Chapter 32 – Old and New

*.*.*.

Jack wasn't at all surprised when he returned home to a pile of dirty dishes in his sink, a pile that looked suspiciously bigger than the one he'd left, and his kitchen table covered in various weapons.

"I think it's best I don't ask where you got these from," he muttered fondly as he watched Phryne expertly check over the guns.

"Probably," she agreed, "although you can't arrest me at the moment. I just thought that, whatever we're going to walk into, we need to be prepared."

"Hm," Jack agreed, "we know that they've already killed at least one person."

"Two if you count Burke," she added and Jack flinched, which clearly didn't go unnoticed. "You're still hoping Sanderson isn't part of this, aren't you?"

"It's possible that Fletcher has just blackmailed him and all he's doing is turning a blind eye."

"Yes, possible, but not likely."

"No," he agreed with a sigh as he sat down next to the table of weapons, "not likely. Oh, Phryne, what are we doing? A suspended detective, a brothel-worker, a lady and her maid? What can we really achieve here?"

Phryne sat herself on his lap and draped her arms around his neck. "Former hostess, if you please. I have never worked in a brothel, Inspector, not officially. And I'm a lady now, too, don't forget."

Jack smiled. "Because you're acting so lady-like at the moment."

"At the moment we're alone," she said seductively, her breath warm against Jack's neck.

"But we're expecting company," he reminded her, "company you invited here yourself."

"I know," Phryne turned sideways to lean more into his arms and away from his body but she still didn't leave his lap. "Sorry about that."

"Don't apologise, I'm glad you've finally let your sister in on everything. I like her and Dot you know, I'm happy to have them as guests."

"I shouldn't have just brought them over without speaking to you first, though."

He pulled her closer to him. "Phryne, I really don't mind. You spend enough time here, you may as well treat this place as your home and that includes having your sister over."

For a moment Phryne played with his collar and then to his disappointment she got off his lap and onto a different chair. "You're right, though, there's not much we can do, is there? Even if you hadn't been suspended would you have been able to do much?"

"No really," Jack admitted, "certainly not without jeopardising my career."

"We do need the help of the police though, don't we? Collins?"

Jack nodded slowly. "I think we may have to involve him. The Pandarus is due to sail tonight. We can't stop Fletcher without the police getting involved. We don't have the authority to raid a ship."

"But if we get the police involved, Sanderson will hear of it and overrule us. Hugh can't take on the Commissioner!"

"I was thinking more of him playing double agent. What if we get your sister, a very credible lady, to take all she has found to my replacement? Who did you say that was?"

"A man called Grossmith," Phryne told him.

Jack rolled his eyes. "Grossmith? Really? I wouldn't have raised him up; he's never done more than the bare minimum. Well, he'd certainly like the recognition from breaking this case so he might actually look into it. Then, while Janey's speaking to Grossmith, Dot can get Hugh to watch what happens. What should happen is that Grossmith and Sanderson raid the ship but I bet Sanderson finds a way out of that."

"Assuming that Grossmith even listens to Janey. He certainly wouldn't listen to Jane. But won't that tip Sanderson off that we know?"

Jack shook his head slightly. "It might but we're going to struggle to get anyone to believe us if none of it appears in a police file somewhere. Your sister is close to Sanderson's daughter and Fletcher might believe that there's enough of a rift between you two that you're barely speaking. If he still thinks you haven't told her about us then he's unlikely to think that you will have told her about him, or at least have her believe all that if you have."

"But it's still just going to be our word against that of Sanderson isn't it? Whatever is or isn't on file?"

Jack held his head in his hand. "I know. Maybe we go to the papers, I don't know. Sanderson isn't a bad man, not really, maybe I can appeal to his morals…"

Phryne slammed a hand down on the table, causing Jack to jump and give a second look at the weapons she'd found, hoping that the guns weren't loaded if she was going to be this volatile around them. "I've got it! I know who we can get to help us!"

"Who?" Jack asked mystified.

"Commissioner Hall!"

Jack scoffed. "He stepped down, Phryne. He's got less sway than I have."

"No, he hasn't," Phryne argued. "He's got a spotless reputation, which is more than you have. He's only just stopped being Commissioner, he's got contacts. People higher up will listen to him."

