Part 4
William picked up Eliza's missing person's report from Desk Sergeant Alfred as soon as he entered the building and then got Phillips from his desk. They both headed to the archive room since it was clear Superintendent Hall was on the warpath. Keeping themselves busy on a case and out of his way was the best course of action.
Eliza had mentioned her missing woman, Mari Henley was a seamstress, so there was a slim possibility that there was a link to his dead woman in the mortuary, Verla Kelly. If the cases were linked, then there was a chance that there could be other missing or dead women. So, while Phillips worked through any missing person reports, William pulled all the recent files on unusual deaths.
On the face of it, Verla Kelly's death was not abnormal or anything more than an accidental death caused by a bee sting, and William would have been happy to leave it at that and close the case quickly. Yet, Eliza was right; it was curious that a bee sting would happen in October or in the area where her body was found. Slightly begrudgingly, William felt it was worth his time to give the investigation into her death a second look.
From the little information William had been given, Verla Kelly had moved to London from a village in Ireland less than 9 months earlier with no family or relatives to speak of. The landlady who owned the small room Verla rented in London had reported her missing almost a month ago, and according to the original report, she was simply disgruntled over missing rent payments rather than concerned for the girls well-being.
After that, the original detective had not followed anything up or even visited the Robinson Factory in Southwark, where the landlady suggested she was working. This wasn't unusual, there were thousands of missing person reports, and Scotland Yard simply didn't have the manpower to follow up on every report. With no proof of any crime, the case was simply filled away.
Reading the report of the Junior Detective, who had visited the scene where Verla's body was found the previous morning, he had only sent a Constable to speak to a few people near where she lived, and frustratingly he hadn't thought to send anyone to check the Robinson Factory for her employment records before the case file was put on William's desk that morning.
Verla had been alive for 3 weeks after being reported missing, as Mr Potts had said, though the point was missing from the report completely. The big question was, where had she been in the weeks between being reported missing and her body being found?
As the hours ticked away, William found two more curious reports of women found dead in Bermondsey, near where Verla's body was found, but they weren't seamstresses and nor were their deaths being treated as suspicious. However, Phillips had found four reports of missing Seamstresses within the last five months. Curiously, they were all reported missing by concerned neighbours or landlords. Just like Verla, none of them had any known family members who would miss them. This asked another question, were there more missing women that hadn't been reported as there was no one to notice their disappearance?
Two of the missing women worked for small sweatshops in Shoreditch, on the north side of the Thames. The other two, like Verla, worked at the larger Robinson Factory in Southwark on the south of the Thames, which was barely a 15-minute carriage ride from the area where Verla's body was found.
Eliza's missing woman Mari worked in the largest textile factory in London, owned by the Oswald family and located near Spitalfields market just south of Shoreditch and close to the Thames. The smaller Shoreditch sweatshops didn't bother William, but the fact that the Oswald and Robinson factories were direct competitors did. Despite the factories being on the opposite side of the river, the two were easily linked by both the Canon Street Bridge and London Bridge. This was all raising William's shackles, but he had little more proof of any genuine connection, and with Verla being the only death he could find, he was little closer to any answers.
Finally, after 2 hours, William and Phillips emerged from the dusty windowless room and carefully checked the hallway for any sign of Superintendent Hall. William knew he needed more information from Eliza on Mari before he could decide if any of the cases were linked.
It was late afternoon, and he'd missed his three o'clock whiskey, but he quickly dropped the files off on his desk and picked up his coat and hat, ready to head to Eliza's office, hoping to catch her before she went home. Only as he went to leave, Superintendent Hall stood ominously filling his doorway and blocking his exit.
"Sir," William said politely with a nod.
"Inspector Wellington. It seems you have proved rather elusive this week," Hall said as he moved further into the room, and William moved back towards his desk.
"I'm afraid I've been rather busy…" William defended, pointing to the stack of files on his desk as his evidence, ignoring the fact some had only just been deposited by him.
"And leaving again, it seems…." Hall noted that William was already in his coat, held his hat in his hand, and gave him an intrigued look. He wasn't sure he trusted what his detective was up to and whether a certain female detective was involved.
