The Gallows Bride by Rebecca King Page B

where the insurmountable
evidence we put before a judge will ensure a swift trial, and give
the judge no alternative but to pass the death sentence upon him.
But to do that, we need to find direct evidence of his personal
culpability in the smuggling activities going on in Padstow. We
know that he has been involved ...” Hugo paused, wondering how to
phrase it.
    “ But you need to catch him holding the weapon, so to speak, to
be able to arrest him,” Jemima added into the silence, thinking of
her own ordeal. She watched a startled respect enter Hugo’s eyes at
her blunt and accurate analysis of the situation.
    Nodding
thoughtfully, Hugo stared at her. “Exactly. By gathering as much
information as we can on his activities, and getting as much
paperwork we can as proof, we can not only bring Scraggan down but
we can prevent what happened in Norfolk from happening again. We
don’t want anyone involved in this relocating and starting again.
Everyone involved has to be brought to trial, and punished, for
playing their part. Unfortunately, that means we have to have a
direct link to Scraggan’s personal involvement in crimes. So far,
we know which of his men were sent to kill, and which of his men
led which smuggling gangs.”
    “ But you haven’t got anything on Scraggan himself,” Peter
sighed, wondering what it would take to bring the man
down.
    Dominic
quietly left the room, returning a few minutes later with a sheaf
of papers that looked familiar to Jemima.
    “ On Jemima’s instructions, Edward gave Eliza these papers.
Apparently, when the ladies left Padstow, they each carried some
documents that were needed together to be of any use. I think you
will find them interesting.” He held out the pale cream parchment,
resuming his seat as Hugo carefully unfolded them and began to
read.
    “ Good God!” Hugo stared in shock at Jemima. “You and Eliza
were carrying these?”
    Jemima
nodded slowly, knowing the significance of the papers now in the
government’s hands.
    “ No wonder Scraggan and Rogan have been so determined to
capture you.” Hugo shook his head, studying the list of names,
dates and places that filled so many gaps in their investigation,
astounded.
    Jemima
took the opportunity of the momentary silence within the room to
explain the contents of the papers she and Eliza had spent months
protecting.
    “ They list the names of the ships, the dates and times of
arrival, along with codes and contacts.” Jemima didn’t need to look
at the papers to know what was in them. She had committed their
contents to memory a long time ago. “One of the sheet has the
codes, giving exact details of what each shipment entails, along
with cargo lists and buyers. These are details of the French spies
they have smuggled into the country; who the spies are meeting,
where and when, etcetera. You now have all of the details of the
exact cargo Scraggan has been handling, along with his contacts. It
is information on his entire network up to the point we left
Padstow.”
    “ Where in the hell did you get all of this?” Hugo demanded. As
he stared down at the sheet of paper, he knew she was telling him
the truth and he was holding nothing less than gold dust in his
hands. Dates and ships he knew from the Star Elite’s own informants
were clearly listed alongside ships he had heard of but never
considered to be involved. The enormity of the information held on
those three sheets of paper was not lost on him, and he now fully
understood why Scraggan was so determined to kill Jemima and
Eliza.
    Jemima shifted uncomfortably on her seat, lost for words. She
would have to have her fingernails pulled out before she told
him that .
    When
silence met his question, Hugo turned to stare at her, clearly
waiting for an answer.
    With a
huge sigh, Jemima glanced at Peter, before turning to Hugo with a
shake of her head.
    “ I’m sorry, but I can’t tell you that.”
    Hugo
studied her carefully. “We can protect