shook the detective’s hand. “I’m afraid I don’t have the honor of knowing your reputation, sir,” he said with an affable smile.
“Which only goes to show I am very good at my job indeed,” Det. Gleason replied.
He held Phineas’s hand for longer than was necessary, and judging by the way their hands were joined, both men were attempting to squeeze the life out of the other in some sort of show of masculine superiority. On any other day, Lenore would have rolled her eyes, but Bart had taken up a position halfway up the steps of the National Gallery and was scanning the crowd closer to the fountain.
“I understand that you were an editor of your class newspaper at Durham University,” Det. Gleason went on to say, smiling at Phineas as though he knew something.
“I played a minor role,” Phineas said with a casual shrug. Lenore had the feeling the shrug was to distract from the flush that formed on his face.
“I did a bit of scribbling myself, back in the day,” Det. Gleason went on. “We should have a pint sometime and talk about literature.”
“That sounds delightful,” Phin answered, then cleared his throat. “If you will excuse me, sir. Miss Garrett truly does have a pressing engagement that we are already late for.”
“Understood,” Det. Gleason said with a nod. “Have a good day, sir. I’m sure our paths will cross again.”
“Aren’t you going to examine him?” Lady Hamilton asked Det. Gleason as Lenore and Phineas hurried away. “I’m certain both of them have something to do with this whole, horrid affair.”
“Shit,” Phineas growled once he and Lenore had reached the edge of the square and were able to move faster. He didn’t say anything more.
“I quite agree,” Lenore said in a hollow voice.
Neither of them spoke as they moved far enough from the bustling square to hail a cab. Even once they were inside, Lenore couldn’t breathe a sigh of relief. Bart was in London. London was huge, but it wasn’t big enough to keep her hidden forever. She had to assume that Bart was searching for her and that he would ask around. All it would take was for him to find someone who knew her or had even heard of her, and he would know where to find her. The clock that had been ticking over her head for more than a year suddenly seemed louder than ever before.
“You’re going to have to explain what’s going on,” Phineas told her with a pointed look as the cab let them out in front of Howsden House. Phin paid the driver, and the two of them continued to the house.
Lenore didn’t wait for Mr. Tilney, the butler, to let them in. Reese had taken to leaving the front door unlocked during the day, since all three of them had a tendency to come and go, though she hoped and prayed both Reese and Freddy were home.
“I’ll explain,” Lenore said, pressing a hand to her stomach as she and Phineas headed down the hall in search of Freddy and Reese. “But I’d rather only explain once.”
She considered it a stroke of luck that Freddy and Reese were, indeed, both home, enjoying luncheon in the dining room along with Reese’s son Harry and Harry’s best friend, Ricky, who also happened to be Freddy’s nephew and Henrietta’s son from her first marriage. All of them glanced up as Lenore and Phineas appeared in the doorway.
“I thought you were having luncheon with your May Flowers friends,” Freddy said, though he stood with a smile and moved to kiss Lenore’s cheek. Before he stepped back, his expression dropped and he asked, “What’s wrong?”
Lenore glanced to Harry and Ricky, who looked delighted to be present when something grown-up was happening. That didn’t last long, though.
“Boys, it’s back to the nursery for you,” Reese said, standing and pulling back Harry’s chair as though he would comically dump him out of it.
“We never get to hear anything fun,” Harry complained to Ricky as the two boys shuffled out of the room.
Reese gestured for Lenore to sit in the chair Harry had vacated, but Lenore held up a hand and shook her head. “I don’t think I can sit still right now.” She proved as much by pacing the length of the room, hands pressed to her stomach.
“Do you know what’s going on?” Freddy asked Phineas.
Phineas shrugged and shook his head. “She saw a man from her past in the crowd at Trafalgar Square.”
All three men turned to