moment, I thought she’d break protocol for us.
“He really is indisposed,” she finally said. “Do you have a card or an address he can use to contact you?”
Uncle stayed behind to make sure she’d taken his message and address down, while Thomas and I waited outside the building. Sunshine tried shoving its way through a thick wall of clouds. Its attempt at getting through was going as well as ours was at present.
“What are we supposed to do?” I asked, poking holes in the snow with my cane. “Sit around, sipping tea and eating cake, until a body turns up?”
“We could try speaking with friends of the missing women.” Thomas watched me stamp at the snow. “Though perhaps we can wait a bit.”
I glared at him. “You’re not suggesting I’m incapable, are you?”
Without care or concern for the people walking past us on the street, Thomas tugged me by my overcoat until we were close enough to share breath. “You, my dear, are more capable than any person I’ve ever had either the pleasure—or displeasure in most cases—of meeting.” He kissed my forehead. “I’m suggesting we see what Noah’s come to say.”
“Noah?”
He smiled down at me. “He sent a telegram this morning. He has new information he wants to share in person.”
“Hey, you two!” Noah loped through the snow, his infectious smile in place. He held fast to his hat as he crossed the busy sidewalk and paused in front of us. “Have any luck?” He nodded toward the police station. After scanning the holes I’d punched in the snow, he answered his own question. “Don’t take it personally. No one in this city wants to acknowledge bad stuff is happening. They think it’ll scare people away from the illustrious White City. As if anything would keep people away from the Ferris Wheel.” He rolled his eyes. “I’m heading there now and thought you’d like to come.”
Thomas quickly assessed Noah, and I imagined he already knew the answer before he asked the question but was attempting to be polite. “Another missing woman?”
“Yeah.” Noah scratched the side of his head, nodding. “She worked at the fair. Thought I’d poke around and see what I could find. The Columbian Guard is being tight-lipped about it.”
“Columbian Guard?” I asked. “What’s that?”
“An elite part of the police force.” Noah seemed less than impressed. “The White City is so massive, it needs its own police. They wear stupid uniforms, too. Complete with capes. The council thought it would look good to, you know, be in theme with how regal the place is.”
Costume choices aside, I shifted my attention to Thomas. He offered a slight nod. Here was a promising trail for us to follow.
I inhaled some of the icy air, already feeling more energized. “Let’s go back to the White City, shall we?”
After Thomas ran inside and informed Uncle of our plans, we set off for the World’s Fair.
Despite clouds covering the sky, the enormous Ferris Wheel cut like a blade through the gloom with its sheer might. In fact, it was hard to believe in anything other than magic in the White City. Even knowing what I did about missing women, I couldn’t stop from gasping as I watched the mammoth wheel rotate high in the sky. It carried two thousand people into the heavens. And while I watched it happen before me, I still found it impossible to believe. I’d been impressed by images I’d seen of the Eiffel Tower during Paris’s Exposition Universelle, but this was the most magnificent thing I’d ever witnessed.
Thomas stood beside me, watching the enormous wheel rotate. When he caught my eye, I saw a hint of sadness before he covered it up. I reached over and held his hand. He needn’t utter a word; I knew how he felt. What he longed for. I longed for it, too.
It would be lovely to be the sort of young couple who could purchase boxes of Cracker Jack and stand in the massive line for the giant ride. We could talk excitedly about Buffalo Bill’s stagecoach attacks, marvel at how authentic it appeared, our cheeks flushed with the thrill. Once we finally boarded the Ferris Wheel and soared into the heavens, perhaps Thomas could steal a kiss. But we weren’t that couple. We had a murder investigation to conduct.
We followed Noah through a throng of people, Thomas holding tight to me so we didn’t get separated by the masses. Despite the buildings and the new technology on display, the crowds