Chapter 1

“Stop!” I yelled at the top of my lungs and flagged down a carriage that was fast approaching me. The driver spotted me at the side of the road and suddenly tugged the reins of his horse’s bridle, rearing its head backwards as it came to a full stop. I pulled my smoky grey cap over my head, and jogged towards the carriage, carefully evading the puddles that never ceased to go away in this rainy London town. “78A Brownhurst Avenue!” I called out to him, before I ducked undercover of his large carriage and shut the door behind me.

The rain had drenched me to the bone, and I found my umbrella completely useless in the stormy winds. I shed my coat off my shoulders and threw my cap onto the seat beside me. The carriage started up again, knocking about on the shifty cobbled stones that sent me flying from one end of the carriage to another. I steadied myself before I pulled back the drapes to see the streets crowded with people, an everyday occurrence just after luncheon. A shrill of a whistle blew down the street, and I spotted a petty looking peasant sprinting down the street, probably avoiding a police officer that would undoubtedly throw him in prison for the next few months. Maybe that will teach him a lesson, I thought, and pulled down my high collar to let some air come down my half-drenched shirt. I need to lose weight, I reminded myself, but food seemed to be claiming me more times than I could count when I was unable to solve a case.

I’ll solve this one, I resolved, knowing my reputation was at stake if I did not complete this assignment.

A girl had gone missing. Three nights ago, she disappeared from her living quarters, and it had been most awkward for Lord Hugh Reeds to keep it covered up. People do talk, I silently reflected, and it is only a matter of time before I spot it in the newspapers.

And my name will go alongside it, I noted; it was just another reason to solve this case.

I pulled back the drapes again to see we had finally reached the illustrious part of London. The high steel black gates, and the tall two-storey houses told me we were fast approaching Brownhurst avenue. Who would want to kidnap the girl, I wondered, what would be their motive? Love? Money? Revenge? There were so many factors, a multitude of variables that could lead me to several hypotheses, but only one would lead me to the truth. “I will find it,” I mouthed aloud, and snatched my newsboy cap to throw it atop of my head. “Cost what it may.”

The carriage slowed down and rolled up a long stretch of road that led to a large portion of land that belonged to the Reeds’. The Reeds’ were well known in the political world; it was Lord Hugh that acted as the Deputy Prime Minister for Cary Loren Phillips five years ago. It is well known that his children received the highest level of education. Lord Reeds hoped their high status and education could lead to promising marriages in the future. Indeed, it was already rumored that his eldest daughter, Victoria, would soon be engaged to the former Prime Minister’s son, Stephen, within the year. This was all general knowledge, of course, the things you could find in the gossip section of the weekly newspaper, but the real details about the Reeds family was still a mystery to me.

I dropped down from the carriage and found my sturdy leather boots falling into a deep pool of mud. “Oh, for Christ’s sake!” I cursed aloud. My feet were fortunately still dry, so I did my best to find a dry patch of grass to take me to the stony pathway. With one arm stretched out to the fullest, I leaned forward to pay the cab driver. He took the coinage silently, stuffing it in his left coat pocket before he reached forward to have a firm hold over his horse’s bridle. Careless with his money, I thought, or simply has enough to stuff it so loosely inside his coat pocket. Not fearful of getting a cold either, I contemplated, as I noticed how bare his hands were in the middle of February.

He must be used to it, I considered, while I walked up to the great stony house. He’s a man of London, whereas I am a foreigner who finds this incessant cold and rain almost unbearable. I reached inside of my inner pocket of my cloak and dug out a pipe to place it firmly between my lips. The drops of rain would soon blow the flames out, but I needed a fix before I went inside to meet the anxious parents.

Three days…

There was a gardener who walked past the front of the house. He was draped in a loose brown uniform that hid the stains and mud marks well. He wore long black boots that allowed him to walk across the damp grass easily; he took one look at me as he carried a wheelbarrow in front of him, and it was enough to satisfy his curiosity. They must get visitors often, I deliberated, or at least a large number of visitors ever since Victoria Reeds’ mysterious disappearance.

I lifted the door handle and struck it hard against the door three times. There was silence inside of the household, giving me enough time to snuff out my pipe and make myself look presentable for the Lord and Lady of the house.