Jack rolled his eyes. "Fine, I accept your premise. He's superior to me in every way. How do we get him on our side? He might be in on it, too, for all we know. After all, the man slept with girls at your club, he's not exactly perfect."

Phryne smirked proudly. "Allegedly."

"You said–"

"Oh, he certainly did, but we won't let on that we know that it's true."

"Then, how…?"

Phryne got up and sauntered over to stand behind him and massage his shoulders. "You go to him, tell him you know exactly how he feels. After all, Sanderson has done the same to you, faked evidence of you spending time with ladies of night to remove you from the force. If he seems taken in by that, you can tell him that you're working on something that would bring Sanderson down and allow Hall to take his old position back if he's interested."

"And you think he'd buy that?" Jack asked, incredulous.

"Trust me, Jack, I know how men like that work. If he had to be blackmailed to leave then he didn't want to go. He probably has a vendetta against Sanderson now. We may have to let Hall take all the credit if this works, and you may have to take the fall if it fails, but…"

"But if the former Commissioner says something's up, the powers that be will listen," Jack sighed. "There is one slight problem."

"Which is?"

Jack tilted his head to look up at her. "You. If I get Hall involved in this, won't he recognise you?"

"Probably. You do realise that Hall will assume that you paid for sex like he did, right?"

He nodded. "And we'll be reinstating a man that uses prostitutes."

"Over a man who sells innocent young girls into prostitution and slavery," Phryne reminded him.

"Neither is good," Jack argued with her. "You may have gone into that life willingly, and you may have made sure that all your girls were well looked after and happy, but trust me, that's not the same for every woman who has to sell her body. A lot start off very much like those girls."

"I know that, Jack," Phryne replied softly. "That's why I looked after my girls. That's why I won't let Fletcher hurt these ones."

Jack nodded and stood up. "Well, you're right about one thing, Commissioner Hall's our best bet. I'll go to his place and see how I get on. Are you happy to convey the plan to your sister and Dot?"

Phryne nodded and walked with him out to the hall, time was of the essence now. "Yes. Do you still want them to go to the police and get Hugh involved?"

"Yes," Jack replied firmly as he put his coat and hat back on. To his surprise, Phryne gave him a quick but firm kiss before opening the door for him. He wondered if she had any idea how domestic her kissing him before he left the house was.

"See you later, then," she smiled at him.

Jack nodded and smiled back at her. "Don't do anything foolish while I'm gone, will you?"

"Me?" Phryne asked him in mock offence.

*.*.*.

Hugh smiled fondly as Dot walked into the station with Miss Fisher. It took him a few seconds to realise that both women were nervous.

He walked over to them and Dot seemed to indicate for him to step to one side with her but he couldn't ignore the lady beside her.

"Miss Fisher, what's the matter?"

Miss Fisher glanced over at Dot before answering. "I need to see Inspector Grossmith. I have some more evidence to do with Joan's disappearance."

"Oh," Hugh said softly, not wanting to upset the ladies, "I think he's closed that case, Miss. He's convinced she's just run away."

"Well, I'm not," Miss Fisher replied.

"Yes, but he does know more about these things, Miss. It's his job."

"I was right about my sister, wasn't I?" she asked full of the self-importance of a lady.

Hugh sighed. "I'll get him for you, Miss. I'll speak to you in a minute, Dottie."

He knocked on the door to the office that still bore Inspector Robinson's name. It gave Hugh a strange sense of hope that no instruction had come yet to remove his name from the window. They surely wouldn't pay for that until they were certain that the Inspector wasn't coming back.

Usually, Inspector Robinson would just reply for Collins to come in, in fact he regularly kept the door open so Hugh only knocked out of politeness. Grossmith was a lot more secretive. While he was happy to take Hugh down to the nearest pub for a beer at any time of day, Hugh realised that he wasn't quite as open and friendly as he made out and at least all Inspector Robinson had kept to himself was his personal life. He'd never had any reason to question what the Inspector was doing behind his shut office door, not even when he'd taken the older Miss Fisher in there with him.

A few seconds later the office door was yanked open and Grossmith's face appeared in the gap. "What is it, Collins?"

"Miss Fisher has got some more evidence to do with her missing maid."

Grossmith laughed patronisingly. "She's just a young girl who's run off to see the world, Collins. Tell Miss Fisher that and then get on with your work."

