“As to that.” Daniel threw me a hesitant look. “I have James installed in the Foundling Hospital, as an odd-jobs boy. He is keeping a sharp eye out.”

He was correct to worry about my reaction. “Are you mad?” I asked in alarm. “He could be hurt if he’s caught nosing about, or worse.”

“James is no fool and good at dissembling,” Daniel said. “Believe me, Kat, I pondered a long time before deciding to let him do this.” He winced. “Let is the wrong word. James insisted on going, whether I approved or not.”

I believed him. Daniel did not have the control over James he would have liked.

“I have my own spy in Bessie,” I said. “One of the maids there. But she supposed the children were gone legitimately.”

I explained about the children’s things being packed up and the housekeeper for Bessie’s ward claiming the children had been sent off, nothing mysterious about it. The housekeeper might have been told such things herself, for all I knew. We would have to discover where the lies originated.

“A clever person would make it look as though nothing sordid had happened,” Mr. Fielding offered.

“They’d have to corrupt a good number of people at the Hospital in that case,” I said.

“And why not?” Mr. Fielding flashed a scowl. He was in a bad temper this evening. “I think the whole lot of them are corrupt.”

The odds of every single governor, housekeeper, matron, and maid being corrupt were long, but I understood his point. Anyone employed at the Hospital was in a prime position to give children over to misery in exchange for a fee. It made my blood boil.

“The children could have been sent away for legitimate reasons,” Daniel said, though his voice held great skepticism. “Though what those reasons are, I could not guess.”

“Then why give me false addresses?” Fielding growled. “No, there is evil at work. You know it, Daniel. Or at least, you used to be able to sense it.”

Before Daniel could retort, Mr. Thanos sat forward. “We can check the addresses—discover whether something around those places is suspicious.”

“Which I did,” Mr. Fielding said. “I found nothing.”

“As did I,” I said. When the three gentlemen broke off and gazed at me in amazed consternation, I went on. “I was curious, so I had a butcher’s. That means a look, Mr. Thanos. It was as Mr. Fielding said. On one street, the numbers did not exist. On the other, near Seven Dials, a new building was going up, a brewery. The workers around it chased me off.”

Daniel sent me a sharp look. “You haven’t mentioned this.”

“I haven’t had a chance to speak to you since, have I?” I asked. “What with explosions and prisoners being broken out, and me having to get supper for the Bywaters and endless guests brought to gaze at Lady Cynthia.”