And a woman who had entertained gentlemen, I thought, remembering where that button was found, and now she had apparently disappeared.
How was it all connected? What had Burke been pursuing when he was killed? What did it have to do with Adele DeMille? Or myself, for that matter, with that note he had given me, considering our somewhat contentious past?
“I’ll do what I can,” Mr. Dooley replied. “But there are those that will be poking around with the rumors that are already out on the street.”
Chief Inspector Abberline.
Of course, I thought. Never let an opportunity that might improve one’s position to pass by.
Abberline had thwarted our inquiries in the past. Though he was presently stationed at the Bow Street station, he did have a way of inserting himself into situations that might benefit him.And he had no doubt heard of the attack on Burke at the Old Bell.
“I understand,” Brodie replied.
We waited in the coach as Mr. Dooley gave instructions to the constables who had found Jardine. He then returned to the coach as well.
“Let me know if you have any information that could be important,” he said in parting.
“And I will do the same.”
A look passed between them.
We took the lift up to the office. I poured coffee that had cooled considerably, then went to the chalkboard. I studied the most recent notes I’d made.
That insignia on that gold button could be important if we knew what it meant.
There was no word yet from Mr. Conner with his efforts to find the cabman who had driven the coach away from the Old Bell the night Burke was murdered. And then, there was the woman at the residence at St. John’s Wood.
How was she connected to this, and why had Burke given me that note with her name on it?
Brodie studied the board as well. He’d had little sleep the night before. It showed in the faint lines at his eyes.
“I want to go to Southwark where that laundry order of lady’s clothes was delivered. It could be important, particularly if she is there. I could be there and back within a few hours.”
“And if there is someone there other than the woman?”
I had thought of that as well.
“I will take Rupert with me should there be any difficulty, and I will have the revolver with me,” I pointed out.
There were few men who stood over me, given my height. However, that included the man who stood beside me.
“Aye, but ye’ll not go alone. And I dinna mean the hound.”
Seven
Even though itwas still the middle of the night for some, there was no sleep for either of us after we returned to the office. Instead, we went back over everything we had learned since that night when Burke was murdered.
I hoped that we might find some answers at that address in Southwark where those items on that laundry order had been delivered. Items obviously for a woman. Still, that raised even more questions.
Why Southwark? And who was the woman? Adele DeMille? If so, what was the connection to Burke of a woman who had once entertained men at St. John’s Wood?
There were a few possibilities, one of which was a romantic connection to Burke. According to the maid we had questioned at the residence in St. John’s Wood, Adele DeMille was an actress. Although a minor one.
Had she hoped to further her career through Burke? I shuddered at the thought.
Still, our inquiry cases had revealed that people, women in particular, desperate to change their circumstances, were oftenwilling to do whatever it took. And that included relationships with men. Often with disastrous results.
Burke was well-known through the articles that he wrote for the Times. That might have been an attraction for someone hoping to change their situation.
