“The cripple gave it to one of my men no more than an hour ago.” He handed it across the desk.
Brodie read it, the elegant letters written by the lady with the red hair and that temper to match.
She had found information about Blackwood that might be useful. He was dying from a cancer and had been given morphine at the hospital for the pain before he escaped.
He would, no doubt, need more…
Do remember, church mice. M., she had signed it.
He smiled to himself as he folded the note and put it in his coat pocket. He looked up.
“The man is dying and in a great deal of pain, it seems. He likely has little or no funds, but he’s in need of morphine.”
Brown’s sharp gaze narrowed. “I’ll put the word out among my people.” He gave Brodie a long look.
“When was the last time you slept?”
“A while ago,” Brodie replied.
“There’s a room at the next floor up.”
“And find a blade between my ribs in the dark of night?” Brodie knew the man well.
Brown shook his head. “I cannot spare one of my men as I’m certain he would be the worst for an encounter with you. And take Munro with you. The man has a bad habit of leaving bodies about. It’s bad for business. And no charge for the room,” he added. “We will call it a ‘favor’ in exchange for your warning about the man needin’ morphine. Ives, my man at the door, will see that ye have a cot and a blanket up at the room.”
He shouted an order through the closed door and Ives appeared.
“Mr. Brodie and Mr. Munro will be our guests for the night. See them to their accommodation but take care. Mr. Brodie carries a firearm and Mr. Munro is particularly skilled with the blade.”
MIKAELA
“You’ve hardly eaten,” my housekeeper, Mrs. Ryan, scolded.“Hours it was, over a hot oven, and Mr. Brodie not about as well. It’s a waste of good food.”
I looked up. I would admit that I had little appetite, and I did appreciate Mrs. Ryan’s thriftiness as well as care. Much like a mother, I supposed.
We did have that sort of relationship in addition to her being in my employ, a relationship strengthened after the death of her daughter Mary, who was a maid at Sussex Square, then for my sister Lenore.
Such a sad affair. It was her disappearance, along with my sister, that I had first encountered Brodie back in London.
He was referred to me by my great-aunt, of all persons, which did raise the question of why she might have needed the services of a private inquiry agent, which, after the years since, had yet to be explained.
‘A man I could trust,’she had insisted and provided his address at the office on the Strand.
That recommendation was received with some skepticism at the time, as I did not have a particularly high regard for most men after certain childhood circumstances, and admittedly, such high esteem did seem a bit odd when I first encountered Mr. Cavendish, who occupied the alcove at the foot of the stairs outside the office. Along with the rather scantily dressed woman who emerged from that office.
I had considered the alternative, possibly acquiring the services of a gentleman by the name of Holmes, who was known to lend his services to clients in need. However, his reputation included a somewhat questionable use of narcotics, not to mention a habit of disappearing in the middle of an inquiry case.
I did have very definite requirements in that regard. In addition, I was determined to assist in the search for my sister, as I knew her habits, and Mary’s as well, of course. I could be of assistance and needed someone who was amenable to that.
In spite of the odd man on his rolling platform who greeted me as I arrived, and the woman dressed in the chartreuse gown—‘dressed’ being a generous description—I kept my meeting with Brodie.
Which was the beginning of our working relationship, a somewhat unique friendship that I had never experienced.
I had once read a quote by Aristotle about friendship and thought it quite ridiculous at the time—that ‘friendship was a slow ripening fruit.’
Yes, well, there was friendship, of course, and respect, which I had never experienced from a man.
There was that other thing that my great-aunt had spoken highly of…
