The second bedchamber was much larger and had been turned over much the same as the library and parlor.
Bed linens had been stripped from the bed, drawers searched, as well as the armoire that once contained ladies’ gowns and shoes, the entire contents now scattered across the floor.
On the dressing table were things a woman would keep—a lady’s hairbrush, a jar of cream, and other cosmetics, as well as a crystal perfume bottle with a label from Paris. The fragrance was subtle: lavender and rosemary with a hint of citrus and vanilla.
My friend Templeton was known to indulge in fragrances from France, this one among them.
“There are scents for...shall we say, encouraging one’s companion,” she had explained, that made me think of that somewhat explicit painting on the headboard of her bed at her country residence.
I also discovered a package of‘French letters,’protection for intimacy between a man and woman. From what the maid told us, as well as what I had discovered, it did seem that Adele entertained ‘guests’ in that manner. That would perhaps explain not only the discreet location but the richly furnished manor and obviously, guests of some financial means. With at least one who paid for where she lived as well as those gowns and fine perfume?
As I turned to leave, something gleamed from the carpet at the edge of the bed in the light that spilled into the room through the windows of the bedchamber. A piece of jewelry lost amid the search for something in the room. It appeared to be gold.
I picked it up. It was a gold button with what appeared to be the embossed figure of an animal. Not the sort of button a woman would have on a gown, but the sort that a man might have on a waistcoat or long coat.
Not unusual, I supposed, as it was obvious Adele DeMille ‘entertained’ gentlemen companions.
Yet it could be important. Did it belong to an acquaintance whom she had entertained? Or had it been lost as the room was turned over?
I searched for anything else that might tell us something about what had happened in that room, but found nothing more.Only that gold button and the obvious items of an intimate nature.
“Did ye find anything?” Brodie asked from the doorway to the chamber.
“It appears that she lived quite lavishly, and there was at least one gentleman who made regular visits.” I held the package of ‘French letters’ aloft.
“Yer assuming it was a gentleman?” Brodie replied.
“So it seems. I also found this.” I showed him the gold button.
He inspected the button.
“It’s not the sort of decoration for a woman’s garment, but more for a gentleman’s waistcoat.”
“Aye. And most certainly not what a police inspector, merchant, or writer like those we saw earlier, might be able to afford.”
“Did you find anything that might be useful?” I inquired.
“The other rooms have been thoroughly turned over as well,” he replied. “It would seem that whatever the person was searching for, they failed to find.”
We returned downstairs.
“And it would seem that either the woman was aware there might be some difficulty or returned afterward and left. There is no indication of an assault.”
The question now was, what had changed regarding her obviously well-kept arrangement?
How was her disappearance and what we had found at that residence in St. John’s Wood connected to Burke? Where had Adele DeMille disappeared to? For what reason? What was she afraid of?
Two
The remnants leftfrom a takeaway supper from the Public House had long been consumed by Rupert after we returned from St. John’s Wood.
At present, he lay before the coal stove, snoring as he dozed, while I stood before the chalkboard after making my notes. A late edition of the Times newspaper lay open at Brodie’s desk.
He had purchased a copy from one of the newsboys on the street after we returned. There was no mention of Burke’s murder on the crime page or anywhere else in the newspaper, which seemed to indicate that word of his death had not reached the Times offices.
Mr. Dooley had spoken of keeping the attack from the newspapers as long as possible, with the hope that his attacker might assume that he had not succumbed to his wounds and possibly draw the murderer out. Brodie thought it highly unlikely.
“It could be useful…however, as time passes word will eventually leak, particularly with Burke’s reputation and among others in the newspaper business,” he pointed out. “The manwas always looking for the next story, and this one will be most sensational.”
