But then he remembered her lips, her soft body in his arms and the low moan in his ear and it didn’t seem so insignificant at all. He tossed and turned several times that night and for the first time in a long time he didn’t dream of a lost love. He dreamed of Caroline. She was alive and he could feel her heart beat against his as he held her tight and kissed her.
Chapter 10
He watched the gas lights framed against the dark night as he moved on toward the designated meeting place. He was anxious from their last meeting and the more he learned about the group the more he realized it was a bad idea. The men involved were powerful with money and they didn’t need to worry about the things that kept him up at night.
When he entered the den, it was dark with red lanterns hanging from the ceilings. A small Asian man greeted him and gestured for him to follow. What had he gotten himself into? This was nothing that would have normally intrigued him, but the prestige and power had enticed him like a dangerous and beautiful witch.
“Ah! Mr. Cypress,” two of the men greeted him and he in turn bid them a good evening.
The pungent odor of a distinctive smell he couldn’t place assaulted his nose.
“Here,” one of the men handed him the pipe and Mr. Cypress knew he was expected to take a drag from it.
“What is it?” He asked looking at the long pipe.
“It’s the gate to oblivion,” Mr. Sage confirmed.
Mr. Cypress didn’t want to take the offered pipe but he did and took a drag from it.
“You see?” Said Mr. Sage smiling, his eyes half closed.
Mr. Cypress leaned back on the chaise lounge. This was his penance for what he had done. It was his hell for the hell he had created. He was not a good man, not at all. He had been a menace. Preying on those and now he was the prey.
The door opened and he saw it was the face of Mr. Cedar. The pipe passed between the two men as Mr. Cypress watched them.
“I think we need to be on the lookout for a new proposition,” Mr. Sage said.
“A new business proposition?” Mr. Cypress asked.
The two men smiled in the dark red light.
“How do you like the pipe?” One of them asked him.
✽✽✽
Malvina walked downstairs to the dining room to join her granddaughter and son at the breakfast table. Her son remained behind his newspaper and Caroline had a piece of paper and pencil and was writing as she sipped her coffee.
“Delightful concert, was it not, Caro?”
Caroline looked at her grandmother who looked back at her with no guile.
“Yes, Gran it was.”
“That Inspector. Most well-bred and a true gentleman I believe,” she added.
“I’m glad you think so.” Caroline said looking away.
“Don’t you?” She countered.
“I do.”
Malvina situated herself across from Caroline and next to Hubert. “And another concert or two wouldn’t hurt you, Caro. You don’t go many places.”
“That’s not true. I go to the museum, the park—“
“I meant with a gentleman caller, dear.” Malvina sipped her coffee.
“He’s not a caller. And you didn’t even want me to go in the beginning.”
“Yes, but that was before we went and before I spent time with him. I think he’s a fine young man.”
“That may be, but he’s not my young man,” Caroline added.
Malvina and Hubert both looked at her.
“No one said he was, my dear.” Malvina added looking over at Hubert before he returned to his newspaper.
“I understand what you are saying Gran and I agree with you. The concert was lovely and the Inspector seems a nice enough man,” she said the words, but all she could think of was his hands holding her tightly to him and his mouth over hers.
She swallowed lightly and reached for the toast. Her grandmother prattled on about nothing and her mind wandered again to the night before. She was at a loss. Why had he done what he had done? He had simply kissed her to kiss her? She pushed him from her mind. She turned her attention back to the list she had drawn up.
Almost all the places in the house were now taken except for one. She was saving it for Annette’s family hoping that she would change her mind. She knew that they had parted badly the last time but she genuinely wanted to help her and her son Dickie.
She had tried to reach out to her but she had not been home both times she had sent word around. Today was as good a day as any to try one last time.
She folded the piece of paper and placed it in her skirt pocket. She kissed her grandmother’s cheek and her father’s and left the dining room. She would travel to Whitechapel and visit Annette to convince her that she must join the housing project. It would be finished soon and she would only have to wait a little bit longer to move into her new home.
“Wilmot. Please call me a cab,” she told the footman.
“Very good Miss,” he returned.
Upstairs, Caroline pinned her hat down and pulled on her black gloves. She didn’t bother looking at the mirror. She knew she looked like a cross between a widow and a crow. The black mourning gown that she wore for her sister did not suit her pale complexion and she could care less.
Downstairs, Wilmot held the door open for her and she stepped into the cab giving him the directions to Whitechapel.
“A dangerous bit of town for you, ain’t it, Duchess?” The driver said.
Caroline nodded. “It is. And imagine all the people that live there day in and day out and never get the chance to leave.”
The driver nodded. “Right you are.”
When the streets turned darker, dirtier and the air even more congested with stench, she knew they were getting close. When he turned down one street and then another, he stopped the cab abruptly.
“I can’t go no farther. The streets are too narrow,” he explained.
She nodded and gave him his payment. “If you wait, you’ll get double that. If you don’t, you’ll get nothing.”
The driver stared at her and then grinned. “Bold as brass, ain’t you?”
