by P. Creeden
“Right,” Mr. Turner said as he stood. “I’m happy that you’re both here. I will consider what I will tell my staff, but I think I will keep the actors in the dark for the time being. I don’t want them to get more stage fright than is already running rampant among them.”
She and Caleb stood with Mr. Turner, and then Opal offered a hand. “We’ll do our best to keep your theater safe, Mr. Turner.”
His smile widened. “I believe you will. Thank you both so much for coming on such short notice. I never knew a telegraph to my old friend would produce such fine and fast results.”
The three of them headed to the door and pulled it open. The heavy drape remained over the opening until Mr. Turner pushed it aside. But the moment he did, a scream came from upstairs.
Caleb leapt forward, out of the room. He turned on the theater owner. “What was that? Where did it come from?”
Mr. Turner shook his head and peered at his pocket watch. “The actors were not set to arrive until three this afternoon. It’s not quite noon yet. There’s no other reason for a lady to be upstairs at this time.”
Without another word, Caleb sprang into action. He started up the stairs two at a time, making it difficult for Opal to keep up as she lifted her skirts to race up the stairs after him. Another cry came from behind the main curtain, just as the twosome reached it and Caleb threw it aside. Within the darkness sat a woman with her skirts around her on the floor. Her candle had fallen from her hand and snuffed out when it hit the marble. She lifted a hand to shield her eyes from the light as it flooded in. “Who’s there?” she asked.
Mr. Turner rushed up beside them and peered past Opal’s shoulder. “Miss Prescott! What are you doing here? What happened?”
The moment she met gazes with Mr. Turner, her bottom lip quivered, and tears sprang up in her eyes. “I fell down! I swear someone tripped me. And then my candle went out. And then I was surrounded by darkness. And you know how I hate the dark!” she cried out and then fell into a wailing fit as though she were a toddler.
Opal lifted a brow at the woman. Miss Prescott appeared to be about Opal’s own age, perhaps a few years older, but wore her hair down around her shoulders and pinned back in a school-aged girl’s fashion. She also wore a pinafore over her tailored dress to perpetuate the idea that she might be younger. Opal also wore a pinafore, but mostly because she’d grown into the habit of doing so while she was out ‘galivanting in dirt’ as her grandmother used to say. She knew that she’d need to give up the garment and wear a proper dress like a lady, but she’d not felt like doing it yet. And apparently, neither had Miss Prescott.
Mr. Turner rushed over and helped the lady to her feet. “What are you doing here so early? You’re not expected for a few more hours.”
She frowned, her brow furrowing deeply. “But no, Suzette told me that we’d be starting at eleven-thirty today. I was looking for the other actors when I tripped.”
Mr. Turner lifted a brow. “It seems someone played a trick on you, my dear.”
Caleb also frowned. “Who is Suzette?”
Mr. Turner shook his head and made a dismissive gesture with his hand. “Suzette Smith is Miss Prescott’s understudy. Oh! Where are my manners? Let me present to you Elaine Prescott, the star of our show.”
With a sudden plastered smile, Miss Prescott giggled and then curtsied. “A pleasure to make your acquaintance. Are you both part of the special showing?”
As if he’d just come up with a brilliant idea, Mr. Turner’s face suddenly brightened as he nodded. “Yes! Mr. and Mrs. Wade are patrons of the theater. They will be watching the rehearsals and keeping an eye on the theater until the special showing and reporting what they see to the other patrons. But they don’t want to get in the way of the performance, so please tell the other actors to ignore their presence and go about their business as usual.”
Opal nodded and curtsied, as well. Then she focused on one thing that Miss Prescott had said. “Someone tripped you? Did you happen to see who did it or have any idea who might have? Are you certain that you didn’t just trip over an object?”
She shook her head, her eyes growing wide. “I felt a leg under me rise up and a hand against my shoulder shoving me forward. When I struck the ground, my candle went out. I tried to see who was behind me, but it was too dark, and my heart started racing and things were closing in on me. Mr. Turner knows I cannot abide darkness like that.”
