Chapter 33 – The Calm
*.*.*.
Jack's talk with Commissioner Hall had gone almost exactly as Phryne had suggested it would. He had been suspicious when Jack had first appeared on his doorstep but as he had gone into more details about how he had come to him because he knew Sanderson had blackmailed him with the same lies that he had used to force himself out, Hall began to open up. Hall had told him how he'd always held Jack in high regard, how he'd let Sanderson use his influence to help his son-in-law not for nepotism but because he thought Jack deserved it. He had said, although Jack suspected he was lying at this point, that he never believed the tip-off that Sanderson had received about him but his hands had been tied and he had to allow the suspension. When Jack told him about his own investigation he had been completely silent and only interjected with "dear Lord"s and "deary me"s and somehow Jack had convinced former Commissioner Hall to return to his home with him to work with the rest of the team.
Phryne had been suspiciously absent on their return home but Jack wasn't surprised. This whole new partnership was founded on the lie that both of their alleged relationships with women at the Imperial Club were lies that Sanderson had cooked up. If Hall did recognise Miss Phryne Fisher as Peony from the Imperial Club, it could all very quickly fall apart.
There was, to his great surprise, refreshments laid out in the parlour which Jack offered to Commissioner Hall. He realised that if Phryne was playing some long game to get Hall she could have poisoned it and vanished but this whole scheme seemed far too convoluted for the hot-headed woman to dream up to get even with an old client of her former club. She would have just gone to his house and shot him if she wanted to kill him. Besides, as Jack ate and drank the same refreshments, it all tasted fine.
They were interrupted by Miss Fisher and Miss Williams arriving back from the station and Commissioner Hall was thoroughly charming with the two ladies. Janey told Jack how she had got on with Grossmith, which had been very disappointing but not unexpected. When Hugh arrived not long after he confirmed that the report had got no further than Grossmith's desk and that even the task to note Miss Fisher's findings had been given to him as Grossmith deemed it unimportant.
Jack rolled his eyes. "It's a good job we're not relying on him to save those girls, isn't it?"
There were awkward smiles at his joke. Hall's presence was not helping put the rest of them at ease. Hugh, in particular, stayed extremely stiff and formal. Jack sighed. "So, what's our next step?"
"You're certain that this boat is sailing tonight?" Hall asked.
Jack nodded. "I've been keeping an eye on it. The crew are edgy about something, probably worried that the girl's death will come back on them."
"It most certainly will," Hall agreed firmly. "Now, there are a few more officers still on the force that I know are loyal to me. I suggest that I reach out to them and get together a strike force, including you and this young constable of yours, and we do what we'd be doing if Sanderson hadn't forced us out and raid that ship."
Jack almost sighed with relief. "Thank you, Commissioner. That's exactly what I'd hoped you'd say."
Hall looked over at Hugh. "Now, young chap, you realise of course that if we find nothing on that ship you'd be signing away your career? Robinson here has been singing your praises; it sounds like you have the makings of a fine detective."
Hugh's chest puffed up proudly. "I'd rather do the right thing and lose my job than work for a bunch of crooked cops, sir."
"Good lad. May I use your telephone, Robinson? No time to lose."
Jack showed him out into the hall and then returned to the other three and sat down in his armchair in relief.
"What will the rest of us do?" Janey asked him.
"Stay away from the ship," Jack said sincerely. "This will be dangerous."
"Do you think Fletcher and Sanderson will be on the ship?"
He shook his head. "I don't know. Fletcher, maybe. I suspect Sanderson won't be around unless he gets wind of our plans."
Janey sighed. "I know I shouldn't be but I'm worried about Rosie. I'm sure she wouldn't be involved in this. You know her better than any of us, Jack, don't you agree?"
Jack cleared his throat nervously. "I think it unlikely but Rosie and I haven't been close for years, Miss Fisher. I'd say you know her better than I do."
"Maybe it would be good for the ladies to pay Miss Sanderson a visit, sir," Hugh offered cautiously. "They'd be well placed to keep an eye on Sanderson, maybe Fletcher as well, and can let us know if there's any movement."
Janey smiled. "Dot and I would be welcome but I'm not so sure about Phryne joining us. She's more likely to antagonise all three of them."
Jack looked around the room. Phryne's absence was a lot more noticeable now that the group had grown. "Where is Phryne?"
"Oh, she could be anywhere," Janey replied in frustration. "I never know where she is."
"Here, Miss Fisher," Jack replied firmly, standing up from his seat. "When she's not with you, I'm fairly certain she's here with me."
