Part 2

Eliza woke to an unfamiliar sound and the unexpected feeling of Ivy's hand resting on her shoulder. She blinked her eyes open, looked vaguely at Ivy, then around the room and noticed the dim hint of sunlight behind the thick curtains that were still shut. Suddenly remembering she wasn't in her bedroom and the sound was Rupert snoring in her father's bed, she sat up and stretched her back, wincing at the slight pain of sleeping not only in a chair but also still in her corset.

She glanced at Ivy, noting she was already fully dressed, her hair perfectly pulled back and ready for the day, and Eliza wondered just how long she had been asleep. Ivy motioned for her to follow her out to the hallway without saying a word before she turned to move to the bedroom doorway.

As she stood, Eliza uncovered herself from the blanket and dropped it on the chair. She took another look at Rupert, who was settled into a deep sleep, before leaving him to rest as she left the room and closed the door with a soft click behind her. In the upstairs hallway, Ivy was waiting for her with a look of expectation as she stood with her hands on her hips.

"Good morning," Eliza offered politely, hoping she was not about to get the third degree from Ivy.

"Good morning! Is that all you're going to say?" Ivy questioned her in a low tone so as not to wake Rupert, but it was clear that she was anticipating an explanation as to what had happened to him and why she had brought him back to her home. However, Eliza knew no details and could only assume what might have happened to put him in such a state.

"I don't know what to tell you," Eliza shrugged. "At the moment, I know little more than you do. Moses found him like this and didn't know what to do…."

"So, he sent for you?" Ivy interrupted with a hint of surprise.

"Well, yes. I, for one, prefer that to Rupert sleeping this off alone in a dark alley…."

Ivy's eyes went wide with shock as Eliza inadvertently told her how she'd found Rupert, and she covered her mouth with her hand. Eliza winced, noting Ivy was visibly conflicted with the inappropriateness of her finding and bringing Rupert home with her but also concerned for his safety. Ivy had a soft spot for Rupert, though Eliza wasn't sure if that because she was still holding out hope of a proposal of some sort between them. If she was, then Ivy would be sorely disappointed because neither she nor Rupert was in the least bit interested in a marriage of convenience.

"We should leave him to sleep it off. Hopefully, when he wakes, I can get to the bottom of this all." Eliza placed her hand on Ivy's arm, reassuring her that she would sort out whatever was going on with Rupert.

"Well, you can get yourself out of your mother's dress, and I'll make us a late breakfast," Ivy informed her, politely changing the subject. "Then you can tell me all about your evening with Inspector Wellington."

Eliza smiled and noticed the twinkle in Ivy's eyes return and a smile dance on her lips. Somehow, she realised that whilst she might be able to placate Ivy's interest in Rupert, her evening with William was a different topic.

Eliza took little time to dress in her blue day skirt, white striped shirt, navy cravat, and jacket. For once, she avoided Ivy's help to do up her corset to have a few extra moments to think about what she would tell her. She tidied her hair and clipped back the few strands that she'd left loose by her cheeks the previous evening. Feeling more presentable for the day, she went and joined Ivy in the kitchen.

Ivy was visibly eager to hear about her evening because when Eliza arrived downstairs, the kitchen table had already been set with the tea, bread, butter, jam, and boiled eggs. Ivy was already sitting in her seat nearest the stove with a teacup in her hand, patiently awaiting Eliza's arrival.

Eliza smiled quietly, amused, as Ivy stared at her with a teasing grin while she waited for her to sit down. She glanced at the boiled egg in its egg cup and wanted to laugh. If only Ivy knew how ironic it was that she'd chosen boiled eggs for breakfast instead of their usual porridge.

"So…." Ivy pressed, with a glimmer of a smile on her lips.

"What?" Eliza shrugged, feigning innocence when she knew exactly what Ivy wanted to hear, and she pondered how much to share with her.

"Oh, don't give me that! How was your evening?"

