"Wouldn't you?"
"I suppose that's what I'm getting at I imagine that's as good a place as any to start my search."
Bainbridge shook his head. "No. You mustn't, Newbury. Don't go dragging up the past. Ashford may well be looking for his family – and I feel sorry for the man, I truly do – but the last thing his wife needs is to know that he's been alive al this time, turned into some sort of half-mechanical monster. Besides, he'll never find them. And even then we're assuming that the family is stil there, in that Cheapside hovel. As you say, it's been five years. They've probably moved on." He lowered his voice. "God knows, I hope they have."
Newbury took a pul on his brandy. He felt fingers of warmth spreading down through his chest as the alcohol banished his chill. It was clear that something about this case had touched a nerve with his friend. "Very well, Charles. I'll look elsewhere -for now. It may not be necessary to search him out, anyway."
Bainbridge leaned back in his chair. He took up the dinner menu. "How so?"
"I believe I find myself in the midst of a game of cat and mouse, and I'm unsure which of us is enacting which role – the hunter or the hunted."
Bainbridge looked up from the top of his menu. "Stop speaking in riddles, Newbury."
Newbury laughed, for the first time that evening. "I have reason to believe that Ashford has been fol owing me. I encountered him in the street earlier this evening, but he gave me the slip."
"What? Where?" Bainbridge was frowning.
"Not far from here, as I made my way over to meet you. I had the curious notion that I was being fol owed, but for quite some time I was unable to ascertain by whom. I thought it may have been.. wel, I thought it may have been my mind playing tricks on me."
"But it was Ashford?"
"I believe so."
"Wel, why the devil should he be fol owing you?"
"A good question, Charles, and one for which I intend to find an answer. With any luck, this may not turn out to be the protracted affair I had initially feared." Newbury regarded the menu on the table before him. "Venison and creamed potatoes, I should say."
" Well, just be careful, Newbury."
Newbury offered his friend a sly look. "Of the venison?"
Bainbridge shook his head, exasperated. "Look, the Ashford I recal was a decent man, but having seen Winthrop today.. I don't know any more. Just look after yourself. I'll help however I can."
"So, you've changed your mind about the nature of our suspect, have you, Charles? Does that mean Wilfred Blake has an alibi?" Newbury offered the Chief Inspector an amused grin.
Bainbridge nodded. "Indeed. And a solid one at that. He was in the company of a lady, dining out in ful public view. He cannot be considered a suspect for the murder." He sighed again. "It looks like you may be right about Ashford, unless we have a-foreign agent in our midst, someone who knows our ways."
"It's possible. But unlikely, I think. The simplest explanation is often the correct one, Charles, and here we have a rogue agent loose in London, and a corpse with all the hallmarks of a swift, purposeful execution. I do not think it is too much of a stretch to assume that we know the identity of our quarry, if not his motivation."
"Perhaps." Bainbridge drummed his fingers on the table. "Now, however, I believe I must eat, or I shall waste away to nothing and you shall have to find yourself another dining companion."
"Wel, that, of course, would never do!" Newbury, laughing, turned and gestured for the waiter, Williams, to return to their table to take their order. His stomach was growling, and his head was final y beginning to clear. Soon, he'd need sleep. But first, he needed food, drink and the company of a good friend.
Chapter Twelve
THE CURSE OF THE SCREAMING MUMMY BY MR G. PUREFOY
DEATH AND DESPAIR SURROUND THE DISCOVERY OF THE MYSTERIOUS "SCREAMING MUMMY", AS LORD HENRY WINTHROP IS FOUND DEAD AT HIS ALBION HOUSE MANSION, ONLY TWO DAYS AFTER RECEIVING SOCIETY VISITORS FOR A GRAND UNROLLING PARTY. WHILST SCOTLAND YARD STRUGGLE FOR LEADS, TALK OF AN ANCIENT CURSE IS RIFE AMONGST THE OTHER MEMBERS OF THE EXPEDITION, NOW FEARING FOR THEIR LIVES. TURN TO PAGE 3 TO READ THE FULL STORY.
Newbury dropped the morning newspaper on the table with a hearty laugh, causing his housekeeper, Mrs. Bradshaw, to jump with a start and nearly miss the teacup she was pouring into, sloshing a smal amount of the pungent brown liquid into the saucer. Newbury eyed her warily as, clearly flustered by the experience, she swept the offending china up into her arms and left the room, her only acknowledgement of the entire incident a short "tut" under her breath as she stomped out into the hal way. Newbury couldn't help but smile.
Reaching for another slice of toast, he scanned the front of the newspaper again with a chuckle.
Purefoy had taken him at his word, anyway. When he'd told the boy to desist from sharing any details of the murder, or mentioning him or Charles by name, the reporter had evidently concocted some sort of elaborate story to explain away the lack of facts. Newbury wondered if the young man wouldn't be better off turning his talents to the writing of fiction. He clearly had an eye for it. Still, Newbury supposed it would sel newspapers, and besides, Purefoy had done him a favour. At least this way the public had something trivial and sensational to focus on, rather than dwel ing on the more disturbing fact that a rogue agent was on the loose somewhere in the city. If the real details of the case had been splashed across the front page that morning, he supposed he and Charles would have been hauled up before Her Majesty with any number of her own difficult questions. At least this way most people would dismiss the story as supernatural claptrap, assuming it was just another botched robbery, of the type they read about almost daily in the assorted national press. With luck, Purefoy's actions would enable him and Charles to continue unimpeded with their investigations. He made a mental note to thank the young reporter at the next available opportunity.
Newbury had left Charles in the doorway of the White Friar's the previous evening, having retired to the drawing room after dinner to enjoy a conversation and a pipe. It hadn't been late, but Newbury had known that, after the trials of his day, he would have been ill-advised to make a night of it. Sure enough, upon returning to his Chelsea home, he had slept for a good nine hours, and was currently sitting at his breakfast table in his red silk dressing robe, picking at the remnants of the morning's feast. He could always rely on Mrs. Bradshaw for a hearty breakfast, no matter what time of the day he actually found himself in need of it.
Pushing the newspaper to one side, Newbury turned his attention to the small silver tray of post that Mrs. Bradshaw had brought up with his tea. Idly, he flicked through the smattering of envelopes, ignoring anything that looked like correspondence from abroad. He was expecting a number of letters from Venezuela, pertaining to a private matter involving his deceased father, but he could deal with those later, when the whole Ashford matter had been resolved. Reaching the bottom of the pile, he gave a brief exclamation, pulling free a small white envelope that had been scrawled upon in black ink. The handwriting was scratchy and ill-formed. A large, oily thumbprint blighted the otherwise crisp envelope in one corner, and there was no stamp upon it, suggesting the letter had been sent round to the house via courier.
Leaning back in his chair, Newbury used the edge of his index finger to tear the envelope open and unfold the short note he discovered inside. As anticipated, it was a reply from his old friend Aldous Renwick, barely legible and smudged where Renwick had not waited for the ink to properly dry. He angled it towards the window so to see.