by Joan Smith
“He’s had to give up his rooms at Albany House. He’s taken a set of rooms on Cork Street. Not much of a place, but he wanted to be within walking distance of anywhere he’d want to go. Since he lost his carriage he has to get about on shank’s mare. I know the place, it’s where we had that card game where Logan baited him.”
“How many servants?” she asked.
“None, to judge by the looks of the place. If Hanson’s out, it’ll be a cinch to get in and search.”
“Let’s do it now,” Elizabeth said at once.
“In broad daylight?” Nicholas objected loudly.
“There’s no point doing it tonight,” she pointed out. “If he’s the culprit, he’ll have the letters with him tonight to exchange with Sara for the necklace.”
“She’s right,” Tommy said. “It’s now or never. It’s not likely he’ll be at home. What would he do all day at home alone? He’ll be out on the strut, trying to cadge a loan off someone. Tell you what, Nick, since it’s pretty clear you don’t like it, Lizzie and I will go. You just stay safe in the carriage a block or so away and wait for us.”
“I never heard such a foolish plan in my life,” Nick insisted. But as it was clear the foolish plan was going forward, and as that “safe in the carriage” stung, he most reluctantly agreed to go along with them. Where had he got the notion Miss Warwick was anything but a madcap hoyden?
“What we’ll do if he’s at home,” he said, “is ask him if he happens to know of any interesting card games going forth tonight. Something with more interesting play than you can get at the clubs.” And how long would it take for the rumour mill to be circulating the tale that Lord Carbury was a wild gambler?
“Excellent! You’re a complete hand, Nick,” Tommy said, smiling.
“I knew you would think of something clever,” Elizabeth added.
He wished he had thought of something clever enough to put a stop to this insanity. He was perfectly aware they were just buttering him up to get his help.
Chapter Seven
As it was clear Tommy and Elizabeth meant to break into Hanson’s flat, Nicholas felt obliged to go along to restrain their enthusiasm. Heaven only knew what folly the pair would fall into if he let them go alone. He did not admit, even to himself, that he disliked the notion of sitting idle while dashing Tommy saved the day. Mrs. Shaver’s red brick house was no mansion but it was not quite derelict. The door-knocker had been removed and the paint was peeling, but the windows were all intact and had been cleaned within recent memory. No garbage or debris littered the front of the house.
“What you do,” Tommy explained, “is just walk in the front door — it’s not kept locked — and turn left. Hanson has the set of rooms on the left, with the landlady’s across the hall to the right. It might be best if you stay in the carriage, Lizzie, in case he’s at home. Gents don’t take a lady along when they’re planning a card game.”
“Very well, but let me know if he’s not there. You don’t have to come out. Just wave from the window. I’ll keep close watch for your signal. Will your driver know enough to drive around the block rather than sit in front of the house, Nicholas, or should I tell him?”
“Best mention it,” he said. “He is not accustomed to abetting housebreakers.”
“What he means is he don’t pay extended calls on married ladies,” Tommy explained to Elizabeth. “Eh, Nick?”
“You are behind the times, Tommy,” Nick replied between clamped jaws. “We rakes and roués hire a hackney when we call on our friends’ wives during their husbands’ absence.”
“I’ll let my friends know that,” Tommy said. “I, of course, have no need of that sort of information.”
“Of course not,” Elizabeth said. “You don’t have a carriage.”
“And can’t afford a hackney,” Tommy said, unoffended.
Nicholas didn’t know whether he was disappointed or relieved when there was no answer to their knock, but he was concerned when Tommy reached up and removed the key from the ledge above the door frame. “Lucky I happened to notice the other night where he kept the key,” he said, sliding it into the keyhole.
He returned the key to the ledge before entering. “We’ll lock the door from the inside. That way he’ll have to unlock it and we’ll hear him coming in. It’ll give us time to leap out a window. I’d best have a look at the windows and make sure we can get one open. Lucky he’s on the ground level.”