"I've tried, sir," Hugh insisted, "but she won't listen to me. She needs to hear it from you."

"Women," Grossmith sighed and made his way out, opening the door as little as possible as he did so, once more making Hugh wonder what he was hiding in Inspector Robinson's office. "Fine, I'll speak to her. Sometimes they just need to hear it from a man, Collins. You'll get that gravitas eventually."

Hugh tried to keep his face emotionless like Inspector Robinson always managed to do. He actually found himself wishing that it had been the other Miss Fisher who had turned up with this evidence, he felt certain that she would have put the patronising Grossmith in his place. Her sister might just be too nice.

As the men made their way into reception, Hugh shot Miss Fisher an apologetic glance before he joined Dot in the corner.

"What's wrong," he asked Dot quietly. Grossmith, like Inspector Robinson, didn't mind Dot coming in to speak to him but Hugh never liked the way Grossmith spoke about Dottie when she wasn't there. He'd say things about her that made Hugh want to punch him. No man should say things like that about a lady, especially not Hugh's girl.

"It's all very complicated and you can't tell any other police officer about it, Hugh, you have to promise me!" Dot was all seriousness.

"Dot, if someone's doing something illegal I have to say something!"

"It's Inspector Robinson's orders," she added.

Hugh's breath caught. Of course, he shouldn't be taking any orders from Inspector Robinson, not while he was suspended, but on the other hand there was no one in the world Hugh trusted more, except his Dottie. "Fine, what is it? What's going on?"

Dot glanced over at Grossmith, who was completely engrossed in both patronising Miss Fisher and taking in the evidence from her. "Inspector Robinson and Miss Phryne have been working on something together. They think that Sidney Fletcher is taking girls from the convent, the one I was at, and then… selling them. Miss Phryne called them white gold."

Hugh had heard the term before; he knew what it meant even if Dot didn't, which he hoped was the case. "Go on."

"We think they have Joan, our missing maid. Miss Janey and I have been talking to other employers who've taken on girls. There's at least three more missing and we think they took Bernadette as well but she escaped and drowned. We think they're on Fletcher's ship, the Pandarus, which is due to set sail tonight. Miss Phryne thinks that nothing will happen if we make an official statement because Commissioner Sanderson is in on it all."

"Sanderson? Never, Dottie. He's the Inspector's former-wife's father, he'd never–"

"Inspector Robinson agrees with Miss Phryne that Sanderson knows about it. They both think that what Miss Janey is telling Grossmith now will go nowhere but Inspector Robinson insists that we need to make an official statement so that we have a paper trail that says we did try the police."

Hugh looked back over at Grossmith. "Grossmith will never go against Sanderson, Dot. In fact, he's so convinced that Joan just ran away that I don't think he'll do anything at all."

"That's fine, so long as he adds what Miss Janey is telling him to Joan's file. Now, this is the tricky bit. We, that is the Inspector, needs to know what the police are or aren't doing. So, can you find out and report back to us? Are you happy to do that?"

Hugh stared at her. "This could cost me my job, Dot."

She nodded. "I know, it's why the Inspector has tried to not involve you in this, Hugh. I don't think he'd blame you if you said no, I wouldn't, but… oh, those poor girls, Hugh!"

Grossmith finally walked away from Miss Fisher and back into his office. She looked over at the pair, barely containing her anger. Grossmith was certainly very lucky he had spoken to the easy-going sister. Miss Fisher raised her eyebrows at Dot and indicated the door before exiting the station. She was waiting for her out there, then.

Finally alone, Hugh reached out and took Dot's hand. "I took this job to look after good people who need help, Dottie, not corrupt people like Grossmith and Sanderson. Of course I'll help you and the Inspector."

Dot smiled with relief. "Good. We're using the Inspector's home as a base. Do you know where that is?"

He shook his head and Dot took out a notepad and scrawled down an address for him. She ripped out the page and Hugh quickly tucked the sheet of paper into his pocket. Dot smiled up at him lovingly. He bent down and kissed her cheek. "I'll see you later, Dottie, and let you know what I find out."

She smiled broadly before running out after Miss Fisher. Hugh straightened his jacket and put on his sternest face before going to speak to Grossmith. He had a feeling that he would be adding whatever evidence Miss Fisher had brought in to Joan's file himself.

TBC...