Chapter 99

"Why did you start with Richard and his wife here?" demands Vandervoort.

Pensby leans away from the looming Mayor. "I was in receipt of credible information he should be investigated."

"S'that so?" Vandervoort cocks a brow. "And the source of that information?"

Pensby's throat bobs. "I'm not at liberty to say." His eyes flick toward Irene but she looks away.

And Vandervoort follows the movement. He speaks quietly. "Yes, that's what I thought. When my wife here suddenly became more interested in City finances than courting the press, I should have smelled a rat at the time."

Eyes narrowing on his wife, "You had me going, my dear. I genuinely believed you'd come up with an idea that would benefit us all. Instead, I find you simply indulged in petty spite in retaliation for some imagined slight and found a target for your machinations."

"Imagined!" snaps Irene. "The way that pair treated me…"

Pensby blusters. "I'm not at fault. I did nothing. I was only trying to help. It was a favour for