Before going to check the windows, he drew the curtain aside and waved out the front window to Elizabeth. He then left and was soon back to report to Nick. “Kitchen window’s our escape route. I’ve left it up for a quick exit if necessary. An easy drop to the ground, soft falling on grass, and out the back way, where we won’t be seen.”
“One would almost think you’d done this before, Tommy,” Nick said.
Tommy gave one of his carefree grins but didn’t deny the charge. “I’d best let Lizzie in before she begins pounding on the door.”
She was soon standing in the main room, glancing around for likely hiding places. “It’s not really a horrid flat, just messy,” she said, looking from left to right.
“You’ve been spending too much time at the Dials,” Tommy said with a shake of his head.
“The furnishings are decent beneath the dust, and the high ceiling gives the room a spacious air,” she insisted. “If he’d just have it cleaned up, it could be made quite comfortable.”
“The place comes furnished,” Tommy said. “Never mind how it looks, we’re here to find Sara’s letters. Now, where would he hide them?”
“Surely in his bedroom,” Nicholas said, and walked quickly about. As it was a small flat, he soon found it. Elizabeth and Tommy were right behind him. “Lord, how messy!” she scoffed, and began picking up strewn jackets and shirts.
“Don’t be a gudgeon, Lizzie,” Tommy scolded. “Do you want him to know we’ve been here?”
“Oh, you’re right,” she said, and tossed the jacket back on the floor. “Try the bedside table, Tommy. I’ll take the desk.” They each began a careful search. Nick, eager to have the job done with and leave, went to the armoire and quickly rifled through the jacket pockets and toes of the boots.
“He certainly owes a good deal of money,” Elizabeth exclaimed, sorting through a pile of bills and IOU’s.”
“We know that,” Tommy said.
“Quite a few chits for items he’s hawked as well. A watch, a pearl cravat pin, a pair of ivory miniatures, one male, one female. Rather sad that he had to hawk his little mementos of his parents. I assume they are the subject of the ivory miniatures. Here’s an unopened note for someone called Tauser. Is it possible he uses an alias?”
“He mentioned Tauser’s the fellow who was living here before him,” Tommy said over his shoulder.
“What we’re looking for is Sara’s love letters,” Nicholas reminded her with asperity.
“They’re not here,” she said. “We’ll look under the pillow, and mattress.”
They gave the bedroom a thorough search, then went on to the salon and even the kitchen, without finding anything more incriminating than a shaved deck of cards at the back of the knife drawer. “By Jove,” Tommy cried. “He was cheating. Take a look at this, Nick. He’s shaved them so lightly you can hardly feel it. Just there on the left lower edge. He’s only shaved the face cards.” He stuck the deck in his pocket.
“Tommy!” Elizabeth said angrily. “Why are you taking them?”
“So he can’t use ‘em again. Why did you think? Damme, he got my last sou in that game t’other night, even if he did lose it in the end, the gudgeon.”
“Those cards might belong to Tauser. In any case, make sure you burn them when you get home.”
“Well,” Nicholas said, “if Hanson’s our man, he didn’t leave any evidence behind. Let us go before he comes back.”
“He won’t be back for hours,” Tommy said, but with persistence Nicholas got them herded towards the front door to leave.
He stopped when he heard footsteps approaching the flat. The others heard them too. Nicholas and Elizabeth stopped and looked at each other in alarm.
“Quick, the window,” Tommy said, as the doorknob turned.
Too late. The door was already opening. In a panic they leapt towards the only possible hiding place, behind the door. The three of them crowded against each other so closely that Elizabeth, on the outer edge, might be seen if Hanson looked around. Nicholas pulled her more tightly against his side. They stood, hardly breathing, pressed against the wall, each wondering how to explain their presence in Hanson’s flat. Of course their hiding behind the door made it even worse. Nicholas felt like a fool, and uttered a silent curse for having let himself be dragged into this imbroglio.
Elizabeth cast a quick glance along the wall beyond the door. Various small tables holding ornaments were scattered around the room. The one on the far side of the door was no use to her, but not more than a foot away was another one holding an ugly majolica vase. She mentally measured the distance and decided she could reach it without leaving her hiding place.
