Part 5

The three Detectives weren't waiting for long for the Jamaican to leave the tavern. He strolled unbothered across the busy road and headed to the alleyway where he'd left Eliza. Only he couldn't hide his surprise when he got to the entrance of the alley and noticed that Eliza wasn't waiting alone.

Moses slowed and dug his hands deep into his pockets as he swaggered deeper into the dark towards them. His eyes were fixed on William, who was standing tall just behind Eliza, eyeballing him sternly. He looked towards the other man with them, he didn't know who he was, but he had the look of a police officer in his sharp dark suit and bowler hat.

Moses plastered a fake smile on his face as he reached the three of them. He looked towards Eliza, who also seemed unimpressed with her company.

"Inspector," Moses rolled his tongue, giving a false glee to the sound of his voice. "Fancy meeting you here," Moses mused as if he had been expecting him to see him.

"Moses," William growled, his jaw set firm and his blood just below boiling point. He couldn't tell from the grin if Moses had spotted him following them or if he was trying to anger him with his laid-back attitude.

"I'm Detective Phillips," he said cheerfully. "Leonard."

Phillips stepped forward and held his hand out to greet Moses with a friendly handshake. Moses looked confused at the smile on the overly cheerful officer, then down to his outstretched hand. He was baffled why the man seemed to expect him to shake his hand and kept his hand firmly in his pockets, not attempting to shake it, and curled his lip in aversion.

After an awkward moment, with his hand dangling in mid-air, Phillips noted that Moses was not going to accept his greeting and self-consciously pulled his hand away. Even though this was Miss Scarlet's friend, Moses was making it very clear that he wasn't a friend of theirs.

"What did you find out?" William asked, with a tone of frustration in his voice.

Moses glanced toward Eliza, waiting for her to say so before he revealed what he knew. Eliza rolled her eyes and nodded that it was okay for him to share his information.

"The Oswald factory across the way, where Mari worked, they've had a high turnaround of staff in recent months. There have been several women who quit without notice or just stopped turning up. Mari was one of them. She never made it to work the day she told Charlie she was heading there."

"She went missing without getting to work that day?" Eliza questioned.

"Seems it, but according to one of the workers, she left a note saying she quit." Moses raised his eyebrows, indicating he felt that was suspicious.

Eliza folded her arms across her chest and shook her head with a sense of anger. Something was wrong, she couldn't put a finger on why, but she felt completely odd at Moses' suggestion.

"No, Charlie said Mari was going to the factory to work. She didn't quit..."

Eliza tried to remember her conversation with Charlie, and she was certain that he was sure that it was the factory she was going to and not any other job.

"Perhaps she wasn't getting the promotion she was offered there and decided to leave," William offered, despite it feeling it was a weak assessment.

"Without even turning up for the day? She took that job because it offered her children something better. She wouldn't have just quit and not given a reason. Every woman I spoke to back there thought Mari was working at the factory, and there was no mention of a new job or reason for her to quit from anyone."

Eliza refused to believe it. She knew what it was like to be short of money, and she sensed that Mari would have done anything to provide for Charlie and Annie, even if it meant long, laborious hours. If she had quit for a new job, why would no one know about it?

"We need to look around the Oswald factory," Eliza said decisively, looking toward Moses, wondering how they could discreetly look around it and check the employment records.

"No!" William said firmly. He glared hard at Moses, who was nodding his agreement with Eliza to go look around the factory. Eliza turned around, shocked at William's insistent no.

"Yes," she told him resolutely.

"No!" William said with an air of authority. "I'll bring to your notice that you haven't asked me what we are doing here?"

Eliza blinked, unsure of what he meant, and she stopped, mouth open ready to retort before she stopped herself. She'd assumed he was simply following her, but he was correct; she hadn't asked him. Did he know something?

"Fine, what are you doing here?" She asked him pointedly.

"Phillips and I looked through the archives. I don't know if anything is linked, but we found four more reports of seamstresses who have gone missing. Two are linked to the Robinson factory, like Verla. They all have no family to notice they are missing, so there are likely to be others that haven't been reported as missing. Tomorrow I'll go to the Oswald factory to talk to the manager and see if they have any workers who have left without notice so I can compare them to our list of women. If there is something suspicious that matches with our missing women… then we discreetly look around the factory."

William felt he was being quite reasonable, but the look on Eliza's face suggested she felt differently.

"Mari might not have another day," Eliza said urgently. She knew she needed to find her and get her home to her children, and she didn't want to wait any longer than necessary. Her impatience was showing.

"We don't know she doesn't. None of these women have turned up since they went missing," William reasoned. "We've found no unclaimed bodies other than Verla's that match up to the case…."

