Page 14 of Murder in Disguise (Mary and Bright #5)

As the longcase clock chimed ten-thirty, Gabriel came into the morning room where Mary enjoyed her typical preferred breakfast of golden scrambled eggs, toast with marmalade, a pot of tea, and a jam tart.

“Good morning, sweeting.” He flashed her a grin, for he was always quite chipper after he’d made love to his wife.

“How are you feeling this morning?” Though she’d woken in the wee hours of the night due to a nightmare, he liked to hope that he’d provided her enough comfort and security—as well as a carnal release—that her dreams following the coupling were benign.

“Better, thank you.” She lifted her face to him, and when he kissed her forehead before he sat down, she smiled. “Did you sleep well?”

“I did.” He grinned at the footman who brought over a pot of coffee and poured out a cup for him. “Thank you, Robert. The regular breakfast if you please.”

“Of course, Inspector.”

While the footman went to fill a plate, Gabriel opened his copy of The General Evening Post , which, for an evening newspaper, always arrived at his home by ten in the morning.

He didn’t know if it was merely the neighborhood he lived in where the paper was delivered first or if the owner of the paper simply wanted to get the material out early, but it didn’t matter.

Unfortunately, the first headline his gaze fell upon was one concerning him.

“Well, damn.”

Missing Girls Showing Up Dead! Bow Street Consultant Stymied!

Mary frowned. “What is it?”

“Someone has written a short blurb about the missing girls who are now dead.” After skimming the article, he passed the paper to his wife. “Who the hell went to a journalist with this? And they apparently don’t understand how an investigation works.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry.” Slowly, she folded the paper and set it on the table out of his reach. “If it helps, the article was short and quite vague. There were no names included.”

“Except mine,” he said as he bit off the triangle on the edge of a piece of toast.

“Yes, there is that.” She touched his hand across the table.

“However, this isn’t the first time you’ve been taunted by the press or by someone else for not solving a mystery in a day.

” Concern clouded her blue eyes. “Please put it from your mind, Gabriel. It matters not, for anyone who knows you also is aware of how thorough you are in your investigations.”

“I appreciate that.” He chewed a bit of hamsteak with enough vigor that could have plowed through the wall behind him. “I suppose there’s nothing for it except to keep going.”

“Of course. That is what we’ve always done.”

Gabriel nodded. He took a deep swig of his coffee and then swallowed, forgetting that it was quite warm.

Tears stung his eyes as the heat hit his throat.

After a small cough, he said, “I have two sets of parents to interview today. One of them is Viscount Farmington. However, I’ll need to try and catch him before he leaves for the Lords.

His wife is a patron to a literacy foundation. ”

“Who is the other father?”

“I believe he’s a jeweler. Has a shop off Fleet Street. A Mr. Knapp, I think. His wife is a seamstress, and if I remember correctly, her sister is married to a baron, which gives the family access to the ton . I’ll have to consult my notes.”

“So it’s true that all the missing girls only have one thing in common—their ages and the fact that it’s their Come Out year into society.”

“It’s unfortunate, of course, that someone clearly has taken issue with young women.” He shook his head as he speared another piece of hamsteak. “Eventually, this man, this person, will make a mistake, and that will put me one step closer to finding him.”

“What of the notes? Clearly, the killer knows you or knows of you. Do you think they have a personal vendetta against you?”

“To make me out to be a laughingstock in the papers?” He shoveled a large forkful of eggs into his mouth and chewed savagely.

After swallowing, he continued. “This killer has two weeks on me. When the girls started to go missing, Bow Street botched the investigation. Hell, they sat on their hands until a third girl had been taken. Only then did they take the case seriously, and by the time the fourth was taken, I was called in to consult because Bow Street washed their hands of it.”

“Why?”

He shrugged then drained his coffee cup. “Honestly?”

“Yes, please.”

“This is my opinion only, but I fear it’s because the case involves women.

Bow Street doesn’t give two shits about females, missing or dead.

There’s no coin in it, and they don’t respect women anyway.

” Then, as his anger faded a bit, he heaved a sigh.

“I apologize for the language as well as the outburst. Bow Street’s attitude is one of the reasons I left.