She reached out and grabbed it and nearly dropped it. It was heavier than she anticipated, but was it heavy enough to do a proper job of knocking Hanson out? He was in the flat. As he closed the door his back was to her. She stepped out, raised the vase and hit him on the head as hard as she could. He fell forward, hitting his head on the edge of table on the far side as he fell to the floor with a grunt.
Nick grabbed her hand and the three of them clambered over Hanson’s fallen body, flew out the door, down the short hall to the doorway and out to the street. Elizabeth was still holding the majolica vase. “Why on earth did you steal that ugly thing?” Tommy complained.
“I didn’t steal it! I just didn’t have time to get rid of it.”
“Get rid of it now,” he ordered. She looked around and placed it at the foot of a tree. Thinking it looked rather strange there, she reached to break a branch from the tree to put in it. Nicholas, rolling his eyes in despair, grabbed her hand and pulled her along.
As they hurried down the block to the approaching carriage, Tommy said, “That was quick thinking back there, Lizzie. I should have made sure I set the lock back on the door after I let you in and we would have heard him coming sooner. All your fault. The anticipation of seeing you put everything else out of my mind.”
“Naturally, blame it on me,” she retorted playfully.
Nicholas, outraged at their joking at such a time, said sternly, “The whole thing was an exercize in foolishness.” To frighten her and hopefully deter her from future folly, he added, “I just hope you haven’t killed him.”
“I didn’t hit him very hard! The vase wasn’t that heavy. I just gave him a little tap.”
“A little tap that sent him knocking against that table, with a very sharp edge. I didn’t see any sign of life when we left. Head injuries are serious, Elizabeth. How would you feel if you read tomorrow that he was dead, that your little tap killed him?” he asked, exaggerating to frighten her. He held open the carriage door and took her elbow to help her enter.
She pulled back and looked up at him in alarm. “Do you really think he might be seriously hurt?”
“It’s very possible. Let us go.”
“But we can’t just go and leave him if he’s badly hurt — even dying.”
“I shouldn’t think he’s dying. Probably just knocked out. Let us go.”
She looked at him as if he were the guilty one. “We have to find out if he’s all right. What if I killed him?”
“Just a tap on the head,” Tommy assured her. “Best thing that could happen to him. Might knock some sense into him.”
“We have to go back and make sure,” she insisted. When Tommy expressed his eagerness to leave, she turned a hopeful gaze on Nicholas.
“How can we? He’ll know it was us. You.” Nicholas said.
“You’re right. It’s my fault. I have to go back. I won’t have a moment’s peace until I know he’s alive.”
Nicholas knew he couldn’t let her go alone. He drew a deep sigh and said, “We’ll need an excuse.”
She rewarded him with a soft smile as she reached out a hand and touched his arm. After a moment’s deep thought she said, “I know Tauser.”
“What do you mean?”
“That letter for Tauser, the former occupant. We’ll ask for Tauser, say we’re looking for him. Oh dear,” she said, looking at his elegant toilette. “He’ll never believe you know someone who lived in a place like this. I’ll do it myself. I’ll say he was doing some job for auntie. I wish I knew what his line of work was.”
“Does it matter?” Nick asked.
“It might. He could be a footpad or highwayman for all we know. We don’t want Hanson to become suspicious. The landlady would know Tauser. I can’t ask her outright. I’ll have to quiz her and find out indirectly. She’s has the flat across the hall from Hanson. Let us go.” She turned and headed back to the house.
Tommy just shook his head and got into the carriage. As she insisted on doing it, Nick once again was obliged to go along with her. He soon realized that Miss Warwick was an extremely capable liar. The door was answered on the first tap by a female servant. Elizabeth smiled and said in a prim and proper manner, “Good day, I’m Lizzie Tauser. I’m trying to locate my cousin. I understand he’s living here.”
“He used to, Miss Tauser, but he’s moved to be closer to his work. He got a new position, you see.”
“You don’t say! I hope it’s better than his last one.”
