away.
Chapter 3
Twenty minutes later, Jane left the library with Lance at her heels. She stopped for a moment at the edge of the pavement, glanced quickly from right to left, then entered a hackney that had just let down its passengers. The dog jumped in after her. A moment later, the hackney was bowling along the Strand, going west toward Pall Mall.
Soon after, another hackney pulled out from a side street and made the turn onto the main thoroughfare, following Jane’s hackney. It had two occupants, Case and Sergeant Harper of Special Branch.
Although Harper was one of London’s most celebrated citizens, having helped solve a number of sensational cases in his work at Special Branch, no one would have known it to look at him. He was in his early forties, stocky, with a crop of grizzled hair. His garments were well made and conservative, but he wore them so casually that he looked untidy.
Despite the difference in their backgrounds, there was an easy camaraderie between Case and Harper. In fact, they had much in common. They’d both served throughout the Spanish Campaign and, more recently, had worked closely together to uncover a conspiracy that had almost destroyed Case’s brother-in-law, Col. Richard Maitland. Now they were working on another case—the murder in Hyde Park.
The faintest of smiles touched Case’s lips. “I thought she might go in person to warn her friend that I wanted to speak to her. It makes things easier for us. All we have to do is follow the dog.”
When there was no response from Harper, Case turned his head and looked at Harper’s unhandsome face, baked dry by years of soldiering under the hot Spanish sun. “Why the scowl?” he asked.
Harper shrugged. “It don’t seem right,” he said, “spying on ladies who probably don’t have it in them to hurt a fly. Why, they’re the best that England has to offer. They’re honest and decent and I don’t like deceiving them.”
“Neither do I.”
“Then why didn’t we wait till four o’clock for Mrs. Gray’s answer?”
“What if Mrs. Gray refuses to see me? What if she’s trying to protect her brother? No, Harper. This is the only way.”
Harper merely grunted.
After a moment, Case said, “Why would a lady keep a beast like that in town?”
“You mean the dog?”
Case nodded.
“I dunno. You knows more about ladies than I do.”
“Hazard a guess, just to humor me.”
“Well,” Harper scratched his chin, “could be the dog is an affectation, you know. something to make a fashionable lady stand out from the crowd.”
“But Jane Mayberry isn’t a fashionable lady. And she wouldn’t thank you for that description. She’s a bluestocking. Women who pride themselves on their intelligence aren’t interested in cutting a dash in society.”
Harper considered. “Well,” he said, “maybe she loves that dog and can’t bear to be parted from it.”
“I wonder.”
“What?” demanded Harper when the silence lengthened.
“Mmm? Oh, I think she keeps the dog for protection.”
“Protection from what?”
“I don’t know. But there’s something secretive about Jane Mayberry.”
“Secretive?”
“Mysterious, not transparent. You know what I mean.”
“She’s just a young woman with a dog!”
“You’re probably right.”
“That’s the trouble with our business. It makes you suspicious of everyone. And when you’re not suspicious, that’s when the trouble starts.”
“Harper, don’t break your heart over it. She’s probably everything you think she is.”
“I hope so. I sincerely hope so, because the man we are after is rotten to the depths of his stinking soul. I wouldn’t want Miss Mayberry to end up like John Collier.”
John Collier was the name of the man who had been murdered in Hyde Park. That much Bow Street had discovered before handing the case over to Special Branch: John Collier, former soldier, now a solicitor’s clerk, fortyish and as clean as a whistle as far as they could
Chapter 3
Twenty minutes later, Jane left the library with Lance at her heels. She stopped for a moment at the edge of the pavement, glanced quickly from right to left, then entered a hackney that had just let down its passengers. The dog jumped in after her. A moment later, the hackney was bowling along the Strand, going west toward Pall Mall.
Soon after, another hackney pulled out from a side street and made the turn onto the main thoroughfare, following Jane’s hackney. It had two occupants, Case and Sergeant Harper of Special Branch.
Although Harper was one of London’s most celebrated citizens, having helped solve a number of sensational cases in his work at Special Branch, no one would have known it to look at him. He was in his early forties, stocky, with a crop of grizzled hair. His garments were well made and conservative, but he wore them so casually that he looked untidy.
Despite the difference in their backgrounds, there was an easy camaraderie between Case and Harper. In fact, they had much in common. They’d both served throughout the Spanish Campaign and, more recently, had worked closely together to uncover a conspiracy that had almost destroyed Case’s brother-in-law, Col. Richard Maitland. Now they were working on another case—the murder in Hyde Park.
The faintest of smiles touched Case’s lips. “I thought she might go in person to warn her friend that I wanted to speak to her. It makes things easier for us. All we have to do is follow the dog.”
When there was no response from Harper, Case turned his head and looked at Harper’s unhandsome face, baked dry by years of soldiering under the hot Spanish sun. “Why the scowl?” he asked.
Harper shrugged. “It don’t seem right,” he said, “spying on ladies who probably don’t have it in them to hurt a fly. Why, they’re the best that England has to offer. They’re honest and decent and I don’t like deceiving them.”
“Neither do I.”
“Then why didn’t we wait till four o’clock for Mrs. Gray’s answer?”
“What if Mrs. Gray refuses to see me? What if she’s trying to protect her brother? No, Harper. This is the only way.”
Harper merely grunted.
After a moment, Case said, “Why would a lady keep a beast like that in town?”
“You mean the dog?”
Case nodded.
“I dunno. You knows more about ladies than I do.”
“Hazard a guess, just to humor me.”
“Well,” Harper scratched his chin, “could be the dog is an affectation, you know. something to make a fashionable lady stand out from the crowd.”
“But Jane Mayberry isn’t a fashionable lady. And she wouldn’t thank you for that description. She’s a bluestocking. Women who pride themselves on their intelligence aren’t interested in cutting a dash in society.”
Harper considered. “Well,” he said, “maybe she loves that dog and can’t bear to be parted from it.”
“I wonder.”
“What?” demanded Harper when the silence lengthened.
“Mmm? Oh, I think she keeps the dog for protection.”
“Protection from what?”
“I don’t know. But there’s something secretive about Jane Mayberry.”
“Secretive?”
“Mysterious, not transparent. You know what I mean.”
“She’s just a young woman with a dog!”
“You’re probably right.”
“That’s the trouble with our business. It makes you suspicious of everyone. And when you’re not suspicious, that’s when the trouble starts.”
“Harper, don’t break your heart over it. She’s probably everything you think she is.”
“I hope so. I sincerely hope so, because the man we are after is rotten to the depths of his stinking soul. I wouldn’t want Miss Mayberry to end up like John Collier.”
John Collier was the name of the man who had been murdered in Hyde Park. That much Bow Street had discovered before handing the case over to Special Branch: John Collier, former soldier, now a solicitor’s clerk, fortyish and as clean as a whistle as far as they could
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