by Abigail Agar
“Well, I do not know where she is at. And if she did not wish for you to know her whereabouts either, perhaps it is best if you leave her alone,” she said.
“But you are searching for her. Why will you not leave her be?” he asked.
Georgiana recognised that they were at a stalemate.
“William, I do believe that our conversation has come to an end,” she said.
“I thought as much. Still, I do wish that you would listen to me. I wish that you would hear me when I tell you that I had nothing to do with her departure and I just want to ensure that she is safe,” he said.
But Georgiana could not listen to her brother, could not take him seriously. She was too far into her questions to handle that now.
William had proven himself to be a liar and she was still curious about his motivations.
“Oh, and William,” she said, realising she needed to make this point as best she could.
“What?” he asked.
“You ought to go and speak with that detective about this. If he learns from another that you had an affection for Rachel, he may believe that you had something to do with her disappearance,” Georgiana said.
William stood up as if to leave, but he turned back to her once.
“Someone has already told him of it. I thought it might be you. That, perhaps, Rachel had told you and you had told him,” he said.
“She never told me. And I have scarcely seen that Inspector Brock,” she said.
“Just as you are no fool, Georgiana, I am no fool. You cannot lie to me. I know you have seen him. Often. I even saw the two of you dance together at the ball. He was no stranger to you and he was not simply a detective,” he said.
Her cheeks burned, but she did not look at William directly.
“Anyway, he seems decent enough. I dislike him a good deal, but that should only make you trust him more,” William said.
With those words, he left her alone in the room.
Georgiana settled into her discomfort upon his departure. She understood his bitterness and she understood her own failings in the conversation.
But she still wondered about her brother and what he might be involved in.
More than that, however, she wondered about Inspector Brock and whether or not she could ever trust him again.
Chapter 26
There was nothing for it. Although Hamish had been asking around, trying to find the source of the family crest on the ring, he had found nothing.
Exasperated and full of annoyance, he collapsed at his desk and buried his face in his hands.
It had all been too much. Why was the investigation not making any progress?
Hamish had gone to all of his sources, trying to find anything he could about the crest. After all, it should have been easy to find the source of every family.
It wasn’t as though these were records that had never been noted.
He had still not seen anything about this family crest. It had been Hamish who recognised that it must be a very small family. It must not have been a well-known name.
In the end, he realised that there was only one person who could answer his questions.
It would mean exposing the fact that he had evidence, and it could even risk exposing that Rachel had been found.
Nevertheless, Hamish had no choice.
He had to speak with William again.
Hamish went out from his office and into the street. On strong legs, he began walking through the town.
There was no telling whether or not he would get the answers that he was seeking, but at least William was more likely to know the source of the ring than anyone else.
It was only a matter as to whether or not he would share what he knew.
Finally, he arrived at the gentlemen’s club again, sneering, as he detested such places.
“I beg your pardon, sir, but you are not dressed according to the club’s policy,” the doorman said, just inside the door of the club.
Hamish grated his teeth and flashed his identification.
“Oh, dear, me. Please, sir, whatever your business here, you must take it elsewhere. This is a gentlemen’s club, not some rebel house,” the doorman said.
“And, if you must know, I do not have a care in the world what sort of place this is. I am Inspector Hamish Brock. Inspector. Do you know what that means?” he asked.
The doorman winced and nodded, his gaze shifting to ensure that he was not being watched.
“Very well. Then you know that I have business to which I must attend. Whatever you prefer of me, I must ignore it. I have a duty. Now, let me inside as I have it on good authority that a Mr. William Reid is currently present,” he said.
The doorman winced again and Hamish wondered if it was a nervous habit or if the man had a twitch in his eye.
“Yes, indeed. I do believe that Mr. Reid is here at the moment. Would you like me to call to him for you? Then, the two of you might have a moment out of the way of the other guests,” he suggested, clearly pleased with himself.
But Hamish stared at him with dead eyes, waiting for the expression to take effect.
Within just a moment, the doorman cleared his throat and moved out of the way, allowing Hamish to enter and do his will.
He made his way through the rooms until he spotted William Reid. There was obviously nothing that he could say to explain his presence other than the truth, so he sidled up to William and waited.
A moment later, William turned from the men that he was speaking to and saw Hamish standing there. He rolled his eyes and gave an exasperated sigh.
“You again?” William asked, dryly.
“How pleased I am that you would remember me,” Hamish replied.
“No reason to be pleased. I only remember you because you’re the bloke who has all but ruined my family,” William said, shrugging.
“Me? Really? I ruined your family? And here, I thought I was simply trying to solve a case of a missing woman,” Hamish said, aware that William may have already figured out that Rachel had been found.
But William looked around, noting that his friends were nearby and listening in. It was clear to Hamish that William didn’t want that.
“All right, if we are going to speak, we should go elsewhere,” he said.
“As you wish, Mr. Reid,” Hamish said, flashing a daring grin to let William know that he had no intention of letting him get by easily.
They stepped away from the other group of men so that they could speak on their own.
“All right, then. What is it that you want from me now?” William asked.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Reid, are you bothered by something?” Hamish asked, trying to provoke him.
“Of course, I am. You have been making every effort to come after my family. Do you have any idea some of the conversations that I have had to listen to? My mother and father utterly detest one another nowadays. What am I meant to do about that?” he asked.
“I cannot say. Their relationship is not my concern. What is my concern, however, is your relationship with Miss Smithfield,” Hamish said.
“This again? Have I not already made myself clear? There was no relationship. Ever. Rachel and I had no romance,” he said.