“He seemed to think so. I don’t know just where he’s living, but he’s working for the furniture repairman in Market Lane. They were fortunate to get him. Tauser did a grand job on the mistress’s desk. Shines better than new. He’d do little jobs for her when he was short of rent money.”
“He always had a wonderful way with wood. Thank you so much.”
“You’re very welcome, Miss Tauser. Say good day to your cousin. We miss him here. Better behaved than some of our tenants despite their grand airs. Not mentioning any names.” The toss of her head at the door across the hall indicated what name she was too nice to mention.
When the door was closed Elizabeth darted across the hall to Hanson’s door and tapped lightly. Her heart was in her mouth — was he still alive, or was she a murderess? She drew a deep sigh of relief and smiled at Nicholas when she heard footsteps approaching the door. Hanson was holding a towel to his forehead. His eyes were red and his face pale, but by no means did he appear to be approaching death’s door. He looked surprised when he saw who his callers were. He knew Miss Warwick to speak to, but he knew Carbury only by name and reputation.
“What can I do for you, Miss Warwick?” he asked in a polite tone.
She could smell liquor on his breath as he spoke. She explained that she was looking for Tauser, who used to live here. He had taken a little table of her aunts for refinishing some weeks ago and hadn’t brought it back. Hanson was sorry, but he didn’t have Tauser’s address. Perhaps Mrs. Shaver, across the hall, could help her.
Elizabeth thanked him, asked him how he got the bruise on his forehead, and said she hoped it wasn’t serious.
“I tripped coming into the flat and hit my head on that table,” he said, indicating the guilty object. “It’s a hazard there by the door. I shall move it.”
“A cold compress would reduce the swelling of that bruise. You take care of yourself.” On a series of polite nothings she backed away and he closed the door.
“Did you notice he’d been drinking?” she said. “That’s probably why he thinks he tripped as he entered. Thank God he’s all right.”
“Yes, we wouldn’t want our chief suspect to stick his fork in the wall before we got the letters from him,” he replied.
When they were back in the carriage and on the way home, Tommy suddenly exclaimed, “What a bunch of flats we are! Since the demmed letters weren’t in his flat, they were probably in his pocket wh
ile he lay there senseless, helpless as a baby. If we’d had the wits to search him this whole thing would be over. We could exchange them with Sara for the rubies. I could even go back into society.”
Elizabeth gave a snort of disgust. “You’re right, Tommy. There isn’t a tuppence of common sense between the lot of us.”
“We could go back —” Tommy said, and received two firm negatives. “We’ll just have to make sure we get them at the ball tonight,” Elizabeth said.
“I won’t be able to stand up with you,” Tommy said with a sigh. “You’ll have to look after her for me, Nick.”
“And I’ll look after Nicholas, not let him do anything foolish, like lose his purse,” she replied. They exchanged a smile. Nicholas felt profoundly annoyed with them.
“The pair of you need a keeper,” he growled. And it seemed he was the one appointed to the job.
Chapter Eight
Nick was further annoyed when Elizabeth quite insisted that Tommy must stop off to reassure Aunt Gertrude he was well. “You can tell her,” Nicholas protested. “I don’t have all day to spend on Tommy’s problems.”
“But I didn’t mean to take up any more of your precious time, Nicholas,” she replied demurely.
“I’ll go in and wait for him. I daren’t let him out of my sight.”
“No, no. I’ll look after him. I wouldn’t dream of inconveniencing you further. I shall smuggle Tommy over to your place later in plenty of time to prepare for the ball. Come along, Tommy. Thank you so much for your help, Nicholas.”
It was a dismissal. He had no option but to leave with what trace of dignity he could muster. He sensed, besides, that they were up to something they didn’t want him to know about. What could it be? He didn’t think Elizabeth would let Tommy go back to Hanson’s flat and knock him out. She had been truly worried that she had killed him.
He was driven home and eased his worries with a bottle of burgundy. As he sipped, he kept glancing at the longcase clock in the corner of his salon. When its hands moved too slowly to please him, he checked the time with his watch. An hour! He’d been gone an hour. It wouldn’t take that long for Lady Gertrude to see Tommy was alive and well. They were definitely up to something.