"I have an urgent case to follow up on some enquires on." William picked up a small blue casebook and pencil, indicating that he was about to put it in his inside pocket to add to the effect.
"And would Miss Scarlet have anything to do with this urgent case?" Hall was taunting William, looking at him to convince him he was incorrect in his assessment.
"No, Sir", William lied convincingly. Given that he knew Hall had only that morning thrown Eliza out of Scotland Yard, he could only imagine what he would say if he knew Eliza's case was linked to his.
"Good. I told Miss Scarlet this morning that she is no longer welcome in Scotland Yard. There is no need for her to be making a nuisance of herself coming here or attempting to involve herself in police business. I expect you to uphold this order!"
Hall was firm and commanding as he spoke and he looked directly at William, daring him to challenge him.
"Of course, Sir."
William uncomfortably nodded his acceptance, even though he knew that it was likely a lie. For one, his case and Eliza's had similarities that he couldn't ignore, and two, Eliza would never let him keep her out of his business for long. He had to buy himself some time to find a way around Hall.
"I'm glad we have an understanding Inspector." Hall smiled and gave a firm nod, pleased to have an agreement on the subject. "Well, I shall let you get on then."
William watched as Hall idled out of his doorway and towards his own office, seemingly appeased, and he released an angry huff. Eliza was a good detective, and he knew it, but he equally couldn't lose his job because of it either. How he was going to find a way out of this was beyond him.
"You good?" Phillips asked as he rounded the door, having heard what the Superintendent had said. He eyed William cautiously because he knew how useful Eliza could be, and he enjoyed working with her, but he could also understand why Duke wasn't standing up for her.
"Yeah," William sighed, hiding his frustration. "Let's get out of here.
William and Detective Phillips had William's driver Arthur take them to Eliza's office, and Phillips did not comment on the fact that William had just outright lied to Hall that Eliza wasn't involved. He didn't mind Eliza or working with her. He appreciated her skills and ability. He also suspected there was more to the relationship between Duke and her and was intrigued to find out more. Spending a little more time observing them both would be enlightening.
Only as the carriage pulled up and they jumped out they noticed from a distance Eliza walking out the street door of her office. William stopped and just observed her, his face dropping slightly as he noticed someone else was waiting for her.
Phillips looked at William and then at Eliza, unsure why they had stopped and not continued towards her. As he watched her a little closer, he noticed a man standing in the shadows of the archway alongside her office. He didn't seem like the kind of man a lady such as Eliza would associate with, but he was obviously waiting for her. She kept her distance and seemed to speak briefly to him, indicating that they were well acquainted before she moved away. After a few moments to leave the appropriate distance between them, the man stepped out of the shadows and followed her at an inconspicuous distance.
"Who's that?" Phillips asked. He noticed that whilst his boss didn't seem in a great hurry to approach Eliza or the man she seemed to be with, the look on his face was one of pure irritation. It suggested that Duke knew exactly who she was meeting.
"Moses…" William growled as he watched Eliza and Moses walk to the road, seeming like they didn't know each other.
It was unclear to Phillips if it was a good sign or not, but there was no denying William was not happy seeing them together. Whilst the man didn't look like someone she should be associating with, Eliza didn't seem bothered that she was being followed by Moses, whomever he was. They stood and watched as Eliza flagged down a Hackney Cab, and she got in, followed just a few seconds later by Moses, who closed the door behind him, hiding them from the prying eyes of the world.
Noticing that the cab would go straight past them, William nodded to Phillips to get back in their cab, and he hurriedly moved inside.
"Follow that cab, Arthur, discreetly, please," William said to his driver as he jumped in the carriage and sat down opposite Phillips.
They watched from the window as Eliza's carriage moved past them, and moments later, they felt the pull of their carriage as it moved. Arthur was well trained at following and kept a short distance between them and Eliza carriage to not be noticed. Though William tried to keep an eye on their bearings, he had little idea where Moses and Eliza were going or what they were up to.
Eliza and Moses travelled quietly down Embankment and followed the curve of the River Thames towards The Tower of London and then turned up towards Shoreditch and the area of Spitalfields. While they travelled, Eliza questioned Moses about Jonah since the child seemed to know more about her than she originally realised.