Hamish smirked and narrowed his eyes.
“What?” William asked.
“You refer to her by her given name?” he asked.
William took in a sharp breath, as if cursing himself.
Finally, Hamish had nothing left to say. He was going to get the truth from William no matter what.
“Just tell me,” Hamish said.
“There is nothing to te—”
“I know about the ring,” Hamish said, cutting him off.
William stared at him, dumbfounded and silent.
“The…the what?” he asked.
“Do not play games with me. I know about the ring that you gave to Miss Smithfield. I have known about it for quite some time,” Hamish said.
William was quiet, clearly
trying to decide what he would say next.
“I do not wish to speak about this any further,” he said.
“I am sure of that, but I cannot allow you to simply remain silent on this topic,” Hamish said.
“And why not?” William asked, squirming.
“Because you have been quiet for too long and it has prevented me from getting the answers that I need,” he replied.
“Then what? What do you want from me?” William asked.
“I want to know the reason for the ring. I want to know what happened between the two of you that led you to giving her a gift,” Hamish said.
“There was nothing behind it. Merely…merely a token of affection,” he said.
Having revealed this truth, he could see a flash of worry in William’s eyes. Clearly, William had not been prepared for this and he was anxious about it.
That was precisely where Hamish wanted him.
This was going to be the best way for him to gather information and he was simply relieved that it had come to this point.
“A token of affection. Well, now we are getting somewhere at least. That is a relief,” Hamish said.
“That is all it was. She and I, we had nothing more,” William said.
“Nothing more than what?” Hamish asked.
“Nothing more than that. Just a small affection that I felt for her. She accepted the ring. That is all,” he said.
“Yes, that is all. That is all it was because she did not love you,” Hamish said.
William’s cheeks burned and his jaw flexed, as though trying to control indignation or sadness or some other host of emotions.
“What of it? Is it a crime to not be loved by a woman?” William asked.
“Did you make her disappear?” Hamish asked.
William scoffed.
“How could I possibly do that? And why? If I liked her as much as you seem to think I did, why would I send her away?” he asked.
“Send her away? Is that what happened? So you believe she was told to leave?” Hamish asked, pretending that the still did not know anything about Miss Smithfield’s whereabouts.
“I hope so,” William said, his eyes heavy with sadness. “I can hardly bear to think about the alternatives.”
“Yes, I suppose that, as a man who loved her, you would not want anything more to have happened,” Hamish said.
“I never said to you that I love her,” William said.
Hamish gave him the same, deadpan expression and William squirmed.
He was not offering much. Although it was more than Hamish previously had, he wished that William would give him more information.
However, he had been at this work for quite some time. He had to of known better.
What Hamish knew for certain was that this was not merely a token of affection.
There was something about this ring. Something that did not settle well in his gut.
It was strange that William would have offered something that meant nothing to him. And yet, he could see confusion in William’s face when he spoke of the ring.
It almost seemed as though he wasn’t’ even aware of the importance of it.
With that, Hamish departed.
There was nothing more that he could say to William, no more information he could get from him. But that did not mean that he could not still learn.
He headed back to the precinct so that he could speak with the other constables, perhaps sending one to keep an eye on William, to follow him.
***
“Constable, please get yourself together in your regular clothing. I have a task for you,” Hamish said to Constable Grant, a young man who was still fairly new on the force.
“A task? For me? Y-yes, Inspector. Whatever you wish,” he said, eagerly.
“Do not be like that, Constable Grant. My mission for you is merely a mission of observation,” Hamish said.
“Fine by me, Inspector,” the young man said.
“Very well. Now, you must go and change at once. Then, report to my office for further instruction,” he said.
The young man went off and Hamish entered his office, rifling through a few things so that he might be up to date on all of his cases.
“Inspector?” John asked, knocking at the door.
“Ah, Sergeant. What might I help you with?” he asked.
“I was wondering if you have made any progress on this case about which you are so passionate,” John said.
“Very little. And, as it is hardly a case at all, that is probably not such a problem,” he said, laughing at himself.
“Anything I might assist you with?” John asked, looking eager.
“John, I have invested myself in a case that is not a case. In the meanwhile, you have overseen everything that has come through here that truly matters. All I can do is thank you,” Hamish said.
“Thank me?” John asked, clearly surprised by the sentiment.
“I may not be the sort of man who speaks his thoughts easily, but I am glad to have you by my side,” he said, although he still found himself wishing Miss Reid was by his side as well.
Before long, Constable Grant returned and Hamish sent him out, hoping that he would find answers.
Indeed, this way he could see whether or not William would go after Miss Smithfield for sharing about the ring.
If not, perhaps he might speak with someone suspicious, or something.
The reality was, Hamish had no idea. He only knew that he could not sit by while all of this continued.
Something was not right about the ring and he had to find out what that was.
Chapter 27
Georgiana‘s father burst through the door of the drawing room with a wide grin on his face.
“My darling, I have wonderful news. Just wonderful. You and your mother and your brother will all be so thrilled!” he exclaimed
“Father?” she asked.
Just then, her mother came in the room, trailing behind him.
“What is all this noise about? Gregory? What is it now? Please, do not tell me that you have some other awful news for us,” she said, bitterly.
“Quite the opposite, my dear. I have glorious news. I shall even show you the books if you wish it,” he said.
“The books?” Georgiana asked.
“Yes, my darling. The books. Because we have just had quite a victory. The business has just signed not one, not two, but three contracts this very day. We are to be the sole provider of quality tea for two different clubs and we shall be the tea provider for the Goodham Hospital as well,” he said.