The Silurian detective: Murder she foresaw
A/N: Hello everyone! This is the first chapter of the first of The Silurian detective trilogy. Welcome back if you've read the prequel, In need of a Doctor, already (find it on my profile if you haven't) and welcome newcomers (I recommend reading the prequel though since you might not understand everything). There is going to be Vastra and Jenny romance but not yet. So without further ado, here it is.
The heavenly glow from the sun was a pleasant surprise for the Londoners of Victorian England. March had been wet and depressing, and they had expected little better of April but their luck had come through and they weren't wasting a moment of the good weather.
Wealthy mothers were followed by their tribes of children while their maids or nannies guarded the rear, pushing prams or holding small hands. The less fortunate children were free to escape from the labour at home for an hour or so, playing games on the curb of their road, enjoying their short childhoods before adult life so quickly arrived.
Silently observing these spectacles were two young women. One had tired brown eyes with creamy skin that would have been lovely to admire had not the tell tale signs of weeping mark it. Her dark hair was tied up in a knot and she wore the typical clothes of a maid.
Her companion however was far more mysterious. Her face was covered by a deep red cloak that hung down to her ankles where brown boots could just be seen. They were both given odd looks and many people crossed the road to avoid them. Who knew what lay underneath the hood?
In fact, if they were to see what was under it, they would do more than cross the road. They would most probably run away screaming for the person under the hood wasn't human. Her name was Vastra and she was a Silurian, a race of reptilian humanoids that lived deep under the Earth.
To the humans though, she was called Madame Vastra, the infamous French detective. All humans but Jenny who was her house keeper, partner and trusted friend.
This was the first time Jenny had left the house in a month because after witnessing her brother's death, she had refused to leave and barely spoke to Vastra. The Silurian had cleverly raised the issue of food, so Jenny had no choice but to instruct Vastra of where to buy it. After being taught many other complex rules of social interaction, she could pass as a foreigner but a human none the less.
Jenny checked the address of their destination and turned around a corner with Vastra behind her. A friend of Vastra's, the Doctor, had given her an address of a possible ally. He was meant to know about other alien species, including Silurians but Vastra had waited until Jenny was recovered enough to come with her, so that the owner of the house would believe that Vastra meant no harm to humans.
Stopping in front of a shop, they realised that this matched their address. A sign lay above the large glass window. It read "Katanas and other swords from Japan". Behind the window were several stands that each held a different sword. It appeared to be empty.
"Well this looks like the place." Jenny said in her strong cockney accent. "Are you ready?"
Vastra was glad that her hood covered her face so that Jenny couldn't see how nervous she looked. Not trusting her voice, she nodded.
A bell rang out as the door opened. Two teenage boys stood admiring an extremely deadly looking sword that was locked inside a display case with a large price tag besides it. They looked up at the latest arrivals and seemed to stare at Vastra's hooded form with a mixture of awe and fear.
Behind a tidy counter stood a man with short, slightly scruffy, greying blond hair. He smiled at Vastra and Jenny kindly but frowned at the Silurian's covered body although he didn't seem intimidated.
"Good morning, can I help you with something?" He asked them politely.
Jenny leaned against his counter and said quietly. "May we speak to you in private?"
"What about?" He replied, seriously. "And would your friend please lower their hood while in my shop. It isn't even raining outside."
"She can't be seen in public." Jenny explained. "So can we please speak somewhere else?"
The shopkeeper shook his head. "You could be thieves for all I know. My swords are worth a lot and-"
"I know the Doctor." Vastra hissed, annoyed at how they were getting nowhere.
For a moment, the owner froze but then he recovered himself and stepped out from behind the counter. "Rufus, Edward, I'm closing early today. You can stare at the Chiotsuru tomorrow."
The two boys shuffled towards the door, looking up at Vastra as they passed. She made out the word "Samurai" before they left, the door locked behind them and the closed sign shown through the glass. Motioning towards a door behind the counter, he ushered Vastra and Jenny into what appeared to be a living room.
Placing himself into a large arm chair, their host watched as they sat next to each other on the sofa. "So why are you here?"
"My name is Jenny and this is my friend Vastra." Jenny answered before holding out the piece of paper with his address. "Vastra was given this by the Doctor a month ago. He said that you would be comfortable around her." She finished awkwardly.
"Comfortable?" He frowned in confusion. "Oh you aren't human then, Vastra?"
Vastra sighed and reassured herself that although this man was a stranger, he knew the Doctor and wouldn't be disgusted by her. The last human who had seen her face had called her a demon and even though she had understood why he thought that, it had still damaged her opinion of how humans would treat her even more so.
