Ch 3 – The Investigation
An: I do not own Arrow
Oliver slowly became conscious of his surroundings. He did not open his eyes immediately, instead choosing to use his other senses to determine what was happening around him. He felt a pain in his shoulder and he remembered he had been shot the night before. The details after being shot were kind of hazy. He thinks he made it back to the Manor but he isn't sure if he made it to Diggle's quarters. Perhaps when he opened his eyes he'll have some explaining to do to his mother and sister. The bed felt comfortable and familiar so he assumed he was in his bed chambers. There was a slight pressure on his left wrist. He let his eyes slowly flutter open and adjust to the lighting in the room. There was a brunette head rested on the left side of his bed that he assumed was Thea.
"Thea?" He tried to say but found his throat dry.
The noise he made was enough to wake her. When she raised her head to look at him, he was met with a pair of blue eyes that belonged to his wife. Had her eyes always been that blue?
"My Lord, you're awake. I shall summon Mr. Diggle immediately," she said her hand reaching for the lever.
Her other hand let go of his wrist and he realised that his wife had fallen asleep monitoring his pulse. He was confused, his mother and sister were definitely not in his chambers. He knew they wouldn't leave his car to a woman who had just entered their lives. After pulling on the lever, she sat on the edge of the bed with a glass of water for him which he gratefully took from her.
"I can help you sit up, my Lord," she offered her hands already moving gently under his back to assist him.
"For Christ's sake Felicity stop calling me my Lord. Call me Oliver, when we are alone," he said frustrated with her. He didn't like accepting help from anyone, much less a woman. If he had hurt her with his comment, she showed no outward sign. He stubbornly drank some of the water without sitting up, causing him to choke on it and make a mess of his sheets. He reluctantly had to accept her help then.
As expected Diggle had arrived quickly and looked quite amused to find Oliver being doted on by his new wife. He was resting against the headboard of the bed while Felicity checked his forehead for any fever before looking at his bandages. He wasn't accustomed to such a gentle hand taking care of him and he wanted to tell her that she didn't need to do it but he didn't want to offend her again by telling her to stop. Plus he won't admit it to himself yet but he kind of liked her touch. Instead he decided to distract himself with a conversation with Diggle.
"Where is the rest of my family?" Oliver asked.
Diggle gave a confused look, "I assumed like the previous occasions you didn't want them notified of your injuries?"
Oliver cast his eyes curiously at Felicity and she explained to him that he had come into her chambers and she had summoned Diggle for him. She had not informed his parents or sister. In fact, there was still half an hour left before either of them needed to appear for breakfast so there was time to make him presentable. Oliver groaned as he remembered that he had to an important meeting with Count Zytle.
Diggle would assist him with getting dressed, while Felicity checked on her father. Once Felicity had left, Diggle raised the matter that had been bothering him since Felicity summoned him.
"I'm not sure why you chose to include your wife in this matter but she seems to be trustworthy,"
"I have no idea why I did it either but I was in survival mode," Oliver said.
"At least she is very good at wrapping bandages, much better than I. I'll have to get her to rewrap these after breakfast before we leave for your meeting."
Diggle knew him well. He always kept up his public appearances no matter how under the weather he felt even though this was not a public meeting. He could not have his enemies seeing his weaknesses.
"What did she mean when she said she was going to check on her father?" Oliver asked curiously as it had just occurred to him that her father was supposed to be 100 miles away.
Diggle sighed, "we arrived at the Manor yesterday to find her step-mother already here. Apparently she brought her father here for Felicity to take care of while she went off with her sons to Lord Wilson's. The eldest will be marrying Rose."
Oliver let out a sigh of relief. He had been trying to find ways to politely decline Lord Wilson's interest in him marrying his daughter, though doing it through a marriage to another was bound to have consequences. This was just another incident to add to the very long list against Lord Wilson. Their relationship now was tenuous at best and it bothered him because they were once good friends.
"I imagine Felicity didn't take that very well," Oliver commented swinging his legs off of the bed.
"Not at all but that wasn't the only thing that happened?"
"There was more drama here yesterday?" Oliver asked.
"All of their coloured servants were dismissed. We expect them to start arriving today. Your mother agreed to take in all of them."
"At least that means she won't be asking me to attend to the staffing needs of all our properties any time soon."
"It might actually be a long while. Supposedly there are over 100 of them."
"100 of them?" Oliver asked his eyes widening. Where did his wife find 100 migrants to work for her? He certainly had not seen that many at Lord Smoak's estate. He was impressed when he visited Smoak East India and found that his wife was able to look past differences in appearances. It was a lesson he had learned the hard way. She truly seemed wiser than he was though he wishes she had let him speak with their employees. He had seen their nervousness and he wanted to reinforce that there was nothing to fear from him or his family.