"It was…. A very pleasant evening… we had dinner… and…" Eliza started plainly as if it was the world's most boring evening before Ivy gave her an unimpressed glare, and Eliza broke into a laugh.

"I saw the smile on your face when you got home, young lady, so you can drop the act!" Ivy stopped her firmly. "Where did he take you?"

Eliza picked up her egg spoon and started cracking the perfectly boiled egg, and tried to contain herself. It was clear that Ivy wanted exact details and wouldn't settle for anything less.

"We went to a little restaurant in St Pancras and then to a music hall in Camden. It was a variety show, so there was lots of music, dancing and laughing. There was a Scottish comedian that William wanted to see who was incredibly funny… and it was…."

Eliza stopped as she tried to find the right words to describe how delightful the evening was without giving away too much as she flexed her fingers, thinking of how their fingers danced in the darkness and how she felt her stomach flip at the sensation of his fingers holding hers.

"…It was rather wonderful," she finally finished, with a slight warmth running over her cheeks.

"You're blushing…" Ivy pointed out with a smile while Eliza looked away, slightly embarrassed.

"It was refreshing, you know, to spend time together and not argue the whole time. I've known William for so long, yet last night it almost felt like I don't know him very well at all…."

Ivy didn't say out loud that she thought perhaps Eliza hadn't ever given him a chance when they were younger. She wanted to point out how she'd watched the two of them dance around each other for so long but hadn't dared to breathe a word of what she thought, hoping Eliza might have worked it out on her own.

"I think Henry would feel warmed to know you two are getting along these days," Ivy said honestly.

Eliza nodded her agreement and went to speak but stopped herself. She wasn't sure she was ready to admit that William had kissed her and was even more hesitant about what Ivy would think if she admitted that she'd kissed him back. After a moment, she dug into her egg and spooned the top into her mouth to avoid saying something she possibly shouldn't.

"It's nice, that Inspector Wellington is looking out for you now," Ivy admitted. She waited, eagerly anticipating Eliza's words, wondering if she would disagree or unwittingly admit that perhaps there was more to their friendship than she let on.

"I'm not sure William would agree with that. At times I'm sure I'm more of an annoyance to him than anything else," Eliza conceded. Then again, she thought, the feeling was mutual as he could be just as frustrating as she could be, yet she could admit to herself that she still enjoyed spending time with him.

Ivy gave a reluctant nod as she realised that Eliza was going to continue to play coy about how she was feeling.

"Well, he took you out for the evening, one that you seem to have enjoyed. So surely that means something," Ivy teased with a knowing smile.

Eliza stopped and blinked, surprised at Ivy's curious choice of words that she seemed to have enjoyed it and wondered if maybe she'd heard William say them to her before.

"It means we're learning to co-exist…" Eliza finally offered.

Feeling satisfied that she'd gotten something out of Eliza, Ivy drank the rest of her tea from her cup, which was getting cold, whilst Eliza finished her egg and tore at a slice of bread.

"So, what are your plans for the day?" Ivy asked.

"I'm not sure, to be honest. I don't have a case to be working on right now, and aside from updating Rupert on the finances, which probably won't happen today, I have very little to do."

Eliza sighed and wondered if perhaps she should go and see William so she could try to persuade him to give her some work. She was getting ever so slightly low on funds and would have to get a case from somewhere quickly if she had any hope of keeping food on the table and coal and wood on the fire as the weather turned towards winter.

"Would you be going by the mortuary? I made some scones last night and I wondered if maybe you'd drop them off to Mr Potts?"

Eliza paused to think. She'd begun dropping off a few parcels of baked goods to Mr Potts recently and nearly always ended up waiting in the corridor while Mr Potts wrote a note for her to return to Ivy. It had the benefit of giving her time inside the mortuary and earning her a few points in Mr Pott's good books. It could, of course, be a good place to pick up a new case, she thought.

"You do know you could take them yourself?" Eliza offered, but Ivy instantly looked horrified at the suggestion.

"I couldn't possibly go to the mortuary."