William paused and let Eliza fill in the blank herself rather than telling her.

"So, someone could be holding them somewhere…" Eliza responded while William gave her a look that he was, for once, in the right.

"Which is even more reason not to go blowing the fact that we're looking into this. We need to buy ourselves some time and be discreet about it."

Moses and Phillips shared a look as William and Eliza bickered their way through their conversation, both trying to display their authority but neither wanting to back down. It seemed the pair were so focused on their argument they had forgotten that their colleagues were even still there.

Eliza sighed heavily, knowing partly William was right but not wanting to admit it out loud. She didn't want to give anyone a hint that they were investigating and scare them into doing something rash. Mari felt just within reach but also a million miles away.

"Fine," she refrained from stamping her foot, "but I'm coming with you tomorrow. I want to speak to whoever hired her."

William nodded his agreement, even if deep down, he wasn't sure if it was a good idea or not. He was going against the Superintendent just by speaking with her now, let alone going to question a suspect with her at his side. Yet, he'd brought her with him enough times to know that Eliza was a useful companion, and she'd ask questions he'd not thought of.

Frustrated, Eliza went to make a move toward the main road, and William nodded for Phillips to follow her, and he did, while William reached out a hand and grabbed for Moses' wrist. Moses turned and scowled an angry face at him while trying to pull his wrist away, which meant William gripped it harder as he stepped closer.

"You keep her safe," William growled. "Or else."

It was an unspoken warning to Moses that if he let something happen to Eliza, William would release every weapon in his arsenal to rain hell down on him.

"I always do," Moses confirmed, irritated at the suggestion or that the Inspector felt he needed to be told.

"Good."

William released him and moved to walk straight past to follow Eliza, who was oblivious to the moment between the two men. Moses rolled his eyes and gave a heavy sigh of annoyance before following them towards the main road.


Early the following morning, William was outside Eliza's house waiting by his carriage when Eliza walked out and bounced down her steps towards him. She was eager to get going and not delay finding Mari any longer, so it was a surprise that he was there, ready and waiting for her. He opened the carriage door and politely held his hand out to help her get in. She slowed her step and eyed him with an amused smile.

"You're punctual this morning," she teased.

"What can I say, first time for everything," he smiled.

She looked down at his outstretched hand and regarded it with a wry smile before she placed her hand in his, and he held it firmly while she climbed inside, but before he let it go, he pulled her hand to his lips and pressed a firm kiss. His eyes were gleaming as he gently released her hand, letting his thumb linger to the last second as he watched her sit down properly, then got in the cab and sat in his respectable place opposite.

Eliza glanced at him with a smirk and a hint of blush on her cheeks at his boldness in kissing her bare hand in broad daylight outside her house. William didn't seem bothered. Instead, he seemed rather pleased with himself.

"So, what is our plan for this meeting?" Eliza asked, clearing her throat whilst trying to sound professional.

William chuckled at her attempt to keep them on point. At some point, they would need to talk about their evening and clarify if that had changed between them, but for now, he was happy in this newfound closeness. He was feeling bold, and whenever he made a move, it seemed to send Eliza off-balance, which amused him greatly.

"We're meeting the factory manager. Mr Gerald Faraday. He's responsible for the hiring and firing at the Oswald factory, so hopefully, he will be able to tell us about any women leaving the factory too."

"I'm also hoping that we can find some information on the woman that recruited Mari to the factory," Eliza advised. "Perhaps if we can speak to her, we'll know more."

"I've got a few other names of missing women that I put in a message to Faraday to ask him about as well. I don't know if they are seamstresses, their profession wasn't mentioned on the missing person reports, but they all went missing in the last six months and lived nearby, so it's possible they could have worked at the factory."

Eliza had a moment of concern and looked at William, wondering if she should share it before blurting it out.

"I'm getting slight flashbacks to Clara's case…" Eliza admitted cautiously.

It had worried her the previous evening as she thought about the two cases, the positive being they only had one possible death so far. Whilst Mari had only been missing for three days now, if she was to turn up dead, what would become of Charlie and his sister?

"Let's not jump to a conclusion. We don't know if any of these cases are truly linked. It could just be a coincidence. Women go missing all the time, and most of the time, it's not because something bad has happened to them. We've got nothing that suggests foul play in Verla's death or that she put up a struggle."

William had read over all the information he had in every case file the previous evening, and even then, there were still very limited details that he could work with. If he was questioned on why he was wasting time on what should have been a closed case, he knew he had very little comeback. Yet, as he looked across at Eliza and noted her concern, there wasn't anywhere else he wanted to be.

