“They don’t care what happens to us as long as he pays,” Ada added, her lips twisting into an angry snarl. “He’s come with others too.”
“Names?”
They exchanged another look at Jamie’s load of notes. Ada stepped forward and lowered her voice.
“There’s a ledger. Not kept by the madam herself, because her brother likes to keep his own accounts. A little book, names and initials, the rooms they favored, some notes. We—the girls—think he keeps it so he can blackmail people. If you could get to that, you’d find entries, but not sure they would help in any way, or give over addresses. But it’s all we’ve got for you.”
“Where would I find this book?” Jamie asked.
“He keeps it in a room off the parlor where everyone goes before and after… well, those that know about it do. There’s a bar, and plenty of women to serve you,” Molly said. “Gambling and any other vice that isn’t found up here, you’ll find there.”
Jamie wanted that ledger, because at this stage he’d take anything that would give him a lead in finding Jackson.
“How do we find the parlor?” he asked.
They spoke in whispers now, giving him the layout. “There is a narrow staircase behind the last door on the right. Once there,you’ll see the bar, and behind that to the left, there is a thick, green velvet curtain. Gideon’s room is behind that.”
“There’s a back entrance too, but that is usually guarded because they were robbed once when he got too drunk to stop the man entering. He cleaned him out,” Ada added.
“Where the bloody hell is he?” The whispered words came from outside the door and were loud enough for anyone close to hear.
Taking two strides, Jamie opened the door to find Toby and Anthony outside.
“Get in here,” he whispered. They did as he asked, and he shut the door.
“Well now, you three are more handsome than many we’re forced to see,” Molly said.
Toby bowed and smiled, and Anthony followed suit.
“These ladies are Molly and Ada. They are going to keep an eye on things, and we are going to pay them handsomely for any and all information they give us,” Jamie said. “Now, we need to get back downstairs, and you two need to cause a distraction so I can slip into a room and steal a ledger.”
“What ledger?” Anthony demanded, looking around the room.
“One that may have Jackson’s name in it, or the names of those that come with him.” Jamie looked at the women again. “Can you give me an exact date that Jackson may have been here?”
Surprisingly, Molly did, because Ada said she was the sister that remembered things.
“Toby!”
His friend raised his head from inspecting the array of devices on a stool.
“Need me to give you a lesson in what they’re used for, love?” Ada asked with a saucy wink.
“Alas, I am wed to the woman I love,” his friend said.
Both women sighed. “Not common in your world,” Ada said.
“No, indeed.”
Before Toby could settle in for a chat, Jamie handed over more money than he’d originally thought he’d be parting with, and his card.
“Send anyone to this address if you have more information, and I will come.”
“Have a care how you go below stairs,” Molly added. “Madam Ravelle is not fond of strangers asking too many questions, and Gideon likes to watch people like a hawk. If he hears the wrong thing, he’ll have more than words for you.”
“Don’t betray us,” Jamie said, throwing the woman a last look. “I promise that if need be, I will get both of you out of London safely, if for any reason it comes to that.”
The women nodded, and then Ada said, “And if you three change your mind…” she gave him another wink.
