by L. A. Nisula
“That’s probably best. They do like to witness anything they can. I’ll get my hat and we can be off.”
It seemed Milly was part of my adventure now. “I’ll make certain I have the paper.”
When Milly and I got to Scotland Yard, the line was as long as ever, but my name was still on whatever list let me go straight up to Inspector Burrows, so it wasn’t as bad of a wait as I’d feared. When we got to the detectives’ floor, I led the way to Inspector Burrows’s office and hoped he was there and not interrogating a suspect or something similar. We were in luck. When I knocked, he called, “Enter!” and we found him seated at his desk behind a mountain of paperwork. “Miss Pengear, Miss Prynne, please tell me you haven’t found another body.”
“Cassie’s found a book,” Milly told him.
“And is it an interesting book?”
“Code-breaking,” Milly answered. “That’s always interesting, isn’t it?”
Inspector Burrows turned to me. “I wasn’t aware there were any codes in your case.”
“But there might be invisible ink,” I said and opened the book to the page I’d marked and explained my logic.
Inspector Burrows listened to my explanation then took the book from me and read the relevant bit. “I’ll admit that’s interesting. And not too difficult to check, if you have the paper.”
I was tempted to pull it out dramatically, but then he might ask to look at it and send us away while he experimented, so I simply said, “I do.”
“Then I’d better send Constable Jones out to the market and see if we have any cooking utensils around.”
So Constable Jones was sent to buy some cabbage and a cooking pot and a strainer, and Constable Lipson went to ask around the offices until he found someone with a small brazier that they used for making tea and were willing to lend him as long as he promised not to say who had it in their office. While we waited for them to return, I gave Inspector Burrows a summary of the information Kate had discovered in the aviary records. When Constable Jones returned, we set ourselves up in one of the interrogation rooms. Constable Lipson boiled up the cabbage while Inspector Burrows read and re-read the entries in the book that might be relevant and examined the paper from the aviary. When Constable Lipson brought the mix over, which oddly enough was blue, Inspector Burrows asked, “Do you need any of this information, Miss Pengear? It might get smeared while we’re testing this.”
“It’s just rates for a letter home. I can get them again when I need them.”
“Then it seems we’re ready.”
Milly was leaning so far over my shoulder I was afraid she’d topple over me onto the table. Inspector Burrows looked unsure whether he was allowed to smile or not. I rolled my eyes in his general direction, and he put his head down, which told me he was probably trying not to laugh. Constable Lipson began to paint the cabbage water on one end of the paper. “There’s something there, sir.”
“So there is. Keep going.”
Constable Lipson continued to paint, slowly, not wanting to damage any evidence if I was wrong about it. Inspector Burrows stepped back from the table only to return a moment later with a third chair, which he put right next to Milly, making it hard for her to do anything but sit down and stop hovering, then he resumed his place by the paper.
It didn’t take long, but then it wasn’t a very big piece of paper, or a very long note. Once the entire paper had been coated, red marks began to appear where there hadn’t been any to begin with, and before long it was clear the note was a series of numbers. “17R, 46L, 23R, 35L.”
“Interesting,” Inspector Burrows said as he stared at the row of numbers. I took that to mean it didn’t solve anything quickly.
“What is it?” Milly asked.
“That is the question, isn’t it?” Inspector Burrows replied, confirming my theory.
“It can’t be dates or times,” Milly said. “Could it be a place? Latitude and longitude?”
“Do we have an atlas?” Inspector Burrows asked.
“I think there’s one in the evidence room,” Constable Jones offered but made no move to get it.
That didn’t sound right to me either. Not specific enough to be helpful, and no directions, and R and L didn’t make sense for replacements. They weren’t directions, after all, except left and right, of course. Unless that was it. “It’s the combination to a safe.”
“Another interesting theory,” Inspector Burrows said in the same tone he’d used on Milly, which told me he wasn’t inclined to believe either of us.
“You don’t think so?”
“I haven’t encountered a safe to open in this case yet.”
That was a problem. “So someone wrote these numbers in invisible ink and put them in the bird with a toy that would tell the recipient how to read them, then sent it to an office on Hopp Lane. Why?”
“And made it look like it was going to George Street,” Inspector Burrows said, still staring at the paper. “So what about this makes it important enough to go to all that trouble?”
“Another good question,” I answered.
“Still, I don’t see any connection between George Street and Hopp Lane, and it seems far more difficult to make a bird go from one place to a related one than to make one location a random one. Was there anything else about the bird? Anything from the first time you saw it?”
I shook my head. “I’ve told you all of it. It crashed, the cabbage, the return address was Apsley House, Mr. Bennett seemed to repair an awful lot of crashed birds...”
“Did you say Apsley House?” Milly interrupted. “Isn’t that something with Napoleon?”
I looked over at Milly. Homes of historical figures wasn’t usually her cup of tea. “Sort of. Have you been?” Perhaps one of her gentlemen had brought her there, or had been a historian, or fascinated by the Napoleonic Wars.