"Why not? I go all the time, and Mr Potts doesn't even like me! I'm sure he'd be rather pleasantly surprised should you turn up to see him. He'd likely invite you inside."

While Eliza grumbled, Ivy scoffed at the suggestion and looked dismayed at the idea of her going to the mortuary herself.

"You might not mind being surrounded by dead people, but not I thank you!"

"You wouldn't see anything. The bodies are all covered up and in their examination rooms. Aside from the slight repugnant smell of decay, you wouldn't even know there were any bodies there."

Eliza wasn't sure what Ivy expected a mortuary to look like, but she was certain that it wasn't half as bad as she probably thought it was. However, the smell was enough to turn even the strongest of stomachs.

"If it's all the same to you, I'd rather not," Ivy confirmed a little more firmly than she intended.

"Fine, I can take the scones for you, but if this relationship with Mr Potts is to continue…." Eliza began suggestively.

"Lizzie! We're just friends! He's nice to talk to, that is all." Ivy defended.

Eliza wrinkled her nose, she was certain that she and Ivy had very different definitions of nice to talk to, but William's voice echoed in her mind telling her that it wasn't whom she would choose for Ivy; it was whom Ivy herself would like, so she pushed her reservations about Mr Potts aside for the sake of Ivy.

"Even still, I do not wish to continue to be your messenger, so wrap them up and I'll take them with me, but I think you and Mr Potts need to come up with a better way of spending time together if that is what you'd like."

Ivy turned her head, making sure Eliza didn't see the blush on her cheeks at the thought of her suggestion, and quickly wrapped the scones in oil paper and tied it with a piece of string.

"I won't be long. Perhaps if Rupert wakes while I'm gone, you could try and entertain him, keep him here till I get back."

Ivy looked at Eliza as she handed over the package of food. Concern for Rupert was written all over Ivy's face, and Eliza breathed a sigh nodding her agreement that she, too, was also concerned for him.

Eliza made her first stop of her day at the mortuary to drop off the scones to Mr Potts for Ivy. She was pleasantly surprised when she saw William's carriage go past and pull up just ahead of her. She waited innocently by the mortuary door with an amused smile on her face and watched William step out of the carriage and stretch as he placed his hat on his head. She felt her heart beat a little quicker as her eyes fixed on him as he waited for his colleague Detective Phillips to join him on the pavement.

Whilst there was nothing different about him, somehow meeting him felt different to her. She couldn't help but feel her breath catch in a way it hadn't before while he waited for him to notice her. She pinched her lips together to hide how she was feeling from the look on her face, but her eyes never wavered from him.

She watched as his somewhat serious mood visibly lightened as he turned around and noticed her. His eyes caught hers, and for the first time, she noticed his shoulders relax, and a smile appeared on his lips that even reached his eyes, which was almost the opposite of how he usually responded when he saw her. Usually, he held himself squarely ready for a fight, and even more so at the mortuary because her being there usually meant trouble for him.

William smirked as Phillips closed the carriage door behind them while he strolled forward and stopped only a few inches in front of her. He hadn't been looking forward to his visit to the mortuary, nor had he been expecting to see her, but after the previous evening, it was the most pleasant of surprises that she happened to be there.

"Eliza." He rolled her name in his most affectionate way, subtly dropping the sound of the E, sending a shiver down her spine.

"Good morning, William." Eliza's eyes were bright as they stood awkwardly, smiling at each other. She noticed William did a subtle appreciative drop of his eyes and ran them over her before returning them to her face with a smile. She was slightly unnerved by the expected look of admiration from him. Had he done that before, and she'd not noticed?

Eliza wasn't sure how they were supposed to act after their previous evening. Was something supposed to have changed? Were they supposed to act as if nothing had happened? Eliza felt herself stumble as the not knowing unnerved her slightly.

"Miss Scarlet," Phillips added with a nod of his head and a smile as he stopped at William's side. Eliza pulled her gaze from William long enough to nod a greeting before she returned her attention once more to him.

