Their words echoed in her head, and she recognized that she had said something wrong, something that could cause trouble. She had meant her question in the most innocent manner, had spoken it only because at that moment, she was curious as to where Archer had taken Trenton's body. She hadn't stopped to think about their company, the Inspector that walked with them.
Isobel continued to walk alongside Archer, seemingly as distant as she had been moments before, but her mind was spinning over what she could do to try and fix this. She had dragged Archer into this without his consent. He had come to rescue her when she hadn't been able to think. He had been there for her in the moments after, and the days that followed. She could do something for him, now.
Her fingers clenched Archer's hand for a moment, an impossibly tight squeeze before she slipped her fingers from his, stopping where she stood, uncaring of where they were, and Isobel turned to look towards the man who followed after them like a shade.
"He's got nothing to do with this," she said to Luther, her words crisp and pointed. "He only helped me because I... I had no idea what to do. If you have questions about what happened, you need to ask me. Not him. All he did was help me clean up. I'm not about to let you make his life miserable because I was too weak and stupid to handle this on my own." Her jaw was tense, and her eyes, bloodshot and sunken as they were, were fixed on Luther's face, unwilling to yield. Yes, she had handled this badly, and she could recognise that now. But that didn't mean she couldn't try to do something about it now that she had the mind to think.
Her hands curled into light fists at her sides, and Isobel swallowed past the lump that had risen in her throat. "I panicked. And he has done the best he can to help me, but you're both right. I do need help. Do I want it? No. I've... worked hard to be strong enough to handle myself since I left home. This is hard for me. But just beause I've been weak..." She shook her head, closing her eyes tightly for several heartbeats.
"Don't start blaming Jasper. This is my fault, Inspector."