A Devious Lot (Antiques & Collectibles Mysteries Book 5) (12 page)

“I’ll go in. If I can catch a glimpse of him with a woman . . .” Percy’s voice trailed away.

“No,” Julius said. “In this case, it would be better if Henson didn’t recognize you. I have to be the one to go. We have to know why he’s here. And if it is to spend his time with a fallen woman, Lillian’s father must be told.”

They walked back to the rooming house and Julius went up the steps and entered a cramped foyer with a staircase that led to the upper floors. A hallway straight ahead of him went to the rear of the house. Above, he heard floorboards creak and a woman’s laughter. Down the darkened hallway, a door opened, spilling light onto the floor. A woman came toward him. From a distance in the dim light, she appeared young and pretty, but as she got close enough to see properly, he realized she was a lot older than him and her face was pockmarked and rough.

“Looking for company?” she asked, her voice slurred with drink.

“No, thank you,” he said. “A man came in a few minutes ago. I believe I might know him. Can you tell me his name?”

She stood close to Julius and trailed a long ragged fingernail down the front of his jacket. He tried to smile, but couldn’t fake it. She smelled like booze and sweat and her breath was putrid. He felt sick to his stomach.

“You mean Victor?” she asked.

“Yes, that’s right,” he said, taking a step back. “Is he here, ah, with someone?”

She grinned and he saw she was missing a lot of teeth. “He went out the back with Sabrina,” she said.

“Do you know where they’ve gone?”

“To the pub, of course.” She took another step toward him, and Julius held his breath. “You look lost and lonely,” she said. “Sure you don’t want company?”

“No, thank you all the same,” Julius said. “What pub?”

“The Black Hound,” she said. “It’s around the corner. You can cut through the yard to get there. Just go out the back door.” She bit her lip, trying for a coy look, but it failed miserably. He felt sorry for her. “My room’s just down the hall . . .”

“That won’t be necessary,” he said. He dug a coin from his pocket and gave it to her. “Thank you for your time,” he said, and quickly went out the door.

Percy was at the end of the block smoking a cigarette. He dropped it to the ground and crushed it with his boot heel when he saw Julius.

“He went out the back with a woman named Sabrina. They’ve gone to the Black Hound. It’s around the corner.”

“Excellent,” Percy said. “Let’s go.”

As they walked to the pub, Julius said, “I think she’s lying.”

“Who?”

“The woman I spoke to. Women don’t go to pubs.”

Percy laughed. “Good grief, man, we’re in the slums of Whitechapel, where there’s nary a virtuous woman. They do as they please here.”

Julius felt like a fool, but it only lasted a moment. He was glad he didn’t know about this dark lifestyle. Nothing good could come of it.

They found the Black Hound easily. The doors were open to the street, and it was packed with men and women. A band played lively tunes on fiddles and drums, and everyone seemed to be drinking.

“We might never find him in this crowd,” Julius said.

“Don’t despair. First things first,” Percy said. He pushed their way to the bar and ordered two beers. Between the loud music and all the talking and laughing going on, it was hard to hear him and he had to shout into Julius’s ear. “This is what we’ll do. You take the left side of the room, I’ll take the right. Walk around casually, drinking your beer. If you see Henson, don’t talk to him or look at him too long. We’ll meet back here in ten minutes and decide what to do.”

They went their separate ways and Julius moved among the rowdy crowd, mindful not to slosh his beer on anyone and start a fight. He could see he was getting menacing looks from a group of toughs gathered in a corner. He didn’t want to incur their wrath. In a strange way, he was fascinated, and appalled, at what he was seeing. Men and women drank to excess, and the women’s behavior was shocking. They sat on the men’s laps, they danced close, and the men were all over them. Nothing was sacred in this place. Percy was right. There wasn’t a single lady in sight.

He was beginning to think Henson must be on Percy’s side of the pub when suddenly he saw Victor at one of the tables in the back. He had a buxom blond on his lap (presumably Sabrina), and was twirling a lock of her hair in his fat fingers. As Julius stared, he kissed her neck. She said something in his ear and he laughed out loud. Julius wanted to slug him, but pushed his way to the bar, where he found Percy waiting.

