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Hardy nodded. “The police surgeon concluded that she had not been submerged in the water for long. He estimated an hour or a few hours at the most. I too have speculated that Frye might have deposited her there and been back to Seven Dials lodgings by the time he was apprehended.”

“Did anyone see them together in the days after he left his museum post?” Electra asked.

Hardy shook his head. “I have found no evidence to that effect. He was not seen at her lodgings, nor was he seen in or near the museum after he abandoned his post. He is still a suspect in my mind, but he insists that he did not harm her.”

Gideon glanced down again at the document containing the drawing of the book found in Miss Collier’s pocket. “Did he admit to giving her this book?”

“He did not. Claims he had given her flowers and a bottle of scent during the time he was attempting to win her favor, about a month before her disappearance, but never a book.”

“And who else is on your list of suspects?”

“Joseph Barclay, the barman at The Willows, is a rough one. Never been arrested, but word is that he is handy enough with his fists that he fights in bare-knuckle prize fights on occasion.” Hardy once again shuffled through the papers on his desk. “I spoke to some of the ladies who work at the pub, and the reports are not good. They say he’s a kind man, but when drink takes him, he is a beast. Becomes violent, even with ladies.”

Gideon worked his jaw thoughtfully. “Any mention of him employing a knife in any of these fights?”

“None. Nor are there any reports of Frye using a knife during his theft in Covent Garden. He relies on distraction and swiftness of foot.”

“So either man might have killed her,” Gideon concluded.

Electra sensed from his tone that the uncertainty associated with the two men frustrated him.

“Indeed. Barclay was working on the Friday she was found, but he had quit work by eleven, and of course, we don’t exactly know what time she was put into the river.”

“During the course of your investigation, has Miss Delacourt been brought up? Either by Barclay or Frye?”

Hardy lifted a finger in the air. “Ah, yes, Frye did mention her as someone who was a close friend of Miss Collier’s. Mind you, when I spoke to him, on Saturday, after receiving the police surgeon’s report on Miss Collier’s death and discovering Frye had been arrested, I believe Miss Delacourt was not yet unaccounted for.”

“Did you sense any enmity from him toward Miss Delacourt?”

“Not at all. If anything, he spoke of her with more goodwill than he did Miss Collier. He was quite angry that Miss Collier had gone to Kerrigan.” Hardy sighed. “I’m afraid, other than Frye and a mention by Kerrigan, Miss Delacourt was not mentioned in my other interviews.”

Gideon had begun tapping his fingers against his thigh, revealing his agitation. “We should speak to Barclay. And Frye.”

“Barclay is at the pub most nights from around midafternoon until closing,” Hardy told them. “And Nicholas Frye will be even easier to find as he is in Her Majesty’s custody at Coldbath Fields. I can take you there and arrange a meeting with him, if you like.”

Gideon nodded, and his fingers stilled. “Yes. Much appreciated.”

“Miss Delacourt feared for her friend, according to her family,” Electra felt compelled to add. From their first meeting with the family, Iris’s fears for Calliope Collier had seemed the one matter that troubled her prior to her disappearance, aside from the unknown gentleman she’d mentioned to Beatrice Longfellow.

Hardy’s brow furrowed. “If she knew of Frye’s threat, then I understand why she would have been concerned for her friend.”

“Do you think he might have threatened Miss Delacourt too?” Gideon queried. “He knew how close they were and could easily conclude that anything Miss Collier knew Miss Delacourt would too.”

“As I said, he only spoke of her in pleasant if somewhat disinterested terms. I don’t think it’s impossible that he might have extended threats to Miss Delacourt, but there is no evidence anything was removed from the museum, and he wasn’t dismissed. Frye abandoned his post at the museum after Kerrigan spoke to him.”

“Did you search Frye’s or Barclay’s lodgings?”

“Frye’s, yes. Barclay was present while I had a cursory glance over his shared lodgings near the pub. If you’re asking if a knife or clothing covered in blood was found, neither was.”

For a moment, it was as if Electra could hear the two men’s minds churning over what was known and all that was yet left to investigate.

Gideon reached out for the document detailing the book found in Miss Collier’s pocket. “What else was found on Miss Collier?”

Hardy immediately reached for a piece of paper and read from it. “A few tuppence coins, a handkerchief, and earbobs, which she was wearing. Those were all returned to the family, but there was one item so strange that I retained it.”

He eyed them both a moment, hesitating. “It might not be as elusive as I’m making it out to be,” he said as he opened the top drawer of his desk and pulled out a bundle wrapped in paper. Unfolding the paper, he lifted a chain that held a single pendant on it. A silver A in a cursive font.

“It was found in her pocket,” he said almost reverently, “which was closed over with a button. It’s the reason I think it didn’t float away. I showed it to the Colliers and none of them had ever seen it. Denied, in fact, that it was Calliope’s.”