It trickles down from the men in charge, men high up in politics and society, but you must know, they are vastly underestimating the power and abilities of women. ”

“You truly are a good man, Gabriel,” Mary said in a soft voice.

“Not many men treat women with respect in this world, nor do they consider them equals as you do. Far too often, men consider women only as objects or little more than vessels for their offspring.” The delicate tendons in her throat worked with a hard swallow.

“Outside of you, I have never been treated so well by a man before, have never been asked my opinion on anything, have never been thought to have a brain or intelligence. Not even by my brother, and he’s not a bad man. ”

His chest tightened, for he well knew her history with her first marriage.

“I’m sorry our world is full of nodcocks.

” When he wanted to toss his fork and knife to his plate, he overcame that urge and laid them gently down across the porcelain.

“We have much work to do, and we need to interview some of the young men these girls have either danced or talked with at society events.”

Mary nodded. “I’ll write to the parents of the two dead girls and ask for lists of potential suspects, even young men who happened to glance at them with heat in their eyes.”

“As well as male family friends or disgusting uncles that might have done the same,” Gabriel added as he shot to his feet.

She frowned. “Where are you going?”

“Somewhere quiet to think.”

“Are you coming back?”

“Yes, of course. Then you and I are going to interview the other two sets of parents. There must be a usable clue somewhere, damn it.”

“All right. I have a meeting in an hour with Miss Alexander to review her lesson plans for the next month or so as well as confirm when she’ll be on holiday for Christmastide.

” She dusted her hands together to remove crumbs.

“Just remember though, I believe in you. All the rest? It’s just noise that serves as a distraction. ”

He nodded. “Thank you.”

Mid-afternoon

Gabriel had buried himself in his study for a couple of hours, pouring over notes taken during the course of the case so far.

Then he made additional notes in an effort to organize what they’d already discovered.

It helped to make sense of things and find other connections.

To be fair, he’d fallen asleep while sitting at his desk because the leather chair was so comfortable.

Now it was time to stretch his legs. And perhaps bedevil the cook into making one of his favorite soups for a late luncheon.

Except when he exited the study, the sound of feminine crying reached his ears. With a frown, he followed it only to find Adelaide in the back parlor, sniffling and crying as she sat on one of the low sofas, her handkerchief clutched in one hand.

Well, damn.

Not seeing any way to ignore her obvious distress and knowing Mary was otherwise occupied, Gabriel tamped down on the urge to sigh. “Adelaide? What seems to be the problem?” he asked in a soft voice lest a loud one make her go further into hysterics.

“Everything is wrong!” She looked at him as he came further into the room. “Did you see the paper this morning?”

Bloody hell. “I did.”

Tears stained her face. “What if you can’t solve this case before the ball, Inspector? Will guests not come because they believe you incompetent? This was to be the pinnacle of the Season for me!”

Why did Mary have to be busy during this emotionally charged conversation? It was his responsibility to bring Adelaide out of the boughs and offer her a bit of comfort. “Have you ever known me not to solve a case?”

“Of course not. You are the best of the best.”

There was that. “The people at the newspaper office merely wanted to create a sensation so they could sell more copies of their papers. Other papers will probably do the same, but above all, you and I do not need to panic. Would you like to know why?”

She nodded. “Why?”

“Because the men who wrote that article and others like it don’t know any of the facts. They don’t know me. They didn’t know the dead girls, so what they’re truly telling the public are made up stories and lies.”

“That makes sense… to a point.” But she continued to sniffle.

“Come with me.” He gestured her over to the door.

“Where?”

“We are going for a walk through the neighborhood. And if that exercise doesn’t help your emotions, we’ll continue through the square.”

She nodded. “I appreciate that.”

Once outside the house, he threaded one of her hands through his crooked elbow. “Is the possibility that the ball might be affected the only reason you’re upset?”

“No.” The one-word was a bit tearful. “My friends are distraught about what is happening. They’re wondering if more girls will be taken.

” Adelaide shook her head. “I knew two of those girls personally, Inspector! They’re gone and I’ll never be able to talk with them again.

It’s just starting to become real to me. ”