Phryne was getting ready to go out and see for herself the intersection where the victim of the crime she was investigating had been tossed out of a tram. Considering that it was one of the most central crossings in the city, she had been by the corner of Flinders and Swanston Streets many times, but she always preferred to take a look at familiar places under the new scope provided by the interviewed witnesses and the collected evidence.
She put on a navy cloche hat with a blueish-grey swirling velvet motif and was picking up her bag from the bed when a discreet knock on the door interrupted her.
«Come in.»
«I'm sorry to bother, Miss.», Dot said, closing the door carefully behind her, apprehension widening her eyes, « but Mr. Yates is here.»
» And he has brought a guest.»
«Where are they now?», Phryne asked, taking off the hat.
«In the parlour. Mr. Butler is preparing some refreshments for them.»
« He's probably here to get the paperweight for the auction. »
» I guess he thinks we're past calling before showing up at this point. Telephone Inspector Robinson and tell him about our visitors, please.», Phryne instructed, « I don't want any misunderstandings that may derive from this unexpected turn of events.»
«Do you want him to join or is it just to inform him?»
«To inform him, to begin with.», Phryne took a look at the clock on the nightstand, « Archibald is 'at work' now, so it's not very odd if he isn't here.»
«Of course, Miss.
» Ah… Should I change into the uniform?», Dot asked, looking at her again after having turned to the door to leave.
« This isn't supposed to be a formal occasion, but perhaps it's best. Thank you, Dot.», she said with a smile.
After her companion left the room, Phryne went to her vanity table and leaned forward so she could see herself in the mirror and fix her hair, slightly ruffled by the removing of the hat. Satisfied with the result, she grabbed Fern's rings from the jewelry box, took a deep breath – knowing well how much patience she would need - and went out to meet Yates.
The two men were sitting on the sofa facing the door, with coffee in front of them, complemented by a three-tiered stand with ham, brie, and apple finger sandwiches on one level, cucumber and butter sandwiches on the other and homemade fresh scones on the top. On such short notice, it hadn't been possible to bake or get Viennoiseries or other delicate pastries, but it all looked delicious.
«Good afternoon, gentlemen. I see that Mr. Brewer has already taken good care of you.»
«Very well, if I may say so.», Yates declared, standing up and walking towards her. The other man got up from the sofa too, but stood a bit behind.
» Mrs. Jones. How do you do?», Yates greeted, taking Phryne's hand. No gloves worn this time.
« Splendidly, thank you.», Phryne said, fully into Fern's mindset now, which supposedly included some affinity towards him, «I hope you and Mrs. Yates do too.»
«We do indeed.
» I'm sorry for barging in, but Dr. Taylor and I came to take a look at a painting for the auction and the art dealer who will generously present it lives nearby, so I thought 'Why not pay a visit to the Joneses'?»
The intonation with which he said those words seemed to make room for a fake laugh that thankfully didn't come true.
« It was a lovely idea. », this was an equivalent of a false smile on her part perhaps, «My husband is currently at work, but maybe you'll still meet later in the afternoon. I hope you don't find it a hindrance.»
«Not at all, Mrs. Jones. I'm sure you can help us as well as he would, if not better.», he said with a more convincing tone that what she could have expected.
« Would you like to introduce your friend? », Phryne asked, trying to include the tall slim figure clad in a tweed suit, who walked in their direction once he was mentioned.
«Obviously. This is Dr. Andrew Taylor, a friend - as you very well said - , a fellow Elvsworthian, and an art history expert.
» Andrew, this is Mrs. Archibald Jones», Yates said, turning to Taylor and motioning towards Phryne.
«Fern or Mrs. Jones will do.», she corrected, slightly boiling inside with the form of address employed by Yates, formality be damned, reaching out to shake the new acquaintance's hand.
» Nice to meet you, Dr. Taylor.»
«It's a pleasure to meet you too, Mrs. Jones.», he replied, his baritone voice agreeable to the ear and firm while not intimidating.
He was around 35 years-old, which surprised Phryne, considering that if Yates were to ever bring a specialist, she expected him to be closer to his age, but the round tortoise glasses he wore did seem to age him a bit at first sight.
» I'm sorry if this sounds trite, but this is a wonderful house architecture-wise to begin with and you seem to have arraigned very interesting pieces here. The clock on the mantelpiece, for instance…», he continued, looking at it briefly and then back at her, « is such a fine example of mid-19th century French clocks of this rococo style. The detail of the foliage motif around the clock case is exquisitely carved and the golden colour is still so vibrant.»
He had a very open face, but as he spoke his features grew even more animated, a child-like enthusiasm shining from his light-blue eyes.
» I'm sorry. I tend do get a bit carried away sometimes.», he apologized, a sheepish smile bending his lips, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose with the tip of his right index finger.
«There's nothing to be ashamed of, Dr. Taylor. It's wonderful to have something in life that makes us get carried away.», Phryne said sincerely, «I'd love to know more about plenty of what we have here in fact. You see, some were chosen, but there are also family heirlooms and wedding gifts we enjoy but aren't very familiar with.»
«I'm glad to know you understand. Well, glad and relieved.», Taylor said with a smile.
Phryne acknowledged it would be precipitated to jump to any conclusion, but she liked him better than what she liked Yates already.
