A Conspiracy of Ravens Read Online Free PDF

time and again in his encounters with criminals. The word was out among the lawbreakers of London, “Don’t try to bribe Grant. Stay away from him. He doesn’t play games.”
    As he moved up the steps that led to the front door, Grant’s mind went back to the first time he had come to this house. He had been in the company of Superintendent Winters. The two of them had come to interrogate Clive Newton, a suspect in the murder of a famous actress. Grant had a memory that was almost photo graphic. He could remember everything about that visit, but the clearest thing of all was his first sight of Aldora Newton. He did not need a painting or a daguerreotype; her features were imprinted on his mind. For one instant he stood there thinking of the woman he had come to love. He saw her auburn hair, which had a mere touch of gold, and the large, well-shaped brown eyes, the flawless complexion, and most of all, he thought of her shy, appealing manner. It was not the manner of many of the women in high society. She flushed easily, and Matthew Grant found this charming.
    Shaking off his nervousness, Grant knocked firmly on the door and was greeted by Ellie Malder, the tweeny housemaid. “I suppose you’ve come to see Miss Aldora, Inspector.”
    “Yes, I have, Ellie. I don’t have an appointment.”
    “Never you mind.” Ellie smiled. She was an attractive girl of fifteen with her best feature being her large, brown eyes. “Come inside, Inspector. I’ll see if Miss Aldora is available.”
    “Thank you.”
    Stepping into the foyer, Grant once again felt his apprehensions coming back. He came from a poor background and had known hardship most of his life. The ornate furniture, decorations, and paintings, and the gleaming tile floor of the foyer, somehow depressed him. Dora appeared at the top of the stairs, and he watched her as she came down quickly. She smiled for him and held out her hands, which he took. They were soft yet firm at the same time.
    “I should have asked permission to come, Miss Aldora.”
    “Oh, don’t bother about that, Matthew. I’m glad you came by. Come along. I sent Ellie to make some tea, and we’ll have it in the large parlour.” It was just a chance remark on Aldora’s part, but somehow it struck Grant. The large parlour, which meant there were two parlours, while Grant had grown up in a home with no parlour at all. As he followed her down the hallway and turned into the room, he thought suddenly of what he had once read in a book on astronomy. The nearest star to our own solar system was Alpha Centauri—which was millions of miles away. He felt that his distance from Aldora’s world was at least this far.
    “Sit down, and tell me what you’ve been doing.”
    “Oh, we’ve had several interesting cases,” Matthew said. He began talking about some of them, for it was all he had to talk about with her. She had balls, fox hunts, and other such activities. Matthew Grant focused on only one thing in his life, and that was catching criminals and seeing that they went to jail or were hanged. He did not understand how she could be interested in such things, but somehow she was. She sat there with her eyes fixed on him, and when the tea came, there was a grace in the way she set about serving him. When he had sipped his tea from a delicate china cup, he asked, “How is Mr. Tremayne doing?”
    “Oh, Dylan is doing so well! It’s been two weeks now since the accident with that awful animal, and he’s made rapid improvements.”
    “That’s good to hear.” He smiled and asked, “How do you like having a famous actor in the house, Miss Aldora?”
    Dora smiled and shook her head. “Oh, he’s ever so nice. He’s so polite. All the servants just love him.”
    “I’ll bet all the female servants are in love with him,” Matthew said and watched the colour mount to her cheeks.
    “Yes, I suppose they are. He is handsome.”
    “It’s a good thing that bull’s horns didn’t catch him in the