Throwing back her hood, the shopkeeper's gaze fell onto the bright green scales that covered Vastra's face. Her pale blue eyes met his and she held up her palms as if to say "what do you think".
"Well then, Vastra, tell me how you got to London?" He grinned.
xxxxx
"And then we came here." Vastra finished. She had told their new friend everything from meeting the Doctor to being given the house. Jenny hadn't spoken at all but seemed to grow more uncomfortable towards the end as her brother was mentioned. Vastra had left out his betrayal though.
Smiling slightly, the shopkeeper nodded thoughtfully to himself. "What a fascinating story. It sounds almost unbelievable. Well I think that since you've told me so much about yourself, you can ask me any question you want."
Vastra glanced at Jenny before replying. "First of all, what's your name?"
"My name?" He chuckled. "I can't believe I haven't told you yet you've been in my living room, giving me your life story. My name is Frederick. Frederick Lake, but most people call me Fred. Anything else you'd like to know?"
"Why do you own a Japanese sword shop?" Jenny asked quietly.
"Good question. You see, I had always been fascinated by Japan even though at school we were barely told anything about other cultures, let alone one so far away. 18 years ago, when I was 19, I planned a trip to Japan for a few months. I toured as much of the country as I could but during the final month I paid a sword master to train me. I'd already had fencing lessons in England so I had little else to learn."
Fred blushed slightly. "I would have probably left but I fell in love with my teacher's daughter. She was his only child and had little interest in swords so her father was delighted when we started courting. We married a few years later and when her old man died, I inherited his sword collection which was worth enough for us to move to London and to start this shop selling Japanese swords and fencing lessons."
Vastra was slightly surprised at what this seemingly ordinary man had done. "Where is your wife at the moment then?" She asked.
"In Japan, taking care of her mother. We'd offered to bring her over with us but she didn't want to leave. She's gotten quite ill and there's no one else to take care of her. I do feel sorry for my Jasmine though. Stuck on a mountain with just a grumpy, sick old lady for company." He pretended to shudder. "Carol wanted to go but she's got school."
"Carol?" Jenny asked.
Fred pointed at a painting of a young girl with jet black hair and Eurasian features that hung above the mantelpiece. "That her there although it's a bit out of date now. Carol is mine and Jasmine's daughter. You'd both like her too. She wouldn't care that you look different either, Vastra. Poor girl's been bullied quite a bit because she's mixed race. Children can be ignorant bastards." He added in disgust.
Jenny nodded sadly in agreement. ""A dark skinned family lived on the same street as me when I was a child. Everyone avoided them."
"My father lost his job when word got out that he was marrying a woman of a different skin colour. My mother died when I was young so Rosita has always been the mother I needed. The amount of fights I got into at school over it." He reminisced, lost in the past. "Carol doesn't care what people say about her but they always get beaten up if they insult her Granny." He glanced at the watch on his wrist. "It's almost lunch time already. Would you care to join me?"
The two women replied "Yes please." gratefully as Vastra hadn't been shopping long enough for her to have started a routine so they had had no food in the house that morning, meaning they were both quite hungry.
Fred went into another room that was presumably the kitchen. As sounds of plates and cutlery being rattled echoed into the living room, another noise joined the others.
"That must be the paper." Fred called out. "Would you mind getting it? There's quite an interesting article that I think you would enjoy."
Jenny went back through to the shop and picked up a newspaper off the floor. Returning to the living room, she started to flick through it while Vastra examined the numerous books that covered the shelves.
A few minutes later and Fred had brought in three plates, three sets of knives and forks, three glasses of wine and a platter of ham and salad. He then placed himself back into the armchair and took a sip of wine.
"Please help yourselves." He exclaimed cheerfully. "Have you found that article, Jenny?"
She shook her head. "No, it's just the normal boring news." She replied, passing the paper to him.
He took it from her and flicked it a few pages ahead, carefully examining each article. "It's normally on page 36." He muttered to himself before breaking into a grin. "Ah, here it is. Now that is disturbing. It's happened again." He handed it back to Jenny but kept his finger on the small paragraphs in the corner. Vastra leant over her friend's shoulder so that she could read it too.
A gruesome murder once again hits the streets of London, it read, the dead body of Mr Timothy P. Ripton was found by a member of the public, early yesterday morning, laying on the pavement a few streets away from his home on Drewsbury Avenue.
His wife has told police that he was fine the day before but went to bed strangely early and was tossing and turning all night. She awoke to find him missing the next day and has no idea why he was found on the street he was discovered at.
