Yes, well, I had my opinion on that!
It was very possible that accounted for the fact that Brodie and I worked so well together...that and other things.
This was something very different. There was a warrant out for Brodie’s arrest for murder. Not that I thought for a moment that he had killed that poor woman.
I knew exactly where this came from—Chief Inspector Abberline, his illusions of promotion even now, ten years later—and that previous case where Brodie chose to protect the woman rather than feed her to the wolves, as the saying goes.
And then there was revenge.
Now, a young woman was dead.
I refused to believe that Brodie had anything to do with that, even though there was very obviously a history there. I knew him. He might be capable of many things, but murder wasn’t one of them.
Knowing him as I did, he would be determined to find who had killed her. And I was equally determined to help in that.
Abberline was an ambitious man. He was completely self-absorbed and considered himself superior to anyone else.
He used people for his own advancement. Case in point: that previous murder Brodie had investigated while with the MET. And now, ten years later, it was obvious that Abberline was more determined than ever.
Not only in the matter of the woman’s death, but undoubtedly in an effort to resolve that old case, something that he undoubtedly saw as his way to long-overdue promotion.
I did hope that Brodie would contact me. I wanted to help him with this. Two were far more likely to resolve an issue than one person on their own.
I knew that Munro’s warning in that regard was undoubtedly correct. That simple wedding ceremony in Scotland was not a widely known fact. However, once more, I put nothing past Abberline.
It was very possible that he was more than aware that Brodie and I were now husband and wife. If so, he would undoubtedly attempt to use that to get to Brodie.
But not if I had anything to say about it.
I was not about to sit idly by, waiting for Abberline to slither up to my doorstep—and that was a perfect description of him.
Therefore, I intended to begin my own inquiries, beginning with the scene of the murder, once I was certain the police had completed their business there.
It wouldn’t be difficult to determine precisely where the woman had lived in Charing Cross.
I was aware that I would need to take precautions.
I dressed in clothes I used from time to time when out and about London that included a sturdy walking skirt Templeton brought me from one of her tours, shirtwaist, jacket, and boots.
Downstairs I gathered my bag that included my notebook and that revealing patch of wool cloth, then prepared to depart. Rupert met me at the door.
“I fed him earlier,” Mrs. Ryan announced. “He likes bacon.”
Imagine that!
“He seemed quite upset about something last night,” she added. “And you were up quite late as well. A new inquiry case, miss?”
“Some matters I need to look into....” I left it at that. “Will you be going out today?” I then asked, with a thought to that ‘something’ the night before she had mentioned.
“The market for your supper and some bake goods that are almost gone.”
Her biscuits and scones. Rupert would be pleased with that.
“Anything you or Mr. Brodie might want, miss?”
There wasn’t, of course, with his whereabouts unknown. I reminded her to set the locks on both doors when she left.
“Of course, miss. I always do.”