“Oh no, it sounds a bit dull. But there was something in one of the papers about him. Napoleon, I mean. Some sort of exhibit that had to be called off because something was stolen. Josephine’s earrings or something.”
Another coincidence. “Was it a recent newspaper?”
“Fairly. I was looking for reports on my arrest when I saw it. I could probably find it again.”
“Or I could find out who has the case and get the file,” Inspector Burrows pointed out. “The Josephine earrings should be easy enough to track down.”
“We don’t mind waiting,” Milly said.
“But you don’t need to. Miss Pengear, thank you for bringing this to me.”
I could tell he wanted us to leave, and I had the feeling he would take his time finding the other detective if we stayed, so there wasn’t much point in trying. “If I don’t hear from you, I’ll stop by later and see what you’ve found out.”
He smiled a bit. “Then I’ll be sure to send a note when I find something.”
As I collected up my gloves, I thought of something else, something he’d told me when I’d brought the bloody gloves to him. “Something like the earrings would be insured, wouldn’t it?”
Inspector Burrows nodded. “That sort of thing usually is.”
“When you looked at who had taken my file, there was the name of an insurance investigator on it. I wonder if he would have been working on the robbery.”
“An interesting coincidence, if he was,” Inspector Burrows said. “But how would he have known to look at your file if he was looking for the earrings?”
“It might be interesting to ask him.”
“It might indeed, if it is his case.”
Something about the way he’d said it struck me. “You called it my file just then, but when you’ve asked for it, you’ve always called it the Hopp Lane file.”
“Since we don’t have a victim’s name, yes. You think that’s how someone would know to ask for it? Interesting.” He seemed to be considering the possibility.
“Did you ever find out what was taken from George Street?”
“Nothing, so far as the lan
dlord could tell.”
“And Hopp Lane?”
“No one was in that office, so it was all old furniture. The landlord there didn’t think there was anything worth taking.”
“What about the broken patch on the floor? The faded spot around it wasn’t very big. It could have been a small safe.”
Inspector Burrows sighed. “A safe that no one knew about? And then taken by the murderer?”
“It does look like a combination,” I pointed out.
“All right, I’ll see if anyone remembers seeing a safe in the room. Will that satisfy you?”
I nodded. “I’ll be waiting for your note.”
“I’ll be sure to send it.” So you wouldn’t have to come back was implied but not spoken.
As we were walking back to the Underground station, Milly stopped as if she’d just remembered something pressing. I didn’t believe it and waited to see what she wanted. “Cassie, I have a few errands to run. Why don’t you pick up some sandwiches and bring them home with you, and then we can have a nice lunch while we wait for Inspector Burrows to send his note.”
And then she wouldn’t have to pay for them. “All right, but don’t tell anyone about any of this, not yet. I don’t think Inspector Burrows would like that.”
“I suppose...”
“And if he thinks we’re spreading information around, he won’t give us any more.”
“There is that, yes, I can see... All right, just between us for the moment.”
“Good. I’ll see you at the apartment.”
I picked up the sandwiches as promised and went back to Nell Lane. I didn’t think Milly would be back for ages, so I was quite surprised to hear a knock on the door a mere ten minutes after I’d returned. I was expecting it to be Milly caught without her key, but when I opened the door, I found Kate Ferris on the other side. “Not a particularly secure building, is this? I just walked right in.”
“I know. Milly’s the one who picked it. And she leaves this door unlocked half the time. But come in.”
“I can only stay a few minutes. It’s my lunch break, but I wanted to let you know what I found out.”
I led her over to our dining table. “There are sandwiches if you’d like one.” Milly wouldn’t miss what she didn’t know I’d bought.
“Thanks.” Once we were settled with tea and sandwiches, Kate launched into her news. “I’ve just been to Scotland Yard, but I thought I’d come and let you know what I told Inspector Burrows in case it ends up being useful. I’ve been asking about Bennett, trying to figure out where he is, only I’ve been phrasing it in a way that suggests I’m worried that he’s in trouble. Then if someone sounded interested, I mentioned the fellow who’s been hanging about.”
“The one you think is the body I found?”
“Exactly. And I make it sound like I think he’s involved in Bennett disappearing, even though I’m certain he’s not. It wasn’t that sort of waiting around, if you see what I mean. But there are quite a few of the fellows in the department who won’t give you the time of day if they’re standing near a grandfather clock, but will go out of their way to tell you that you’re wrong.” She paused to take a bite of her sandwich.
“And did they tell you anything useful?”
“Only that his name is Tarkin, he’s a friend of Bennett’s, and you’ll never guess where he works. The Mayton Street Aviary.”
“The connection to the birds.”
“Exactly. That’s why I went to see Inspector Burrows. I wanted to give him the name. He’s sending someone to the aviary to talk to him or get an address if he’s not there.”
“So he’s listening, that’s something. And we figured out what the cabbage meant.” I told her about the invisible ink and the strange message while she finished her sandwich.
“Well, that does sound like the combination to something. You’ll let me know if you figure it out?”
“I will, and tell Ada I said hi.”
