I didn’t like this idea much, but I could find no other reason to do what Frank Pagliacci was doing. This was why I told Crab to pretend we cared nothing for him. This would force Pagliacci to …
Oh, no. What if he killed the boy?
“Are you well, mum?” Amelia said.
“Yes, I’m quite well.” Morton and I would arrive before Crab talked to him. David would be safe, assuming he was still alive.
“Your package from Madame Biltcliffe is on the dresser.”
“Would you wrap it as a gift, please, Amelia?” David had to be alive. I couldn’t let myself think he was dead. Someone would have found his body by now had Pagliacci killed and dumped the boy, as he did with his other victims. It was a thin hope, but all I had to go on.
The idea that Frank Pagliacci did this to distract me rather than (or in add
