“I think that’s an excellent idea,” Samantha said when Adrian hesitated.“You did an extraordinary thing helping those children get off the street.I’m sure they would also appreciate the chance to thank you.”
Adrian gave her a cool look.“I’m not interested in being applauded.”
“No,” she said, a smile on her lips, “but you do need a reminder of your noble characteristics from time to time.Especially when you seem to forget that you’re capable of so much more than the world gives you credit for.”
“She’s not wrong,” Murdoch said, chasing his food with a large gulp of wine.He wiped his mouth with his napkin and went back to eating.
Adrian reached for his glass and paused.“Do you suppose Isak might like to come with me?”
“Possibly,” Samantha said after thinking it over.“Why don’t you ask him?”
“I will.Maybe he and I can head over there tomorrow.”He sipped his wine and sent Murdoch a pensive look.“You said you’ve been terribly busy this past week.Any particular reason I ought to know about?”
Murdoch shrugged and took another bite of food, filling his mouth completely.It wasn’t until he was done chewing that he said, “Vacancies are on the rise.I’ve been struggling to find the right people to fill the positions.”
“You don’t say…”
Something in Adrian’s voice caught Samantha’s attention.She considered his pensive expression, could almost see thoughts and questions forming inside his head.“What is it?”
Rather than respond right away, he leaned back in his chair and drummed his fingers lightly against the table.“You’ve engaged workers in a variety of jobs all over London, Murdoch.I’m curious to know if you have an idea why these vacancies might be occurring and if it’s a problem shared by laborers, shopkeepers, and servants alike.”
Samantha stared at her husband.It was clear to her that the information Murdoch had just delivered had raised his suspicions about something.Judging from the dark look in his eyes, she feared he believed a new threat might be sweeping the City.
She leaned forward, intent on absorbing every detail Murdoch imparted.
The employment agent repositioned his bulky figure in his chair.“The laborers and shopkeepers seem to be doing all right.Even if one fails to show up for work, I always manage to find out what happened.Maybe they simply took off or maybe they were so sick they couldn’t get out of bed.Whatever the case, they don’t just vanish completely from one day to the next.”
“Whereas the servants do?”Adrian’s eyes gleamed as he tilted his head.
Samantha held her breath in anticipation of Murdoch’s response.
Murdoch took a deep breath and expelled it.“It’s probably nothing though it does seem as though a pattern might be emerging.”
“Go on,” Adrian told him.
“A maid employed at Capron House stopped arriving for work nearly a year ago.According to one of the other servants I had at that location – a hallboy – she’d mentioned going to see a physician regarding a pain in her lower abdomen.When she failed to return and the butler began asking questions, the hallboy came to inform me of her absence.Curiously, no one could tell me the name of the physician she’d gone to see or where his practice might be.When I learned she had a beau at the Haymarket theatre who’d stopped showing up for work around the same time, I naturally believed they’d run off together and stopped searching for answers.”
“And after that?”Adrian asked.
“Five additional servants have disappeared.”
Samantha stared at Mr.Murdoch in silence.Adrian didn’t say anything either.His expression, however, suggested he thought the same as she.Namely that these disappearances weren’t coincidental, rather someone had preyed upon all of these people.
“Why have you not informed me about this sooner?”Adrian finally asked.
“Because the cases showed no sign of being connected.There’s still a chance they aren’t – that these people just chose to follow a different path and—”
“You realize you’re making no sense.”Adrian shook his head.“Such an explanation might fit one or two irresponsible people, but for it to fit seven seems highly unlikely.”
“There’s also the spacing,” Murdoch said.“The long intervals between the disappearances made them look like unrelated coincidences.Until this past month when two people vanished just one week apart.”
“Good lord.”Considering the sort of monsters she’d dealt with recently, Samantha feared they were now faced with another.
“Your lack of transparency regarding this matter is starting to make more sense,” Adrian muttered.
“I’m sorry,” Murdoch told him, “but considering all you were forced to deal with, I wanted to try and acquire more details before coming to you.Besides, you were also imprisoned and then on the run.I wasn’t sure you’d be able to help.”
“Understood.”Adrian asked the footman to see about clearing the table and having dessert sent up, then said, “When I was at White’s this afternoon, I overheard a conversation I now believe could be related to this.”
