“Sophia told us she couldn’t recall speaking to you about her safe,” Gideon said.
“She didn’t say much about it,” Lottie admitted. “However, I overheard her directing her most trusted guard to fetch some jewels for her from a safe-deposit box, which concerned me because it’s never easy to break into a bank. I thought for certain it would be impossible to get my hands on her journals, but then she sent this same guard to fetch something from hersuite at the Fifth Avenue Hotel. That’s when I saw her riffle through her vanity table, pull out a small piece of paper, scribble something onto another piece of paper, and hand that to her guard. She then reminded him to dispose of what she’d given him after he was done. It wasn’t a stretch for me to assume he was off to retrieve something from a personal safe. I waited until Sophia was onstage, snooped around her vanity table, found four numbers written down on a slip of paper, and sent those numbers off to a man Frank uses who converts messages and the like into codes.”
“But why go through the bother of having the combination put into a cipher?” Vernon asked, sitting forward. “Why didn’t you simply find a way, since you were Sophia’s dresser, to gain access to her rooms in the Fifth Avenue Hotel?”
Lottie rolled her eyes. “That’s what most peoplewouldhave done, but Frank fancies himself a master criminal, using a web of convoluted schemes to control his network of hoodlums. He likes to dole out assignments in a piecemeal fashion, keeping the players apart so that no one can double-cross him. The problem with that, though, is there are numerous opportunities for problems to occur, and in this case, the man who creates all of Frank’s ciphers got himself arrested and thrown into jail not long after he put the cipher he created to hide the combination to the safe into a diary that was slated to be delivered to Bainswright Books. His arrest turned problematic after Adelaide got her hands on the diary. That caused all sorts of complications because I didn’t keep a copy of the combination because Frank expects me to destroy such things, and I know better than to cross him. Frank’s man who was given the job of breaking into Sophia’s safe couldn’t complete his part of the plan, so Frank sent me back to the opera house to get the combination again, but Sophia had removed the slip of paper from her vanity table.”
Lottie’s shoulders slumped the tiniest bit. “I was hesitant about the book salon when I saw that notice posted on thedoor. I told Frank I thought it was a little too convenient that we were desperate to retrieve that diary and Adelaide Duveen just happened to decide to liquidate some of her collection, diaries included, giving her book agent friends the benefits of perusing her collection during the first salon event. Frank wouldn’t listen to me—he never does, believing a girl doesn’t warrant consideration of what turned out to be a prudent concern.” She blew out a breath. “I wasn’t expecting Frank to burst into the meeting, and I definitely wasn’t expecting to see a few of Victor Malvado’s known associates there. However, when everything went south and I saw an opportunity to flee with the diary in my possession, I thought I would finally have a way to get out of Frank’s clutches once and for all by presenting him with the coveted diary and telling him I was done. Unfortunately, I was nabbed by additional men Victor Malvado had sent to watch the street. They relieved me of the diary, thus depriving me of a way to get out of Frank’s syndicate, although that might not still be the case since Frank’s been arrested.”
Leopold exchanged a glance with Gideon before he returned his attention to Lottie. “You’re not willingly in Frank’s employ?”
A hint of a smile curved Lottie’s lips. “Being involved with the criminal set was never my intention. My father, God rest his soul, was a tutor for a wealthy family for years. And while we never had much money, he gave me something far more valuable—an education. I was intending on continuing with my education, perhaps becoming a teacher, but then Father died. Mother and I were left in dire straits once the family my father worked for insisted we abandon the small apartment we lived in over their carriage house. They then didn’t bother to give my mother so much as a dime to help her secure other accommodations.”
“You’ll need to give me the name of that family,” Gideon said, earning a touch of a grin from Lottie in return.