"Tell me about Jonah?" Eliza asked with a smile.
"He's just a street kid," Moses answered simply without explaining further.
"He seemed to know a lot about me."
Eliza was wondering just how much Moses spoke about her. Certainly, they were friends, and she relied on him to find certain information, but they had always had a somewhat unspoken level of friendship. An agreement to help one another, no questions asked, so it was a surprise that someone from his circle knew who she was or where her office was. Moses liked to keep a low profile to come and go as he pleased. There were a lot of areas of his life that Eliza knew nothing about, and she knew better than to ask. If he ever did give her an answer, she never could tell if it was the truth or a yarn to keep her guessing.
"He's a nosy boy who is far too smart for his own good. He keeps his ear to the ground; he knows I've done some work for you. You be careful, though, or he'll be tapping you up for work, and trust me, that boy has charisma. He's eleven and has the smile to melt a Lady's heart already. That boy will be trouble, mark my words!"
Eliza laughed because she remembered the boys' attempt to charm her in the carriage the previous evening. The boy had a smile that reminded her of Moses' grin, so it amused her greatly that Moses was warning her away.
"So, how do you know him?"
Moses shrugged before looking away, he liked to keep himself a private enigma, and the fewer people that knew about his life, the better, but this was Eliza.
"I knew his mother…." There was a fondness in his tone, which made Eliza wonder.
"Knew as in…" she pushed. She was certain that Moses was no Monk, but she knew very little about that side of his life.
"We might have had an interest once upon a time," Moses remembered with a smile. "She works hard to keep a roof over their heads, and I keep an eye from time to time. His father was a no-good two-bit who got himself in with the wrong people. He likes to hang around, but I usually clear him off. He's got a head on his shoulders and the gift of the gab, but he's a good kid, though."
Moses spoke of both Johan and his mother with warm affection. He didn't talk much about his life, and what he did tell usually had an element of fiction that meant no one knew where the story mixed with reality. Eliza rarely pushed him for more information than he was willing to give, and for her, this was rare. The fact that Moses hid so much information would normally be cause for irritation on her part, yet she'd simply accepted that it was who he was as part of their friendship.
"Do you know Mari, Charlie's mother?" Eliza asked, changing the subject.
"Not personally. I've seen the boy, Charlie, hanging around with Jonah sometimes. The ladies around here, they are decent, and they work hard. Some of the men don't appreciate a good woman as they should, and they don't look after them," Moses grumbled. "The women around here work all hours for meagre amounts just to put a little bread on the table and keep a leaky roof over their heads. Mari is no different, I'm sure."
It was a sore subject Eliza quickly realised, as he moved to look out the window and seemed to get lost in his thoughts. She couldn't help but wonder about Mari. She seemed like a good mother who was doing her best, and she wouldn't leave her children behind, yet where was she?
"Charlie said he's got a younger sister, Annie. Do you think you could have a check on them? It didn't sound like they had anyone looking after them with their mother gone."
"I'll keep an eye on them," Moses agreed. "Though there is a community here, and I'm sure the women are looking after them."
As the carriage slowed, Eliza looked out the window and took note of their surroundings.
William and Detective Phillips were in their carriage, following Eliza and Moses in complete silence. William was keenly aware of where they were, and the anger inside him was filling the small carriage with every sigh and growl he made. The further they went away from the Thames, and into the east-end slums, the more he had to try to quell his anger that Moses would bring Eliza out here. What was either of them thinking? This wasn't a place William wanted to be, and he'd spent more time here than he was willing to admit.
As the carriage slowed to a stop, William and Phillips very carefully got out so as not to be spotted by Eliza. They kept back as Eliza and Moses moved away from their carriage and the busy open high road, further into the seedier underground of shanty houses and tall blocks and looming factories. They walked down slim, dirty alleyways with laundry hanging out to dry on ropes tied to open windows, and then to the rows of tall narrow, rundown, dirty red-brick townhouses.
There were vagrants sitting around the streets that they passed, and many were ogling Eliza, presumably looking to see what they could steal, but she continued with purpose and barely acknowledged them. As soon as Moses appeared, they looked away, his imposing figure being all they needed to see to leave Eliza unharmed.
