Jack knocked at a familiar door in the Little Lon District. He hadn't been here in several months, but the smell was quite unforgettable. There was no answer, which was about as much as he had expected. He tried again.

"Elsie, are you home? I need to speak to you."

Nothing happened. He turned on his heels, pressing his lips together, wondering where else he could begin, when a key turned behind him. A nose peeked through the tiny gap in the door.

"Is that you, Jack?"

He couldn't help smile at her sight, despite her unkempt hair and grey skin.

"It sure is."

"I haven't done anything," she said, still hovering in the half open door.

"No, no you haven't."

He swept his eyes up and down the alleyway.

"I think you should let me in before we discuss why I'd come," he whispered in a tone of a conspirator. "In fact, I need your help."

He shot her a lopsided grin. She finally threw open the door for him and smiled.

"Drink?" she asked.

He wanted to say no, but encountered some inner resistance.

"Sure," he heard himself say. He swallowed dryly. "That would be lovely."

X

"Well, what do you have to say for yourselves?" the young man demanded.

Phryne could hear Alessandro opening his mouths and quickly pressed his arm to still him. Angry outbursts would not render this situation in the slightest better as long as they stared down the barrel of a pistol.

"You are right," she said, straightening herself. "We were hoping to hide away until Sydney."

She threw a brief glance at Alessandro, hoping that it would count as loving.

"We are just married." She shrugged. "But we couldn't afford a honeymoon and my sister said there was a ship going today… You mustn't blame my husband, I thought it would be romantic."

The officer nodded, his jaw clenched.

"No room on this ship for romantic getaways, lady," he said. "Now move."

He waved his pistol towards the door he had just come through. The sleuths exchanged a look. Phryne nodded. She went ahead, while Alessandro gallantly waved her through as it was suitable for a recently married man. He appeared to stumble in the door, catching himself on the door frame and received a harsh push into the back from their captor to hurry him along.

Then things happened rather quickly. A sharp heel found the man's shin and as he was bending with a groan, a silver teapot collided with the back of his skull with a faint 'clang'.

"Solid British quality," Phryne said happily as the man folded up at her feet. "Now lets get off this stupid boat before we end up on the open ocean."

Alessandro didn't wait for her to repeat herself. They raced up the stairs and over deck, past the stunned looking kid from earlier and another seaman who was scrubbing the deck. Neither of them made any attempts at stopping the two briefest stow aways in history as they jumped over the railing and with two loud splashes hit the waters of the Yarra's mouth just before the ship slipped out into Port Philip.

X

The smell was suffocating, like rotting flowers mixed with opium. A lady in a glittering dress greeted him with all the smiles and compliments this kind of woman usually offered. Jack had long ago learned how to refuse a woman without ever saying a word. She wasn't very persistent, which may have explained the rather large rip in her threadbare dress, but he was fine with that. He sat at the bar and ordered a whisky, hoping to wash the taste of Elsie's gin from his tongue. Few other men were littered around the bar at this time of day, most probably were still busy at their factory jobs. But towards the back sat one who exactly fit Elsie's description. Jack waved the girl towards herself, whispering something to her and slipping a banknote over the bar. With a suggestive wink it disappeared in her generous cleavage. Fingernails trailed over the fabric of his suit as she slipped away. Jack sipped his drink and wished her to hurry up so he could leave this hellhole behind. His eyes began to adapt to the dim light. He watched another girl charm her way into the wallet of a young man whose smile showed only three teeth. Another man was stumbling down the stairs leading up to the opium den. He appeared to still not have quite reached the earth again. An elderly lady shoved past him on her way upstairs, eager to wrap herself in the calming smoke. Jack turned away in disgust and started as he found himself in the company of the mystery man.

"Lily tells me you are lookin' for somethin'," the man said in an accent that made the Inspector wonder if he'd also been upstairs already.

"I'm looking for snow," he said shortly. "Do you have any or not?"

A broad grin answered him.

"Do I ever?"

The man, who Jack knew was known as 'Short Archie' peeled two small sleeves from his pocket, laying them in front of Jack. The Inspector stared quietly at the envelopes while the man named his price and offered more of his wares. Then he flashed his badge.

"You're coming to the station with me."

Archie paled, tried to jump off his seat. Jack's hand shot forward, grabbing onto his wrist like a wrench and holding him in place.

"I have no particular desire to pull my gun and arrest you, but I will if you try that again," he said quietly. Archie relaxed somewhat under his threat.

"What do you want?" he hissed.

"Answers."

The Inspector smiled thinly and drained his whisky.