Most interesting.
He took the sketch Mikaela had made at the mortuary at St. James’s from his inside coat pocket.
“Is this familiar?” he handed the sketch across to Dr. Chapman.
The doctor studied it, then slowly laid it on the desktop. He seemed to be attempting to decide what to say next.
“You must understand, Mr. Brodie, that it was an impression that drew my attention. As I’ve said, the wounds were horrific, deep, any one could have caused death.” His gaze dropped to that sketch.
“There was a mark, quite superficial in comparison, that caught my attention. It looked very much like your sketch. Almost like…”
“Like what, sir?”
“I am not a religious man, Mr. Brodie. Yet when I first saw the mark, it looked very much like a cross that had been made on the young man’s chest. Mind you, it was crudely made. But there were no other marks nearby. The other wounds were low in the abdomen.
“I have seen a great many things, Mr. Brodie, in my service with the Queen’s army in foreign places, and in my profession. But in that one moment, the thought occurred to me that it was very much as if the murderer had left a deliberate mark.”
But what did it mean?
“Considering who you are making inquiries for, I suppose there is no harm in telling you that I’ve had another visitor regarding the matter,” Dr. Chapman added.
“A gentleman by the name of Sir Avery Stanton.”
Brodie was not surprised. Stanton was intelligent and persistent, not to mention that he was director of special services to the Queen, charged with investigating certain matters that might pose a threat to the Crown.
“I have worked with Sir Avery in the past,” he replied, then retrieved the sketch and tucked it into his coat pocket.
It was true as far as it went, and he left it at that. There was no point in discussing the present situation other than the reason he’d been asked to make inquiries, which he had already provided.
“I thank ye for yer time, sir.”
Nor was he surprised when he arrived back at the office on The Strand and Mr. Cavendish informed him that a gentleman by the name of Stanton had called at the office earlier.
“He left this envelope; said that he would return.”
Twelve
MIKAELA
Lily and Ireturned to the office on The Strand after our visit with the director of White’s Gentleman’s Club.
“No women allowed,” Lily commented.
“Only certain women, for entertainment purposes,” I replied.
She drew her own conclusion to that, from her previous experience before coming to London.
“Whores and prostitutes.”
“You could say that.”
“I did say that,” she replied. “Not surprising, it’s just a fancier place than the Church.” A place where she had been employed as a “ladies’ maid”, in that previous inquiry where we first met.
“Has Mr. Brodie returned?” I inquired, evading commenting directly about her comment.
Mr. Cavendish nodded. “Just a while ago, and there was a visit from a gentleman while you were both gone, by the name of Stanton.”
It hadn’t taken long for Sir Avery to learn we were making inquiries into the death of the son of Lord Salisbery, and now the son of Sir Huntingdon.
