“There’s an equal chance she won’t.”Peter grabbed a piece of paper and started jotting down all the details Croft had mentioned thus far.“When did you say the Ottersburg maid went missing?”
“On Monday, last week.”
“That would be eight days ago today.”Peter mulled that over for a second.“I’m starting to think this acquaintance of yours should accompany me to the morgue.”
“And why is that?”
“Because I can’t help but wonder if the unidentified woman some dockyard workers pulled from the Thames could be his missing maid.”
* * *
Adrian’s carriage halted in front of St.George’s hospital.He and Kendrick had picked up Murdoch on the way there.The trio alit and entered the neoclassical building that filled the entirety of Hyde Park Corner.
“I visited the foundling home earlier today,” Adrian told Murdoch as they strode through the hallway that had become far too familiar to him in recent months.Isak, who’d joined him, had seemed to enjoy spending time with his own age group, something Adrian would try to encourage more of.“You’ve done an excellent job.The children appear to be well looked after.They seemed happy.”
“They’d certainly be worse off without your investment.”
Adrian’s gut twisted in anger.“My wife suffered such an existence when she was a child.I can’t stand the thought of anyone else having to do so.”
“You’ve opened an orphanage?”Kendrick’s tone proved his surprise.
Adrian sent the chief constable a sly look.“Turns out I’ve a soft spot for those who are being mistreated.Women and children especially.”
“What’s your angle?”
Adrian refused to answer the insulting question.Besides, they’d arrived at their destination, the smell that greeted him just as awful as when he had been here last.Honestly, he hated having to come to this place.Looked like Kendrick did too, judging from his strained expression.
Doctor Fellowes heard them enter the examination room and turned to greet them.“I’d say it’s a pleasure to see you again, gentlemen, but given the circumstances I’m not sure that’s the right choice of words.”
Adrian nodded and gestured to Murdoch.“This acquaintance of mine operates the largest employment agency in the City.When he mentioned the disappearance of a few men and women he helped find employment, I thought I’d bring the matter to Bow Street’s attention.”
“Made me wonder if one of these individuals Mr.Croft told me about could be the woman who was brought in last Tuesday.”Kendrick stepped farther into the room.“I’m hoping to have a look.See if Mr.Murdoch recognizes her.”
“It’s a fairly grizzly sight,” Fellowes warned.“She’s been dead more than a week, part of which was spent submerged in water.You’re lucky she hasn’t been sent for burial yet.”
“I did insist you keep her on ice for as long as possible,” Kendrick said.“Whatever clues her body might still provide will be lost once she’s in the ground.”
“Nevertheless,” Fellowes said.“With the autopsy concluded, it’s time to put her to rest.”
Adrian agreed though he understood Kendrick’s frustration.There was nothing worse than feeling as though one might have missed a piece of evidence and that evidence would soon be gone forever.
They followed Fellowes past the examination tables.A deceased man with white hair lay on one of them.The lower part of his body was covered by a white sheet, leaving his chest and abdomen on display.Two large incisions had opened him up for investigation.
Adrian suppressed a shudder.It wasn’t that he was averse to death or that he hadn’t seen his fair share of gruesome things, but this place…
His sister had been stretched out in a similar way.Not on that exact table but on the one beside it.The memory speared his heart and wrung out his lungs.He struggled to catch his breath, only to inhale the smell of decaying flesh.
Nausea made his stomach churn and he happily took the cheroot Kendrick offered.A sympathetic look shadowed the constable’s eyes, but rather than say anything, he merely lit a flint.Inhaling the smoke helped.He glanced at Murdoch, who appeared more determined than queasy.
The robust man crossed to the spot where Fellowes now stood and peered down at the body the doctor revealed.She lay in what looked like a stone sarcophagus.Stretched out on a bed of ice.
Her waxy skin was so pale the web of veins beneath stood out like dark inky lines.Several neat incisions had been stitched back up after Fellowes had finished his examination.
Adrian glanced at Murdoch when he heard the man swallow, a dull sound in the cold stone chamber.“Well?”
Murdoch, now slightly green around the gills, stared at the woman.And then he said, “There’s no doubt about it.That’s Polly Griffin.The Ottersburg maid.”
7