“Any luck?” Percy asked.

“Look over your right shoulder, toward the back.”

Percy casually turned his head, and when he looked back to Julius, he was smiling. “I do believe Lord Henson’s intentions for slumming this evening are clear,” he said.

“I’ll go to Lillian’s father the moment we get back,” Julius said. “I’ll tell him what we’ve seen, and demand he release her from any promise of marriage.”

“No, you will not,” Percy said firmly. “First, it’s much too late for such a visit. And second, he knows you love his daughter. You can’t risk him accusing you of spreading lies and tarnishing a good man’s reputation. He might have you arrested and later, that odious little man sitting over there with his hand down Sabrina’s blouse will charge you with slander.” He finished his beer and slammed the mug on the bar. “I, on the other, may be able to convince him. I will go to him in the morning, and I will tell him what I’ve seen here tonight.”

“Will he believe you?”

“I claim no such confidence,” Percy said. “But I will swear to him, on my honor as a gentleman, that I am telling the truth.”

“What will happen to Lillian, if he doesn’t believe you?”

Percy sighed. “She will have to marry Henson,” he said. “There’s nothing else she can do.”

Chapter 12

Molly dreamt she was at Channing Hall, eating sandwiches and cakes on the settee with Tiffany. Giles appeared in the dream and handed Tiffany a cup of tea. Molly tried to knock it out of her hand, but her own was like a ghost’s, without form or substance, and went through her. Horrified, she yelled at Tiffany not to drink the tea, but Tiffany couldn’t hear her. She smiled at Giles as she drank. Giles spoke to her, but Molly couldn’t hear what he was saying. She watched helplessly as Tiffany’s eyes began to close, and a moment later Tiffany dropped to the floor. Giles stood over her and laughed. He lifted his cup in the air in a toast, and turned to someone standing behind Molly. She tried to see who it was, but she couldn’t turn around fast enough. She awoke with a start, her breathing fast, her heart pounding in her chest.

Rising up on her elbows, Molly glanced at the bedside clock. It was quarter to five, and Matt’s side of the bed was empty. He’d already gotten up. She could hear the shower running in the bathroom across the hall. Reaching across his pillow, she turned off the alarm, which was set to go off at five. She leaned back on her pillow and closed her eyes, on the verge of crying. Matt was flying home that morning without her. It was hard not to give in to the urge to pack her bags and go with him. If her mother hadn’t already agreed to come, she probably would have. In a little while, Matt came into the bedroom and she opened her eyes. He smiled at her as he dried his hair with a towel. Another towel was wrapped around his waist. Molly thought he looked gorgeous, and couldn’t stand the thought of waking up tomorrow without him.

“I couldn’t sleep and got up early,” he said.

“I couldn’t sleep either,” she said.

He sat on the edge of the bed. “You look exhausted,” he said. “You should go back to bed when I leave, try to get some sleep.”

She wanted to say she couldn’t sleep because he was leaving, and she didn’t want him to go, but she had agreed to this crazy plan and it wouldn’t be fair to make him feel bad about it.

Matt touched her cheek and smiled that sweet smile that always made her heart melt. “What are your plans for today?” he asked.

“I’m going to the grocery store to stock the refrigerator, and I’ll clean the house and make sure the other guest room is ready for Mom’s arrival. Then tomorrow, I’ll take the train into the city for my ten o’clock hair appointment with Kara Malone.” She’d been lucky to get the appointment. When she’d called the salon, the receptionist told her Kara was booked six months out, but lucky for her, she’d had a cancellation. “I hope she’ll tell me the truth about Tiffany and Giles and doesn’t hold back. Boyle wants to know what their relationship was like, and Giles isn’t talking.”

“Do you think he killed her?”

“I think he’s not sorry she’s dead.”

“What about your mother? Did she get back to you about the limo?”

“Yes, she decided to come here directly instead of going to London with me,” Molly said. “She’s afraid she’ll be too tired. I ordered a car to pick her up at the airport.”

“Good idea,” he said.

Molly batted her long eyelashes at him. “You know what else is a good idea?”

“No. What?”

Molly pulled the quilt aside and patted the mattress.

