Sorry for being so slow! I'm a busy bee and it's taken me a while to pick this up again. I hope it's okay - more coming soon!
The constables found the man identified as Richard by Alice within moments of stepping into the Rose. He was sitting at a table with four other men, all casually swapping money and letters. George and Henry looked at each other.
"Excuse me sirs, but is one of you called Richard?" They all jumped and looked up at once. Unconsciously, four out of five men pointed to Richard with their eyes.
"Can we talk to you in private?" George asked, turning to the man closest to his left.
"Yeah. Sure."
"Mother and father in law! I dread to think how strained you must feel." Emily exclaimed over a cup of tea. Julia laughed.
"Yes, you're lucky you don't have any. Tip from me – don't get married." Julia smirked and looked out of the window to her right. "I'm fairly sure they couldn't care less about me."
"What makes you say that?" Emily frowned at her friend.
"I don't think they've ever liked me. I'm too improper." Julia winked but the memory of how she'd woken up the day before made her blush a deep red.
"I sense a story behind there, doctor." Emily pointed subtly at Julia's not-so-subtle blush.
"Oh, too many to tell." The doctors laughed. "Actually," Julia whispered, leaning across the table. "I may have accidentally stayed with William for the last three nights."
Emily looked shocked. "With the detective?"
Nod.
"At his house?"
Nod.
"But I thought his landlady was a martyr for properness. Does she not know?"
"Oh, I think she does. She left me a clean towel this morning. But, heavens – I shouldn't say." Julia descended into another fit of giggles.
"Tell me!"
"I may have slept in one of William's shirts." Though it was barely a whisper, Julia felt everyone in the tearoom would hear. She kept her eyes on the table, afraid to see Emily's reaction.
After a long period of silence, she had to look up. And Emily's lips were pressed tight together in a white line, eyes wide with glee.
"Are you serious?"
"Completely."
"I can't believe it."
"Nor I."
Emily stared at Julia for a moment and burst into laughter again. "Will you stop laughing at me?" Julia asked through her own laughter.
"I'm sorry. What have they put in this tea?"
"Don't tell George. He'd probably burst a vein." Julia muttered into her teacup. Emily laughed again and clapped her hands.
"Please let me."
"No!" Julia, still bright red, put her cup back on the saucer and started to stand up. "Come on, Doctor Grace."
"Where are we going?"
"I promised I'd see William once Mr and Mrs Garland had left. Maybe he'll have a spot of detective work for us to do – I need something to keep my mind busy."
"Good idea. Although no one's died recently, so there's no exciting morgue work to do."
"What a boring case."