Caroline shrugged. “Up to you.”
She had been to Annette’s home before and it was a dark and dirty room in the back of a larger building. She tried to stem the revulsion as she saw a rat crawling out of the trash bin and a dead cat lying in the gutter. She continued to walk to the small room where she hoped she would find Annette.
She knocked several times on the door and when it was answered it was not Annette.
“I’m looking for Annette Gardiner. My name is Caroline Derry,” she explained to the brown-haired woman.
“Ain’t no Annette here.” She said about to close the door.
“She’s lived here for some time,” Caroline explained. “Surely you must know—“
“She means that tart that used to live here,” a voice said from behind the door.
“Oh her,” the woman nodded. “Yeah. She used to live here. Not anymore.”
“Where has she gone to now?” Caroline asked.
“City morgue,” the voice behind the door said. “She’s been dead a week or so.”
“Dead?” Caroline looked shocked.
“It happens you know.” The woman said before she slammed the door in her face.
Caroline walked back to the cab who was patiently waiting for her.
“She’s dead,” she told him.
The driver shrugged. “Back to Mayfair luv?”
She nodded. “Yes.”
✽✽✽
Val looked over the wire he had just received. It was interesting but also intriguing.
Felix joined him in his office smiling. “How was the concert?”
“Fine,” Val said curtly. “We received a cable from the States.”
“Oh yes?” Felix piped up. “Regarding our doctor friend?”
Val raised his eyebrows, “Except our doctor friend is not a doctor. Not anymore anyway.”
&nb
sp; “You don’t say!” Felix said smiling.
“They are sending more information via the post but it seems our doctor was caught up in quite the scandal.”
“Do tell.” Felix said eagerly.
Val placed the cable inside his jacket pocket. “Let’s go pay a visit to our dear medicine man.”
✽✽✽
Odean Barton was scribbling notes out for his patients when the knock fell upon the door. He answered it himself and admitted the Inspector and the Sergeant into his office.
“Gentlemen. What brings you to my office?” He asked warily.
Val took a seat across from Odean and Felix sat next to his boss.
“I wanted to go over some of the notes I took and get some clarification,” he took out his notebook as well as the cable he had received.
“Of course. Anything I can do to help.”
“That’s very kind of you. For instance. Miss Caroline Derry. The one with the menstrual problems,” Val began.
“Yes?” Odean nodded.
“She was in fact Irene Derry using her sister’s name.”
“Irene Derry?” He repeated the name.
“Irene Derry was found strangled in Hyde Park.”
Odean’s manner seemed to change. “Strangled. Well surely you can see that has nothing to do with me.”
Val smiled. “I didn’t say it did.”
Odean looked at Felix and then back at Val.
“You said Miss Derry suffered from menstrual cramps,” Val read from his notes. “I recall you used the word heavy,” he said meeting Odean’s eyes.
“That’s right. She did.”
“What treatment did you prescribe?” Val asked.
“Umm, a little bit of this and some of that.” Odean responded.
“A little bit of this and some of that?” Val repeated. “That sounds quite scientific. At our last meeting you said you prescribed medicine and that she was pleased with the results I assume.”
“That’s what I meant. A bit of medicine. Some medicine,” he said stumbling over his words.
“And she was pleased with the results,” Val repeated placing extreme emphasis on the word pleased.
“She was,” Odean nodded. “That’s right.”
Val looked out the window for several seconds and then returned his gaze back at the doctor. “Have you heard of something called female hysteria?”
Odean’s face became pink and he stammered, “No, I mean yes. Yes, I have. Naturally as a doctor I have heard of many different symptoms that patients suffer from.”
“Before we came here, I consulted a medical doctor known to me. A very respected doctor. He is known to my family and has an excellent reputation. He explained to me that hysteria is a mental disorder attributed to women and its symptoms, well, they vary. Some women have a nervousness about them others have emotional outbursts.” Val explained.
“Yes, yes. Exactly that. That’s what I’ve heard as well.” Odean nodded. “It’s a woman issue.”
Val smiled. “When we spoke at the music hall you said female problems were your specialty.”
“Well, er—that is correct. But I don’t deal with female hysteria,” Odean said.
“There are several cures for this female hysteria or so I’ve been told,” Val added as Odean began to perspire.
“Many experts agree that massaging the woman’s pelvis until they have a hysterical paroxysm or orgasm is effective,” Val told him and looked at Felix who looked back at him with an incredulous stare his eyes wide with disbelief.
“Another cure is an electromechanical medical instrument supposed to provide reliable and efficient physical therapy to women who are believed to be suffering from hysteria. This instrument is inserted into the woman to bring about the orgasm—or hysterical paroxysm as is the medical term.”
Odean’s face was flushed red from indignation. “What are you suggesting, Sir!?”
Val closed his notebook with a decided movement and slapped the cable on the doctor’s desk.
“I’m not suggesting anything Doctor,” Val said coldly. “What I do believe, is that you have taken extreme liberties with your patients here in London as you did in the States,” he pointed to the cable. “I think you may have been a doctor at one time but you currently have a suspended medical license. I further believe that you sell your potions like some vaudeville charlatan to entice female clients to your clinic and once inside your fingers do the talking.”