“There’s no need for you to speak with them about their abysmal behavior toward my mother and me,” she said. “It’s not as if what they did to us is an uncommon occurrence, and we did have a small amount of money to get an apartment, albeit in Five Points.” Her grin faded. “Frank’s always on the lookout for talented people to join him, and he took note of me a few weeks after my mother and I got settled. Mother had managed to find a job in a shirtwaist factory, and I found one at a telegram office. Frank came in one day, realized I could read, and set out to bring me into his operation.” Her eyes turned hard. “I wasn’t interested, but he doesn’t take no for an answer. He arranged for my mother to get fired and then offered me three times what I was making at the telegram office if I’d agree to do little jobs for him. I really had no other choice, but I was hoping I’d be able to save up my money and escape with my mother to another state before too long.”
“It’s next to impossible to get out of a criminal organization once you’ve been pulled into it,” Gideon said.
“Something I wasn’t aware of until I discovered Frank had his people watching me to make sure I wouldn’t try to sneak off. He also threatened to harm my mother if I left him, promising he’d hunt her down and make me regret what he would see as an unforgiveable betrayal.”
The carriage made a sharp turn, and after glancing out the window, Gideon realized they were only about five minutes away from the bookstore. He returned his attention to Lottie. “You’ve yet to tell me how you became aware that Dudley has Adelaide and Sophia.”
Lottie shifted on the seat. “After Victor’s men took the diary away from me, I knew it wouldn’t take long for the cipher to get into Dudley’s hands. I also knew Dudley would want to personally handle Sophia, given the trouble she’s caused him, and I didn’t want to see her dead. That’s why I set off to tail Dudley early this morning. He went with some men to the FifthAvenue Hotel but apparently didn’t find the journal he’s after, which I’m not actually surprised about because Sophia keeps her current journal close at hand while she’s rehearsing.”
“Why didn’t you simply steal that journal when she took to the stage?” Gideon asked.
“I could never find it, leaving me with the impression she might stash it on her person—not that I ever told Frank that because that information could have gotten Sophia killed.” She blew out a breath. “I knew Sophia was in danger when Dudley stormed out of the Fifth Avenue Hotel and his carriage raced off a second after he got into it. I followed him to the Metropolitan Opera House, where he pulled Sophia from it five minutes later. They then went to a mansion on Fifth Avenue. Adelaide Duveen walked out of that mansion and got into the carriage, although Dudley’s groomsman didn’t seem to be giving her a choice in that matter, and off they went. I was following them in a hired hack, but as I said, I spotted you and decided to ask for help.”
“Why do you think Dudley took Adelaide?” Leopold asked.
Lottie bit her lip. “The only reason I can think of is that Sophia was trying to buy some time. She’s far more cunning than people know, and she would have realized that Dudley would kill her the second she turned her journal over to him.”
Gideon frowned. “You believe Dudley’s capable of murder?”
“Since Frank, one of the most dangerous men I know, is frightened of him, yes, Dudley’s capable of murder.”
Gideon drew in a breath, then another, trying to control the rage that was coursing through him.
“We’re almost there,” Vernon said, looking out the window. “About a block away if I’m judging correctly.”
“Have the driver pull over here,” Gideon said.
A second later, he was out of the carriage, telling Lottie to wait in it until he returned. Breaking into a run, leaving Vernon and Leopold behind, he darted down the alley leading to the back of Bainswright Books, stopping when he noticed theback door was open. Edging through it, he pulled out his pistol and inched toward the main room but stilled when he heard Adelaide’s voice, one that didn’t sound frightened in the least, her tone more along the lines of lecturing.
“Stop whining. It’s barely a scratch,” she said.
“You shot me with a grappling hook.”
“It was the only weapon I had at hand.”
“Who uses a grappling hook as a weapon?”
“Someone who no longer had access to their pistol. I must say it was fortuitous indeed that I’ve learned to handle the grappling hook properly and that I forgot to return it to Gideon, leaving it here in my store instead.”
“Aiming a grappling hook at a person is not using it properly.”
“True, just as I’m sure you don’t find my using the rope that attaches to the grappling hook to bind you up as proper either. From where I stand, though, it worked out very well indeed.”