"You don't believe that, William. You and I both know; nothing is a coincidence in this business."

No matter how much he wanted to refute Eliza's claim, she knew he had his concerns about the case. Otherwise, he wouldn't be there working on it with her. He had many cases of his own and little time to waste focusing on just one missing woman. Whilst Eliza appreciated the time he was taking to help her with Mari's disappearance, there was a part of her that wondered if he had another reason for doing it. Did he think there was more to the case, or was he just enjoying spending time with her?

The remainder of the carriage journey was quiet aside from the short time they spent discussing what their questions would be, so they were both clear on what they wanted to achieve but also avoided the elephant in the carriage of how they were feeling.

Eliza was quite surprised at how freely William was sharing his information about the case and how he seemed to want to include her on this occasion without her usual instance or trickery. Whilst it was somehow refreshing not to have to fight with him, it was also a little off-putting. She wasn't used to William being quite so agreeable when it came to them investigating together. She had to admit that she was slightly missing their daily arguments. She enjoyed their teasing and the gleam in William's eyes as she challenged him.

When they arrived at the factory, it was a large looming red brick and glass window building not too far from the Thames. Along the side of the building was an easy-access roadway for horses and carts to transfer the material goods to the boats that would be docked for transport across the country and overseas.

William politely held Eliza's hand as she got out, and this time he quickly released it but then moved his hand to gently rest on her back just below her shoulder blades as they walked from the carriage towards the entrance doors of the factory. Eliza felt her skin prickle with goosebumps underneath her shirt a how close William was to her. She tried to ignore the feelings of butterflies that it was stirring in her stomach.

Having his hand placed there was a strange feeling, one that Eliza found she liked, even if she wasn't sure if she should raise the question of why he was doing it. He didn't usually touch her when they walked, and she didn't often hold his arm, especially while they were working either. He wasn't making a big deal about it, Eliza noted as she eyed him carefully; he kept his eyes on where they were walking and remained quiet as if touching her was a normal thing to do. Did he realise he was doing it? Eliza wondered. Should she ask why he was holding her or perhaps tease him about his sudden ability to not keep his hands to himself?

However, just as she was about to call him out on why he was suddenly always touching her, he dropped his hand away and took a few larger paces to open the entrance door and hold it for her to walk ahead of him. She hid her disappointment at losing the warmth his hand generated on her back. She turned her head as she walked past him, giving him a curious smile, almost acknowledging his hand placement, while he seemed to barely grin and kept up his innocent act. Eliza shook her head to clear any distractions and headed straight for the main reception.

Inside the factory, they were led up the floors by a young reception girl toward the offices at the top of the building. The ground floor was loud and nosy, with large machines being guided by workers to make various-sized rugs. The second was quieter but full of maybe fifty or more women squeezed together, either working on machines or hand-sewing items of clothing using the poor lighting through the large windows. The offices were on the top floor, and they were led to the small office of Mr Gerald Faraday. His office overlooked the main roadway out of the factory, and William glanced out the window seeing the boats on the Thames.

While Mr Faraday was the factory manager, the company owner was a high-class gentleman, Mr Oswald Senior, and according to the information William had sourced, he was letting his sons, James and Stephen, take over the running of the business. The eldest of his sons, James, oversaw the day-to-day running of the company and his youngest son, Stephen, was reportedly away in India hoping to source more silks.

Mr Faraday kept them waiting, which vexed William immensely. When he finally appeared, they noted that he was a small, bald man with small beady eyes and lips hidden by a full beard that grew down to his chest. He was a heavy build and dressed in a fine black suit of top quality, not unlike William's Eliza noted. He seemed irritated by their presence as he busied himself with the papers at his desk.

"Mr Faraday, I'm Detective Inspector Wellington of Scotland Yard. This is my associate, Miss Scarlet," William announced formally. "We'd like to speak to you about a few of your female workers."

"Yes, Inspector, I got your message late last night requesting a meeting," Faraday announced impatiently. "I'm afraid you've rather wasted your time, as I cannot give you much information."

Eliza kept quiet and observed Mr Faraday as he looked distracted at his desk instead of giving them his attention. He also seemed far older than the 35 years their paperwork suggested he was.

"Why is that?" William asked frustratedly.

There was a difference between cannot and will not, as far as William was concerned. Some people knew too little to help. Others just plainly refused to share what they knew. He wasn't yet sure which camp this gentleman fell into.

"I don't personally know any of the names you listed on your telegram that you wanted employment records for. Of the others on your list that you mentioned, I can only say that two of the women did work for us, but they were here such a short time I have nothing other than their hire date and their letters of resignation."

"Did you know Verla Kelly?" William asked, despite not having any evidence that he could have known her.