Once Kate had left, I tidied up the sandwich wrappers so Milly wouldn’t see that I’d bought them back and given hers away. Kate had barely been gone five minutes when there was another knock at the door. I went to answer and found Constable Lipson on the other side. “Not the most secure of buildings, is this?”
“This is the second time I’ve had that conversation today.”
“The first wouldn’t have been Miss Ferris, would it? I’m supposed to find her and she wasn’t at the aviary.”
“She just left. You should be able to catch her. I’ll come with you, and try to spot her.” Mostly because I wanted to know why he was looking for her, but I thought it best to let him pretend I was only there to be helpful. I grabbed my hat and gloves and the keys before he could change his mind.
Apparently, Constable Lipson decided to make the best of it. At least he didn’t argue and even explained what was going on as we hurried down the street towards the Underground station. “We found Mr. Bennett at Mr. Tarkin’s address. He’s somewhat hysterical, and Inspector Burrows thinks he might have some useful information, so he’s hoping a friendly face might make it easier for him to answer. And he thought Miss Ferris could act as a tinkering expert while she’s there, in case he says anything particularly technical.”
I had quite a few questions about all of that, but then I spotted Kate’s navy jacket in the crowd and darted ahead to catch up with her.
When we caught up to Kate and explained what was needed, she was quite willing to return to Scotland Yard. While Constable Lipson found us a cab, I filled her in on the small bit of information Constable Lipson had told me, and we kept talking as we climbed into the cab, not giving Constable Lipson the chance to tell me I ought to go back to Nell Lane. I could tell from the quiet way he followed us into the cab that he hadn’t really expected to go without me.
Inspector Burrows didn’t seem particularly surprised to see me either. “Good afternoon, Miss Ferris, Miss Pengear. I’m sorry to call you away from work, but we have found Mr. Bennett, and I thought you might be able to help us get some sense out of him.”
Kate answered, “I can try, but he’s not known for sense.”
“I can’t say I’m surprised, but if you wouldn’t mind talking to him, in case it does help.”
“Certainly. What would you like me to find out?”
“Why he ran. Why he went to Tarkin’s address. How long he’s been there. Anything you can get that I can use to try and figure out what is going on here.”
“It’s completely possible he doesn’t know what’s going on, but I’ll try.”
“He’s in here.” Inspector Burrows pulled out his keys and unlocked one of the interrogation rooms. “I’ll be right next door if you need me, and Constable Lipson will come in with you. If you need anything, just yell.”
Kate nodded and went inside. Inspector Burrows handed Constable Lipson the keys then went into the interrogation room to the right of the one Kate had just entered. I followed him. He didn’t seem surprised by that either.
Inside the interrogation room, I watched Inspector Burrows go to the wall and pull a brick out of place. I had assumed there was some reason he had said he would be in the next room instead of by the door, and I was expecting some very advanced listening technology, so was quite surprised to find it was nothing more than a hole in the wall with a thin piece of paper over it on the other side that presumably had been painted to match the wall and hide it from a casual glance. “Do all of the interrogation rooms have that?”
Inspector Burrows looked annoyed that I’d asked while he was listening, but he did answer in a whisper, which I realized meant we could be heard as well. “Not all of them, but it is useful.”
I made note of where the brick had been then went to stand close enough that I could hear what was being said in the next room.
“Hello, Bennett.”
Mr. Bennett sniffed a bit. “Ferris. Did they get you too?”
“I was here consulting on something,” I could hear the annoyance in
her voice and the effort it was taking for her not to snap at him. “And I heard you were here so I wanted to be sure you were all right. We’re all worried about you in the department.”
“That’s nice. Good to know I’ve got friends. Have you heard if there’s going to be bail for me?”
I couldn’t help wondering if that was why he was pleased to have friends, pleased to have someone he could tap for bail money.
“Do you think you’ll need it?”
“I’m here, aren’t I?”
I could hear Kate sigh, then she changed the subject. “I heard you were staying with Tarkin from the Mayton Street Aviary. That was nice of him.”
“He doesn’t know. He wasn’t there. I mean I’m sure he would have let me stay, but he wasn’t there.”
“So you let yourself in?”
“It wasn’t hard. He keeps a key in the flowerpot.”
At least Milly hadn’t been as careless as that. At least I hoped she hadn’t. I’d have to check the flowerpots when I was back at Nell Lane, including the yellow ficus in the entryway.
“How long were you at his place?”
“Two days, and he hasn’t been back. I knew something was wrong, I just knew it.”
“How did you know?”
“He didn’t come to tell me it had been left. He always comes to tell me when it’s been left so I know to start waiting.”
“Waiting for what? The bird?”
“And then when he wasn’t at his flat, I knew something had gone wrong.”
Kate tried asking a few more questions, but all she could get out of him was that he’d known something was wrong when he didn’t hear from Tarkin. Kate finally gave up and said something about needing to get back to work. Inspector Burrows put the brick back in place and motioned for me to follow him to the door. We met Kate in the hallway outside as she left the interrogation room. “That was the best I could manage. I do think he’s really afraid of someone.”
