There had been no time after he met with Mr. Dooley at Chief Inspector Dawes’s residence.
There was exhaustion along with hunger from not having eaten since the day before, but he was used to that from another life…
Street vendors were not precisely in abundance in the places he had been. But it was not the hunger that drove him down an alley, across another street, until he emerged at the Strand, then made his way toward the office.
If Mr. Cavendish had followed his instructions, there might be a response from the message he’d had him send. And that was what he looked for now.
Head down, his collar turned up against the rain and cold, he dodged the usual foot traffic on the sidewalk until the roofline of the office came into view. He crossed the thoroughfare with an eye to the traffic, then walked the short distance to the office building.
Mr. Cavendish gave him a nod as he reached the sidewalk at the bottom of the stairs that led up to the office.
The windows on the second floor were dark, which told him that Mikaela was not there. That would have brought questions about the progress he’d made. Not to mention the message he hoped to find in answer to the request he’d had Mr. Cavendish send round to the Home Office.
He could have sworn the man ducked his head as he reached inside his coat, pulled out an envelope, and handed it to him.
“The response you were waitin’ for.”
Brodie took the envelope, noticed the embossed address of the Home Office, and retrieved the note inside.
“When did this arrive?” he asked Mr. Cavendish.
There was an uneasy glance again.
“A bit more than an hour ago.”
Brodie nodded. “And Lady Forsythe?”
“She was here earlier and worked up at the office for a time. It seems she finished with the inquiries she was making.”
If Mr. Cavendish had legs, Brodie was certain he would have shuffled his feet. The man was definitely put off by something.
He turned the envelope over and noticed the two names at the front.
“Was she here when this arrived?”
Another hesitant nod. “She took it from the courier, went up to the office, then took herself off with the hound.”
After she had undoubtedly read it.
“Aye,” Brodie replied as he tucked the note into his coat pocket, then climbed the stairs to the office.
MIKAELA
Upon arriving at the Times offices, I looked down at Rupert at the sidewalk. He sat, waiting expectantly.
He could be most congenial, particularly where food was involved. However, there were other instances where he had shown a rather aggressive nature. Particularly where Theodolphus Burke was concerned. He did seem to have a dislike of the man.
“Behave yourself,” I told him as we entered the lobby of the building.
“Good day,” the young man at the desk greeted me with a faintly bemused glance down at the hound.
We had met previously, and I had discovered that he was not only an aspiring writer for the newspaper who had been relegated to the front desk for ‘experience,’ as he mentioned at the time, but we shared a similar opinion of Mr. Burke. He also had a particular liking for the hound.
“Mr. Burke is in his office this afternoon. Should I announce your arrival, or is it to be a surprise?” he commented somewhat cheekily, as Burke had a tendency to leave the building by another means if the situation was not to his liking.
“No need,” I replied. “We do know our way.”
“Have a pleasant visit,” he responded with amusement.