• • •

Later in the kitchen, Molly brooded as she watched Matt consume a soft-boiled egg, two blueberry muffins, and a big cup of coffee. She still felt conflicted about his leaving without her, and if that wasn’t bad enough, she’d completely lost her appetite.

Matt glanced at his watch. “I should get on the road,” he said.

She knew he wanted to give himself plenty of time to drive to Heathrow, return the rental car, and get to the boarding gate for the flight to Boston. But knowing all of this didn’t make it easier for her to let him go. He said his good-byes to Tessa, and Molly followed him outside to the driveway. As he pulled his suitcase to the car, she looked to the east, where the sun was rising in a blaze of orange and yellow on the horizon. It was going to be a lovely fall day, but it was chilly, and she hugged her sweater around her. She’d have to get used to not having Matt around to keep her warm at night. Holding her chin up in the British tradition, she tried to keep a stiff upper lip, but it was a lot harder than it looked.

Matt put his suitcase in the trunk of the car. Then he turned to her and wrapped his arms around her waist. Molly breathed in his fresh laundry scent, his spicy aftershave, and thought she was going to burst into tears when his mouth tickled her ear as he whispered, “I love you, and I’ll miss you like crazy.”

“I love you, too,” she said, and hugged him tighter. “I’ll call you every day. Do you have your passport?”

“It’s in my carry-on.”

Molly bit her lip.
Don’t you dare cry
.

Matt lifted her chin and kissed her. She didn’t want the kiss to ever end, but there was no use prolonging the inevitable.

“You don’t want to be late,” she said.

Matt kissed her one more time before he slid behind the wheel of the car. He started the engine, powered down the window, and reached his hand out. Molly grabbed it like a lifeline.

“I’ll call you from Heathrow,” he said.

“I should be going with you,” she said. “This is stupid.”

“No, it’s not,” he said. “You’re going to help the police find the person who killed Tiffany, and you’re going to give your elderly great-aunt some peace of mind.”

“But we should be going home together,” she said, hating the whiney sound of her voice. “We’re on our honeymoon.”

Matt winked at her and smiled. “Sweetheart, as far as I’m concerned, we’ll always be on our honeymoon.” He kissed her hand. “You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me, Molly Appleby.”

He blew her a kiss and drove off, and Molly watched the car as it went past White Dove Cottage and disappeared around the bend in the road. Behind her, she heard the front door open, and a moment later Tessa stood beside her. She patted her arm gently.

“There, there. You’ll be together soon,” Tessa said.

“Of course we will,” Molly said, and lifted her chin a little higher.

Chapter 13

“I’m going to make you something special to cheer you up,” Tessa said.

“I’m really not hungry,” Molly said.

“Nonsense. You have to eat breakfast.”

Molly knew there was no arguing with Tessa. And maybe she could eat something after all. “Can I at least help you?” she asked.

“No. I want you to have some coffee, sit down, and relax.”

Molly went to the coffee machine and brewed a cup of coffee, feeling proud of herself for finally mastering the contraption. Gingersnap sauntered into the kitchen and stared at her empty food dish.

“She didn’t say good-bye to Matt,” Molly said.

“Yow,” Gingersnap said.

Molly fed the cat and sat at the table with her coffee. She watched Tessa line up a jug of milk, a bag of flour, and a carton of eggs on the counter. When she took a package of chocolate chips from the pantry, Molly’s eyes lit up. “Are you making waffles with chocolate chips?”

“How did you know?”

“I remember you made them for me when I was a little girl.”

“I wanted to surprise you,” Tessa said. “The chocolate gave it away, didn’t it? But I’m pleased you remember.”

“How could I forget? Those waffles were decadent. Although, as I recall, Mom wasn’t pleased you were making them for me every day.”

Molly was ten years old the first time she’d traveled to England with her mother—old enough to appreciate a foreign country, and old enough to become acquainted with her great-aunt Tessa and her great-uncle Jack. They’d stayed with them a month, and Tessa had spoiled her rotten. Her waffles with chocolate chips were a big hit with Molly.

“Your mother insisted the chocolate chips made the waffles too sweet,” Tessa said. “But she managed to eat a stack of them every morning.”