawed bird lay bound in its bandages, eyes closed, panting.

A flood of relieved gratitude: it was alive! “Bring water, Amelia.” I dribbled some into its mouth, and it drank greedily.

Remorse struck. How had it survived?

Amelia took something from her pocket and put it into mine. “Your tenants’ money. I collected it whilst you were gone.”

I’d never considered it. “That was kind of you, Amelia.” Especially after the way I’d treated her.

Molly let out a snort of derision, grabbed my arm, dragged me out to the navy blue carriage, and thrust me inside.

Just like Ma did when she sent me away …. I blinked away tears as I pictured Ma pulling me from my bed. Shoving me into that carriage. The disgust on her face as she turned away.

Amelia had followed. Molly snapped, “Get the room in order.”

Amelia curtsied low. “Yes, mum, right away.”

“And give my bird more water, please,” I called out as we drove away.

This wasn’t my carriage. Where was my carriage? The thin black curtains were pulled, which left us sitting in dim light as the carriage barreled along.

Molly snapped, “Why did you tell him?”

“Tell who what?”

My head yanked backwards. Molly hissed in my ear. “How dare you tell my son his marriage was a sham! And in a letter from the hand of a servant! What has he ever done for you to hurt him so?”

She let go, and I faced her. “I told him the truth. No one else was going to.” All those years of pain and terror had been for nothing. Joe was dead! “I couldn’t live like that anymore.”

Molly pulled at my hair again, but only to braid it. “You do things without thinking, then you leave others to clean the mess.”

No, I’d considered the matter ever since Ma shoved me into that carriage six years earlier. I had Tony buy my bird when we married so I’d never forget I lived in a cage. I knew there would be no way out unless I made one.

Tony deserved the truth. I even told him the plan in my letter!

But Joe had the tickets, and he never arrived at the station.

Molly opened a hatbox which sat across from us. Inside lay my forest green velvet hat Madame Biltcliffe made for the Grand Ball.

Madame. Another person hurt because of me.

“Come on,” Molly said as she took out the hat, but her tone was kind. “We’re almost there.”

The carriage slowed. A man shouted, “Make way!”

The crowd roared. How many people were out there?

Molly’s face was grim. “I can’t be seen with you.”

After an instant of confusion, I realized why. In leaving Tony, I betrayed the Spadros crime syndicate. If his parents were seen helping me, they could lose the quadrant. “I understand.”

Molly patted my shoulder. “Good girl.” She pulled a thick veil over her face, shrinking back as the door opened.

A man dressed in the navy blue livery of the Court extended his hand. His polished silver buttons bore the patina of long use.

Real silver on livery, I thought. These must be trusted men!

Beyond him, people filled the area as far as I could see. As I emerged, the roar increased; cameras flashed by the dozens. A sea of banners denouncing me danced atop the close-packed throng. My hair dripped down the back of my neck; the air felt chill.

The way to the courthouse was clear, six feet wide. Police lined my path on both sides, their shoulders touching as the crowd surged against them. Here and there one stumbled, an enraged group pushing against the weight of his body.

A guard on each side took my arm as if they did this every day. Ten armed members of the Court surrounded us, pistols drawn, scanning the crowds, the rooftops.

None of the men near me spoke, not that any of them could have been heard through the screaming.

“Pot rag w***e!”

“Murderess!”

“Betrayer!”

A rock flew past to shatter on the ground in front of me.

I focused upon the Courthouse: sandstone walls, white marble steps. Four pillars of white stone supporting a wide overhang.

A crowd of police kept people back from the doors. Once the doors closed behind me, the vast hall fell eerily silent.

The hall had sandstone walls and ceiling with walnut banisters, the floor tiled in a grayish tan. I’d just been inside it the week prior to give the testimony which seemed to have doomed me.

But instead of going to the Family box upstairs, I was taken across the hall and along a long passage to my right, to a door marked “Room A.”

This room, mostly empty, had many pew seats facing towards a small railing which came to my hip. The wood in this room was of a golden stain, darker than the oak the Clubb Family used.

