This is the fourth story in my series. In case you're new to these stories, you don't have to read them, but it does help to see the progress these two have made edging closer in their friendship, and I do refer back to events and items in previous stories. The order goes: The Disappearance of Clara Wilson, Miss Scarlet, in the Library, with the Candlestick, and then Miss Scarlet and the Band of Thieves. If you've been with me on this journey through these stories after all this time, Welcome back! I hope you enjoy this one as much as the others.
Now I'm happy to present to you...
Miss Scarlet, and the case of Megan Heyday.
Part 1
It was a dull grey day in London in late September 1882, and the late morning sun hadn't quite broken through the clouds, but that did nothing to dampen the sprits of Miss Eliza Scarlet. Dressed in her bright blue walking suit and navy hat, she walked down the front steps of the residences of her latest satisfied client, on the outskirts of Camden town. The young couple had been the victims of a housing scam, after they had handed over a month's rent they discovered the room they had paid for did not actually exist and no signs of the men who had taken their money.
With the help of her Jamaican associate, Moses, she had successfully tracked down the two men involved in the fraud and they had gotten the couple their money back, along with a little extra for their trouble. The couple were so pleased with her work that Eliza had left them with her head held high, a smile on her face and her purse full of coins.
Now, despite the cool, dull weather she was in such a good mood that she planned to head down towards Camden Lock to take in a short stroll along the Grand Union Canal towards Kings Cross before heading back to her office. It was probably one of the last days of good weather before the cold autumn weather arrived.
The street she turned down was fairly quiet, long and had perfect white terrace townhouses running along both sides. There was the occasional small cherry tree dotted along it that in the spring would bloom it beautiful pink flower blossom. She was in no hurry to get back to her office, so she took a slow meander along it, smiling as she enjoyed her pleasant walk, while people and a few carriages passed her by.
She hadn't made it far along the street when she noticed something that caught her attention just down from where she was. There was a familiar horse and carriage, with its driver sitting up top patiently waiting on the other side of the road.
She instantly recognized Arthur, William's normal driver, perched in his seat on top of the carriage in his long black cloak and top hat. Perhaps there had been an incident, she wondered, and maybe William was on a case. It would of course be rude of her not to stop and check if he needed some help while she was passing.
Just as she was getting a little closer, she noticed the dark blue door of a white three-story townhouse house on the opposite side of the street open. She watched as William walked out dressed in his usual fine black suit and overcoat, while he placed his black bowler hat on his head. He seemed quite happy and relaxed and there were also no other officers with him. So, Eliza surmised he was probably not there visiting on police business.
She kept back, hidden by the small trunk of a cherry tree as she watched William followed out of the house by a tall, pretty young woman, dressed in a simple plain black shirt and skirt, her brown hair haphazardly piled on top of her head. Even from her distance, Eliza could see she was very beautiful, in a natural kind of way, with very little make up or effort needed. There was also no denying that the woman seemed quite happy for William to be there.
Eliza was too far away to hear what they were saying, but she judged by their interactions that they knew each other, and perhaps quite well. They both smiled kindly at one another and appeared to have well-mannered words for each other as they spoke for a few minutes on the doorstep of the house. William looked in no hurry to leave, and they seemed to be able to make one another laugh with ease with whatever was being said between them. To Eliza, William was most unguarded as he placed a gentle touch on the woman's forearm, and she didn't look surprised or unhappy with his gesture, before he bowed his head formally and then walked away from her as he returned to his waiting carriage.
Eliza watched curiously as the pretty woman stood on the steps of the house and waved him off, with a smile that lit up her eyes, until he was in the carriage. Then her smile dropped and she looked sad, heartbroken even, as she watched his carriage leave down the street before she turned with a sigh, to go back inside the house.
Eliza turned her back on the road as the carriage went past, and she was seemingly unnoticed by William. This was curious. Who was this woman, and why did William seem so friendly with her?
He'd never mentioned a woman directly to her before. Certainly, she didn't think the man was a saint, and he had long had his own life that he never shared details of with her. However, she thought they were friends. She had wondered that perhaps they were becoming more then friends, given their recent involvements. So, surely he would have mentioned if he had a lady friend to her, would he not?
Eliza continued on her walk, her mind distracted by thoughts of seeing William with this woman, whoever she was, and the reasons William could have for never mentioning her.
She felt they were become closer, they were arguing a little less recently, and she was enjoying not just working with him, but spending a little social time together. Whilst they hadn't had a full and open discussion about their kiss in the Tavern, she thought surely she'd given him an opening recently by not dismissing it outright as nothing. However over the past few weeks since he'd not even so much as asked her to dinner, so was this woman the reason why?
