A/N: Slight spoilers for everything up to and including episode six! I'm working on chapter three as we speak and hopefully it will be a bit longer. Do let me know what you think!
Adelaide's pronouncement of her life possibly being in danger echoed in the train carriage. She allowed herself a moment to determine how she felt about the reveal and came to the conclusion that she didn't feel, as she thought she might, weak or helpless. Instead, she felt comforted by her companions' compassionate glances and she lifted her chin. There was a mystery surrounding her husband's death and she'd always known it. Her admission of vulnerability was simply the next step in figuring out what to do.
"We'll help you, constable," Dr Doyle said reassuringly. "I'm sure there's every reason to believe that you can remain safe and sound."
"Of course there is," Houdini said. "Especially considering you want to be taught how to get out of tricky situations."
"I do?" she asked raising her eyebrows.
"Well, you were the one to bring up handcuffs the other day," Houdini said, the corners of his mouth curling up. "Were you serious about learning how to escape them?"
Adelaide nodded. "I was, actually."
"Right, well," Houdini said clapping his hands together before diving into his bag. "No time like the present."
He pulled out a set of handcuffs and beamed at Adelaide. She stared at the handcuffs and then at him.
"Honestly," Doyle said as he pulled out the day's newspaper. "Is now the time?"
"Now is always the time," Houdini said not taking his eyes off Adelaide. "Our Addie needs to have every trick up her sleeve and getting out of a pair of handcuffs is a pretty damn good trick. Let's go, constable."
"I'm beginning to have second thoughts," she said as she took the proffered handcuffs.
"Nonsense," Houdini said. "Remember, little Peter Bennet? I showed him once and he got the knack straight away."
"Peter Bennet was also a preternaturally bright young man," Adelaide said.
"So says the first female constable at Scotland Yard," he retorted. "It's easy once you know how. Figure it out."
"You're not going to show me?"
"Nope."
Adelaide glared. "I don't think this is a proper method of teaching."
"Since when do I do anything properly?" he said. "If you get it right, you can have some knedle."
"You already offered me some knedle."
"It's always better to have incentive. Let's go, constable."
Adelaide suppressed a sigh and stared at the handcuffs in her hands. They were the same make as her own and she glanced at Houdini, who grinned and answered her unspoken question with, "No, they're not yours. I haven't touched your handcuffs in weeks."
Rolling her eyes, she went back to studying the handcuffs. She lifted them up and peered at the joints.
"Use your fingers," Houdini said, his voice pitched low. "You can't see where they give; you have to feel for it."
Going by pure instinct, Adelaide closed her eyes and let her fingers slide over the metal of the cuffs. Her fingers slipped over the fastenings and the screws and paused when she felt something give a little. Keeping her eyes closed, she felt around the small give in the metal and pressed firmly.
The handcuffs popped open in her hands.
"Oh, well done," Doyle said, clearly watching her and not paying any attention to his newspaper.
"Atta girl," Houdini said. "And you made excellent time, too."
Adelaide smiled briefly as she looked down at the handcuffs. "That's absurdly easy to open. The Yard should find a much better option."
"Don't tell them that," Houdini said exasperated. "Do you know how much good publicity my show got after I broke out of that cell?"
Adelaide shook her head and said, "What next?"
"Now," Houdini said coming to sit beside her. "You have to get yourself out of them."
He plucked the handcuffs from her hands and made a little twirling motion with his finger. "Turn around, please."
"You're going to make me do it behind my back?" she asked. "Peter Bennet did it with them in front of him."
"Yes, however you're a grown woman who's already figured it out without looking at them," Houdini said. "Now, hands behind your back."
"You've really been wanting to say that for some time, haven't you?" Doyle commented dryly.
"Longer than you know," Houdini said smiling brightly at Adelaide.
"Oh, for heaven's sake," Adelaide said under her breath before turning around and putting her hands behind her back.
The weight of the handcuffs was heavier than she expected and an ache appeared in her shoulders almost instantly as her arms sagged.
"Such delicate wrists, constable," Houdini said. "Don't struggle too much or you'll bruise. Just go slow this first time."
"Yes, I'd hate to have to explain the marks," Adelaide said staring out the window at the passing scenery as she tried to find the small give in the metal. It was exceedingly awkward from this angle and she couldn't quite get her fingers to reach the spot she'd previously found. She huffed in frustration.
"You'll figure out," Houdini said sitting back and she saw his amused smile reflected in the window while he stared at her hands. "Don't force it. You've got to be easy with them. You know it's there; you just have to find it. And don't forget to breathe, for heaven's sake."
Adelaide stopped her frantic maneuvers and breathed in slowly and deeply, then she started again. And there it was! That little give, it was right by the side of her wrist and if she tilted her arm just so…
The door to their carriage opened with a snap and she froze in horror as the train conductor poked his head in, "Tickets…?"
"Right here, my good man," Houdini said with a flourish, presenting his and Adelaide's tickets, while Doyle held up his own.
The conductor stared at Adelaide as she fell back against the seat, hiding her handcuffed wrists while she flushed furiously and tried to free herself.
"Ah," the conductor said while he marked off their tickets. "She wasn't like that getting on, was she?"
"She's very temperamental," Houdini said. "Turns deadly at the drop of a pin."
"Houdini," Adelaide said through gritted teeth.
"See what I mean?" Houdini said.
"It's an exercise," Doyle said glaring at Houdini. "Nothing to worry about."
"Londoners," the train conductor muttered under his breath as he left the carriage, pulling the door shut firmly.
"You are a terrible human being," Adelaide said furiously.
"You can punish me when you get out…" His voice trailed off when she presented the handcuffs to him with a glare. "Oh, nice work. Under pressure and everything. Do it again."
"Give me a piece of knedle first," she said. "You promised."
Houdini grinned and grabbed the tin, gallantly offering it to her with a bow. "My lady."
"Wretch," she muttered taking a pastry, she calmed slightly as the taste of sugared plum burst over her tongue. She sighed and closed her eyes and for a moment, the tension eased. Houdini and Doyle's bickering over the knedle faded into a comfortable background murmur and she let herself forget all about Benjamin and who might have murdered him.
After surreptitiously licking the remnants of sugar from her fingers, she sat up and asked, "What's next?"
Houdini grinned. "Ropes. Let's see those lovely wrists again."
Holding back a smile, Adelaide held out her hands and listened carefully as he explained how to watch how the knots were formed and how to twist her wrists without injuring herself.
Little did she know that the following exercise would come in handy less than a week later.