“Why would Miss Smith call you in several hours early today?” Mr. Turner asked.
“I can answer that,” a voice from behind them said. When they turned about, they found a woman of about the same height and build as Miss Prescott, with a dress of similar fashion. Her hair was darker, however and straight except for two curls at the sides of her face. “Miss Prescott has been stumbling over her lines recently, so I asked her to come early so we could go over them again before the main rehearsal with the other actors in the troop. I made that clear when I told her the time to meet me here yesterday.”
Miss Prescott covered her mouth. “Oh, that’s true. I’d forgotten that it would just be the two of us and expected the full troop.”
Crossing her arms over her chest, Miss Smith let out a loud, exaggerated sigh. “Unsurprising.”
Miss Prescott took the woman’s gentle scolding with a giggle, and the two of them used the light from Miss Smith’s lamp to find their way into the auditorium. Mr. Turner turned back toward Opal and Caleb. “Well, that was a bit of unnecessary excitement, wasn’t it?” He chuckled. “Let’s discuss what you will need from me before I let you go about your investigation.”
Caleb nodded, and the two of them followed Mr. Turner back down the grand staircase. The large foyer had both the light from the high windows above the doors and the chandelier as well as gas sconces which lined the walls, recessed so they didn’t heat the heavy drapes that hung everywhere. Once downstairs, Caleb turned back to Mr. Turner. “We need a tour of the building, inside and out if possible, from one of your crew members who was here before the first fire. If he has access to all the rooms and is astute at knowing when things are out of place, all the better.”
Mr. Turner nodded. “You’ll need to meet with Mr. McFly. He is exactly the gentleman you describe.”
“Excellent. When does he arrive?” Caleb asked.
“The crew comes in about an hour ahead of the troop, so two o’clock. They make sure the lighting throughout the whole building is prepared and that things are ready for the rehearsals. Rehearsals generally take about three hours, and the crew is here for that full time as well.”
Caleb nodded and offered an arm toward Opal. She took it and smiled to Mr. Turner. “I believe we’ll return at two o’clock, then.”
“Yes,” Caleb said with a smile. “We’ll check into our hotel and get a bite of lunch and return when things begin to get busy here. What shall you do, Mr. Turner?”
“This theater is my life. I stay here at all hours of the day, and often at night. Though I may step out a moment to eat lunch, I always feel better when I’m here, watching the building, or have someone trustworthy doing it for me.”
Opal couldn’t help but feel a twinge of sympathy for the man. He seemed to pour his life into the building. To have it destroyed once by fire already must have been a traumatic and heartbreaking experience for him. Caleb patted her hand and guided her out of the building and back into the bright sunlight of the day.
Chapter Ten
Opal chewed her lip as she followed her training agent and husband-on-paper up the stairs to the third floor of the hotel. To keep up the appearances of them both as a married couple, Caleb had rented a single room for the two of them. She wondered exactly how this was going to work. Caleb had shown himself to be nothing less than gentlemanly on the train and didn’t seem to look at her in an untoward manner. After letting out a slow breath, she worked to convince herself that this wasn’t as unseemly as it felt. Her heart fluttered in her chest, the beats it made where harder and faster than
a hummingbird’s wings. A lump formed in her throat by the time they reached the door of their room. How did Caleb seem so nonchalant about all of this? He entered the room and stepped toward the coat rack just inside the doorway. He hung his hat and his lightweight jacket. As he undid his cuff links, he lifted a brow at her. “Is something wrong?”
The door to the room stood open, and Opal had yet to step over the threshold. “Is this truly necessary?” she said, her voice squeaking and not sounding like her own.
“Ah!” His face brightened and a playful smile pulled up one side of his lips. “I didn’t realize you were such a traditionalist.”