Phillips looked curiously between his boss and his friend, noticing that for once, they hadn't instantly jumped into their usual bickering, and they appeared to be oddly happy to see each other. He'd noticed that Duke had been in a strangely good mood both the previous day and that morning. Given Superintendent Hall was still hovering and scowling at them in the corridors of Scotland Yard, he couldn't quite work out the reason for his cheerfulness, but given the scene in front of him, he questioned if the answer was in front of him.

"What brings you here?" William finally asked curiously, enquiring if she was on a case or not. Certainly, there was little chance she was there waiting for him to arrive, and he braced for disappointment.

"Oh, I've got some baked scones to give Mr Potts… from Ivy," she said honestly.

"More baked goods?" William chuckled, though slightly jealous. He couldn't help wondering if this was Eliza's way of trying to sweeten up the man, so he didn't keep throwing her out of the Mortuary. It was likely not to work since MR Potts was a stickler for the rules, although he'd happily take some of Ivy's biscuits or cakes if Eliza ever felt the need to sweeten him up.

Eliza rolled her eyes because whilst she was happy to try and earn some leverage with Mr Potts, she still wasn't sure about encouraging this friendship between him and Ivy. Currently, the friendship between them had proved to have very little benefit to her.

"You?" Eliza enquired, batting off William's knowing look. She attempted to seem purely curious, but her smile gave way to her hope that it was possibly a case that could interest her.

"We have a murder to review," William told her, with only a tiny hint of his usual authority.

Eliza waited patiently for William to continue, wondering if he would allow her to join them or, at the very least, open the door to the mortuary so she could go inside and poke around herself to look for a case.

William noted the twinkling look in Eliza's eyes as he briefly took a moment to remember their closeness the previous evening and sighed. It was against his better judgement, but he did have Phillips with him. So, in theory, he had a legitimate reason to invite her inside.

"Come along then," William offered simply with a nod of his head before he moved to open the heavy outer door.

Eliza's smile grew with curiosity, and she turned to Phillips in surprise that William seemed to not need any convincing to let her inside with him.

"Don't look at me…. He's in a very good mood if you ask me…." Phillips joked with a shrug.

Eliza hid a smirk since she could only wonder the reason for William's good mood. Phillips held his hand out, indicating that Eliza should move ahead of him and that she didn't need any further invitation.

They quickly followed William down the corridor of the mortuary and into the third examination room on the right. It was bright and clean as always; the body they had come to review was laid out on the table and covered respectively with a white cloth.

William moved to the desk at the far end of the small room, shrugged off his overcoat and picked up the file that had been left behind by the medical examiner before he sat on the stool and made himself comfortable.

Eliza and Phillips stopped by the examination table, both curious that William hadn't gone to inspect the body before he sat down. They shared a look, questioning what was going on until William cleared his throat to get their attention before he started to speak.

"So, this is Miss Verla Kelly." William read from the file though he was fully aware of who she was and had suspected how she had died from his visit to the crime scene. A flick through the file, and he noted that it seemed the examiner agreed with his findings, which was helpful.

"She was twenty-one, reported missing by her landlady after she didn't return to her room after work. She was last seen in the industrial area near Spitalfields Market and according to her landlady, she was training to be a seamstress at the Robinson clothing factory, which would be consistent with where her body was found near Bermondsey. So, the question is, how did she die?"

William shut the file and looked towards Phillips and Eliza, who were both looking at him, unsure if he was expecting them to give him an answer or if he was planning to continue.

"Well, I know the answer, so go on, take a look?" William told them, pointing to the dead body.

Phillips caught Eliza looking at him, silently questioning him on what he thought William was doing; after all, she wasn't allowed to be here, let alone examine a body. He simply shrugged at her, since he knew no more than her before he took his hands from his pockets and stepped towards the body. Not wanting to put off William from the fact he was openly sharing his case with her, Eliza quickly put down her bag on the floor and began her investigation.

William sat back on the seat and watched with interest as they stood on either side of the table, and Phillips drew back the sheet before they started looking over the dead woman. Phillips started with her right side, and Eliza took the left side. They were looking for bruising, injuries, broken bones, or anything out of the ordinary.

