The Kidnapped Bride (Redcakes Book 4) Read Online Free PDF

fingernail. “Where did ye find it?”
    “Under a floorboard in Cross’s bedroom.”
    “Ye were paid for your part in the case. What were you doing sniffing around the flat?”
    Dougal hooked a chair with his boot, pulled it over, and sat. “I have a private case, had it for nearly a year, in fact. Lady Elizabeth Shield ran away from her London home, presumably in pursuit of Manfred Cross, on Easter Sunday last year. She was last spotted here in Edinburgh with Cross, then vanished.”
    Tippett picked a piece of tobacco off his tongue and examined it. “Ye find her?”
    “I met her,” he admitted. “I think she was posing as Cross’s maid, with a fake accent and dyed hair. I met with her family in London, ye see, and recognized Lady Elizabeth’s brother’s features as matching the maid’s.”
    Tippett grunted. “Ye see Cross? You heard he was sent down to Newgate?”
    Dougal nodded. “He verified my suspicions about Lady Elizabeth, but when I returned to the flat today, it had been torn to pieces. I can’t be sure, as the trail didn’t quite lead tae the flat, but there was a mess all down the stairs, as if someone had trampled the contents of a market basket.”
    Tippett removed the cigar from his lips and tossed it into an overflowing ashtray. “You’re telling me a runaway English noblewoman was hiding as a maid and seems tae have disappeared?”
    “Exactly. I spoke to the constable who patrols that area. He hadn’t seen anything, but he only goes by the land a few times a day.”
    “Might have been paid off anyway,” Tippett said. “We’re having some trouble with white slavers again. Sneaking girls off by ship, selling them to Arabs who pick them up in France.”
    Dougal chuckled. “That sounds like the stuff of Gothic novels.”
    Tippett pulled his boots from the drawer and slammed it shut. “I’m serious, lad.”
    “I was thinking more along the lines of Cross’s associates. Maybe they were looking for this lot,” Dougal said, pointing to the bags. “Took Lady Elizabeth tae interrogate her.”
    “And will sell her to the slavers when they’re done with her,” Tippett opined.
    “Or kill her,” Dougal said, realizing the detective was not poking fun. What mess had Lady Elizabeth gotten herself into this time?
    The corners of the detective’s mouth turned down. “Exactly. What do you want from me?”
    “Surely all this pinched merchandise is good for a favor or three.” Dougal offered his best winning smile.
    Tippett sniffed. “How do you know it isn’t Lady Elizabeth’s personal property?”
    Dougal pulled out a small, thick notebook and flipped to the beginning. He had one for each serious case. “I have a list here that the family offered of jewelry that disappeared with her ladyship. No emerald necklaces or sapphire rings. She had pearls mostly, some gold items.”
    “Right. I’ll compare these items to what we think Cross stole,” the detective said. “Here, we’ll make a list right now, just in case your ladyship’s family forgot some of their goods.”
    Dougal sat forward, knowing this was a necessary part of the game, though he itched for action. But he had no way of knowing where Lady Elizabeth had been taken, if indeed she had been. He might have to spend the evening knocking on doors after all.
    Tippett ponderously wrote out a description of each of the ten items Dougal had liberated, muttering to himself. He wandered away for a bit, and Dougal managed to cadge a cup of tea before the detective came back with a ledger. He wheezed gently as he ran his fingers down the page, making check marks.
    “I recognize everything but this silver gravy boat,” Tippett said finally, tucking his cigar back into the corner of his mouth. “Ye did good, boy.”
    “What else?”
    Tippett’s enormous chest rose and fell, his blue tailcoat straining. “Cross isn’t known to have any associates.”
    “A fence?”
    “In London,” Tippett said readily. “Best as we can tell.