Strangest of all though, is that Mrs Sylvia Trout, the psychic that apparently had visions of two other victims being murdered, before it even happened, told the police of Mr Ripton's death which she saw in another vision. She described his appearance perfectly as well as where the body was found (although she didn't know the street). The vision occurred approximately 14 hours before the victim was said to have been killed, with officers witnessing the phenomenon. Police are keeping her in for questioning, admitting that she is their lead suspect.
Jenny and Vastra looked up at each other. This case was definitely supernatural and had sparked their curiosity. Fred was chewing a piece of ham while watching them expectantly.
"This is extremely bizarre." Vastra finally said. "There are two answers to the murders. Trout is a fake and is having the people she "foresees", assassinated. But why would she go to the trouble of telling the police. She's just been arrested." She wondered.
"Maybe she wants the attention." Jenny suggested. "She might have thought that police would believe in her paranormal powers."
Fred nodded thoughtfully. "That's true. What's the other answer then, Vastra?" He asked.
"Well, it's that she must be able to see the future and probably has nothing to do with the murders." Vastra said, sounding slightly sceptical of her statement. "But it's impossible to predict anything that hasn't happened yet. Especially something so full of detail like her visions."
Fred scratched the bit of stubble on his chin. "You do know there's only one way to find out."
Jenny tilted her head slightly. "You mean... We have to meet this Trout woman."
"If we want to find the answer to this mystery." Fred answered. "The police will most likely blame her for the murders even if she is innocent. Besides, I've already closed the shop." He finished with a grin.
Vastra smiled at his schoolboy eagerness. "Well I am meant to be a detective. What do you think, partner?" She asked Jenny, nudging her gently.
"It would be fun to solve, I suppose." She replied. "Sure, why not?"
Fred beamed at them both. "Wonderful, now you finish your lunch and I'll just get ready."
The two women glanced down at the near full plates on the table. In all their talking, they had barely touched their food. They ate quickly so by the time Fred had returned, now wearing a long leather coat, there was only a little left.
"Ready to go then, ladies?" The older man asked. "I've found out which police station Trout is being held at and I've got some paper work that'll get us in."
Jenny nodded but Vastra scratched her scales, looking slightly embarrassed. "Will that food be going to waste by any chance?"
"Well I'm not really a fan of salad to be honest." He admitted while looking slightly guilty. "I'd hoped that you'd eat it all. So yes it probably would be chucked away since Carol won't touch anything green." He then looked at Vastra and blushed heavily. "I mean anything green that is a plant."
"Oh well there's this orphan who I give our leftovers too and... um... I'm sure he would really enjoy this." Vastra finished awkwardly.
Jenny smiled cheekily at the Silurian. "Vastra, are you feeding poor, starving children?"
"NO, I mean he isn't starving, just moderately hungry." Vastra retorted sheepishly.
"Don't be embarrassed, it just means that my selflessness is wearing off on you." She winked. "Is it, Sammy?"
Vastra frowned. "He prefers to be called, Sam."
Jenny opened her mouth to reply but Fred, who had been listening to their banter while trying not to laugh interrupted her. "Yes, Vastra, you can wrap it up in one of the napkins and take it to him. Shall we be off then?"
Vastra gathered the food into one of the small paper towels that had been placed on her plate and folded it up. Jenny put into her satchel and they followed Fred into the shop and out of the building.
xxxxx
"Thank you kindly, Lady Vastra." The grubby urchin boy grinned happily. "This 'ill last me a week."
Although she knew that he couldn't see her smile from underneath her hood, Vastra smiled anyway. "You're quite welcome, Sam. You behave yourself and I'll get you some sweets when I next go to the shop."
The 12 year old orphan beamed, showing every one of his dirty teeth. "Thanks a lot, Lady Vastra." He replied in his strong Cockney accent. "I'll be on my very best behevior... Beehavur... I'll be real good." He finally managed.
Vastra waved at the boy who sat on the steps to her house, munching a piece of lettuce, before joining her friends who waited for her outside the gate. Jenny smirked at Vastra's motherly behaviour (A/N: I can spell!)
"Shut up, you." The Silurian snapped. "Shall we go see Mrs Trout then?"
Fred nodded and led the way down the street. As Vastra elbowed Jenny in the ribs to stop her giggling, they failed to notice the small figure set out to follow them...
A/N: Woooohooooo I'm so happy with this chapter :D I hope you enjoyed Fred's character. Yes, he is the son of Jackson Lake from The next Doctor, well done if you'd guessed that (from the tricky clue I gave at the end of In need of a Doctor. It wasn't hard to guess from this chapter :P) I hope that the racism that I mentioned was quite realistic for Victorian Era. Next chapter, we meet Sylvia Trout. Is she a real psychic or a big fake? You'll have to wait and see! All reviews will make me happy. Please make me happy.