The scenery of the waterway was beautiful, but it was far from the tranquil walk that Eliza needed to clear her mind, with all the canal boats and cargo boats steaming down the canal, and men shouting to each other as they worked around her.
Once she was back on the main road, she hailed a carriage to take her straight to Scotland Yard. On the journey, she pondered whether to directly ask William about the events of the morning, see if he would willingly offer up some information, or perhaps just wait and see if he told her himself about his friend.
Well, subtlety never was Eliza's strong point. So she made her way into Scotland Yard, and down the corridor towards William's office. His door was wide open, and the man himself, clearly hard at work as he sat hunched over his desk while he poured over the details in the file he was working through.
He'd taken off his black suit jacket and navy colour of his patterned waistcoat popped in the sunlight that was dimly beaming through his large office windows. It was lighting a warm glow around him, and his glass of half drunk whiskey that was sat next to him on his desk as he wrote his paperwork.
"William." She smiled innocently as she said his name overly sweetly to get his attention while she sauntered into his office.
"Eliza." William rolled her name off his tongue as he always did, without even looking up from what he was doing. He sounded so unsurprised that she was there, that Eliza wondered if he had developed a sixth sense for when she was standing in his doorway watching him.
He finally looked up from his file, his guard was slightly raised as she sat herself down on the chair opposite from him and placed her bag on the floor next to her feet. It shouldn't surprise him when she turned up unexpectedly in his office, she often did these days, but it still did.
"To what do I owe this…delight?"
She noted his Scottish accent was slightly more prominent, which usually only happened when he was either overly relaxed or, more commonly, angry with her. William sat up a little and leaning back in his chair with a smile. He at least seemed a little pleased to see her, which was an improvement on his usual frustration with her.
"Just thought I would pop by, say hello," she told him innocently.
William looked at her with a bemused smile. It was becoming more frequent for Eliza to turn up at his office out of the blue, but she usually had an ulterior motive of needing something from him. Whilst he would never admit it out loud, he did quite like her unexpected visits breaking up his mundane day. However, he was sure that if she knew that she'd take it to the extreme and never leave him alone to do his job.
"Do you need something?" He was being cheeky and teasing her as he spoke.
He was certain she probably did need something because he in no way wanted to believe that she was actually there just to see him. She seemed to be acting a little overly polite then the normal Eliza who would barge into his office and demand his attention.
"Not particularly," she shrugged.
She still hadn't worked out her exact line of enquiry with him. Whether to try and get him to open up and tell her, or just jump straight to her point and tell him straight where she'd seen him earlier.
"Ah, so you're just here to annoy me then?" He was joking and he chuckled, but Eliza clearly didn't take too kindly, and her face scowled at him.
"Why do you automatically think I'm here to annoy you? Am I not allowed to just come and say hello to a friend?"
She was slightly angry that was how he saw her coming to see him, only for either his help or just to irritate him. Surely since they were friends now, she could come and see him without him assuming she had an ulterior motive.
"Eliza I know you, and you've never just come by to say hello to me." He gave a soft smile with a twinkle in his eyes to show he was teasing her, but she didn't seem too pleased with him.
Eliza sighed noting that he did have a point. She rarely, if ever, came by his office unless she needed his help, so perhaps he was right to question her motives. With a look of determination, she dropped her pretense and decided she should just get to the point of her visit.
"I saw you earlier," she watched his face for a reaction as she spoke.
"Saw me where?" William asked. He wasn't bothered that she'd seen him out, but he was still confused that she was bringing it up. He'd not seen her, so it wasn't like she could accuse him of being rude to her and he certainly didn't think he'd done anything that morning of consequence to her.
"In Camden, near the market." She spoke quickly, and noticed a flicker of recognition flash across his face, as he clearly put together where she'd seen him.
"What were you doing in Camden?" He questioned, deflecting back at her. It seemed a little far out for Eliza to have a client. He looked back down at his file, knowing exactly what he'd been doing there, but he wondered why she would be so interested in it.
"I had a business meeting. You were coming out of a house…" she continued, not letting him change the subject.
"So?" He answered quickly with a shrug of his shoulders, hoping that if he thought nothing of it, maybe she would too and back away from the subject that he didn't really want to discuss with her.
"There was a woman with you." Eliza pointed out, noticing that he wasn't worried about the idea of her seeing him with another woman.
"And, I was working as case…" He was lying, and he managed to hold back the sniff that usually gave him away.
"It didn't look like work to me."