He stepped toward her, and in response, she took a step back, but he moved too fast, and she found herself up against the wall on the other side of the hallway. With a mischievous gleam in his eye, he ducked down and scooped her into his arms. She let out a squeal. “What are you doing?”
The scent of citrus and fresh coffee assailed her. She grew dizzy on the heady scent wafting from his body. Her heart raced in her chest. She stiffened and tried to push him away, but nearly fell from his arms and then pulled closer to him, to avoid the fall. Without a word, he stepped into the hotel room, kicked the door closed, and then set her back down on her feet. Her knees buckled, and she wasn’t sure if they would hold her weight. His impish smile remained the same. “I thought maybe you wanted to be carried over the threshold.”
She blinked at him, mouth agape, but her heart fluttered at the same time as her stomach flipped.
He plopped down on the edge of the bed. “At least we’re avoiding bad luck at the start of our marriage.”
Even though she didn’t think her cheeks could become more heated, they managed to. She blinked several times, her hand fluttering over her heart as she backed a step away from him and landed with her back against the door. If she could just reach down and open it, she could escape this place. Suddenly, it felt suffocating, too small, and too crowded.
He frowned up at her. His brow knotting in worry. “You do know that I’m only making sport of you?” he asked as he stood. He gestured toward where he’d just been sitting. “The bed is yours. I will sleep on the floor. I am not a cad, Opal.” Then his smile returned. “I’ll step out and survey the hotel. I like to know where all the exits are, just in case. Why don’t you freshen up in the mean time? I’ll be back in about a quarter hour, and we’ll get something to eat.”
This time it was Opal’s turn to frown, but she stayed silent. He’d already countered her every argument when it came to spending money on food for her. She nodded slowly. “I’ll be ready then.”
And with a wink that made her heart flutter again, Caleb grabbed his hat and scooted past her and out the door without his jacket. She drew in a deep breath and let it back out slowly, trying to calm her racing heart. He’d been making fun of her. Chances were that he saw her being nervous and decided to take her fears to the extreme just to show her that she could trust him. And she did. He didn’t try to boss her around the way her cousins did. He listened to her and didn’t try to cut in with his own stories the way Dudley did. He didn’t lecture her or try to teach her things she already knew, the way her father did. And he didn’t look at her with unwanted lust in his eyes the way her would-be suitors did. Slowly, she walked over to the bed and sat down upon it, looking at the door Caleb had just left through. She’d been around many men in her life, and none of them had treated her the way Caleb did. He made her feel capable and smart. Becoming a Pinkerton agent still felt like an impossible dream in many ways, but Caleb made her feel as though the dream might just be attainable. In her chest, her heart squeezed a bit. She wished he’d return faster. Then she frowned to herself. How did the man have such a hold on her affections already?
Caleb had needed to get cooled off. He’d lifted Opal off her feet in jest, but holding her to his chest had felt better than he’d expected. Her softness molded to his body. His heart raced again just at the memory, and his face heated, a blush running from the top of his head to his very toes. The woman surprised him at every turn, and his body responded to those surprises with longing for more. Each of her reactions to his teasing made him want to tease her more. Even when she’d get stubborn, it was endearing. He clenched his jaw and stepped outside of the building, hoping to find cooler air, but instead was hit with the muggy heat of the city. With disappointment, he stepped back inside and frowned. Part of him wanted to just skip checking the exits and run back upstairs to be with her. Her cinnamon scent had struck him the moment he’d lifted her off her feet. She was lighter than she looked but felt solid and soft and warm in his arms. Laughter bubbled up. He stopped himself. What was that? Why did this girl make him feel as giddy as a school boy?
