“And he wishes to speak with us?”
“He does. Follow me.”
Forrest watched him make eye contact with his brothers, and then Gabe and Forrest were moving. Wandering away from the gathering and toward a path that he knew circled around to a pond. Soon it was just them.
“Pssst.”
“There is no need to pssst, Nix. I have seen you,” Gabe said.
He was a small weasel of a man with intent eyes that seemed to move left and right constantly.
“This is my cousin, Mr. Howarth. He is now working alongside us and will also need your help upon occasion.”
The man nodded to Forrest.
“All is well with you, I hope?”
Frustration flickered across the man’s face. “Me other daughter is set on learning the violin, and with the piano lessons, it’s a costly business. And then there are the shoes.”
“Shoes?” Forrest had to ask.
“My children keep growing out of them.”
“Yes, well, tell us what you have, and we’ll give you some more money so you may purchase violin lessons and shoes for your children, Nix. Clearly whatever information you have cannot wait if you chanced someone seeing you in the park.”
“No, my lord, it can’t.”
“Well then…” Gabe waved a hand at him. “Tell us.”
Nix looked to the left and then the right. “There’s trouble afoot, my lord.”
“What trouble?”
“Two nights ago, I was down at the docks with Lefty. We were having a few at the Anchor.”
“Lovely. I’m glad you escaped with your health intact,” Gabe said.
Even Forrest knew of the Anchor’s fierce reputation.
“’Twas a near thing,” Nix said. “But while I was there, I went up the stairs to check who was in the rooms. Often men think that if they come there, no one will see them. Nobility and the like.”
“Very canny of you to keep an eye on things, Nix,” Gabe encouraged.
“The door was open a crack, and I heard two men talking. Both had the snooty voices—”
“Like us?”
“Exactly, my lord,” Nix said, clearly not upset to be calling them snooty. “I heard one of them say his house had been such a success he was starting another, and they needed more stock. The other agreed and said more stock would be arriving any day now.”
“And you believe this is a concern because?” Gabe asked.
“The murmurs, my lord.”
“Murmurs?” Forrest prompted.
“There is something afoot. I think this man was referring to young women as stock. I’ve heard rumblings that someone is taking them off ships when they reach the port. That the captains and some of the crew are in on it.”
“And you believe these women are forced into prostitution, Nix?” Gabe asked.