"Your wife is apparently very generous," Diggle said.
"You like that about her?" Oliver said.
"I respect that it cannot be easy for an English woman to stand up for migrants and yet she does it easily. She might be that other silent party that supports the abolishment of slavery in the British territories."
Oliver nodded. He had suspected that it had been Lord Smoak who was silently funding the movement along with the Queens. Now he's certain it was actually his daughter's doing.
"Did she have any questions?" Oliver asked.
"None that she asked me directly," Diggle replied. "She seemed to respect the bond between Lord and Vallet."
Oliver slowly tried to stand up. Once he was satisfied that his legs would support him he slowly started making his way forward.
"I'll dress for breakfast and then change for the meeting afterwards. I think I will pay a visit to Lord Smoak's room. It is impressive that he survived the trip here."
20 minutes later he was stepping into his father-in-law's room. Felicity was busy fussing over father who was rejecting all of her ministrations.
"Father, please let me attend to you!" she said exasperated as she placed the spoon that held his porridge back into the bowl she had summoned up from the kitchen for his breakfast.
"You need to change for breakfast with your family now," Edward said.
"You are my family or have you disowned me since you married me off," she retorted.
A look of hurt passed over his face at his daughter's accusation and Oliver chose to interrupt them before the conversation got out of hand. He didn't want his wife to regret anything mean she said to her father during his last days.
"Welcome to Queen Manor, Lord Smoak, I am surprised you made this entire journey just to check up on your daughter. I can assure you I haven't broken my promise to you," Oliver said lightly knowing full well that his wife had cruelly brought him there.
"Indeed, I see she is well enough to nag me!" Her father teased. "Call me Edward please."
Oliver chuckled and Felicity bristled with anger.
"Felicity, please change for breakfast. I'll keep your father company until you return." He asked her gently.
His wife narrowed her eyes at him and he thought she looked rather fetching when she was flush with anger. She stomped out of the room muttering something about stubborn males.
"Edward, may I ask you why you chose me for your daughter?" Oliver said taking a seat by the man's bed.
"It is because of the way you treated your first wife. You didn't have to acknowledge that she was pregnant with your child but you did and you married her and stood by her in the ton. I respected that."
Oliver hated to be reminded about the circumstances that had prompted his first marriage and brought his son into the world. It had been a very dark period in his life that lead to his best friend fleeing with his new wife to Scotland and Oliver seeking comfort in the arms of any lady willing to take him. Sandra Hawke had been a beautiful girl that, like the rest of ton, had been infatuated with him and he had taken advantage of that. Taking her innocence and inadvertently leaving her carrying his child. When she came forward with the pregnancy, he didn't have to accept her word for it. There was no proof that the child belonged to him but he knew in his heart that it was his child and he would not turn them out into the cold.
The marriage had surprised the ton as the reason for the marriage was easily visible on Sandra. It had caused other women to come out of the woodwork to claim they had his child. Women whom he had never seen, let alone touched. It had given his mother a headache dealing with the women but when Connor had been born there was no doubt in his parents mind that Connor was his. His mother told him he had looked exactly like Connor was when he was a child. Even now, his distant relatives always comment that Connor is a younger version of Oliver.
Despite Sandra being married to him the ton was still cruel to her. He made sure that nothing was ever said in front of him but behind his back was hard to control. She was left out of a lot of circles that she wanted to be in and it depressed her. She had also paid with her life for Oliver's actions in trying to right the wrong done to his best friend. Now he had a new wife, quite different from his first, to protect.
Felicity re-entered the room dressed presentably for breakfast, "Oliver," she curtsied, "Are you satisfied now."
He smirked, "If you'll excuse us, Edward," Oliver said and the old man smiled at them.
Felicity looped her hand through his right arm, automatically avoiding the side she knew he injured. They were the first to arrive for breakfast. His son arrived shortly afterwards and barrelled towards him the way he usually did when he hadn't seen him in a while. Felicity subtly headed Connor off with a reminder about table manners and his grandmother not approving. He wanted to eat on his father's lap and Oliver wanted to indulge his son. Felicity made sure that Connor approached on his father's right side and she helped him up onto his lap. That didn't last long for Moira Queen had arrived and Connor was instructed to take his proper place around the table.
Oliver tuned out most of the conversation about the ton and it appeared Felicity did the same as she concentrated on ensuring Connor enjoyed his breakfast. His son was far too young to be eating at the table with them but since the passing of Sandra, Oliver appreciated all the time he could spend with his son. Connor had a special chair that was designed to raise him to the height of the table but his reach was still short so he had some trouble reaching all of the food on his plate. He watched mesmerised as Felicity and Connor interacted as if she had always been in his life.
