Page 72 of The Little Shop of Curiosities, The Music Box Part 2

“She took him to the one place she knew he’d be safe. To her brother.”

“Cornelius?”

He nods. “I don’t know what happened to him after that.”

“Jesus, Prickles.” I breathe heavily.

“I know.” He lifts his chin in the direction of the file I’m still holding. “What exactly is this case Hadley passed to you?”

I flip open the file and quickly skim through the notes. “It looks like it started out as a simple case of probate. The client, a”—my eyes narrow as I try to make out the handwritten name—“Riley Tyldesley inherited the property six months ago. Oh, there’s a family tree included.”

I set it down on top of one of the photos and point. “Look, Judge Maycliffe. You were right. It was his house.”

Harrison skims over the chart. “He didn’t have a wife or any children.”

“And from what you’ve told me, that’s a good thing.”

“But according to this, he had a brother who must’ve inherited the house after the judge’s death.”

“The brother had two daughters. One didn’t survive infancy, but the other inherited. The house passed down her line until it got to this Riley woman.” I read through some more of the notes. “Here, listen to this. After she inherited the house last year, she began renovating it. When they knocked down part of the chimney breast, she found a journal of sorts, indicating its owner had belonged to some sort of underground society.”

“Bloody Victorians.” Harrison sighs. “And their bloody secret clubs.”

“According to the file, shortly after she found the book, she started having strange dreams about secret meetings held in the house, and get this. She claims a demon had actually been inside the house.”

Harrison bites his lip. “What should we do?”

“I’m going to get dressed and head over there to talk to her,” I say. “See if I can get her side of it. And also check if she still has that book in her possession.”

“You think it might be Cordelia’s book?” He stares at me. “The Book of Lala Khal?”

“It’s worth checking out.”

“Sam, I don’t think it can be. There’s no way Cordelia would have let that book out of her sight, and there’s no way she would have hidden it in that house.”

“You can’t know that. We still don’t know what happened to her or the book. We’re also only working on the supposition that the demon trap in the bookshop contains Ishaan. It could be a completely different demon for all we know.”

“Unlikely.”

“I’m inclined to agree, but until we have evidence to the contrary, we need to follow all leads, starting with the book Riley Tyldesley discovered in the judge’s house. If it turns out that it’s not Cordelia’s book, I should at least be able to use my ability to get a read on it.”

Harrison straightens up, his expression determined. “Then I’m going with you.”

17

The house’s exterior looks almost exactly the same as it did the night Cordelia walked out the front door a hundred and fifty years ago, a frightened child cradled in her arms.

I look up and down the road. What had been a uniform row of Victorian town houses is now a street filled with more modern style homes. The judge’s house seems to be the only original property left.

“Are you alright, Prickles?”

“The houses don’t match.”

“What?”

“This used to be a Victorian terrace of townhouses. The judge’s is the only one left. All the rest of these are more twentieth century style homes. Doesn’t that strike you as odd? That this was the only one that wasn’t demolished and rebuilt with the others?”

“Actually, Mr Hadley did leave a note in the file about that. This whole street was reduced to rubble during the Blitz. The judge’s house was the only one left standing after the bombs fell. Apart from some fire damage to the roof and some shrapnel markings on the brickwork, it was largely intact. The rest of the street wasn’t so lucky. It was all rebuilt after the war.”