She was 18 years of age, with blonde hair and green eyes, and about the same height and weight as Gwen Tavers.
According to the report taken by a constable at the time, it appeared she had disappeared under almost identical circumstances. When questioned about any known difficulties within the family, the young woman’s father had replied, ‘Only the usual among young people.’
Whatever that might mean.
There was an additional notation about a planned trip to Brighton with another young woman that had been cancelled. But no comment if that created a difficulty.
The other young woman, by the name of Emily Walker, a family acquaintance, had been questioned by the family but was unable to provide any additional information. She had not seen Charlotte for several days before her disappearance.
I glanced down at the name of the person who had made the report—Commissioner Harold E. Davies. A relation of Charlotte Davies?
I sat back in the chair at my desk and stared at the two reports.
Three young women, approximately the same age, had disappeared within the past three months. Nothing was taken with them, which indicated that they had merely stepped out one afternoon, intending to return.
What did that tell me? Something? Nothing?
I did wish that Brodie was here. I would have liked his thoughts regarding everything that I had learned.
However, since I was on my own in this, I needed to determine the next step.
With those reports in hand, I went to the chalkboard and made a new column of notes regarding Charlotte Davies’s disappearance.
I noted the similarities between the three young women, who seemed to have a great deal in common in spite of their differences in class.
I then made side notes on the board with information that might be useful, most particularly the name of Charlotte Davies’s friend with whom she’d made plans to travel to Brighton.
It might be important to speak with both her father and mother. They were obviously a family of some means, considering that address at Covington Place in Marylebone.
There was one person I could reply upon to know something about the family—my great-aunt, who seemed to know everyone who was anyone in London society circles. And a few outside those circles.
She had spoken of the fact that, with her connections and those she knew, she could provide enormous assistance in our private inquiries.
While I was very aware that at her age it could be dangerous for her to participate directly, I was also aware that she would eventually hear of my new inquiry case from someone in that large circle of acquaintances, with the inevitable conversation to follow.
To quote one of our previous conversations regarding a particular case, she had informed me that I might have spoken with her earlier about the matter, as she already knew about the situation.
For his part, Brodie was quite circumspect about the prospect of my great-aunt participating in our inquiry cases from time to time.
“She will do as she pleases,” he had pointed out. “You might consider speaking with her first.”
He did seem to know her quite well, in addition to being quite fond of her. He thought her eccentricities were most amusing. Especially the Viking longboat she was determined to be sent off in when her time came.
Speaking with her did seem the most expedient way to learn about Harold Davies and the Davies family, which might provide some insight into Charlotte Davies’s disappearance.
I gathered my bag along with the envelope containing the two reports, then locked the office door on my way out. Before leaving, I handed the envelope to Mr. Cavendish and asked him to have the courier deliver it back to Mr. Dooley at New Scotland Yard.
Mr. Symons greeted me at the door when I arrived at Sussex Square.
“Her ladyship is presently standing on her head in the solarium,” he informed me.
Not an unusual occurrence. She was convinced that standing on her head improved her circulation.
“I do believe they are just finishing,” he added. “I will let her ladyship know,” he replied.
They? I could only imagine who that might include. Lily perhaps?
Calling on my great-aunt unexpectedly was often an adventure in itself.
She had never married, and proceeded to live her life just as she chose. And had been on an adventure her entire life, along with that unexpected adventure when she took on my sister and me as children to raise.
Therefore it was always a very good idea to expect the unexpected at Sussex Square.
The Egyptian sailboat in the great hall afloat with its own river came to mind. Quite clever actually.
There was the car track on the green in front of the stables, and the older part of Sussex Square that had once been a medieval fortress. It mattered not to me at the time that it had been closed off for several decades.
The walls of the old fortress still encircled all of Sussex Square, with parapets, a tower with arrow slits, and a sallyport.
Family legend had it that Sussex Square had been occupied for a time by King William I, William the Conqueror, an ancestor according to family records. The fortress had never been breached.
I had undertaken my first adventures there. And now, Lily had made her own explorations.
“There is a dungeon,” she said, quite excited after one of her early explorations. “Did you know about it?”
I did indeed.