Page 19 of Return Ticket

Teddy Roe fell on the food like he was never going to see another meal, and Gabriella guessed that might have once been true.

“Heard there were a body,” he said, after he’d cleaned his plate and was leaning back in his chair, hands folded over his stomach. “On your patch somewhere, wasn’t it?”

He was very connected to what happened on the street. It shouldn’t surprise her, it had been his home for years.

“Some boys found a woman in the rubble in that lane off the Kings Road,” she said.

“The old Billick building?” Ruby asked.

“I think that’s what Mr. Greenberg called it.” Gabriella lifted her shoulders. “It was bombed in the war, and they haven’t cleared the site yet.”

“The old Billick building,” Teddy Roe confirmed. “I had to clear it out of people. When it fell.”

She’d forgotten he had worked the night crew during the war, pulling bodies out of bombed buildings during the Blitz.

“Was it bad?” she asked, and then felt a fool, because of course it had been bad.

He looked up at her, eyes rheumy but bright blue under his white, bushy eyebrows. “I found a murdered woman in there. Weren’t the Germans what got her. Someone much more local.”

“That’s shocking,” Ruby said, leaning forward. “What did the authorities do?”

Teddy Roe gave a snort of derision. “Had their hands full, didn’t they? No one wanted to hear me say it weren’t from the bomb. Not a soul wanted to listen. So they told me I was mistaken. And when I found another one, they told me I was doolally.”

“You found another?” Gabriella asked. “Where?”

He shrugged. “Don’t matter. No one believed me.” He stood, carefully pushing his chair back in place. “Thanks for the tea, Mrs. E. I’m off to bed.” He gave them both a sort of bow, and took the umbrella with him to run back to the shed.

“You made a strange face when he said that.” Ruby rose and began to stack the plates, and Gabriella got to her feet to help her, running the hot water into the sink to wash up.

“There’s another body been found close to the one I got involved in. It’s probably coincidence, but I don’t like it.” Gabriella shrugged.

“It’s been more than twenty years since Teddy worked with the night crew. The chances of a connection are slim,” Ruby pointed out.

“True.” Gabriella began scraping egg off the plates.

“I was going to leave you a note tomorrow, as it happens.” Ruby picked up the drying cloth. “I’ve found something for you about your father.”

Gabriella stopped, turned to her. “Something concrete?” Because she had been looking for months, and every single lead, no matter how promising, had evaporated like mist.

“Something concrete.” Ruby didn’t look particularly excited or happy.

Which meant the news was bad and she didn’t think Gabriella would like hearing it.

“Just tell me,” she said, and realized with surprise she felt the need to brace herself. She thought she didn’t care about the outcome.

“If my source is right, your father did arrive back in England on the ship your mother says he boarded,” Ruby said.

“What’s the bad news?” Gabriella asked.

“He wasn’t using a fake name.” Ruby’s lips gave a twist. “Either in Australia, or on the ship.”

Gabriella blinked. At first, she’d thought he’d used a fake name to book his fare, because no one named Jonathan Farnsworth had been on that ship. Then she’d considered that the fake name was the one he’d used when he was living with her mother. The one on her birth certificate. “What do you mean?”

“I mean there was someone on that ship, a viscount called Lord Granger, and it turns out his surname is Farnsworth. And his first name is Jonathan.” Ruby paused. “You said your father received word that his own father was dead. That he returned to England to deal with his father’s estate. That means that when he signed on to the ship’s manifest, he quite correctly gave his new title. He’d just become Lord Granger, and that’s who he identified himself as.”

Gabriella stared at Ruby, aware her mouth was open. “A viscount?” she almost squeaked the words. She’d seen that entry. Had simply let her eye pass over it.

“Gabriella, if this is correct, your father is Lord Granger, and he’s living on his family’s estate in West Sussex, near Chichester. He appears to be married.”

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