See Part One for story details.
Jenny stood beside Mosa, both young women staring at the perfectly cut, pale purple of the Lilac Heart. Sir Leo and his friend were right, Jenny thought, it really was a lovely stone. She grinned at Mosa and deposited it in the inside pocket of her waistcoat. The pin that Vastra had given to her was back in her lapel. It had served her very well and she was considering getting another one with their earnings.
"Miss?" Mosa said nervously, here eyes ever darting for the door.
"It's alright now, Mosa, I've done. We just need to wait for Madame to get us out of this. Whatever may happen," Jenny said firmly, "you stay close to me, understand?"
Mosa nodded and Jenny looked back at the cabinets. She had gone through almost all of one and a little over half of the other. Once she'd got through one lock, it really hadn't been that difficult to open the rest and Jenny wondered at the makers for not thinking to use different locks in each cabinet. Bless them for it, she thought and patted down all of her myriad pockets to check that there were no obvious bulges.
She was carrying a good few quids worth of rare gems, despite many of the later drawers being bare, and it felt remarkably pleasant. More than that, most of the gems she had taken were regarded as stolen by the Metropolitan Police, many of them from a theft in Knightsbridge that a certain member of Jenny's family may, just possibly have had a hand in.
If only her old Uncle could see her now, Jenny grinned. She wondered if the Lilac Heart itself had been stolen or if Kennedy had engineered the fake sale to whet Sir Leo's interest before upping the price. More likely the later, as Jenny didn't think Kennedy had it in him to instigate a flash pull but he'd certainly have no problem profiting from one. Jenny's pockets were full of the proof of that.
That thought too she set aside and returned her attention to Mosa and the door beyond her. Jenny felt her panic rise just a little as the seconds ticked away and still there was no hint of Vastra coming to her aid. She had been absolutely certain that her companion would effect a rescue immediately and had initially hoped that it wouldn't be too soon for her to complete her task. Now Jenny was worrying that Vastra might never show.
Then she was forcing down an explosion of nervous laughter as the doorbell rang loud through the lower levels. She grinned at Mosa and turned slightly, pulling her arm up behind her back.
"Now you take a good, strong hold on my arm and make it look like you've just made a brave capture, eh?"
Mosa backed away from her for a moment before a grin shaped her full lips and she nodded gamely. Jenny moved forward and Mosa stayed with her, attempting to match her movements without hurting her. They halted at the top of the staircase and listened carefully. From two floors below there came the sound of Mr Locke approaching the door.
Jenny urged Mosa on until they were nearing the first floor landing. The sounds of voices were much clearer now and she nodded to Mosa with a, "Here we go then," before they continued down.
"- reports of gunshots," a man's voice said. Mr Locke said something in a low growl and the man added, "It is vital that we investigate all such concerns, Sir, as I'm sure -"
At that point Jenny and Mosa reached the bottom of the stairs and Jenny put on a show of resistance. She feigned struggling against Mosa's hold, wriggling so violently that Mosa genuinely had to fight to keep a grip on her. A stream of ugly words left Jenny's lips and certainly caught the attention of the Sergeant who stood by the doorway, looking around Locke at the altercation that approached them.
"What have we hear then, young lady?" the officer said, "Made an arrest, have we? I believe I'll take this one now and well done, well done indeed, Miss."
The officer pushed past Locke who was staring at the two women in open shock, though Jenny wasn't sure if he was shocked to have missed Jenny's presence or shocked that a little thing like Mosa might have apprehended her. Either way, Jenny had to fight down her laughter at the man's expense; serve him and Kennedy right for treating their staff as they did.
The policeman took Jenny's arm in a firm hold and appeared to hoist her to her tiptoes before easing the grip and allowing Jenny to walk comfortably again. It must have looked good to Mr Locke, whose eyes flashed with appreciation. Jenny hated him even more for that. She cast a pleading look at the policeman, a flick of her eyes indicating Mosa.
"And you'd best come with me too, Miss...?"
"Mosa, Sir, they call me Mosa," she said nervously.
Jenny was proud of the girl. She'd done exactly as Jenny had hoped, keeping close to Jenny at all times, even when the officer had grabbed for her. Now they were all pressed together and moving back for the door.
"Hey, hold on a -" Locke began but the officer glared at him.
"I trust you are not impeding the offices of the law, Sir?" the policeman said in a most officious tone.
It was all happening too quickly for Locke's limited intelligence. Jenny was in the officer's grasp, Mosa close behind, and they were backing out of the door within a moment. At the last second, Kennedy appeared from a door at the back of the house. He glowered at Locke before turning his ire on the policeman.
"Stop there, I say."
He was certainly well in drink, his large face livid with both rage and alcohol, his eyes burning. He looked nothing of the proud man of months before, the veneer of civility peeled back by whatever had befallen him after their investigation at Carter Lawrie. Jenny didn't have much time to consider that, for the policeman was already dragging her out of the door and down the few steps. Somehow, the officer had manoeuvred Mosa into the lead and she was already at the bottom of the steps, her wide eyes staring up over their shoulders.
Mosa, Locke and Kennedy seemed to freeze but the policeman and consequently Jenny continued to move away from the house. Jenny hissed to Mosa, a low sound that only the girl could hear. Mosa snapped out of her shock and hurried to catch up with the striding policeman and his captive.
Why Miss Flint had been so happy to see the officer, Mosa could not imagine but she knew in her heart that staying with the young woman was better than remaining in Kennedy's household for even a moment longer. As bad as he had been before Miss Flint and her strange friend had come into his life, Mr Kennedy had been a hundred times worse after and Mosa had been thinking of their offer of help for some time. Now was her opportunity and she would not miss out on it so she kept moving as instructed.