made Dot feel even more inadequate.
Forrester faced the girl. “I’m sorry I don’t know your full name.”
“It’s Maryann Simpkins.”
“Miss Simpkins, I should like to present you to my sister, Annie Appleton, and my betrothed, Miss Pankhurst.”
Maryann dipped into a curtsy to each.
Not wanting to feel superior to the girl, Dot returned the curtsy. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
Maryann waved toward the sofa. “Won’t you please sit?”
Dot and Annie sat down, but Forrester chose to remain standing.
“It may seem odd that we’re calling on you today,” Forrester said, “but both Miss Pankhurst and I are grievously affected over the tragic death of your friend Ellie Macintosh, and we wish to do everything in our power to learn the identity of the fiend responsible for her murder . . .”
“And make sure he’s punished,” Dot added.
The lady’s eyes filled with tears. “I can’t get it out of my mind. I was with her just the afternoon she died. Who knew I’d never see her again? Who could have known a monster would deprive her of life?” A sob burst from her, but she quickly recovered. “For all I know, he could come for me next.”
“That’s another reason I’m so determined to find the madman,” he said. “We can’t allow him to slay again. Perhaps you know something that will help us find him.”
She shook her head. “I don’t know nothing.”
“Did Miss Macintosh speak to you of coming into some money recently?” Dot asked, her voice gentle.
Maryann’s eyes widened. “She did. That last afternoon.”
“How did she get it?” Forrester asked.
“That she wouldn’t say. All I know is that she did something she was sorry she’d done.”
“Would you say she was melancholy that afternoon?” Dot asked.
“She was. She was being very hard on herself. She kept saying it was too late to give the money back. Her wicked deed had been done.”
“But you don’t know what the wicked deed was?” he asked.
“No idea,” Maryann said.
“Do you know if there was a man she saw? A sweetheart?” Dot asked.
Maryann shook her head. “I never knew her to ever give encouragement to any man. She thought they were all interested in . . . well, in something she wasn’t. Ellie was a country girl at heart. She’d like to have married a farm laborer and settled on land and had a family, but I got the feeling she felt there was no place where she belonged, though Ellie was very tight-lipped. She didn’t talk much about herself.”
“Did you ever see her speaking with any men outside of Mrs. Starr’s?” he asked.
She pondered this for a moment. “No, never. I’m sorry I’m not of any help.”
“It’s not your fault,” Dot said, standing. “But we’re not going to give up.”
When they reached her door, Maryann said, “Wait!”
They whirled around to face her.
“I just remembered something, something I believe is very important. She was going to come into some money that same night as she died. She must have been planning to meet a man.”
“The killer,” Dot murmured, a chill spiking along her spine.
“And you have no idea who she was going to meet?” he asked.
Maryann shook her head morosely. “She said she hoped she wouldn’t be late for w-w-work.” Maryann burst out crying. “Sh-sh-she never made it to work that night.”
Forrester moved to her and settled a gentle hand on her shoulder. “Thank you for talking with us today. If I can ever be of assistance, you can find me at Camden Place. And I beg of you, do not walk alone at night and always lock your door.”
“Thank you, my lord. As it is, Mrs. Starr has retained the services of a hackney coach to take home all the girls at the end of the evening. All the girls that’s left, that is.”
“That’s very good of her.”
Dot came and set a hand on her forearm. “If you remember anything else, do let Lord Appleton know. Do give the lady your card, my darling,” Dot said to Forrester.
It took him a moment to find which pocket he’d put the cards in. “We shan’t rest until the wicked man pays for his crime,” he said as they left.
* * *
Now they had gotten information, such as it was, from Ellie’s landlady and elderly neighbor as well as Ellie’s closest friend, Appleton knew barely more than he’d known before he started. He felt like the exhausted fisherman with empty nets.
They had learned Ellie had taken money for doing something she regretted, and that she had met with a possibly