Along the way, William couldn't help but notice how Eliza and Moses had perfected the ability to walk together, yet also completely separately. It wasn't appropriate for them the be seen together, and too close a lady like Eliza walking with a man like Moses would be cause for alarm, even in somewhere as run down as the streets of Shoreditch.
Eliza seemed to be able to keep her head down while Moses managed to keep his eyes open and be sure Eliza wasn't bothered by the odd seller, street urchin or catcaller. Eliza finally came to the area she was looking for, and without even so much as a visible signal, it seemed the pair knew what they were doing. William and Phillips hid behind a wall and simply observed.
Whilst Moses kept himself looking busy and propped up against a wall, Eliza casually approached the women in the narrow alleyways. She was carefully asking questions of them while they were doing chores, sweeping, or sorting their washing. A few older women sat in a group chatting whilst watching over the young children who were out playing together.
Surprisingly the women didn't instantly scowl, meet her questions with silence, or even walk away before she finished asking. It was interesting to William, watching her, that Eliza didn't seem in the least bit concerned about whom she was talking to, and similarly, she seemed to get them to talk to her.
If he tried, he'd more likely get met by a wall of silence and God only knows what was thrown at him. He'd always been proud that he was an officer of the law compared to her, yet perhaps he had to concede that she did have an advantage over him in these parts.
"So, who's the henchman?" Phillips asked as they stood in the corner of an alley watching Moses quietly leaning against a wall pretending to keep to himself while his attention remained firmly on Eliza.
"Moses. He's Jamaican, a career criminal who occasionally helps Eliza with finding information, and unfortunately, I owe him for supposedly saving my life once…."
William grumbled, remembering how Moses had turned up at the opportune moment and knocked out Frank before he could shoot him. God, he hated the fact he owed him for that.
"He looks like he's doing Miss Scarlet a good deed, keeping an eye on her around here."
Phillips glanced around, and despite not being that familiar with this part of town, even he understood that this wasn't somewhere he wanted to be alone during the day, let alone at night.
William shook his head, not wanting to agree that perhaps Moses might be doing the right thing by keeping a watch over her because, as far as he was concerned, he shouldn't have brought her here in the first place. This was not a place for a man, let alone for Eliza or any decent lady, for that matter. Knowing Eliza as he did, perhaps he should just be happy that she had the correct sense not to come to this place alone.
More than half an hour passed before Eliza had spoken to all the women on the narrow street, and she started to move on. William and Phillips followed at a distance, watching as Moses kept close enough till they both stopped in the shadows of an archway to the main road. They talked closely for a few minutes before Moses nodded and crossed the main road leaving Eliza in the shadows alone.
William wasn't happy that Eliza was waiting alone in the shadows of the slums, and he silently motioned for Phillips to keep quiet while he approached Eliza. He wasn't planning on scaring her completely, but he hoped he'd at least pleasantly surprise her that he had followed her unnoticed as she had so often done to him.
He approached her quietly, as she stood in the darkened corner near the wall and for once, she didn't seem to notice him. Her eyes were focused on a tavern across the road, and William could only assume that was where Moses had gone. Eliza seemed a little anxious, and William thought she should be, given where she was.
His black coat meant he could blend into the dark shadows, but he need not have worried because Eliza was absorbed in staring straight ahead at the tavern and hadn't once looked behind or noticed him at all as he crept up behind her. William held his breath as he reached her and smiled.
"Does Moses need a drink?" William asked bending slightly as he whispered in a low growl almost directly into Eliza's ear.
Eliza startled, turned, and almost threw a direct right hook into William's shoulder. Only he seemed fully prepared that she might take a swing at him, and he grabbed her arm as she swung and easily spun her around whilst he fully enveloped her into a hold like he would a seasoned criminal.
Eliza's heart was beating wildly as William stole her breath and held her tightly against his chest. He looked down at her with eyes that sparkled with glee that he'd had the element of surprise. She had no idea where he had come from or how long he'd been following her, so she could not pretend that he hadn't scared the life out of her. She wriggled against him, but he wasn't letting her go as she tried to recover herself.
