“Good evening, Miss Fox,” he said, a nervous hitch in his voice.
“Good evening, James. Who was that?”
“What?”
“The woman who just left. Who was she?”
“A, er, a guest.”
“A guest leaving on her own at this hour? Come now, James, I’m not a fool. I saw her in the stairwell. She is not a guest.”
He blinked rapidly, his mouth working, but no sound coming out.
“I know what she is and why she’s here,” I went on. “She and the other women have not been discreet, and I suspect that will bother my uncle more than their actual presence in the hotel.”
“You’re going to tell him?” he squeaked.
“I have to. I can’t turn the other cheek to something that affects the hotel’s reputation. Uncle Ronald would never forgive me if he found out that I knew and never said a word. But I can spare you the worst, if you tell me who is orchestrating the comings and goings of those girls.”
Even in the dim light, I could see his face blanch. “I can’t. They’ll punish me if I tell.”
As much as James needed to take responsibility for his actions, I couldn’t think too harshly of him. It was likely he was given no choice. He would have been threatened if hedidn’tdo as ordered.
“Then we have to catch those responsible in the act so that you can’t be blamed for tattling. Do you know where Mr. Hirst and that other fellow are now?”
He sucked in his lower lip and nibbled it. He finally released it with a nod of his head. “His name is Tucket. The girls belong tohim.”
“Belong?”
He shrugged. “That’s what he says. They’re in the hotel, upstairs. There was some trouble with one of the girls in room one-twenty-four and they went to appease the guest who ordered her company.”
I had to hope they’d be there a little longer. If this was to work, I had to catch them in the act. But I couldn’t do it alone.
I raced up the staircase so quickly my candle flame extinguished. I was out of breath by the time I knocked lightly on the door to my uncle and aunt’s suite. My tap was so soft that I worried Uncle Ronald wouldn’t hear it, but he opened the door a moment later, blinking blearily back at me.
“Cleo? Something wrong?”
“Get dressed, and hurry. We have to catch Mr. Hirst and a man known as Tucket in the act.”
“The act of what?”
“Of procuring whores and smuggling them into the hotel.”
If I were my uncle, I would have pressed for more details then and there, but thankfully he didn’t question me. He trusted me.
A few minutes later, he joined me in the corridor as he threw on a velvet smoking jacket over his shirt and trousers. We raced down the stairs to level one. Instead of knocking on the door to room one-twenty-four, we waited. I could just make out raised voices coming from inside, a higher pitched female one and lower male ones.
When the door suddenly opened and a woman stormed out, followed by Mr. Hirst and the beak-nosed man, Uncle Ronald and I remained in the shadows until the door closed behind them. As much as we needed to catch them in the act, we could not embarrass the guest. I expected Uncle Ronald would discreetly inform him in the morning that the Mayfair didn’t condone the presence of common whores. The hypocrisy of not allowing those sort of women yet turning the other cheek when a mistress arrived on the arm of her benefactor wasn’t lost on me, but it wasn’t my hotel or my rules.
When Mr. Hirst and Tucket passed us, Uncle Ronald stepped out of the shadows. “Come with me. Both of you.”
The man named Tucket darted off, his footsteps thundering down the stairs. I suspected we wouldn’t see him orhis women again after tonight. Mr. Hirst, however, couldn’t disappear as easily.
“I’ll escort you to your room,” Uncle Ronald told the assistant manager. “You will gather your things and leave immediately.”
Mr. Hirst’s nostrils flared. “Will I receive a reference, sir?”
“You have the gall to ask me that? You’re lucky I’m not going to tell the police.”