"Who saw her last?" Hugh asked.
"I believe Miss Fisher and Miss Williams did," Jack replied.
Janey nodded. "Yes, we came back here and she sent us to speak to you at the station, Hugh."
"When I last saw her she came up with the idea to get Commissioner Hall involved," Jack told them. "I left her here when I went to see him. She'd got an arsenal of weapons lined up on my kitchen table…"
Jack tailed off as he followed his thoughts through to the kitchen. As he feared, half of the weapons had vanished. He was dimly aware of the other three trailing behind him and a confused Hall watching them from the hallway as he made his telephone calls.
"Phryne?" Jack called out loudly, vainly hoping to hear her voice come from upstairs. There was no reply.
Quickening his steps he ran up to his bedroom, calling her name. His room was dark and empty, no sign of the missing woman. He swore and made his way back downstairs where everyone else was congregated at the bottom of the staircase, waiting for him.
"She isn't here?" Dot asked him and Jack shook his head.
"Who is this Phryne?" Commissioner Hall asked confused, the telephone handset still in his hands to indicate that he hadn't finished but he currently appeared to be in-between calls.
"She's my–" Jack cut himself off, not entirely sure himself what he'd been about to label Phryne as.
"She's my sister," Janey quickly interrupted to save his grace. "She's been helping us, working quite closely with the Inspector. She spent some time on the streets herself so she's a bit over-involved in the welfare of young girls."
Hall nodded, still looking confused. "I see. And she's missing?"
Jack shook his head. "No, not missing. I know exactly where she is. She's gone to the damn ship to rescue those girls."
"Alone?"
"Probably."
"Brave girl," Commissioner Hall remarked as he finally put the telephone down.
"Brave is one word for it," Jack agreed in frustration.
"Right, well, we've got another three officers on their way to meet us at the boat so let's go and rescue all of these girls, shall we?" the ex-commissioner seemed quite animated at the prospect of being back in action again.
Jack nodded, somehow already feeling defeated. What if Phryne had done something so foolish that De Vere had already killed her like he had that done to that poor Bernadette?
"Shall we go to Miss Sanderson's like we discussed?" Dot asked.
Jack looked up and realised that Janey was looking as worried and upset as he felt. Of course she'd already lost her sister once. He imagined that she couldn't cope with the idea of doing it all again. Jack reached out and squeezed her hand in what he was aware was a rather over-intimate gesture considering that they barely knew each other. Well, as she'd said before, they were pretty much family, weren't they?
"We'll make sure she's alright, Miss Fisher," he assured her with false confidence. "We'll get her safely off Fletcher's ship and then I'll kill her. I promise you."
Janey forced a smile at Jack's words. "Don't completely kill her, please Jack. She needs to be alive enough for me to kill when you bring her home. Again."
"Agreed. Um, yes, go to Sanderson's to see Rosie. See what you can find out and if you find out anything we need to know…"
"We'll get word to you," Dot promised, obviously realising how distraught Jack was. "Come on, Miss. You know the Inspector won't let anything happen to Miss Phryne."
Jack watched them leave, desperately hoping that Dot's faith in him wasn't misplaced.
"You alright to join us, Robinson?" Hall asked. Jack blinked, realising that he wasn't hiding his worry as well as he had hoped. "I take it you're courting this other Miss Fisher?"
"Courting… yes, I suppose, in a manner of speaking," Jack agreed, deciding that this wasn't the time to correct Hall on his assumption. "I'm fine. I certainly am in no fit state to join the ladies on a surprise visit to my ex-wife. Let's go and raid this ship."
*.*.*.
The Pandarus was frustratingly quiet. Once Janey had left to go to the police station, Phryne had changed into black trousers and a black blouse and then had telephoned Cec and Bert but this time she had got them to come straight to Jack's house to collect her. They had been surprised when they saw her toting her arsenal but as soon as she had explained about the kidnapped girls they had insisted on helping her. Like most men of their age they had fought in the war so they knew their way around a gun. Phryne found herself quite glad of their company. She would have rather had Jack with her but he had to do this the correct way and Phryne was convinced that they simply didn't have time to play by the rules. She was confident that Jack would arrive with backup soon but in the meantime she would try to find those girls.
"You know what they say about rats and sinking ships."
Phryne looked back at Bert's words. So the men had noticed the lack of crew too. At least they weren't likely to be sailing off at any moment.
"Maybe they've been warned," Cec offered.
"If they had been, the Pandarus would be halfway out to sea by now," Phryne reminded them.
