Page 20 of Ghost in the Garden
Dragan blinked. “That is a bit of a stretch for you, is it not? How do you fit it in?”
“Oh, my other businesses more or less run themselves. I have taken a step back from them and followed my own interests.”
“Good for you,” Dragan said, smiling. “Who is your partner?”
Solomon wondered if he was blushing like a schoolboy. “Constance Silver.”
Dragan, however, did not even look surprised. “Of course. You had that murder in Norfolk to deal with together.”
“Did Constance tell you that?”
“She said something to Griz, though only when Griz asked. Actually, Inspector Harris told us.”
Dragan’s wife came in at that point, smiling delightedly at seeing Solomon. Lady Grizelda was a duke’s youngest daughter, apparently considered eccentric and plain by Society. No one could understand how she came to marry such a dazzlingly handsome man as Dragan, although they had no doubt attributed his motives to her birth and fortune and the influence of her father and brothers. In fact, Solomon thought her beautiful, in an unusual if careless and slightly untidy way. She wore unfashionable spectacles, of course, being extremely short-sighted. Like her husband, she had a quick and ravenous mind, with many unexpected talents and interests. So the revolutionary refugee, who disapproved of aristocracy, and the duke’s daughter were kindred spirits.
“Mr. Grey!” she greeted Solomon, throwing out her hand. “How lovely to see you!”
When she sat down on the sofa, Dragan quickly told her Solomon’s reasons for calling.
“What a wonderful idea,” she exclaimed of their inquiry firm. “Perhaps Dragan and I can help occasionally.”
“I shouldn’t be surprised,” Solomon said. “I don’t suppose either of you have come across a man called Caleb Lambert? He seems to have grown rich by means of property, both respectable and slum dwellings. In fact, we believe he may be the business partner of Huxley Gregg, the landlord of the collapsed tenement in St. Giles.”
“But they’ll never get to charging or trying him, will they?” Lady Griz said. “I heard nothing about a partner. Is one of them your client?”
“Neither,” Solomon said. “Our client is Lambert’s wife, who is concerned about a ghost seen several times in her garden by different people, including her. We’re trying to find the logical explanation behind the sightings.”
Lady Griz and Dragan exchanged glances.
“There may, of course,bea logical explanation,” Griz said slowly. “But don’t rule out the supernatural either.There are more things in heaven and earth… You should keep an open mind.”
Solomon blinked. “I am surprised to hear you say so.”
“We had an odd experience in Scotland. It opened our minds to situations that might be rare but that do occur.”
Solomon thought back to some of the strange beliefs he’d encountered in Jamaica and shivered. Hastily he dragged his mind back to the matter in hand and turned to Dragan. “You move in radical circles, do you not?”
“More social than political these days, but yes.”
“Have you ever come across a young man called Knox? Lenny Knox? He lived in the building that collapsed. Apparently he’d been agitating to get repairs done and rent lowered. It’s largely because of him that Gregg can’t argue he didn’t know about the state of the building.”
Dragan thought about it, then shook his head. “I don’t believe I have.”
“His wife and child died in the collapse. It seems to have destroyed him. You might see him among the more physically injured.”
Dragan nodded. It was the best Solomon could do for Knox at this stage.
“I’m going to meet Constance now and see what she has discovered.” Solomon finished his brandy and stood up to take his leave.
“I’ll come with you,” Dragan said, rising, and to Griz, “I’m afraid I have patients to see.”
“The morning would do, I’m sure,” Solomon said with unusual awkwardness.
“For some, it might not,” Dragan replied.
Griz got up and passed her husband his tie and coat. If she was disappointed to spend her evening alone, she didn’t show it. Probably, as a doctor’s wife, she had grown used to it.
Solomon and Dragan took a hackney together part of the way.
