Rupert lay near the door—guard dog on duty?
Amusing as that seemed to most people who encountered the hound, he had proven himself to be a trusted companion on more than one occasion, with an uncanny knowledge of the streets.
I had become acquainted with hunting dogs, including one named Rupert at an early age. While my father had reprimanded me more than once regarding making pets of the various hounds he kept at our country home, I had still proceeded to befriend them.
Rupert, the original, had been my adventure companion, so there was no surprise that I had established a friendship with the current Rupert, even though he was somewhat lacking in refinement. And more than a companion, he had proven to have amazing tracking skills, as well as a somewhat surly attitude when provoked.
Brodie had thought him to be quite useless, a scrounger who begged for food, until he had interceded in a dangerous situation twice on my behalf. They had a grudging acceptance of one another since.
They did seem to share some of the same habits—an affinity for the streets, knowledge of the best places to find food, and a penchant for wandering about at night in search of low-life characters. Not that I was comparing one to the other. Brodie would have grumbled at that.
The call I wanted to make and the person I wanted to visit as the next step in the investigation that I was determined would clear Brodie, was Sir Edward Matthews.
Argosy Shipping was well established throughout Britain. Sir Edward Matthews had built it up through the years, with ports and warehouses not only in London, but in Liverpool, Bristol, awarehouse and departure point in Southampton, Dublin, as well as a working partnership with the port at Le Havre in France for cargoes shipped abroad.
It was a shipping behemoth that had continued to spread over the past twenty years into the Far East. It was said that Sir Edward was determined to make it as successful as the East India Company had once been, with a growing fleet of sailing and steamship vessels.
The East India Company had been responsible for expanding British interests across the globe. They’d established what was for all intents and purposes branches of the government into foreign countries, that eventually became British territories that very often included armies to protect interests there.
After over one hundred years of dominance in the shipping trade and amid accusations of corruption, not to mention growing unrest and resentment within those territories, the government stepped in and had dissolved the company in 1874.
It seemed that Sir Edward Matthews with Argosy was determined to take the place as the foremost shipping company around the world, even with no heir apparent.
I was informed by a clerk at the shipping office at the port of London that Sir Edward was to depart for Liverpool before midday.
He was presently at the dockside offices overseeing the launch of a new steamship he had added to his fleet of cargo ships. It was suggested that if the matter was important, I would be able to reach him there.
It was half-past ten o’clock and I still had no word from Munro. I did hesitate about going on my own—I could almost hear Brodie’s objections, considering the man with the bowler hat who had been seen on more than one occasion and at the town house. A man with a bowler hat that Mr. Iverson had mentioned seeing the night Stephen Matthews was killed at theClarendon Club. And Ellie Sutton’s murder ten years later, after being terrified by a man in a bowler hat?
How it was all connected was yet to be seen. With Brodie confined to the Tower and recovering from injuries courtesy of Mr. Abberline, it was up to Munro and me to determine exactly how it was connected.
Sir Edward had also been at the Clarendon Club the night Stephen Matthews was killed. What had he seen? Was there something he might know that could connect everything?
I might be grasping at straws, as the saying went. However, I was not willing to leave any stone unturned in helping clear Brodie of the charge of murder.
I placed a call to Sussex Square and was informed that Munro had not yet returned. I then waited an additional half hour. When he had still not appeared, I closed and locked the office
Rupert accompanied me to the sidewalk at the bottom of the stairs. Mr. Hastings had waited patiently with the team. I gave him the location of Argosy Shipping.
“The docks, miss?” he questioned.
I caught the hesitation at his voice. He had been in service with my aunt for many years, a man of impeccable reputation as well as skill in navigating the congested streets of London. Not to mention the somewhat‘unusual destinations’my aunt had him take her. It appeared the London Docks were not part of her usual itinerary.
I assured him that it was correct. He opened the door of the coach and Rupert and I climbed aboard.
To say that Argosy was a behemoth of a company seemed to be an understatement as we arrived at their main office’s dockside, very near where the East India Company once had their busiest enterprise.
The nearby docks and warehouses had long ago been stripped of the signage that was once visible to all along the river frontage. Yet it was still referred to as the East India Company in spite of the fact that the EIC had not occupied the site for almost twenty years.
Mr. Hastings delivered us to the offices of Argosy Shipping at the frontage street near the docks, and enquired if he should wait.
The clerk I had spoken with earlier had assured me that he would deliver my message to Sir Edward. There was no guarantee that he would still be there, of course, much less be willing to meet with me.
I asked Mr. Hastings to wait and left Rupert with him, since he could be a little intimidating, particularly when it came to men.
Inside the main office, I gave my name to the desk clerk. He remembered my earlier telephone call. I was asked to wait as another clerk was sent with a message to another part of the building.
It was a warehouse, lined up with others along the waterfront, the ground floor used as a business office and the main part of the two-story building extending back toward the docks.