The rows with their wide aisles reminded me a bit of the Cathedral where I grew up, although this room was much smaller. Men dressed in Court livery stood at intervals along the walls holding rifles, the butts of their weapons on the floor.

To my right, ten rows before the small railing, Master Jonathan Diamond and Mr. Charles Hart sat beside each other. Both were dressed for the street, their black top hats resting on either side. Jon’s tight-coiled black and Mr. Hart’s stiff-straight silvery-red hair still held the faint imprint of their hats.

Jonathan was a welcome sight, and not entirely unexpected. He was Keeper of the Court, after all, as well as my best friend. Charles Hart’s presence, though, was a mystery. What possible interest might the Hart Patriarch have in this?

Beyond the railing, one long table lay on either side. A black-robed man sat upon a raised area, the seal of the Merca Federal Union upon it. At floor level on one side of the judge, a man sat with a contraption resembling a typewriter perched on its stand. A middle-aged uniformed man stood on the other side holding a thick staff. Beside him, a shotgun rested on its stand.

The tables at the front of the room were full. To my left, District Attorney Chase Freezout, a tanned, white-haired man in his sixties, sat in the middle of his table, several men on both sides.

To my right, the Spadros attorney Mr. Primero Trevisane sat, leaving the end seat near me empty. My husband Tony sat at the far end, his straight black hair disheveled.

When my guard opened a small gate in the railing, Tony jerked round towards me, his dark blue eyes stunned and disbelieving. A bandage lay on the side of his face.

What happened to Tony?

Ten Hogan, Molly’s nephew, who the men called Sawbuck, loomed beside Tony, glaring at me.

Once I sat, the judge took a wooden hammer and rapped a wooden block, which made a surprisingly loud sound. “Case Number CF-1899-903, the People vs Jacqueline Spadros. Mrs. Spadros, please rise.” The judge took up a paper. “Jacqueline Kaplan Spadros, you’re charged with the destruction of Travelers’ Federation Flight A26; two hundred fifteen counts of murder; sixteen counts of forgery; four counts of perjury; and one charge of criminal fraud. How do you plead?”

“I did none of this!”

Mr. Trevisane said, “Your Honor, the defendant pleads not guilty to all charges.”

“So entered,” the judge said. “I take it then, Mr. Trevisane, that you plan to be this woman’s defender?”

Mr. Trevisane said, “The Spadros Family drops the charge of fraud, raised when the defendant’s location was in question.”

The judge said, “Very well. I —”

I blurted out, “Doyle Pike will represent me.”

Everyone in the room turned to stare.

The judge peered at me. “This is most irregular.” Then he called out, “Get Pike in here.”

A man scrambled to obey.

The judge said, “Mrs. Spadros, is Mr. Pike aware you wish him to represent you?”

“Mr. Pike is already my lawyer. I was unaware of this meeting until an hour ago. Perhaps he wasn’t notified either.”

Tony stared at me with horror. Very few knew about his son Roland, and I was sure he now regretted ever telling me. I would never tell Mr. Pike about the boy, but Tony didn’t know that.

“This court will recess for one hour.” The judge banged his small hammer, and everyone rose as he walked out.

I stood there not knowing what to do. My head hurt, and I felt weary. Looking back, I’m pretty sure I was still drunk.

At the far end of the table, Tony argued with Mr. Trevisane. Past them, Sawbuck’s hate-filled eyes bored into mine. To my left, Mr. Freezout stood, arms crossed, a smug smile on his face.

I sat.

Joseph Kerr and Nicholas Bryce had died to free me from the Spadros Family. So I couldn’t see any reason for Mr. Trevisane — a Spadros Family lawyer — to represent me.

But I already owed Doyle Pike an inordinate amount of money.

Pike can f*****g bill me.

Tony stormed around the front of the table. On the bandage beside his face, blood seeped through a teardrop-shaped spot.

Alarm spiked inside when I saw the blood. What happened?

Tony said, “Get up.” He winced when he spoke. When I didn’t move, he grabbed my upper arms, dragging me to my feet. “What do you think you’re doing? Do you want to die?”

