Adrian cleared his throat.“I wonder if I might purchase a couple of those.”
She raised her gaze to his, her eyes instantly widening with recognition.“Mr.Croft.”
“Indeed.”He smiled to assure her all was well before saying, “You’ll be happy to know that Isak is in good health and thriving.Thanks to you.”
“I’m glad, tho’ I’m sure that’s more to yer credit than mine.”She pulled two pretty bouquets consisting of yellow and blue flowers from inside her basket and offered them to him.“These ’ill brighten up yer home.A penny a piece.”
Adrian retrieved a pound and held the coin toward her.
She shook her head.“I’m afraid I’ve no change fer that amount.Maybe later, when I’ve sold some more flowers.”
“That’s all right,” Adrian told her.“I’m not requesting change in the traditional sense.To make up the difference, I’d like you to answer a few of my questions.”
When he extended his hand farther toward her, insisting she take the coin, she snatched it up and pocketed it as though it were the rarest of gems.“Go on.”
“I’m trying to locate a woman who went missing the day before last,” Adrian told her while Murry remained a few paces away, quietly waiting.“It’s my understanding she went out alone, without a chaperone, and never returned.In the event she decided to go for a walk, I’m inclined to believe she came here since the park is close to her home.”
Rose twisted her lips and tilted her head.“You’re wantin’ to know if I saw a woman who should ’ave been with a maid but wasn’t?”
Adrian nodded.“Exactly.She’s four and twenty years old with dark brown hair.According to what I’ve been told, she was wearing a lavender blue pelisse over a light pink dress and a straw bonnet with ribbons to match the pelisse.”
“She would have arrived here at around three in the afternoon,” Murry added without stepping closer.
Rose glanced his way, then said, “In that case, I’d not ’ave seen her as I was busy fetchin’ more flowers.Always do before the fashionable hour begins.”
In other words, Rose couldn’t help.Sighing, Adrian shoved his hands in his pockets and started turning away.“Thank you anyway.”
“I didn’t say I don’t know anythin’.”She waited for him to return his attention to her before saying, “Could be Alfie ’as more to say.Accordin’ to Hewie, that is.”
“Who’s Hewie?”Adrian asked, unsure of where this conversation was going.
“A newsie.”She shrugged.“Keeps me company when ’e’s able.”
“And what did Hewie say to make you think Alfie” — whoeverhewas – “will be able to lead me to this missing woman?”
“Well… Alfie was braggin’ to Hewie about the five pounds ’e made on a lark, ’elping some toff play a joke.”
“And?”
“It involved snatchin’ a lady’s reticule so the toff could play ’ero.Might be unrelated, but maybe it’s not.Could be the woman you’re seekin’ ran off with the fellow.”
Adrian glanced at Murry and spotted the interest that shone in his eyes, then asked Rose, “Any idea where Alfie is now?”
“It’s still early, so… Probably at Saint George’s, waitin’ for the parishioners to leave.”When Adrian arched a brow, she explained.“Crowds make for easier pickin’s.”
“Of course.”Adrian scanned the area surrounding the park entrance.Only a few other people were about.Later in the day it would be overcrowded.
He checked his pocket watch for the time.Church service would end in another ten minutes, which was more or less the time it would take for them to reach Saint George’s.
Intent on finding the only possible witness to Lady Edwina’s disappearance, he told Rose briskly, “Describe Alfie to me.”
* * *
It wasn’t hard for James Murry to spot the ten-year-old boy Croft’s flower girl had described.Black hair, scrawny appearance, scruffy clothes, and most telling of all, the foreign features suggesting he was at least half gypsy if not entirely so.
“Do you want me to grab him for you?”James asked Croft without letting Alfie out of his sight for so much as a second.
“We can do it together.I’ll approach from—”