"Of a sort, she worked here for about a month six months ago, and then she stopped turning up one day. Presumably, she got work elsewhere." He assured them.

William was surprised, and it was intriguing that Verla had worked there before moving to the Robinson factory, but it meant it was before Mari's time, so the pair would never have met whilst working.

"What about Mari Henley?" Eliza asked, knowing for certain she did work there.

"Yes, she was here just over a month till she resigned three days ago,"

"She resigned?" Eliza asked, confused. "Did she give a reason?"

"No, Miss…" Faraday seemed to draw a blank on Eliza's name and then dismissed his forgetfulness with a wave of his hand. "They never do. Just leave a note in the office reception that they aren't returning. It leaves me in a very difficult position. You'd have thought I would have women falling over themselves to secure work here, but they drop like flies if you ask me." The man grumbled as if these women leaving were a personal inconvenience. "None of these women have the work ethic we require here, it seems."

The workers leaving suddenly matched with the information that Moses had given them, so it was expected, but Faraday's reaction to it was curious. He complained, but he didn't seem annoyed or shocked by them leaving.

"Did any of them say why they were leaving?" Eliza asked.

"No," he responded indignantly.

Eliza was curious, certainly from what she had seen walking up the floors, the conditions weren't the greatest, but surely any work was better than none. For Mari, at least, she needed to support her family, and she was trying to do something better for them.

"Do you happen to have Mari's resignation letter?" William asked quickly.

The man huffed at the inconvenience of having to find it and reluctantly flicked through the piles of papers on his desk whilst Eliza shared a confused look with William. She knew from Charlie that Mari was on her way to work three days ago, and she didn't have any impression from Charlie that Mari had any intention of leaving her job. Something was going on here.

"Mari took this job to work her way up, and she was a good seamstress by all accounts. Why would she leave so suddenly?" Eliza asked.

"I'm sure she was, but this job is hard work and long hours. Not all women are cut out for these things," he told her distractedly.

Of course, he would blame the women themselves for leaving, Eliza thought and not the poor pay and working conditions.

"So, it's not unusual for women to leave?"

"No…." he responded with a sigh.

After a few moments, Faraday found the small handwritten note he was looking for within some files on his desk, and he passed it over to William, who stepped forward to accept it. William took one look and knew something was wrong and quickly handed the note to Eliza so she could read it too. He could feel his heartbeat quicken as he tried to keep his anger in check.

"You said the women were dropping like flies. Do you have other women who have resigned by just leaving a note?" William queried as Eliza looked over the note.

The note was on a small scrap of paper, and it was in a barely illegible pencil script. There was nothing on there to give any details, only the wording "I hereby tender my official resignation immediately", signed by scrawled "Mari", which was hardly readable. Yet, Eliza noted something with William's change in expression that suggested even with such little detail, he'd noticed something.

"Yes, it's probably a larger number recently, but not uncommon", Faraday acknowledged without concern.

"Were they all good seamstresses?" William tried to hide his growing unease.

"As I said, I don't know all employees personally, but I believe so, or they would have been let go. We only hire those with proven quality workmanship. If they are not up to our standards, then they perhaps only last a shift or two before we tell them not to return."

"I'm going to need to take a look at those resignation letters and their employment files," William spoke with his firm, no-argument tone as Faraday looked at him, shocked.

"I don't see the relevance in you looking at them. They say nothing more detailed than Miss Henley's note there."

"That's for me to decide. Just go and get them."

William stared straight at the man, holding himself tall and square, almost daring him to challenge him further. Faraday seemed almost afraid but stood up tall and puffed his chest while he pulled his jacket closer around him.

"That might take me some time to locate them all."

He wavered slightly, clearly anxious to provoke William further. However, if he thought that William would back off or even leave and ask him to send them on when he'd located them, he was rather mistaken.

"We can wait," William declared, using all his authority as an officer of the law.

Mr Faraday blustered at the suggestion. Yet, realizing there was little point in arguing the request, he moved past them and disappeared out of his office, leaving William and Eliza alone.

"William, this note from Mari doesn't make sense," Eliza whispered.

"That's because Mari didn't write that note," William replied with a hint of anger in his voice.

"How can you be so sure?" Eliza looked again at the note, unsure how William had deduced the poor handwriting wasn't Mari's when they'd never even seen her writing.

"Because I've read enough badly written police reports in my time to know that handwriting belongs to a man."

Eliza's eyes went wide as she took in William's words. If Mari didn't write her resignation, and as William suggested, a man did, where was she, and why would someone fake her resignation note?

To Be Continued.

A/N: I hope you're enjoying this story.