Page 23 of Dark Tidings on the Thames
“Would anyone in the Garden know his identity?” Niall asked.
“I don’t think—” Lily stopped. “Wait, perhaps Jeanette might.”
“Jeanette?” asked Niall.
“She’s a flower seller, too. I seem to remember her saying a word to that toff and him scarpering off.”
“And where can we find Jeanette?” he asked.
“That one’s a night girl,” Lily said. “She sells her flowers at night, outside the theatres and music clubs. Look for her at the Canterbury. Ye can’t miss her. She’s got a shape on her to draw the gentleman’s eye and red hair that catches the light. She might talk to ye.” The girl paused to run an eye over Niall. “But honestly, yer chances would go higher if you went without yer wife.”
Kara opened her mouth, then snapped it shut again. “Thank you, Lily. You have been very helpful.” She looked at the bucket of peonies the girl had left to sell that day.
Niall saw her reach for her reticule, but he waved her off and pulled a coin from a pocket. “Thank you, Lily. We’ll take the lot of your flowers, if you please.”
“Can you deliver them to the Waif’s Wardrobe?” asked Kara. “They can likely use them for the wake they are setting up for Glynn Foulger.”
“Aye, but it’s too much,” the girl said, staring down at the gold sovereign.
“Take it,” Niall urged. “And don’t forget to talk with Soot and set up a meeting with the inspector.”
“I shall be sure to,” the girl said. She blinked several times. “Thank ye,” she whispered. “This will cover our rent for the month. It will mean my sister can stay in, warm and safe, for nights and nights in a row.” She clutched the coin tight, then tucked it away. “I’ll take these down to Bedford Street straight away.”
“Thank you, Lily,” Kara said gently. “We will wait to hear from you.”
They set out for their carriage as the girl began to gather her posies into one bucket. “It appears we might need an evening out at the Canterbury,” Niall said, handing Kara in. He stepped closer when a constable came striding up.
“Your Grace? Sedwick, is it?” the man asked.
“Yes?”
“A message from Inspector Wooten, sir. He wants you down at Scotland Yard, straight away.”
Chapter Six
“Good morning, YourGraces.” Inspector Wooten met them, not in his office, but in the section of the ground floor where desks were gathered for the detectives and constables who worked all hours of the day and night, dealing with a dizzying number of cases of burglary, assault, prostitution, muggings, and missing persons.
“Good morning, Inspector Wooten,” Kara said. She noticed the man looked uncharacteristically tired, and his waistcoat was wrinkled. It was unusual enough to set her thinking. “I hope your wife is doing well?”
“She is well enough, thank you, ma’am,” Wooten said with a grimace. “She’s all atwitter, what with our oldest girl soon to be delivered of her first child.”
“Oh, how lovely. Congratulations,” Kara said warmly.
“Thank you. We are suitably thrilled, but my wife is distracted. She won’t truly rest until the babe is safely born.”
Kara understood the woman’s trepidation. Childbirth was a risky business. The numbers for both maternal and infant mortality were high across the nation, but particularly dreadful in London, where still births, infant death, and puerperal fever were all too common.
“Have you discovered something new in the case of Miss Foulger’s murder?” asked Niall.
“Not discovered, exactly. It’s more that we’ve proved an assumption.I hesitated to mention it before, but, having questioned Mr. Yardley, we know more. If you’ll come with me?” Wooten beckoned as he started to move in amongst the crowded desks. “It would be better if we finish before Frye comes back.”
Kara did not roll her eyes, but it took effort. Detective Frye was an unpleasant man, to say the least. She’d found him to be a misogynist, and quick to pick the easiest path instead of the one that promised to lead to the truth. She suspected from past experience that the man was easy prey for bribes, as well.
Wooten stopped at a particularly messy desk and began to rifle through the piles of notes, files, and greasy fish wrappings. Kara sighed. Of course this would be Frye’s domain.
“Ah, here it is.” Wooten pulled a long, white object from beneath a newspaper. He handed it to Niall.
Kara sidled closer, but Niall realized what it was before she did.