"Well, if they are holding anybody on board, it's gonna be hard to find 'em."
"Yeah," Bert agreed. "Smugglers are a crafty lot."
Phryne heard a noise so she signalled to the men to be quiet. She didn't think she'd known anyone be quite as chatty as her cabbies once they got started.
Like trained soldiers following their commander, Cec and Bert fell in silently behind her. She crept forward, noticing some footprints trailing from a leaking barrel of water. It was a warm night so they had to be fairly fresh to still show so clearly. She heard another noise and was certain she'd cornered whoever it was behind another barrel.
"Who's there?"
Phryne was shocked as the shaking figure of Joan appeared from behind the barrel at her words. Without her glasses the poor girl was quite clearly half-blind but somehow she'd almost escaped the ship on her own. "Joan!"
Joan looked towards the sound of Phryne's voice. "Miss Phryne, is that you? I can't see!"
She stumbled in the direction of Phryne who enveloped her in a hug and pulled her in close. "Joan, it's all right."
"Please, we have to leave. Please, he'll come back."
Phryne held her tightly for a few more moments, trying to shush the poor girl's tears. "Here, Joan, you're safe now. These are friends of mine, Cec and Bert. They'll see you home safe."
She managed to bundle the poor girl into Cec's arms but Bert stayed his ground. "What about you?"
"I think there are more girls on board somewhere, I have to find them," Phryne insisted.
"There are," Joan told them. "I escaped when they brought us water."
Bert shook his head. "We're not leaving you alone, Miss."
Phryne rolled her eyes. Men. "Then just take Joan back to the cab and make sure she has the doors locked before you come back. Please, make sure she's safe."
Reluctantly Bert gave her a short, sharp nod before he and Cec escorted Joan away from the ship. Phryne, meanwhile, headed down below deck.
*.*.*.
Janey decided that she wasn't cut out for all this subterfuge. Rosie had been surprised at her and Dot landing on her doorstep but she had still welcomed the pair in. Her father was at home, they had learned, but Fletcher was off running some errand. His ship was due to sail on the evening's high tide. She and Dot shared a look. They had known that there was a chance Fletcher would be at the ship, it didn't seem like enough to warrant risking Sanderson getting suspicious by letting the others know.
Rosie looked at Janey concerned. "What's wrong, Janey? You look like you have something on your mind."
Janey couldn't meet her eyes. "It's nothing, Rosie, honestly."
"Please, tell me Janey."
"Phryne's sleeping with Jack," Janey blurted out unintentionally, although somehow at that moment it probably was the safest secret for her to give up.
She finally looked up and Rosie stared at her, her face unreadable as she took this in. "Your sister? Well, to be honest with you Janey, that's hardly surprising. Jack who? Oh... oh you mean, you mean my Jack? My husband?"
Janey bit her lip. "He's not actually your husband any longer, Rosie, but, yes, your former husband."
"Yes, yes," Rosie replied, looking shocked, "former husband. That's what I meant. Oh. Well. It's none of my business, of course."
As the women grew quiet they heard the telephone start to ring. The housekeeper answered it and then called for Commissioner Sanderson. A short conversation followed and then Sanderson popped into the parlour to let Rosie know that he was heading out on an urgent matter. The women stayed silent until they heard the front door close.
Rosie looked suspiciously at her companions. "What is going on?
Janey and Dot shared a look. This time it was Dot who answered. "I don't suppose you have access to another car, do you, Miss Sanderson?"
*.*.*.
Every corner Phryne looked into just contained sacks of sugar or food and water for the crew on their voyage. She knew that there had to be more girls but she struggled to find a hidden room until she went deeper into the hold. Finally she knocked on a panel that sounded hollow. She looked around and saw a lever that just barely jutted out of the wall so as to be practically unnoticeable. Phryne pulled on it and the panel loosened slightly. She got her fingers into the gap and pulled harder to reveal the petrified faces of the girls Phryne had been searching for.
"Oh, you poor lambs."
Behind her, Phryne heard the cock of a gun. She turned, completely unsurprised to see Fletcher pointing a gun at her with that smug look on his face that she was so eager to slap off. "I'm afraid I'll have to tie you up, although that probably won't be a first time for you. Come down. Now."
Phryne glanced back at the girls she'd just found. If she reached for her gun he'd shoot before she got a chance to shoot him and if he missed her he'd get one of them. Praying that Jack really wasn't too far behind, Phryne decided that her best option right now was to surrender and wait. She raised her hands and walked over to Fletcher, giving him one of her best glares.
TBC...