The Mystery Woman (Ladies of Lantern Str - By Amanda Quick Page 0,78

such an investigation?” she demanded.

“Because this affair has its roots in what happened that night,” Joshua said, not bothering to conceal his impatience with the distracting questions. He fixed Nelson with a fiercely intent expression. “What did you discover?”

Nelson took out a notebook and flipped through it. He stopped at a page. “There were, as you predicted, a number of inconsistencies in people’s memories of the events at the time but there were a few things everyone agreed on. Several suspected that paranormal forces from beyond the grave were involved in the murder. Naturally I discounted that theory.”

Joshua dismissed that with a short, brusque movement of one hand. “Of course. What else?”

Nelson gave Beatrice an apologetic look. “I’m sorry to say that many of the residents of the street concluded that the woman they knew as Miranda the Clairvoyant was the killer.”

She sighed. “No need to apologize. I read the papers at the time. The knowledge that the police were looking for me was one of the reasons I changed careers. No one ever expects a woman to do that.”

“Right.” Nelson turned another page. “But here’s the interesting material. Two shopkeepers and a baked potato vendor who do business in the neighborhood recalled an unusual man who loitered in the vicinity for a couple of days before the murder. He made them uneasy, they said. The shopkeepers wondered if he might be a thief who was making observations in preparation for a burglary.”

“They were on the right track,” Joshua said. “But he was planning a murder and a kidnapping, not a burglary.”

“The interesting fact was that they all gave a strikingly similar description of the man. They said he spoke very little but when he did it was with a heavy foreign accent.”

“The people who inhabit small, closely knit neighborhoods always remember outsiders, especially outsiders with strong accents,” Joshua said. “Did they give any more details?”

“It was all quite vague,” Nelson said. “But the baked potato vendor said the stranger had a face that could keep a child awake at night. Reminded him of a skull, he said. The shopkeepers agreed.”

“That confirms my conclusion,” Joshua said. “Lancing is using a professional assassin. Now we must locate the skull-faced man.”

“How?” Beatrice asked.

Nelson looked interested. “Yes, how do we do that, Uncle Josh?”

“A professional killer—especially one with a foreign accent—will not have gone unnoticed in the criminal underworld,” Joshua said. “That is a small, closely connected neighborhood, too.”

“But how do we make inquiries in that world?” Nelson asked.

“I have an associate who makes it a point to know everything that goes on in that realm. As it happens, he owes me a favor or two.”

“Now, there’s a surprise,” Beatrice said. She smiled. “I’m shocked to hear that you are acquainted with such an individual, Mr. Gage.”

Nelson burst into laughter. After a moment, Joshua’s mouth tugged upward in a reluctant smile.

Like uncle, like nephew, Beatrice thought.

“I cannot wait to go home and bathe and put on a fresh change of clothing,” she said.

Joshua looked at her. “You’re not going home, not yet. It’s too risky. There is a possibility that by now the assassin has discovered your address. He may be watching your house. There is only one place in London where I can be assured of your safety.”

“Where is that?”

“The home of an old friend of mine. Assuming I can prevail upon him to help us.”

“Does he owe you a favor like your associate in the criminal underworld?” Beatrice asked.

“No. I am the one who owes him,” Joshua said.

Thirty-Five

What is going on between you and Mr. Gage?” Sara asked.

She was sitting on a chair in the small bedroom watching Beatrice dress in clean petticoats and a fresh gown.

“What do you mean?” Beatrice said. “I told you what happened at Alverstoke Hall and afterward.” She finished fastening the bodice of the dress and sat down in front of the fire to dry her hair. “Mr. Gage believes that a madman named Clement Lancing is intent on kidnapping me.”

She was feeling refreshed and invigorated from the bath. Shortly after their arrival at the back door of Flint & Marsh, she and Joshua had been ushered upstairs to the private quarters of the town house. George had been dispatched to the house Beatrice shared with Clarissa. He had been given instructions to tell the housekeeper that Beatrice had been called away on a special assignment for Flint & Marsh and required a change of clothing and some toiletries. He had returned with a bag packed