The butter for his toast was on Oliver's left side but when he raised his left hand to reach for the butter he immediately pulled at his stitches sending white hot pain through his body. He jerked his hand back. Felicity sensing his distress passed him the butter quickly and smoothly without drawing attention to the act.
Once breakfast was finished, Felicity declared that Oliver would escort his son to the governess for him to start his daily lessons and she would check on her father. She then whispered to her husband that she would meet him soon to change his bandages. He appreciated the short walk with his son. He had moved on to a new book and he was complaining about it. He wanted to go riding but Oliver knew it would be a few days before he could take his son riding again. They quickly arrived at their destination and he watched his son settle in for the day.
He arrived in his chambers to find his wife waiting with a roll of bandages and a basin of hot water.
"Off with the shirt," she commanded easily.
He smirked at her.
"I didn't mean it like that. I need the shirt off to change your bandages not for other purposes, not that I wouldn't want to do other things, I mean your chest is quite impressive, more impressive than those male sculptures that make me blush, not that I'm focusing in on, you know that area, but well, they're naked and it kind of unnerves me even though I know it's just a sculpture and I'm going to stop talking now."
Oliver couldn't help the smile that was pulling at his lips.
"I'm sorry when it's not business related I tend to babble. But you do need to..." she said finishing off the sentence by gesturing to his shirt.
Oliver painfully removed it with some assistance from Felicity and sat on the edge of the bed close to the basin. She gently unwrapped the bandage and tossed it aside to be disposed of later. She dipped a cloth into the warm water and cleaned the area before rewrapping the wound. He noticed that her cheeks gradually grew pinker and pinker as she worked. It pleased his male pride to know that he did affect her. When she tied off the bandage she dropped her hand down to a tattoo that rested right over his left pectoral and started tracing the outline of it. He didn't think she realised what she was doing as she looked like she was lost in contemplation.
"I'm sure you have questions," he said to her bringing his hand to rest over hers above his heart.
She snapped out of the trance she was in and removed her hand instantly. He missed her warmth.
"I do but not here. There are many ears and I recognise that tattoo. I understand you have a meeting to attend to. I can accompany you. It won't be strange for a new bride to stick on to her husband."
"Let me guess, we will talk in the carriage," Oliver finished for her.
She smiled at him and Oliver decided he liked her smile but that didn't mean she could get her way easily with him.
"I don't want you accompanying me. Count Zytle is not a man that I want anywhere near any member of my family." He said firmly
"It's my life, my choice and I choose to accompany you, lest I become a widow," she revealed.
Oliver stared at her and she stared right back with the same intensity. He suddenly felt like he had bitten off way more than he could chew with his wife. She was such a strong willed individual, yet she was kind and generous. The sound of Diggle clearing his through interrupted them and he wondered when Diggle had entered the room without him knowing. He was supposed to be more observant than that.
"Are you ready Oliver?" Diggle asked.
"Yes we are ready," Felicity answered with a pleasant smile.
Diggle eyes cut directly to Oliver and Oliver gave him the most frustrated look he could manage.
Felicity swept out of the room and Oliver quickly grabbed a fresh shirt and travel coat before he started to follow behind her when Diggle stopped him with a pensive thought, "Perhaps her ladyship should be wearing the pants instead?" Had Oliver been in peak form, he would have punched Diggle but he figured that was perhaps why his valet had chosen to voice that thought out loud.
The carriage was already waiting for them downstairs and Diggle helped Felicity to board. As soon as they were on the move, his wife gave him the look that indicated that he should start talking.
"After I left you at the company I visited a contact in the slums. I was expecting some information for an investigation that I have been working on. He provided it but it turned out to be a trap. I managed to escape and return to the Manor."
"I gather your family does not know about this?" Felicity stated,
"My father knows but due to his title and work load he can't actively pursue the investigation. As his heir, I have the power and the time to do so. My mother and sister are unaware of the danger we face,"
"We?" she questioned.
"Yes, unfortunately your father has married you into a dangerous situation." He said to her gravely.
She gave him a bitter laugh. "Danger I can handle, once I know what I'm facing. It is more dangerous to be ignorant and unaware. For example, are you familiar with Lord Seldon?" she asked.
"I am," he said frowning unaware what bearing the man had on the conversation.
"He was one of the many suitors my step-mother tried to marry me off to but he had the distinction of being the only one I thought to accept. After a visit to his estate that turned particularly nasty, that resulted in him attempting to hurt me, I declined that offer."
Oliver clenched his hands in anger, "And what is the point of you telling me this,"
"The point my Lord, is now you know that I have no desire to ever see or be left alone in a room with Lord Seldon. It might turn deadly, for him. You do not want your wife going to jail do you? To be forewarned is to be forearmed." She explained.
He nodded.
