Page 62 of Dark Tidings on the Thames
“Yes, sir. Understood, sir.”
“Thank you, Poulter. Keep me updated.” Wooten closed the door and came back to his desk.
Beth leaned forward. “Lily has an older sister, Inspector. Perhapsshe might know something?”
Wooten’s interest perked. “A good thought. Do you know where we might find her?”
Beth’s face fell. “Not during the day. I know they share rooms, but I don’t know where. Lily can be… reluctant to share personal information. She doesn’t trust easily.”
“Well, we can scarcely blame her,” Niall said. “At the very least, we might be able to find the sister out on the streets tonight.” He looked to Wooten. “But first, Jephson?”
Wooten leaned back in his chair with a sigh. “Yes. Jephson. He came in this morning, asking to speak to the officer in charge of Glynn Foulger’s murder. He was taken to Frye.”
“What did he want?”
“He suggested that someone investigating the murder should look into Mr. Royston. It seems he heard some gossip about the man becoming embroiled in trouble in his previous positions.”
“Plural?” asked Niall. “Meaning more than one position?”
“It seems so. Jephson mentioned Cumbria and Manchester.” The inspector shook his head. “He said it was the sort of trouble involving women employed under his authority. Frye didn’t want to hear it. He told the man he already had the murderer in custody. He was rather rude about it, in fact, and Jephson didn’t take it well.”
“You followed him to learn more?” Niall asked.
“I did. It took a bit of effort to thaw the man enough to speak with me, but it seems he’d noticed that Royston doesn’t treat the women on the charity’s board of directors with the same respect as the men. He wondered if the same prejudices were carrying over into his supervision of the volunteers. Jephson started stopping in at the charity to gauge the man’s performance.”
“Did he discover anything?”
“Nothing substantial, although he did speak to Royston’s assistant, who had to advocate very directly to keep Royston from dismissingMiss Foulger’s complaints. Jephson also found it odd that Royston was insistent that he should attend the burial. He said it felt manipulative. He wondered if he had been singled out due to the attention he’d been paying to the charity, and because he had arrived at the Waif’s Wardrobe on the morning that Glynn Foulger’s body had been discovered.”
Niall thought about that. “Manipulated? As in, perhaps placed in the frame as a possible suspect?”
“That is what Jephson thought Royston might be up to.”
“Isn’t that something that might be said by a man who is worried he mightbecomea suspect?” asked Beth.
“That would be deep play,” Niall mused.
“The simpler explanation is usually true,” Wooten said. “And it is simpler to believe that Royston might be setting the man up to be investigated—something a guilty man might do. Especially if the rumors about Royston prove to be true.”
“Either way, it seems you now have two suspects to investigate, which puts you ahead of where you were when Yardley escaped,” Niall said wryly.
They all paused when a shout echoed down the corridor. “Wooten!”
The inspector straightened as the door shoved open. A red-faced, irate man strode in.
Niall suppressed a grimace at the sight of Detective Frye. The older man looked furious, his brown hair sticking up every which way as he slammed a hand on Wooten’s desk.
“What’s this I hear about you sending men out to look for a flower seller? Are you interfering in my case?”
“It would appear that I am the only one making any progress in your case, Frye,” Wooten said calmly. “Here is a witness who has spotted evidence that was noted as missing from the murder victim.” He explained Beth’s discovery. “It makes sense that the girl might havebeen given the smock by the man who was suggested to you as one who has previously interfered with females in his employ.”
“Or it might just as easily have been given by the man who came in to accuse another,” Frye snapped.
“Either way, it could not have been given to her by Yardley. But now, instead of empty hands, you have a lead on missing evidence and two suspects to investigate.” Wooten tilted his head at the man. “You are welcome.”
Frye cursed under his breath. He gave Niall a dark look. “I’ll send men over to Bedford Street. Either of them might be there. Their home addresses should be available there, if they are not.” Turning on his heel, he stalked out.
Wooten stood. “I should make sure a couple of my men go along.”