"How long after she was reported missing was her body found?" Eliza asked as she continued her exploration of the woman's body.

William flicked through the file and quickly did the calculations.

"About 3 and a half weeks,"

"Any ideas where she was during that time?"

"Not as yet…."

Eliza picked up the woman's left arm, and after thoroughly checking it, she noticed her hand was slightly sore and with a variety of pin-pick-like damage against the pads of her middle and forefingers. This wasn't surprising if she was training to be a seamstress since she had received similar injuries when she was learning to sew when she was younger, though that was likely since she'd never been very successful with the endeavour. It was, however, curious that they seemed rather fresh when she'd been missing for several weeks.

"Detective Phillips," she called out to show him the lady's hand.

He looked over and inspected the marks too, and nodded his agreement that it was curious. He also turned her hand, looking at her nails to see if there was anything to suggest she'd fought an attacker and possibly broken a nail, but the woman's nails were all trimmed perfectly short, presumably to avoid injury when working with certain fabrics.

William watched from his seat a little proudly as they both quietly took to their investigation. He rubbed a hand over his beard to conceal the smile as he looked at Eliza's concentrating face. It was fun to sit back and watch someone else learn to do the work. Phillips too, was equally studious, but William's eyes were fixed on Eliza. He wondered if this was how Henry had felt when he was training him, and briefly, he wondered if Henry would be proud of Eliza assisting him.

Eliza glanced up at William and noticed he was watching her. They shared a subtle glance as they caught each other's bashful looks before Eliza looked away to continue concentrating on her investigation. Given how he was quietly watching them look over the body, she was certain that there was something here that would give them cause of death. She stepped down the table length to check the woman's legs and feet.

Phillips hadn't seemingly looked up to notice that anything was different between them as he moved around the table to study the woman's face, which whilst pale, had no obvious injuries at all. There appeared to be no marks or imperfections, no signs of a cut or wound to the back of her head either. There was nothing on her neck to suggest strangulation. He moved the head gently to feel if perhaps her neck was broken, but all seemed intact.

"What's that?" Eliza asked, looking up from the end of the table as she watched Phillips sweep loose hair from the girl's ear.

William sat up a little straighter whilst keeping his hand over his mouth, trying to hide his smile that Eliza had possibly noticed something important.

"What?" Phillips asked, moving around slightly as Eliza moved to stand next to him, and she gently turned the woman's head to look behind her ear.

"There," she pointed. "Is that a bee sting?" Eliza asked, showing Phillips a small faded light red circular rash that was no bigger than a halfpenny piece and circled the tiniest, almost missable dot.

"I think you're right," Phillips agreed as he inspected the tiny mark closely. "She was stung by a bee and then died?" Phillips said in wonder as he looked up.

William opened his mouth to speak, but the door to the exam room swung open, and Mr Potts walked in. He stopped dead the moment he saw Phillips and Eliza leaning over the dead woman's body. He then turned to look towards William, and his mouth seemed to drop in evident anger.

"Inspector Wellington! Firstly, as you are aware, you are not allowed to just enter an examination room without the express permission of a Medical Examiner. And! For the hundredth time, Miss Scarlet is not allowed in here unless you sign a consent form!" Mr Potts huffed.

"If you don't mind, I'm letting my Detective here and Miss Scarlet study an interesting death. Consider it a teaching moment if you will." William added an air of authority to his tone as if he was doing everyone a favour, but Mr Potts was having none of it.

"I don't care if they are the Senior Medical Councilor himself! You are not allowed in here without permission!" Mr Potts fumed. Eliza could almost imagine him stomping his foot as a child would and had to force herself not to burst out into laughter. Like naughty schoolchildren, she and Phillips caught each other's eyes and quickly looked away before they got themselves into trouble.

"Oh, Mr Potts," Eliza said, removing her leather glove and moving to her bag to pull out another oil paper-wrapped food parcel. "Ivy asked me to give these to you."