“What are you so angry about?”

He scoffed, releasing his grip a bit. “As if you don’t know. Doyle Pike’s not getting one dime from me, you hear? Not one.”

“I don’t want your money. I want nothing to do with you.”

His grip on my arms tightened. “You’re going to stop this nonsense right now. My father’s forbidden anyone to kill you —”

Oh?

“— so you needn’t fear returning. You’ll tell them you made a mistake. You don’t want Mr. Pike. Then we’re returning to Spadros Manor, and this whoring will stop. Do you understand?”

Whoring? I felt bitter. “I was never a w***e until I married you.”

Tony’s face went blank. “I don’t understand.”

“Isn’t that what this quadrant-marriage is about? Forced to pretend you love someone to survive? To be violated night after night, unable to say a word, make a sound, even shed a tear, for fear of death? At least Pot whores get a choice.”

I’d become resigned to my fate long ago. But Joe … how could I forgive killing a man whose only crime was to love me? “I’d rather die than return with you.” I spit in his face. “Go to hell.”

He let go of my arms and took a step back, face shocked.

Everyone else in the courtroom pretended they didn’t see.

Tony took out his handkerchief, wiped his face. “I can’t believe I used to love you.”

I turned away to lean on the small railing, trying desperately not to cry in front of these people.

He knew how to hurt me, Tony did, more than anyone.

“I ought to kill you right now,” Sawbuck growled. He stood close by to my left across the railing. Yet he didn’t touch me.

“You’re welcome to try.” At least thirty officers of the Court stood in the room. “I did what I thought best. It was you and your men who fouled everything up.” If they hadn’t killed Joe, we’d have been far away. Yes, Tony would’ve been hurt, but he could’ve had what was best for everyone.

Sawbuck peered at me. “What the hell are you talking about?”

Doyle Pike strode in. At least eighty, the man nevertheless appeared as perfect as a man of his age might appear: vigorous, well-groomed, immaculately dressed by the finest clothier, silk hat, soft leather briefcase, gleaming walking-stick. He approached me as if entirely at home, confident and unhurried. Tucking his case under one arm, he took my hand. “Come with me, my dear.”

The guards escorted us through a side door into a windowless, richly carpeted room with a table of polished oak in its center.

“Leave us,” said Mr. Pike. Once the door closed behind them, Mr. Pike gestured to the table. “Please sit, madam.”

So I did, curious as to what he might have to say.

“No one listens,” Mr. Pike said. “So you may speak without fear of discovery.” He took a pale yellow folder from his briefcase then placed the briefcase under the table. “And no one can force me to betray you, under law older than Merca itself.”

I nodded, impressed. But I felt disturbed by today’s events. “I did nothing wrong. How can they force me to have this trial?”

“They can’t. Change your plea to guilty, and you can go straight to the gallows. It’s entirely your choice.”

I stared at him, appalled. “But —”

“I’m sure you feel the need to maintain you didn’t do this -”

“I didn’t!”

“Yes, my dear, everyone says that. And I’m sure that out of all my many thousands of clients over the decades, you’re innocent as a newborn babe. But right now, maintaining that isn’t helpful.”

“You don’t believe me?”

“It’s even more fundamental: I don’t care whether you did it. I’m not here to judge you. My responsibility is to obtain you a fair trial. The only way I can do that is to know the entirety of the matter.” He folded his hands atop his folder. “So tell me what happened with the zeppelin. The truth. Or hire another lawyer.”

His attitude was infuriating. But I should never have expected him of all people to believe me.

I really needed a drink.

Where to begin? “This goes back much further than the day of the Celebration.”

I told him about my private investigation business, and the call to Bryce Fabrics on New Year’s Eve, where Mrs. Eleanora Bryce asked me to find her son David.

Mr. Pike didn’t seem alarmed, shocked, or even surprised at my running a business. Did he have spies of his own?

“During my investigation, I learned two men were involved in the disappearance: one calling himself Frank Pagliacci, the other fitting the description of Jack Diamond.”