She wasn't buying that he was working a case. She'd seen him working, and he looked far too friendly with that woman for it to be police business.
"So what did it look like to you?" He questioned slyly. William leaned on his desk a little close to her, wondering what exactly she thought he'd been doing with that woman.
"I don't know. You were coming out a house in the middle of the day followed by a woman…" She was stumbling on her poor attempt at hiding how she really felt at that moment.
"Do you have a point?" He sounded slightly annoyed.
He wasn't entirely sure what Eliza was accusing him of doing but he could make his own conclusions and he didn't particularly appreciate the suggestion. He thought by now her opinion of his reputation with the ladies would have changed. Surely she must have noticed that the only woman he was ever seen with these days was her.
"I'm just wondering why you wouldn't have mentioned having someone in your life." She was trying to keep her tone neutral, so he didn't notice that the idea troubled her.
"I don't have someone in my life," he said sharply.
Eliza blinked, she could always tell when William was lying, and though he seemed as if he was telling the truth, he was also very defensive all of a sudden. Well, if this woman wasn't someone significant then he shouldn't have any problem telling her who she was.
"Well, who is she then?" Eliza pushed, as she narrowed her eyes on him, waiting for an answer.
"What does it matter who she is?" William questioned, pushing the subject back on her.
"It doesn't." She shrugged her shoulders, trying to make it seem like this woman didn't concern her in any way, even though it quite clearly did. It unsettled her greatly that he might have someone in his life that she didn't know about.
"Clearly it bothers you Eliza," William smirked.
Everything from the way she was sitting stiffly in her chair, to her tone of voice told him that this woman perturbed her. Why else would she arrive at his office less then two hours after he left that house to question him on it? He was amused at the thought that perhaps she might just be a little jealous, even though she honestly had no need to be.
"No, it just bothers me that you've failed to mention her." Eliza pushed back, trying to keep control of the situation, and her emotions.
"I've not failed to mention anything?" He told her with a chuckle.
"So who is she then?" Eliza asked again.
"She's no one," William insisted. He was trying to keep his cool but Eliza wasn't letting this one go, and honestly, he just didn't want to discuss this subject with her. For him, this was a little like her poking at Pandora's box, and once opened it would reveal a little too much about him.
"Well she certainly looked like someone to me. If she's no one, then what's the harm in you telling me who she is?" She told him plainly.
William stopped the back and forth between them and took a moment, to wonder why was this so important to her. This woman was no one as far as he was concerned, and she certainly was not what Eliza seemed to be suggesting she was to him. He eyed her with a look of surprise.
"Are you jealous?" He asked her bluntly, burning her with one of his smiling looks that suggested he knew he was right, even as Eliza quickly scoffed at the suggestion.
"Of course not." She told him hastily. She sat uncomfortably in her chair as he gazed at her with intrigue. She pulled her eyes away and licked her lips before looking back at him.
"I'm merely curious," she confirmed, giving him her usual firm agitated look.
William gave a sigh and a chuckle, raising his eyebrows and barely believing her, but equally trying not to read too much into the suggestion. He didn't know if he really wanted to tell her who the woman he saw this morning was or not. It certainly wasn't any of her business, and it had the potential to open a whole can of worms if he told her.
Still, looking at Eliza, it didn't seem like she had any intention of leaving his office without some sort of explanation. So he really only had two options, he either lied, to get her out of his office and on her way, or he told her the truth.
"Do you really want to know who she is?" He asked slowly.
Eliza took a moment, before answering. Did she really want him to say that this woman was someone important? Perhaps she was a casual acquaintance, or worse an ex-lady friend who still harbored feelings for him, or maybe that went both ways.
"Yes I do," She told him firmly, and she patiently waited for him to elaborate.
William sat back and stared at her with a deep inquisitive look, while she held his eyes defiantly and waited, until he finally pushed himself up from his chair. Eliza turned in her seat watching him as he walked across his small office and over to the filling cabinet near the door. He opened the top right hand draw, and did a slow flick through the small handful of files that were in there, before pulling out the one he was looking for.
He made a slow turn and strolled back to his desk. Eliza waited for him to say something, as she kept watching and moved her eyes with him. Only he didn't say a word. He just sat back down on his chair at his desk opposite her and dropped a faded old brown enveloped case file in front of her.
"What's this?" Eliza asked confused as she pulled it closer to her. What was an old looking case file going to have to do with the woman he met this morning?
William rubbed his beard with the back of his hand before he spoke, carefully preparing himself for the next words out of his mouth.
"Her name was Megan…"
To Be Continued...
A/N: Who is Megan then? Stay tuned to find out!