'D'acord Lily Dubois' Lily pulled the pins out of her hair and scraped the remainder of the makeup from her eyelids, one did not simply walk into 'La Tête de Porcs' and expect no attention, but all the same she hoped to pass at least less noticed. A knot in her stomach twisted, something about having the right to be who she was wherever she went and have no fear, but all the same Lily pulled the edge of her dress up as far as it went and closed her eyes. Another battle, another century maybe and she pushed open the door. The tang of men and alcohol tasted in her mouth before she could see through the fog of a hundred Gauloises Brunes, it was late now and only the most determined remained, men for whom paying for a room seemed like an unnecessary expense and women who didn't care, Lily's boots skidded once on the wet floor as she circled the seven corners of the room, hoping that she didn't have to actually enter any of them. She might have brushed off a dozen hands and evaded a dozen more before she gritted her teeth at the feel of an arm round her waist and loose lips on her bare neck. There was no point in talking now; no words that would be understood nor respected and Lily pulled herself away from grappling hands to find someone who still might help

Abberline's money, and though she didn't want to admit quite why, her own wages stuffed into a loose pocket in her dress, and she scoured for someone she couldn't have described if anyone asked, someone less drunk, who might have recognized a stranger in the bar, who hadn't abandoned everything to right now. She stopped herself from running out of there, took a breath of stale air and approached a woman at the bar who had her eye in most corners. "Pardonnez moi…Connaissez-vous Giselle Martin?" A flicker of suppressed recognition in the woman's eyes spurred Lily on, tonight was absolutely the last time she intended coming here "J'ai l'argent" The curl in her lip had Lily step back, perhaps that had come out wrong, mon Dieu, she would be one of the lost in Paris.

"T'as d'l'argent pour la payer?" Lily took a long look at the woman in front of her, old beyond her years, hard as the dark Seine and equally changeable, if she felt at all then it was someplace deep and hidden, and Lily nodded. Giselle, whether she knew it or not, was being bought and sold by strangers, an unfortunate in more ways than one, and whatever else this woman in front of her was, and Madame was too refined a word for it, she held the key to the whole mystery.

"Oui, ma dame m'a envoyé ici pour la trouver; elle payera le prix que vous voulez."("Yes, my lady sent me here to find her; she will pay whatever you want") Lily did her best to look up, look like it was nothing, look like she had no scream in her heart about buying another person, least of all a woman. "Combien? For the rest of the night? What's left of it? Madame…?" She didn't think she could bear to haggle about price, if all the money she had wasn't enough she didn't know what she would do; Lily's eyes followed the eyes of the woman sitting opposite, and she struggled to control a wince.

"Madame Moreau, and your lady has poor taste…" They both breathed out, Giselle Martin was barely conscious of the bar, the man with whom she would never remember, nor the danger she was in, half undressed already and Lily bit her lip, a silent curse that carried the turn in her stomach

"Oui c'est vrai! Mais Madame Moreau…encore...how much?" her hands reached into to her pocket for a roll of francs, a flash of green apparently focused the mind, an instant calculation considered the roundness and the thickness sufficient

"She is yours…"

Lily closed her eyes and clenched her teeth, and leaving Madame Moreau to deal with the man's unwilling sudden loss as she hauled a half dead weight out into the cold night air. Giselle protested a little, but not enough to stop Lily Dubois. They might have walked miles, or maybe a few streets either way Lily was swaying under the exertion of half dragging this woman to the only house she knew she could trust, Madame Tousson. Except this time she didn't wait for tea and pastries, this time she had to find Abberline fast

A cab was not easy to come by, and she was almost shaking with anticipation and exhaustion by the time the huge round wheels crunched across the gravel approaching Les Tuileries. The whole of the mansion was lit up- there were carriages everywhere, men in dark jackets and hats and the staff of the house standing shivering in the cold night air. Stepping out Lily begun to wonder if this was such a good idea as her approach to the house was barred by a tall policeman, his face sneering as he took in her all in, but she was in no mood to be delayed, Christ if she could handle La Tête de Porcs at 4 am, there was little chance of this man with fluff on his chin stopping her.
" I must see Inspector Abberline- it is of the utmost importance. And pertains to this case"

Abberline had hoped that he had seen the last of the DGSE for one night but he had been disappointed, the driveway of the Tuileries had been crowded with black carriages on his arrival, hushed conversations that seemed to hang in the air as he stepped over the considerable threshold. Once inside the mansion Abberline had stood for a while surveying the body of the Comte, the look on his face, the manner of his dying being as ugly as the way he lived his life evidently. There were things to examine, clues to be found as to the whereabouts of the Egg and the Comtess- of that he was certain, and in that way that he had, he swept around the house, just looking. Of course fingerprints were been dusted and statements taken, the stuff of 'real' detection, but there was a reason why Abberline was still employed and it had little to do with the ability to handcuff suspects, he just knew things. Weird connections in his brain perhaps, or maybe her was just weird, certainly there were many who thought precisely that

The Comtess' bedroom, that would undoubtedly be the place and he sat down on the heavily stuffed bed, the silk covers slippery underneath his legs and cool against his hand, the scent in the room was still of violets, and the dressing table bare. Ah... The inspector opened the doors to the dressing room, he was unsure if he had ever seen so many clothes, clothes arranged in sections. His long fingers trailed through the cloth, ball gowns, day wear, light summer chiffon and not one heavy coat. Ah...boots- check the boots. He was beginning to breathe deeper now. Out of the dressing room to her sitting room and Abberline closed the door and stroked the hair that graced his upper lip, what was that? He opened his mouth to taste as well as smell, vodka. Vodka which led to brandy