"Now what exactly is the problem? Mysteries bother me so perhaps I can be of assistance in solving it. Is it related to that Russian tattoo."
"You know what it represents?" he asked.
"I have rescued many people who were branded with similar markings but what I can't understand is how an English Lord ended up with it?"
"I was naïve and arrogant when I first started my investigation. I thought I was untouchable because of my title but I learned that wasn't true. The story starts ten years ago with the death of Lord Malcolm Merlyn and his wife Rebecca. They were the parents of my best friend Lord Tommy Merlyn. Tommy was the eldest son and automatically assumed the position of the new Lord. A year after he took control and had settled into his new role, he discovered some discrepancies in the estate. He investigated it quietly on his own for three years before he brought the information to my father and I for some advice as he had found no answers. His father had been making payments to a Unidac Trading Company but based on the discrete inquiries that Tommy had made no such company existed at that address in London. I offered to assist but my inquiries were not as discrete as Tommy's and it attracted the attention of some of the other funders behind Unidac. Tommy started to receive threats to drop the inquiries and forget about the payments. His estate's involvement ended with his father's death but Tommy couldn't let it go."
"You're going to eventually tell me that Tommy Merlyn did not go crazy and kill his family and abduct Lady Laurel Lance, who you were intended to originally marry?" Felicity said.
A determined look crossed Oliver's face. "He didn't. Much like your uncle he was framed. He came to me the night that it happened, his shirt covered in blood. He swore he didn't do it and that he had walked into the study to find them all dead. He had run to his sister first to check her pulse when Lord Wilson appeared at the door to the study and found him standing over her. Tommy insisted he didn't do it but Lord Wilson called for the police right away. Tommy escaped through the gardens and came straight to us. We believed him and advised him to leave. The evidence seemed stacked against him. On his way out of town, he wanted to say goodbye to Laurel. She chose to go with him and leave her life here behind."
He watched his wife frown but in the short time he had gotten to know her, he knew she was thinking.
"You're trying to gather the evidence that Tommy didn't kill his family?"
"Yes and figure out why Tommy was framed," he answered.
"No one has asked you where Tommy is?" she inquired.
"Oh they ask all the time. I refuse to answer but then other people started asking and I ended up being abducted during a safari in Africa and placed on a slave ship bound for the colonies."
"Is that when you got the tattoo?" she asked.
"Yes the ship was owned by the Russian and he asks all his Captains to mark his merchandise. I managed to befriend a few sailors and promised them a big payday if they commandeered the ship and took me back to England,"
"Did it work?"
"Amazingly yes, money is a powerful motivator. It was also where I met Diggle and Walter. They were on that ship bound for the cotton field in the colonies. They helped with the mutiny and I promised them freedom. They are my responsibility. It also opened my eyes to the injustices of slavery."
"I don't remember hearing anything about your absence from England but that was probably around the time I went back to India. Was Sara Lance ever questioned?"
"Yes,"
"I wonder if her ruination was because of this plot?" Felicity thought out loud.
"Sara believed so herself. It's why she's doing her own investigation into the Russian in the Middle East."
"She should talk to Dmitri. If you can contact her, tell her to head to Alexandria to North Star Trading Company and ask for Dmitri. I will let them know to expect her and extend full courtesies to her."
Oliver nodded but he could see his wife was still thinking.
"Something isn't right. Why would they still be looking for Tommy? How is the Russian connected to Unidac? Could this be connected to Lord Thawne? He is good friends with the Russian. We've been looking for evidence about his corrupted practices for years but it's going to take months for the messages to reach Sara and Dmitri."
"I can't answer any of your questions."
"I need to talk to Tommy and hear exactly what happened that night."
Oliver sighed. "I haven't seen Tommy since he left."
"But you know where he is."
He did know where he was. Tommy and Laurel were working for the Queen family at their property in Scotland. Who would ever expect to find Tommy working as a butler and Laurel as a cook. He wondered if they could go to Scotland without raising any questions but then an idea immediately struck him.
"Felicity how would you like to go to Scotland for our honeymoon?"
She was confused at first but he could see the exact moment she understood.
"I would love too, Oliver but," she chewed on her lip nervously, "my father."
The carriage stopped, a few moments late Diggle opened the door announcing the arrival at Lord Zytle's estate. The butler met them outside providing Oliver with an envelope. The Lord apparently had urgent business and was called away. They would have to reschedule.
"Perhaps your persistent survival has ruffled a few feathers," Diggle commented.
"Indeed it has. I must be on the right trail again but we will have to pause our search for a while. Felicity and I will be taking our honeymoon in Scotland after her father has passed. Cancel all of my appointments and inform them that I will be supporting my wife during this difficult time."
Diggle raised his eyebrows in surprise but he would follow the instructions he received. They were in for an interesting summer.