Dita dismissed the scenario with apfftand a wave of her hand. “I am already compromised.”
Leo frowned, more alarmed than before. “Why would you say that?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” Dita replied, her tone biting. “I was courting a constable who tried to bomb Scotland Yard. Everyone believes I had to be in on it or at least knew of Lloyd’s intention.”
“That isn’t true. There are plenty of officers who don’t believe that. I know Jasper doesn’t.”
“I don’t mean any offense, Leo, but Inspector Reid isn’t exactly considered one of the men.”
Leo sat back, astonished. “What do you mean by that?”
Guilt flickered in Dita’s eyes, but she stayed firm. “You must have heard the whispers. That he is only detective inspector because of his last name?”
Leo had heard the whispers, but she didn’t like hearing it so directly from her friend’s lips. “That is absurd. Jasper is an excellent detective. He has his position based on merit.”
Dita didn’t reply but sipped her tea, leaving Leo to wonder whether her friend agreed or disagreed with her.
“Anyhow, this isn’t about Jasper or anyone else from the Yard,” Leo moved on. “Do you really wish to flirt with Mr. Gleason? It sounds as though Mr. Castelan is simply using you as bait.”
Dita’s expression hardened, and Leo knew she’d said too much.
“I thought you might be happy for me, since you yourself have been involved in a few of Jasper’s cases. Why is it all right for you to be a lady detective, but not me?”
Leo bit the inside of her cheek, hot with guilt but also with the desire to argue. It wasn’t the same thing at all. Jasper had never placed her in a situation he’d known would be dangerous just so that he could secure an arrest. She swallowed the argument, however.
“I’m sorry. Iamhappy for you, Dita, if you are happy. I won’t say another word about it.” A heavy silence fell upon them. Leo tapped the porcelain of her cup and tried to keep the conversation going. “In fact, your new position might be just the thing that is needed to help Connor Quinn.”
Dita’s morose glower lifted somewhat toward interest. “Oh? How might that be?”
“Two days ago, a body arrived at the morgue,” Leo began. Dita squirmed in her chair, her expression drawn. She deplored any talk of death or dead bodies. “A young woman named Lydia Hailson. She was wearing your same uniform.”
Shock descended over Dita, softening her face, her shoulders, and even her back as it rounded. “Lydia Hailson? Oh gracious, how awful. What happened to her?”
“I’m sorry to say she was murdered. Strangled. How well did you know her?” Leo asked.
Dita recovered a little, straightening herself in her chair. “Not well at all. She was only at Gleason’s the day I went in for aninterviewwith Mrs. Gleason.” The emphasis she placed on theword interview must have meant that it was only for show, as the woman had already hired Dita in another capacity. “And then again on my first day on the floor.”
“What day would that have been?” Leo asked.
“Tuesday.” Dita paused with some alarm. “Now that I think of it, I didn’t see her on Wednesday.”
Wednesday afternoon, Lydia’s body had arrived at the morgue. During his examination, Uncle Claude had determined that she had died late Tuesday night.
“When did you last see her on Tuesday?” Leo asked.
“When the store closed at six o’clock. I have to tell you,” Dita said with a hint of urgency, “I suspected Lydia might be having an affair with Mr. Gleason.”
Leo sat back in her seat. “Why did you think that?”
“Well, she was jumpy and frazzled all day,” she replied. “When she dropped a jar of perfume, I saw Mr. Gleason touch her shoulder and whisper something close to her ear. She blushed at whatever it was he said. So, afterward, I went up to Lydia and made a comment about how handsome Mr. Gleason is. You know, to try and lead her into confessing. And do you know what she said? She bit my nose off, telling me to concentrate on my work and not gossip.”
It was certainly a potential lead. Had Lydia Hailson rebuffed the owner’s advances, and he’d reacted poorly to her rejection? It seemed a little too obvious and easy a solution, though both Jasper and the late Inspector had often said that most murders were simple, straightforward, and poorly covered up by the assailants.
“I must admit, I didn’t like her much after that,” Dita said, then sighed. “But it’s awful what happened to her. Do you think someone at Gleason’s did it?”
The sparkle of excitement in her friend’s eyes worried Leo. Dita was working undercover to unveil a cheating husband, notsolve a murder. Left to her own devices, however, she might do something rash. It would be better to give Dita something to do.
Goodness, was this how Jasper often felt abouther?
