“Tunnels?” Gray asked.
Leo relayed the story for Gray, and Ambrose tried to ignore the throbbing in his jaw and focus on what needed to be done.
Should this club stay open with so much trouble surrounding it? No one knew what was happening below, and clearly someone wanted The Iris closed, which was why all these things were happening.
“I leave you alone for half a day, and this is the trouble you get into,” Gray said with a weary sigh. “You people are exhausting. Now I want to see this room below.”
“My concern is that whoever gathered down there was up to no good,” Ambrose said. “Something evil lurks below, and I’ve been wondering if the things that have been happeninghere—the flooding, the broken windows, and a fire—are attempts to get The Iris Club to relocate or close.”
“Clearly they don’t know our women if they believed that would run them off,” Leo added.
“Agreed. But there is more. Now I know Ruby’s sister, Fern, worked here when it was a gentleman’s lodging house and she went missing two years ago. I wonder if her disappearance is in some way involved with what is happening too. Plus, there was what happened to me last night,” Ambrose said.
“What happened to you?” Gray demanded.
Ambrose told them about the man who attacked him last night.
“Good Lord, it could have been a great deal worse for you, Ambrose,” Leo said. “And what of the Solomon’s Seal that I need to find?”
“It is on a book down there, and some kind of circle has been cast on the floor too.”
He watched Leo shudder. “We need to bring the others in here. Ellen, Alex, and Charles. They will feel and see things, Ambrose, and you know exactly what I mean.”
He did know. He had seen what they could do.
“Does it feel evil down there, Ambrose?” Leo asked.
He nodded.
“I will send for them now, then, as I believe they will aid us in finding out who is behind it,” Gray said.
“Of course.”
Leo rose and left with Gray as Violet returned with water and salve. She led him to a small parlor, which smelled of something floral and reminded him of Tilly, and made him sit. Ambrose put up with it because otherwise she’d just follow him around until he yielded.
“Ouch!”
“Don’t be pathetic,” she said lathering his face in salve that felt like it was burning his skin off.
“Ruby is sleeping,” Tilly said, appearing in the doorway, still looking uncertain. “I, ah—would you like tea?”
“You don’t mind three men drinking tea in your club?” Leo said returning with Gray. “Before you answer that, can I just say, you have done a remarkable job with the interior of The Iris. It’s really something to be proud of. I can see why my family like coming here. I think your charter is excellent too.”
Tilly’s smile was small, but it came from within and lit her lovely eyes. It transformed her from sweet to stunning in seconds.
She was becoming a problem in so many ways for Ambrose, and he wasn’t sure what to do about that.
“Tell Violet about what is below the stairs, Tilly,” Ambrose said as he rose, thereby ceasing his sister’s ministrations. “Leo has asked his family to join us, as their gifts may help us uncover more of what is going on.”
“I think that is wise,” Tilly said, surprising him. “After someone attacked you and what has been happening in The Iris, we must get to the bottom of things.”
“What? Who attacked you?”
“If you’ll be quiet, she will tell you, sister,” Ambrose said, rolling his shoulder, which had started aching.
“I found a secret door,” Tilly said.
“No!”