«That's one of the reasons why I invited Dr. Taylor to come with me.», Yates declared, drawing their attention back to him, «Mr. Jones' collection is outstanding, but I thought it might be best for the auction and for the Children's Hospital to base the choice on something more than my personal taste. On Dr. Taylor's knowledge, for example.»
«Shall we go then? I mean, if you have already finished tea, that is.»
«Indeed.», said Yates.
«The sandwiches were delicious.»
«Thank you, Dr. Taylor. I'll pass it on to Daisy and Mr. Brewer.
» Would you come this way to the library, please? That's where the paperweight tour usually begins.», Phryne said with a smile, leading them towards that room.
xxx
About 5 minutes ago, Jack had been at the coroner's office, but he was now on his way to Christopher Crescent driving as fast as he could, which wasn't exactly an easy task considering that the streets of Melbourne were boiling with activity and close to 10 kilometers separated those two places.
He had been getting the report on a stabbing victim that had been thrown out of a tram when a very flustered Hugh knocked on the door.
«You are here, Sir! », he had said, trying to catch his breath.
«Unless I've turned into some sort of advanced projection and I'm not aware of it, yes, I believe so, Collins.
» I told you I'd go to the tram central and then I'd come meet Dr. Philips.»
« I tried calling them but you had already left, so I thought perhaps it would be easier to find you myself than make more calls and loose more time. I'm sorry, sir, I'm afraid we missed each other then.
» I have a message. Could you please follow me to the hallway please? It is of a sensitive matter.», Hugh continued, still attempting to compose himself.
«Excuse us, please.», Jack said to the coroner, who nodded.
«Mr. Yates is at the Jones' house as we speak, sir.», the words seemed to fly out of the constable's mouth.
Jack nodded. Yates paying an unexpected visit wasn't exactly unforeseen, but given that apart from a beautiful thank you note written in Olympia's elegant calligraphy they hadn't heard anything from them in the past 3 days it all seemed very sudden.
» Apparently he was expecting to find you or Miss Fisher home. Dot, I mean, Miss Williams has just called. Apparently he brought a guest.».
« A guest? I better get going then.», Jack said, already walking towards the stairs that lead to the main door, «I'll drop you at the station.»
He was sure Phryne would handle the unexpected visitors very well, slightly relishing the chance of having Yates almost at her mercy, if one could say so, but he felt he must be there too nevertheless. Hugh didn't know much beyond what he had already told him, so it was a bit risky to simply appear without having much of a notion of what was going on, yet he was willing to grapple with what he would find at Christopher Crescent when he got there.
Jack got out of his motorcar, took a chain from his pocket and used one of the keys pending from it to open the gate. Phryne had given it to him the day they had visited the house for the first time but he had never used them. It felt very odd to simply walk in like that even if he was expected. This time though he put his reserves aside and let himself in.
When he opened the door, apart from some faint 'clicks' whose origin he couldn't identify, everything was much quieter than what he was anticipating. Phryne, Yates, and the mystery guest were probably in other area of the house, the office or even in the back garden.
«Hello?», he called out to the empty hallway. Mr. Butler and Dot at least would be around.
«In here.», Phryne replied, her voice coming from the billiards room.
Jack walked that way and entered the plaid-wallpapered room with dark wood wainscoting and a fireplace fit for a Highlands castle in a corner. Phryne was leaning over the billiards table, a cue in one hand, the other bridging the shaft end of the stick in order to hit the white ball.
«Where's Mr. Yates?», he asked, puzzled by the tableau in front of him.
«Mr. Yates?», Phryne turned her head in his direction and then back at the game, « At Elvsworth, his home…», 'click', the white ball hit the black one, sending it to the pocket on the far-right corner, «… his car, who knows?»
She straightened her back and stood there, the cue stick held vertically, facing him now. The frame was over and given the look on Jack's face he didn't seem very keen on taking part of a new one.
«Wasn't he here?», Jack asked.
« He was but then he left, the lovely and colourful 'macedoine' and millefiori canes Baccarat paperweight already spoken for. »
«Baccarat, hein?» Jack remarked with a nod, putting the conversation about Yates' whereabouts on hold for a minute.
«Nothing but the best for our dear club. But here Dr. Taylor, the art historian guest, may have been the one to make the call. You should be thankful. Yates wanted to take the Egyptian Revival bronze paperweight in the office. Considering Archibald's memories of Egypt and the emotional link to the country, it would be a pity.»
«Who is the owner of car by the gate then?»
«They went away about 15 minutes ago. It may be of one of our neighbours or their guests.
» But don't be sad, Jack.», she had walked towards the wooden mantelpiece to retrieve something off it. « You may have missed Yates, but he left you this.», Phryne continued, handing him a light cream envelope of premium quality paper.
A/n: Thank you once again for your renewed support, especially after what felt like one of the most polarising chapters of this story, where the known reactions were sort of 50-50 towards people who liked it and people who didn't that much.
I hope what you've just read doesn't feel much like I'm trying your patience again considering that there aren't many interactions between Phryne and Jack, but it's a needed transitional part to the second part of the story. I have some things in store I hope you'll appreciate.
I'd just like to say that in Chapter 9 I changed Yates' job from doctor to accountant. Back then I had written « he put his doctor's practice on hold» but when I was writing this chapter it hit me if he was a doctor I had been addressing him wrongly and it was easier and more practical to turn his business into an «accountacy office» than replace Mr. with Doctor 9 chapters back. It doesn't entail nothing more, but I thought I should say something.
If you feel like it, say something. I always love to hear from you.