“Outrageous!” Odean sputtered. “This is slander!”
“I also believe that Irene Derry may have had some minor medical issue when she came to you. You in turn took her money and talked her into this false hysteria and used it to get your hands on her money and her person,” Val said confidently.
“Female hysteria is a recognized diagnosis,” Odean said, suddenly panting with indignation.
“And the cure is to masturbate your patients to orgasm?” Val said coolly.
“This is enough! I’ve had enough!” Odean stood up. “You will leave my office this instant!”
“Finally,” Val said, placing the notebook and cable into his coat pocket and looking at the doctor. “I think that Irene was a spirted girl but had had enough of your shenanigans. She threatened to expose you and when she told you so, you killed her.”
Odean looked shocked at the final words from the Inspector and stumbled back into his chair. “Killed her?”
“Yes.” Val said quietly.
“No. That’s not possible. I c-couldn’t. I wouldn’t.”
“You will need to come with us, Mr. Barton.” Val told the exhausted doctor.
“But I – no – that isn’t what happened – I—”
Val stood with Felix next to him. “There’s time enough to talk down at the Metropolitan Police station.”
Odean looked wildly around his office. He spotted his coat and hat and pulled them on.
“Come along,” Felix told him.
“You’re both making a grave mistake,” he said as they steered him out the door.
✽✽✽
Odean sighed as they placed him in a small room with a worn wooden table and two chairs.
“I’ll admit that I specialize in female problems,” he told the two men. “But female hysteria is a recognized ailment.”
Val nodded. “I’m not interested in female hysteria or female problems. At the moment I want to hear about Irene Derry.”
Odean swallowed nervously. “She was a patient. She did have a heavy menstruation as I mentioned. I did give her the pelvic massages.”
Felix smirked. “I’ll bet you did.”
“It helped!” Odean defended himself. “She said her monthly cramps lessened.”
Val nodded. “What else transpired between you and Miss Derry? Did you use the mechanical instrument?”
“No.” He flushed red.
“What else?” Val persisted.
“She was a very outgoing young lady. She talked a great deal when she was with me. I think she was looking for some sort of approval or just needed to talk. As I was a stranger but a doctor, she opened up to me. She mentioned a man she had met. She was quite taken with him. She asked me about—“ he looked awkwardly at both men.
“Yes?” Val asked. “Go on.”
“She asked about ways to avoid pregnancy. I told her about rubber condoms,” he explained. “I explained their use and where she could buy them.”
“Do you know if she used them?” Val asked. “Did she get them?”
Odean nodded. “I procured them for her. She was hesitant naturally to buy them herself. Only prostitutes are ever found to buy condoms. A decent woman wouldn’t.”
“What happened then?” Val asked.
“Nothing. I heard nothing from her. Then she showed up at my practice. She didn’t have an appointment and she was very distressed.” Odean looked anxiously at the two men.
“Why?” Val asked. “Why was she distressed?”
“She was with child. She said the
man she was with scoffed at the idea of wearing a condom. She didn’t know what to do. She was frightened. I told her to talk to the man who had done this. She said she was scared. She didn’t know if the man would be happy about it. He did not seem the type to want or like children she said. She mentioned abortion but I refused her. I urged her to talk to the man. That was the last time I saw her,” Odean explained.
Val looked at Felix and then back at Odean.
“I swear to you both. That is all my dealings with Irene Derry.” He said earnestly.
✽✽✽
Val placed Odean Barton in a small room and locked the door before returning to his office to deposit his hat.
“Now I’ve heard everything,” Felix said joining him.
“What? The absurd female hysteria bit or the cure part,” Val asked.
“Everything. All I know is I should have listened to my mother and gone to medical school.” Val threw him a look and Felix threw up his hands. “You’ve got to admit Boss, that’s quite a racket. I mean you’re getting paid to have intercourse with your patients?”
“There’s no mention of actual intercourse,” Val told him. “The cable I received does state that he saw a very prominent patient in New York and she accused the doctor in there of inappropriate touching. There was an investigation and his medical license was suspended. He’s appealing it.”
“He would, wouldn’t he? And Irene Derry?” He asked.
Val nodded. “Irene went to see the doctor. We know that already from his files and his own words even though he knew her as Caroline. She had female issues which a warm bath could cure. But now the question remains, did he kill her? His story sounds plausible. Irene is young. She has no one to turn to. She’s pregnant. She sees the doctor. He tells her to talk to the man who has gotten her in the family way,” Val rubbed his chin.
Felix nodded. “Yes.”
“And so now we have Irene Derry who is pregnant. Whose child is it? The artist who is a clerk by day or the mysterious man who no one seems to know anything about,” Val mused. “My gut tells me the mysterious man is the one we need to speak to. He had the motive to kill Irene. There’s no motive for the doctor or the artist, the psychology is wrong.”
Of Night and Dark Obscurity Page 12