Page 70 of Lady Gambit
She smiled, though the needle on her inner compass would shake erratically until Dorian walked through the door. “While I wait, I shall hunt out Mrs Maloney and beg for a piece of apple pie. I might look through Nora Adkins’ file and see if we missed anything.”
“I’ll help you. You know I hate feeling useless.”
The offer chased away the chill of disappointment. Having Aaron’s undivided attention was a gift in itself. “Are you sure? It must be getting late.”
“Aramis is opening the club tonight. Flynn insisted I remain here in his absence.”
She crossed the room and threaded her arm through his. “I have a better plan. I’ll steal the whole pie and hide in Mr Flynn’s study. You find the cream and the cutlery and meet me there.”
Amusement flashed in his eyes. “You recall what happened when we crept into the kitchen and stole Mrs Maloney’s bread pudding?”
“She made us eat every morsel. You cast up your accounts in a bucket.” It should be a horrid memory, but she had felt so close to Aaron while they’d paid their penance. “This time, we have a weapon in our arsenal.”
“We do?”
“Yes, Mrs Maloney would pardon the devil for a bottle of Garvey’s sherry.”
It was approaching midnight when Dorian returned to Mile End. After visiting Seven Dials and Bethlem Hospital, he’d stopped at the Old Swan to settle his weekly account with the landlord. Then he’d climbed the stairs to his chamber to collect a few papers and had a brief rest on the bed.
He’d done more than rest—he’d reminisced. Like a lovesick fool, he’d inhaled the traces of Delphine’s perfume on his pillow, captivated by her alluring scent.
Watching her collapse to the carriage floor had roused the devil in him. The need to end her suffering had him tearing around town, determined to find the bastard with the ruby stick.
He had found Tobias Trigg.
Buried six feet under in Cripplegate Churchyard.
His home for the last sixteen years.
Someone had stabbed the mesmerist through the heart and stolen his precious walking cane. All within walking distance of Mrs Haggert’s den of thieves in Monmouth Court.
In a fit of frustration, Dorian headed to Bethlem to throttle the truth from the Superintendent only to find the halfwit had gone home. So, he took advantage of Dr Collins’ affable nature and stole the visitors’ book while sending him on a false errand.
Indeed, he clutched the book as he stepped down from the vehicle and surveyed his home. But for the faint glow of candlelight in the study window, Mile End stood in darkness.
A pang of excitement led to lustful musings as he pictured Delphine sitting on his desk. He’d enter the room, throw the book on the chair and kiss her like there was no tomorrow.
“Do you need to go out again, Mr Flynn?”
Gibbs’ question broke his reverie.
“Not tonight.”
He needed to drive deep into the body of the woman he loved. Then he remembered Aaron Chance was visiting. Hellfire! The Chance brothers were probably up playing cards and knocking back Dorian’s best brandy.
There was no sign of Theo Chance when Dorian entered his study. Aaron sat perched behind the desk, sifting through a pile of papers. The room smelled of cinnamon and cooked apples, not liquor.
Aaron finished reading something before raising his gaze. “While you were away, we’ve been studying the notes on Nora Adkins.” With a sigh, he gestured to the wad of illegible scribblings. “There’s nothing here, only evidence to prove a case of neglect. Though I suspect some documents are missing.”
Dorian noted Delphine’s absence but said nothing. “I had some success tonight.” He prayed his luck wasn’t over. “Tobias Trigg is dead. He was murdered sixteen years ago in Seven Dials.”
He relayed the evidence in the order it had unfolded, the gossip from two shopkeepers, the epitaph on the tombstone, confirmation from an old sergeant at Bow Street.
“I’ll wager Mrs Haggert got rid of him,” Aaron said.
“It would seem that way. No one was ever charged with the crime.”
“Mrs Haggert knows how to cover her tracks.”