Jesus, the thought of it, of her, sitting there smiling in her nightgown, those buttons she hadn't been bothered to do up, a bottle of brandy to her lips and the sort of welcome home in her eyes that could make him want to never leave the house in the first place. Abberline frowned, it was here somewhere, the answer to the puzzle- he would find it and get back to her. '6.30am' it said 6.30am on the pad next to the phone. He closed his eyes to think. Who did she phone? These were not detailed plans, she knew where she was going, she just needed the time, she phoned to ask the time that she would what?...Christ...A train. Not just any train, all of this room screamed opulence and style. She was heading east, to where the egg came from. Orient, she was heading East…

Abberline was almost running down the stairs at the moment that Lily slid past the policeman at the door, like Cinderella in reverse but the clock was way past the time for a ball and she just ran into his chest. Her eyes searching all of his eyes, her fingers running over his lips so she could feel the pulse of his blood "I found her Abberline..Giselle..I found her.." he had known that she would, didn't dare hope, just knew, and, grabbing her hand they were helter skelter out of the open doors
"Come with me Lily- we have a train to catch"

Their thighs were just touching as the carriage carried them back through the huge iron gates and onto the boulevard, a kick in the horses step and they had a few minutes before the imposing facade of the Gare de l' Est would tower above them. He couldn't keep his hands from touching her, gentle on the side of her face whilst his tongue found the sweetness in her mouth, her fingers now finding his chest and his throat "Oh Lily.." He clenched her hand in his, waves of release but an inch away, and inch and an investigation away "Where is she?"

"Safe..." her hand slipped under his jacket to burn in his heat and he put his head back on the hard of the carriage wall

"And how did you manage that?" well he might have spoken, he wasn't quite sure

"I bought her Abberline" stark and hard and neither of them moved, nor breathed, there was not a man alive that she had ever met who would understand even a sliver of what that would mean for her, except maybe him, and she needed to know. His hand was still over hers as he opened his eyes, deep dark brown and looking right back, a slight nod that was all she needed "Promise me Abberline.." and whatever it was she was asking he would have given right then, as long as she just didn't stop kissing him.

It was a cold dawn breaking in the sky over the Gare de l'Est when Lily and Abberline stepped out of the carriage a little breathless, the huge windows catching the flashes of light that were breaking the clouds and the fingers of another long night. High above them the hands on the white face of the clock clunked through another minute, 6.15 already and they had yet to find the platform from which the Orient Express would depart for Vienna, Budapest and Istanbul. With Lily's hand tight in his Abberline ran through the imposing entranceway into a huge hall, the vaulted ceilings higher almost than Le Sacre Coeur, everywhere, even at this hour filled with people and luggage, huge trunks destined for far flung corners, the congregation fresh from their beds and wide eyed with the earliness of the hour and the excitement that seemed to be part of the very brickwork of this place.

And there was no way that the train that caught the eyes of Lily and Abberline was anything but the Orient Express- long, black and sleek, even its wheels looked polished, everywhere guards were assisting those with enough money to travel in such a train, the promise of a large tip this early in the morning would surely enable a nap in the guards room later. It was impossible not to gasp as glimpses of white table cloths and silver, crystal and rich red leather slid past their eyes through glass windows, the doors of cabins opened to reveal porcelain and sumptuous linen, and Lily almost forgot why she was here.

Fred's eyes however were searching faces, a knot of dread that maybe he had been wrong, a dread that maybe she wasn't here at all, coiling in his belly. A loud blow of the whistle signaled 5 minutes to go before the pistons would slide into motion, and billows of steam clouded through the platform condensing in the cold air. Jesus where was she? Desperate now Abberline let go of Lily's hand and jumped onto the train, a guard thinking twice about barring his way "The Comtess de Richileau- where is her cabin?"

"She has yet to board Monsieur" a nervous look at his fob watch revealed the lateness of the hour "though her trunk is stowed already"

Good, that was good- at least he could say his hunch was right, even if he didn't turn up back at the office with the Egg, a murderer nor a crime report, the Christmas bonus was looking even less likely than normal. Almost resigned to the disparaging looks he cast his eyes over the length of the train, at once unfocussed and now with the ability to see. She was a spectre in the smog, her thin frame about to step into the carriage, almost transparent despite the thick furs which enveloped her and he was racing down the platform "Comtess.."

She closed her eyes and sighed deeply
"Did you want something? I am delayed already Monsieur, the train is about to leave and I must find my cabin"

"I am Inspector Abberline, Madame le Comtess, and I most assuredly do want something- your presence in the back of my carriage as you accompany me to the police station to be charged with theft and murder"

A flinch of irritation crossed her mouth "This is already resolved- he assured me..."

Another whistle and doors were beginning to slam shut, there was just a moment when she went to step up and felt the pressure of his hand on her thin arm, a woman used to the obedience of almost all around her, she looked back at Fred Abberline with something like surprise. It was him who spoke first "Comtess, there is no one I can think of that will mourn the passing of your husband, and I can live with the disappointment of not seeing you at the gallows, two deaths seeming to be a high price even for a marriage made in hell. What I can't do is let you leave with that Egg"

The Comtess threw back her head "Ah another of you bent policemen- oh no wonder you are despised, did le DGSE send you after all?" Lily watched as the muscles in his face harden

"Clearly a life surrounded by lies and deceit has corrupted your perception Madame, for that I suppose I should pity you- your 'friends' will no doubt fail to recall your name as you climb the steps to the block. Now you have one minute to decide- your freedom or the Egg"

Thin leather clad fingers reached into the sequined bag that she had clutched to her chest, a look of sheer exasperation on her face as she pulled out a silk covered treasure "Take it..." Fred Abberline nodded and slipped it into the pocket of his jacket
"I suppose I should thank you Inspector..." but his reply was lost in the rush of steam.