"What on earth are you doing here?" Eliza asked in shock as she pushed against the hold he had on her.
"I could ask you the same question. This isn't somewhere you should be!" His earlier anger had softened while he was watching her, and whilst he had meant it as a reprimand, it didn't come out as if he were chastising her.
"You can let go of me!" She said, attempting to throw an elbow just below his ribs.
William just laughed because, in his lifetime of arrests, she was probably the least likely to cause him any real harm trying to swat him away or squirm out of his arms. Still, he wasn't about to take his chances, and despite his enjoyment of holding her in such a way, he finally released her.
Eliza shrugged herself as William loosened his arms from around her then she moved a step backwards. She glared at William, unamused by his apparent pleasure that she hadn't noticed him following her. She was annoyed, both at him for following her and herself for not spotting him doing it.
Behind his shoulder, she noticed Detective Phillips saunter up behind them, looking chilled and relaxed as ever with his hands deep in his pockets. She stifled a sigh as she noted that she'd missed being followed by him also, though he seemed less amused by the fact.
He nodded his greeting to Eliza and smiled, amused since the look on her face showed she wasn't impressed by their presence. She was glaring at William and folded her arms across her chest, awaiting an explanation for his actions, but he offered none.
"So, what are you up to out here?" William pushed quietly.
Eliza was annoyed that he could get the grin off his face, and part of her didn't want to tell him what she was doing, but it was clear that William wasn't going anywhere, and he must have suspected something. She knew there was little point holding back why she was there.
"I needed to see if I could get some information on Mari and the factory she worked at," Eliza admitted.
"And did you?" he asked.
Eliza hesitated to share what she knew since it had little relevance to him. This was about Mari, not Verla, and so far, her investigation hadn't brought to light anything that would be useful to his case. Yet, there was a slim possibility of a link between the two women, and given that she was banned from Scotland Yard, she needed to keep William on her side. He had been open to letting her view Verla's body, deep down, she knew the least she could do was tell him what she had found out.
"A few of the people I spoke with back there knew Mari either from living nearby, or they knew her at the factory. She seemed to be well-liked. Until recently, she had a small stall in Spitalfields market to make ends meet. She fixed and mended clothes, did tailoring, and when she could afford it, she made some of her own items to sell. She was a very talented seamstress apparently and was just about managing to keep enough money coming in."
"What happened to change things?" William asked curiously.
"Two months ago, she met with a woman who approached her stall at the market and was impressed with her skills. They wanted to offer her work at the Oswald factory, it was an entry position, to begin with, but with her skills, they assured her that she could work up to supervisor quickly and earn far more for her children."
"Did anyone know who she met with?" Phillips questioned, hopeful for a name to help with their enquires.
Eliza chuckled at Phillips's hopeful nature that someone would tell her or that if they had, she would share it with them right now.
"No, unfortunately, they didn't know any name, only that it was a woman who approached her. The women who worked with her weren't aware of any woman hiring on behalf of the factory."
William sighed, so even with her work, they weren't any closer to finding out any sort of information regarding their case.
"Any chance Mari knew Verla Kelly?"
"Not that I've found," Eliza shrugged. "No one I've spoken to here had ever heard of Verla. It's not too surprising since she didn't live around here, and there's nothing to say she's worked here either."
William sighed; there was still no real link to the two women then.
"So, what's Moses doing over there?" William grumbled, nodding towards the Tavern.
"Some of the men from the Oswald factory drink in there, so he's gone to see if he can find anything out. Mari's only been working at the factory for a month, but I'm hopeful that someone in there knows her. They might be able to tell us something about the women who work there."
William didn't like it, but they were stuck waiting to see if Moses came back with any information. The tavern looked from the outside as if it were a run-down workers' bar, and he looked too much like an officer to go inside and start asking questions. He wondered if this was going to be another thing that he'd end up owing Moses for.
In the fading daylight, Eliza, William, and Detective Phillips fell into silence, huddled in the shadows of the alleyway, with all eyes on the small downtrodden tavern across the roadway, waiting for Moses.
To be continued...
A/N: I hope you're enjoying this story as much as the previous ones.