He blew out a hard breath to get a hold of himself. If she knew she had this kind of effect on him and didn’t return his affections, it could only go one of two ways. She could wrap him around her little finger and become intolerable to deal with, or she might feel burdened, since they were supposed to get an annulment at the end of this investigation. Neither one of those options appealed to him. Just the thought that she might not return his feelings pricked at his heart. Shaking his head, he stepped forward, his expression turning hard as he reached their hotel room door. He let out another breath, breathing in deeply. But instead of growing calmer, he was struck again with her cinnamon scent—it reminded him of spiced apples, and his mouth watered in response. And his heart rate sped up again. He couldn’t deny he was excited to see her. Swallowing down his emotions, he put the key in the lock and unlocked it but knocked twice before opening the door.
Opal’s smiling face greeted him the moment he stepped into the room. His heart flipped again as he let his gaze slip past her and toward the window. He strode over to it, trying to calm his racing heart. Without looking at her, he asked, “Are you ready to head down stairs for lunch?”
“Ready as can be,” she answered, her voice cheery and sing-song. He couldn’t help but think about how she was cheerful all the time; it was part of her stubbornness. Even when things were difficult or she was skipping a meal, she smiled almost constantly. It warmed his heart.
He peered at the street downstairs and then checked if he could see the theater from the window. The ornate corners of the building they were sent to protect were barely visible above the surrounding structures. It was only when he thought of the job that he could get his heart to stop racing and his body to behave. Then he turned about and faced her. “Great. Let’s go.”
After opening the door, he stepped to the side to allow her to pass through first while he grabbed his jacket. Once she swept by him, she waited for him in the hallway. As he slipped past her, he offered her an elbow, which she took without a second thought. The warmth of her hand on his arm had a comforting quality, like it belonged there. As much as he hated the uncontrollable feelings that kept overwhelming him, he didn’t want them to end, either. He could be happy to remain married to this woman. And that thought surprised him. How could he even imagine it? Marriage had been the furthest thing from his mind the day before he’d met her. He needed to push those thoughts and feelings aside for now, though. They had a case to solve, and the last thing he wanted to do was disappoint Archie and cause Opal to fail at solving her first case. If they failed, would she even be able to continue as a Pinkerton? The sobering thought calmed his traitorous heart. Good. He nodded as they reached the restaurant and he pulled a chair out for Opal.
Now that he had his priorities in order, he was anxious to get back to the theater and solve this case.
Chapter Eleven
Opal
Disappointment gripped Opal as she chewed on her thumbnail. Nothing in the theater seemed out of order. The actors rehearsed on the stage while Mr. McFly continued to eye both her and Caleb suspiciously while showing them about the building. When the man’s tour was over, tension that Opal didn’t know was there released from her shoulders as she relaxed. She leaned toward Caleb. “That man doesn’t
trust us very much, does he?”
Caleb shrugged and lifted a brow, smiling toward the man and nodding. “Sometimes people act suspicious of others because they are worthy of suspicion. We’ll have to keep an eye on him. But it might just also be that he’s wary of strangers after the first incident, so don’t jump to conclusions, either.”
“Right,” Opal said as she nodded and returned her gaze to Mr. McFly who was discussing something with the lighting crew and had occasionally shot darting glances toward her and Caleb. “He seems like a straightforward man, but his leeriness toward us is disconcerting.”
“Precisely. Right now, though, we need to keep an eye on the building and make note of anything we see that seems out of place. Amazingly, the arsonist made sure the building was vacated before starting the fire, but this time, we might not be so lucky. Unfortunately, when a person doesn’t get his way by breaking the law, he often tries harder and may break more laws in the process. Though our arsonist is not yet a murderer, we need to treat him as though he has the potential for such.”
Opal swallowed hard. She knew that becoming a Pinkerton agent would be a dangerous endeavor and she’d been ready to face any miscreant head on, but a faceless arsonist was another story. She didn’t know who was friend and who was foe, yet. The plain truth was that anyone standing on the stage or in the theater could be the culprit. She surveyed the many people milling about the auditorium. Mr. Turner waved toward Caleb and gestured for him to come over. Even Mr. Turner was a potential suspect—it wouldn’t be the first time a villain hired a detective to hide their crime.