Page 43 of Murder on Harley Street
“It’s me who can help you. Possibly.” He glanced around to make sure we couldn’t be overheard, then lowered his voice. “Out of all the people I could speak to about this, you’re the one I trust with the information.” At my surprised look, he added, “I know. Ironic, isn’t it?”
“Should I be flattered?”
A ghost of a smile touched his lips. Perhaps he had a sense of humor after all. “You may have guessed that what I’m going to tell you is very sensitive. If you pass it on, please don’t tell anyone it came from me.” He glanced up and down the corridor again before continuing. “I’ve heard the waiters say that Mr. Lombardi bothers the maids.”
“Unfortunately, it’s true. But that’s not news.”
“But this may be. Either his harassment of themaidsis a ruse to throw everyone off, or he likes both.”
“Both what?”
“Women and men,” he whispered. “In fact, I have it on good authority that he does more thanbothermen.”
I pressed a hand to my throat as a flush crept up it. “Oh. I see.”
“I know this because I’ve seen him at the Café Royal.”
I frowned. “I don’t understand. The Café Royal is frequented by the artistic set. What of it?”
“Men who like men also go there, as do women who dress as men.”
“Mr. Lombardi is new to the city. Perhaps he didn’t realize it attracted that sort of crowd.”
Mr. Chapman tilted his head to the side. Not a hair on his elegantly coifed head moved. “I didn’t just see him having a drink, Miss Fox. I saw him kiss a man.”
“Did he recognize you?”
“He wasn’t kissing me! And no, I’m sure he didn’t.”
I recalled seeing men come and go from the Café Royal on the evening Harry and I had watched it from the other side of Regent Street. Our vantage point outside number fifty-nine had given us the perfect view of the door. Perhaps that was the entire point of that chosen meeting place. It had nothing to do with the jewelry shop located there, and everything to do with the Café Royal opposite.
Did the person who’d written that note to Dr. Iverson want to take him inside? Did Dr. Iverson have affairs with men as well as women? If he did, perhaps the author of the note didn’t want to join him; perhaps they wanted to blackmail him.
What if Isabel Kempsey had been the author and the doctor discovered that? He may have decided to silence her before she ruined his reputation and spread the gossip. Killing her in his own consulting rooms wasn’t a very good idea on the surface, but what if he thought he could get away with it? By hiring Harry, it made himappearinnocent.
“Miss Fox? Are you listening?” Mr. Chapman prompted.
“I’m sorry, what did you say?”
“I said that you could use the information to ensure Lombardi pays the hotel now before he leaves London.”
I frowned. “You mean blackmail him?”
Mr. Chapman winced. “It’s such a dirty word, but yes. Blackmail him. I can try to get evidence if you need it.”
“I’m not sure I want to go down that route. As much as I dislike him, I don’t want to use someone’s nature against them. Why are you doing this, Mr. Chapman? I would have thought you’d be reluctant, too.”
He adjusted his tie, even though it was already pin-straight. “That’s my business. Suffice it to say, the man needs to get his comeuppance, and I will be glad to play my part in serving it to him.”
I watched the steward walk off. Whatever his reason for telling me, his information was more useful to me than he could know.
Chapter9
Armed with the information learned from Mr. Chapman about the Café Royal, the first task for the day was clear—find out if Dr. Iverson had affairs with men as well as women. Harry informed me over coffee in his office that he’d heard the rumors about the Café Royal after Oscar Wilde’s arrest five years prior.
“He used to hold court there. I thought it had changed after his arrest in ninety-five, when it suffered from the extra attention in the press, but apparently not. Did this information come from Chapman?”
I’d promised Mr. Chapman that I wouldn’t divulge the source of my information, but Harry already knew about the steward’s proclivities, so I didn’t feel as though I was breaking that promise when I nodded. “He told me he saw Mr. Lombardi there, and suggested I use the information to blackmail him into paying his hotel bill. The news would be damaging to his business.”
