To be discussed at another time. There was a far more urgent matter at hand.
“Is Mr. Munro about?” I inquired.
“I believe he’s in the office going over the accounts, miss.”
I thanked him and turned toward the long hallway that led to the servants’ area, the kitchens, and the office.
“Will you be taking the animal with you?” Mr. Symons inquired.
Rupert had disappeared into the solar, no doubt following the scent of the now-departed monkey.
I assured him that I would.
As I passed the formal salon that was adjacent to the solar, Rupert suddenly reappeared with a large piece of some exotic plant hanging from his mouth. I reprimanded him which brought the usual grin. He then ran ahead toward the back entrance of the manor.
I found Munro in the office, muttering to himself as he stared down at a bill.
With dark brown hair and sharp blue eyes, he could be intimidating to anyone with just a glance. However, behind the disapproving frown and that blue gaze was someone who was ‘loyal to the bone,’as Brodie once described. That came from their shared childhood on the streets.
And quite simply, I knew that I could trust him, particularly when it came to Brodie.
He looked up from the pile of invoices and receipts in front of him. The frown eased as he came out of his chair just as the hound shot past the doorway toward the gardens at the back of the manor.
He knew quite well that Brodie insisted I take the hound with me whenever I was out and about the city unescorted, something that I found off-putting though I didn’t argue the matter. He had been right on more than one occasion.
That piercing blue gaze narrowed. Munro stepped past me and closed the door, then pulled out a chair for me.
“Somethin’ has happened?”
I explained about Mr. Dooley’s visit to the office that morning.
“Do you know where Brodie is?” I asked with an attempt to keep my voice steady.
“I would think that under the circumstances, ye would know best where to find him before anyone else,” Munro replied.
“No, not since yesterday at the office,” I replied.
He frowned. “What is it then?”
He knew better than anyone the animosity between Brodie and Abberline in the past. that had led to Brodie leaving the MET.
“Abberline has a warrant for Brodie’s arrest.”
It might have been my imagination, nevertheless it seemed that the air inside the office was suddenly quite cold. Or possibly it was the expression on Munro’s face.
“For what?” he asked.
“For murder.”
He cursed as he came out of his chair.
“The man will not be satisfied until he has Brodie in Newgate!” He looked at me then. “Who is he supposed to have murdered?”
I explained everything that I had learned from Mr. Dooley about the death of the woman from that old case years before.
“There’s more,” I continued, forcing myself to remain calm. “According to what Mr. Dooley was able to learn, Brodie was seen there that night just before the police arrived.
“Why is Abberline doing this?” I asked. “I need to understand why this is happening.”