She moved toward him with an innocent smile, but clearly, he wasn't in the mood.

"If you're trying to bribe me with baked goods, I can assure you, Miss Scarlet, it will not work!" He told her, even as he looked between her and the food parcel that he knew would contain something delicious.

"I assure you that was not my intention," Eliza offered semi-innocently. "I am simply the messenger here… Again… Ivy asked me to pass along these fruit scones she made last night."

"Perhaps, Mr Potts, you'd like to explain your findings to Detective Phillips and Miss Scarlet." William offered with a smile.

Mr Potts gave a heavy sigh, clearly feeling like he was being manipulated by them both once more, and he didn't like it one little bit. Still, he glanced at the package in Eliza's hand that was very tempting.

"If you don't want it, Sir, I rushed out this morning and forgot to pick up the sandwiches my Misses made for me, and I'm absolutely starving…." Phillips added with a smile. It was the truth, and who was he to turn down food?

With that, Mr Potts gruffly took the package from Eliza's hand and held it as tightly as he could without squashing the scones.

"Miss Kelly was found yesterday in an alleyway. Looks like a reaction to a bee sting that caused a shock meaning her airways swelled and closed, preventing the deceased from breathing. There are no obvious injuries to the body and no bruising to suggest any third-party involvement." Mr Potts told them firmly, hoping that it would mean they would now leave him in peace.

"But it's October?" Eliza said, confused.

"Excuse me?" Mr Potts looked at her grumpily not following her logic.

"Well, there aren't usually a lot of bees in London at this time of year; it's getting far too cold for them."

"If she was found near the All Saints Gardens, then I'm sure there are plenty of flowers blooming to entice the odd bee still." Mr Potts huffed, speaking as if she should know it as he tried to keep his authority and show he knew better than she did.

Phillips and Eliza looked towards William for confirmation if that was indeed near where the body was found. William shook his head, flicked open the file and lifted the front page to double-check the location.

"She was found near Druid Street and the industrial area, actually," William said, confused and realizing that Eliza had a point. "That's nowhere near the gardens…"

"She was reported missing 3 weeks ago. Was there any suggestion of how long she'd been dead?" Eliza asked.

"At most, she's probably been dead between forty-eight to seventy-two hours," Mr Potts confirmed.

"So, where was she between being reported missing and being found dead?" William mused aloud.

"There's no other evidence I can tell you from her body. I believe the rest is your job, Inspector!" Mr Potts told him pointedly, with a sly smile.

Somehow William couldn't help but feel that there was a not-so-thinly veiled insult there. Finally, he nodded and decided that perhaps that was their cue to leave as he stood up and picked up his coat, throwing it over his arm.

"Yes, I believe it is." William smiled and closed the file, gleefully handing it back to Mr Potts. "Do let me know if you find anything else."

William nodded to Phillips to follow him out, and he didn't need to be told twice that it was time to leave. Eliza, though, didn't move. Instead, she continued smiling politely at Mr Potts, wondering if he would go and write a note for her to return to Ivy, which would leave her some additional time to look for further clues on Verla's body.

"Inspector! I think you're forgetting someone!" He smiled gleefully, knowing that Miss Scarlet was the Inspectors problem, not his.

Eliza rolled her eyes and picked up her bag from the floor by her feet, once again annoyed at being thrown out when she was just starting to feel useful. Next time Ivy wanted to bring him some cakes or biscuits, she could do it herself because this wasn't going to win her any favours with the man.

"Oh, Miss Scarlet." Mr Potts called out as she reached the doorway, and Eliza took a breath and put on her most pleasing smile. "Please thank Ivy for these."

"Of course," she told him firmly whilst barely hiding her frustration.

With the door closing behind Eliza, Mr Potts eagerly opened the oil paper and took in the smell of the perfect-looking golden fruit scones. He picked one out and happily took a healthy bite before humming his appreciation at its delicious taste as it crumbled perfectly in his mouth.

To be continued...