Noble's response sparked, for just the quickest moment, the same rush that sneaking in through the unguarded floo of the Mulciber home had. "Lock the door," he said, with a nod towards the rest of the house. Then he slid the satchel off of his shoulder, letting it fall heavily at his feet. He followed it down until he was sitting cross-legged on the floor, with his drink at his knee, and started taking things out of the bag and spreading them on the rug in front of him.
"It's — stolen, obviously," he said, with a mildly exasperated shrug, as though he did not want to have to say this but could come up with no other way to start. "It's — I got a safe from —" He hesitated once more, hung up on the idea that maybe Noble shouldn't know the exact specifics, but then pressed on. "— the Mulciber house, in Wellingtonshire. I knew they had cash to hand because I'd heard one of the footmen talking about getting a galleon for a Christmas bonus when they were going by. She lives right near — a friend's house," he said, avoiding at least that detail so as not to incriminate Tycho, either in this or in any sort of relationship. Tycho was entirely oblivious to this, of course; he hadn't even been at home tonight. Getting him out of the house had been so easy Ford had immediately felt guilty about it. Did you see this show in London on the twenty-sixth? I wish I could go, but I've already got a dinner party— and of course Ty had offered to go and let him know if it was any good. Tycho's housekeeping staff hadn't batted an eyelash at Ford's arrival that evening, claiming he'd forgotten something and Tycho had said to just go ahead and take a look for it, because it seemed so entirely in character for Ty to let a friend have free run of his house. No one had cared at all that he was there, and from Tycho's parlor he could peer across the street and watch to see when the lights in the Mulciber's front room dimmed without intervention.
"The house is mostly empty since her husband died, never any guests," Ford explained. "And she was out tonight. Birthday dinner for one of the cousins — they're related to the Longbottoms and the Prewetts and all that, so there's a dozen of them at least. So I knew there'd be money and I knew she'd be out, so I — flooed in, and wore the cloak, and looked around until I found the safe."
"It's — stolen, obviously," he said, with a mildly exasperated shrug, as though he did not want to have to say this but could come up with no other way to start. "It's — I got a safe from —" He hesitated once more, hung up on the idea that maybe Noble shouldn't know the exact specifics, but then pressed on. "— the Mulciber house, in Wellingtonshire. I knew they had cash to hand because I'd heard one of the footmen talking about getting a galleon for a Christmas bonus when they were going by. She lives right near — a friend's house," he said, avoiding at least that detail so as not to incriminate Tycho, either in this or in any sort of relationship. Tycho was entirely oblivious to this, of course; he hadn't even been at home tonight. Getting him out of the house had been so easy Ford had immediately felt guilty about it. Did you see this show in London on the twenty-sixth? I wish I could go, but I've already got a dinner party— and of course Ty had offered to go and let him know if it was any good. Tycho's housekeeping staff hadn't batted an eyelash at Ford's arrival that evening, claiming he'd forgotten something and Tycho had said to just go ahead and take a look for it, because it seemed so entirely in character for Ty to let a friend have free run of his house. No one had cared at all that he was there, and from Tycho's parlor he could peer across the street and watch to see when the lights in the Mulciber's front room dimmed without intervention.
"The house is mostly empty since her husband died, never any guests," Ford explained. "And she was out tonight. Birthday dinner for one of the cousins — they're related to the Longbottoms and the Prewetts and all that, so there's a dozen of them at least. So I knew there'd be money and I knew she'd be out, so I — flooed in, and wore the cloak, and looked around until I found the safe."
Set by Lady!