We were directed to a series of glass display cases that contained all manner of miniature train pieces, including locomotives much like the one I had found in Charing Cross. I was introduced to Mr. David Hamley, a great nephew of one of the original Hamley brothers.
He was quite boyish in appearance and wore spectacles, the sleeves of his white shirt presently rolled back. He held a train car in one hand and a small paint brush in the other.
The clerk explained my request. Young Mr. Hamley smiled.
“Of course, whatever way I can be of assistance.”
Although admittedly the enthusiasm was meant for Lily. I could have sworn her eyes rolled back in her head. She immediately made her escape into an adjacent part of the store.
“Just a few repairs I’m making for a customer,” he went on to explain. “The trains are my specialty. It seems the lad this was purchased for dropped this train car and it was badly scraped and lost a door. I’m making the repairs for them,” he went on to explain.
“Now, let me see the piece that you have.”
I removed the miniature train engine from my bag and set it on the counter.
“There is a number stamped into the bottom of the piece,” I added.
He was careful as he picked it up, turning it over in his hands like a rare jewel. “I do remember this piece,” he eventually said. “One of the more intricately made ones for detail. Very exact. As I recall, it was purchased as a first piece, with others to be added to complete the set just as one would see it at the rail station.”
“Can you tell me who purchased it?”
“We do keep a record of this sort of purchase, so that we can provide the additional pieces as the customer purchases others,” he explained and then went into a room behind the counter.
He returned, leafing through the pages of a ledger book, talking to himself as he read through the entries, turned a page, then another one.
“Here it is. A locomotive with that registration number was purchased on 4 December, the past year, by Mrs. Adelaide Matthews. No doubt a gift for the coming Christmas.”
If there was more, I failed to hear it except for that name.
Adelaide Matthews had purchased the locomotive. And had then given it to Ellie’s son? It was the only possibly answer!
“Are you certain?” I asked.
“Yes, it’s right here. There were additional purchases made as well. Quite remarkable, as the pieces are quite expensive—twelve in all. There are entries for each one along with their registration numbers. It appears that Mrs. Matthews hasn’t yet returned for the other pieces to the set.
“Look at this!” Lily exclaimed as she returned with something in hand. “It’s full of all sorts of colors and patterns. You look through here, and then turn the cylinder...”
She was as excited as a child, then her expression fell when she saw my face. “Have I done something wrong? I didn’t mean any harm.” She handed me the kaleidoscope.
I forced myself past what I had just learned.
“Not at all,” I assured her. “And they are quite marvelous, aren’t they?” I could only imagine what this was like for her, having spent so many years working in a brothel, her childhood stolen from her.
“We will take the kaleidoscope,” I told Mr. Hamley.
“Shall I have it wrapped for you?”
“Not at all, and I would like a list of those other pieces if it’s not too much trouble.”
What did it mean? And did Brodie know who had purchased the toy locomotive for Ellie Sutton’s son?
Twelve
Most of thestreetlamps across the city had been lit by the time Mr. Hastings turned back toward Sussex Square.
I had the list of the additional pieces of the train set that had been purchased by Adelaide Matthews, and could only assume that she had bought the pieces for Ellie Sutton’s son—her grandson. Yet, Ellie and the boy had lived in Charing Cross, a part of London populated by lower-class working families. And nothing that I had seen in that brief visit to the flat hinted at any contact she had from the Matthews family. Except for that toy locomotive.
She’d been afraid of someone. If she had reached out for help to anyone other than Brodie, I would have expected it to be the boy’s grandparents. Then she had been brutally murdered.
