Author's Note: This chapter briefly mentions both a corpse and a firearm. Neither are described in detail but now you know.


Three months later and the importance of their lessons became abundantly clear.

Vastra gaze wandered around the small vestibule in which she waited. Not five minutes ago she had knocked on the door to this abode and been greeted by a straight backed ape Jenny typically referred to as 'the butler'.

"Good evening," she began, offering the balding man her card, "My name is Madame Vastra. I apologize for arriving unannounced but I must ask to speak with the Master of this abode; presuming he is presently available."

Her announcement had clearly unsettled the ape, but he was well-trained. He did not bolt like his instincts were likely telling him to. Instead, he made a polite request for her to wait while he went to inquire with the Master.

In the interim Vastra collected her thoughts and reviewed the details regarding her current investigation.


Ms. Helen Smith, age sixteen, had been a recent hire in the match factory in which she was found dead. Apparently the factory's foreman discovered her body as he went about airing out the building during the worker's lunch-hour. So far as anyone could tell, Ms. Smith had been a picture of perfect health up until that very afternoon.

Madame Vastra had been summoned once the investigators from Scotland Yard were forced to admit that they were well and truly flummoxed by the case. The strange circumstances surrounding Ms. Smith death had piqued her interest enough for her to take the case. She agreed to perform her customary examination at the morgue and sent Jenny on ahead to the factory with instructions to observe the crime scene and collect information.

If asked, the Silurian would insist the move was purely tactical – it would save valuable time. It was merely a coincidence that the decision shielded Jenny from another unpleasantly similar corpse.

Ultimately her findings concurred with the Yard's examiner – Ms. Smith had no external bruising or lacerations that would indicate a cause for death. An autopsy would be performed but such a procedure was considered 'unfit for a lady' (even if that lady was the Great Veiled Detective) and Vastra was asked to leave.

The Silurian certainly hoped Jenny was having better luck.

Once she got to the factory Jenny was sure to stay well and good away from both the Yards investigators and the local Bobbies. Most of the men in blue just barely tolerated Madame Vastra – and that was only because she'd proven herself time and time again working with the Yard. Without the veiled woman around Jenny's presence carried no weight and she knew it.

Instead she kept off to the sidelines scanning the crowds until she caught sight of a group of women. Jenny at once recognized them as fellow factory workers; their heavily-worn clothing reeked of prosperous. It was a smell you could never forget.

An investigator from the yard tried to approach the bunch, presumably to ask questions regarding the case, but was quickly scared off as one of the women became distraught and began to openly (and loudly) weep. Jenny frowned at this – the poor of London weren't so easily disturbed. No, the women were putting on a ruse of despair so as to avoid answering questions – but why?

She watched intently and noticed a few of the woman looking past the departing inspector. She followed their gaze and caught sight of a police constable interviewing the factory foreman.

Jenny nearly kicked herself; they were scared of losing their jobs! Well, they might get into trouble for talking to the law, but nobody around here would openly recognize her as Madame Vastra's assistant – and if the foreman got suspicious she could always claim she was a cousin of one of the factory workers.

With that Jenny finally approached the women, whom were apprehensive of her until they learned of her former profession as a match girl. The bond of comradery went a long way to help ease their worries and soon Jenny was a vessel into which the woman could pour their woes.

And what woes they were; according to them five other girls had gone missing over the last six months!

The woman readily provided the unnerving tale when Jenny pressed them for more detail. The missing girls all seemed pleasant enough during their first week of employ... but then they'd start to change. The new arrivals would begin to lose weight at an alarming rate and lose their tempers over the most trivial things. They'd quit after three or four weeks and simply seemed to disappear that very night – never to be seen or heard from again.

Jenny thanked them kindly for the information and promised to keep mum about her sources. She was on her way out of the factory when-


Madame Vastra recollections were interrupted by a gorilla standing in the entry way; this one, like the ape-butler, was also male but unquestionably less intelligent. He smelt strongly of gunpowder and bore his teeth at her in what Jenny would have called a 'grin' – but Vastra was not so easily fooled. She knew a display of dominance when she saw one.

The gorilla's right hip was canted towards her person so that the pistol holstered there was clearly visible. Vastra had the sinking suspicion that the poor beast thought it was being clever by flaunting the device. Did he honestly expect her to feel threatened by its presence? She decided right then and there that if this beast ever tried to lay its paws on her she would end his life.

"The Master will see you now."


Thanks to Revelade for the support. I wasn't so confident this info dump made sense and they helped to alleviate my worries.

As it stands right now this story is made up of three (possibly four) parts. Part 2 is well underway and part 3 has an outline but is otherwise untouched.

I am going to try and get part 2 up within a weeks time but I make no promises. Yes, I know I left you on a cliffhanger (two times over- ain't I a stinker?) but I don't plan on making a habit of it. This story arc just sort of got away from me and I felt it needed to be broken down into smaller parts. This one was heavy on the setup and is overall pretty different from the previous chapters (mainly because 'oh look PLOT!') but I hope you all enjoyed the change in pace.

So far this story has been safe for everyone... but as of the next chapter the rating is going to go up... a lot. I'm hedging between T and M (leaning more to T at the moment) but I just wanted to let you all know that any subject matter that I feel might be triggering or generally 'not safe for work' will be tagged and or placed in bold at the top of the chapter containing said subject-matter.

I suffer from anxiety myself, so I always air on the side of caution - and if I miss something PLEASE let me know so I can edit it in.

While I do want this series to be light... the Victorian Era was fairly dark and generally not a nice place to live. Add onto that the fact that Doctor Who as a series has touches on many uncomfortable themes and the fact that Silurians are prone to violence (I mean, come on, Vastra eats people in canon) and it makes it hard to keep every chapter safe for everyone. So, instead of trying I am going to raise the overall rating and tag each chapter accordingly.

I hope you all understand my reasoning and aren't too upset by the change.

As always, leave a comment - it helps to know the slowly rising view counts aren't from bots! Though robots are still welcome - they just don't usually leave comments.