Mr. Pike paled. “So this is why you wanted notice of Jack Diamond’s whereabouts. What have you become involved in?”

“Master Jack Diamond has targeted me, my father, and the Spadros Family for over a decade.” The last time we met, Jack became so enraged at his identical twin Jonathan for sitting with me at the Grand Ball that he attacked him. “These two men run a group called the Red Dog Gang. Mrs. Bryce told me this second man visited her home the week before the kidnapping. I saw the two men place a large bag with a boy in it into their carriage.”

Mr. Pike nodded slowly, his face thoughtful.

“I tracked the boy to a factory in Diamond quadrant, yet he’s ruined, unable to tell us anything.” I sighed, feeling melancholy. “When I went to the factory, Mr. Pagliacci said his goal was to destroy the Spadros Family.” Then something else came to mind. “Two boys who went looking for David were found strangled. You might’ve seen it in the papers.”

Mr. Pike raised an eyebrow at that.

“After I retrieved David Bryce, those who could identify these two men began dying. The stable-master, who told me Frank Pagliacci’s name. An associate who knew Mr. Pagliacci had his yacht blown up. And Dame Anastasia confessed to being Frank Pagliacci’s lover the day she was killed.”

Mr. Pike stared at me, mouth open. “Is that so?”

“They’ve framed me, Mr. Pike. But I didn’t do it.”

“Can you prove it?”

“Anastasia was my friend! I had no reason to hurt her.”

“Is there anything else you can tell me about the day it happened? Anything at all may help.”

So I told him about Dame Anastasia’s letter, received as I left to go to Market Center with Gardena Diamond and her brothers. I didn’t know how else to explain why I was with them but the truth: Gardena was being blackmailed.

At this, Mr. Pike’s eyes narrowed, but he said nothing.

Then I told him about the man in brown with the briefcase, and my belief that Frank Pagliacci meant to bomb the zeppelin. “I was desperate to get to the station, but —”

“Wait,” Mr. Pike said. “You just learned that Dame Louis had been helping the man who’d not only ruined your friend’s son but tormented you and your Family. Why rush to save her?”

“You must promise not to speak of this to anyone.”

Mr. Pike nodded.

“It wasn’t just Anastasia on there. These men threatened my mother. I’d smuggled her onto that very zeppelin to get her safe.”

“Oh, my dear,” Mr. Pike said. “I’m so very sorry.”

“I got to the station too late, and I was caught there with the others. There was nothing else I could do but to give my name.”

“So you were there when it happened.”

To this day, I’ve never forgotten the horrible sound as the Station shattered. The screams of men, women, and children impaled beside me by thick shards of stained glass. The smell of blood, of burning pieces of zeppelin as they fell to the ground.

“Why were you at Clubb Hotel?”

I sighed, watching the zeppelin fall. “Speak with Mrs. Clubb as to how you want to play that. She’s taken me under her protection.” I focused on him. “But if you want to know the truth, I’ve left my husband. I don’t plan to return.”

“I see.” He leaned back. “So how will you pay me?”

I stared at the table. “I don’t know. But I will. I promise.”

“Promises are not good enough. I’m not running a poorhouse.”

This reminded me so much of what Mrs. Clubb said a few days earlier that I laughed in spite of myself.

Mr. Pike’s face changed, as if he had come to some decision. He took out a form. “Sign here, and we’ll get started.”

I felt uneasy. “What happens now?”

“Have your things sent to where you’re staying. As much as you can get. Everything, if you can.” He gave me an evil grin. “We’ll sell them.” Then he leaned back. “Once you’re acquitted, I shall sue the city for false and malicious prosecution. You couldn’t possibly have blown up a zeppelin with your mother aboard, and it sounds as if you have several witnesses to back you up.”

I signed without reading it. “Why are you helping me?”

“To thwart that sniveling ass Trevisane. I wish I’d seen his face when you named me as your counsel.” He cackled in delight. “I imagine it about sent him into apoplexy!”

A knock at the door. “The judge requests your presence.”

“Come, my dear,” Mr. Pike said, “we have much to do.”