Chapter Text
If this isn’t a bit ironic! Detective Inspector William Wellington thought to himself as he was locked in the same cell in which he always locked Eliza Scarlet.
“Fitzroy, let me out of this jail cell now!” William, better known as the Duke, yelled at the top of his lungs. “Fitzroy!!!!”
Detective Oliver Fitzroy appeared in the doorway of the cell. “I’m sorry, Duke! Chief Superintendent Munro told us to keep you in there until we figure out your connection to the two missing ladies.”
“Two missing ladies? I thought it was only Arabella Herbert who was missing. Who’s the other missing lady? And why does Munro think it was me?” William asked in a voice that grew louder with each question asked.
“Duke, more than a couple of us knew about the morning Ms. Woods found you at Betsy’s house,” Fitzroy answered. “And we would have to be blind not to notice a lady like Ms. Herbert visiting you.”
“Is a Detective Inspector not allowed any privacy in this place?”
“Well, Miss Scarlet said…,” Fitzroy began but was interrupted by William before he could finish.
“Fetch Miss Scarlet for me. NOW. She may be the best one to help me out of this mess.”
******
Eliza sat in the soft chair near the fire in the quiet of her office enjoying a nice glass of sherry with a book, relaxing at the end of another busy day. She’d just finished wrapping up a case with another satisfied customer. It was the calm before the storm because the last thing she expected was the sound of footsteps running up the stairs and for Detective Fitzroy to come bursting through the door.
“Miss Scarlet…” He rushed whilst bending over trying to catch his breath.
Eliza looked past Fitzroy, expecting William to be following close behind him since the young detective had never been to her office without his superior officer before, but he wasn’t there.
“You need to come to the Yard quickly, Miss Scarlet!”
“Why? What’s happened?” Eliza asked.
“It’s Inspector Wellington… he’s been…”
“Is he hurt?” Eliza jumped to the obvious conclusion since Fitzroy seemed overly concerned.
“No. He’s been ... he's been arrested,” Fitzroy finally managed to stammer out.
It took no more than half a second for Eliza to burst out laughing; after all the times William had arrested her, she never in her life thought she would see a time come when he himself would be arrested.
“You are joking…” Eliza chuckled, amused before she noticed Fitzroy’s clear demeanour that he was being deadly serious. “On what charge?” she asked, confused.
“Suspected involvement in the disappearance of two women. Miss Betsy Cooper and Miss Arabella Herbert. Neither have been seen since Thursday… Duke’s Day off.”
Eliza’s heart skipped a beat at the mention of two women’s names that she would most like to never hear again. She always knew that William’s womanising ways would likely catch up with him but never in a way that would get him arrested. As to what William got up to on a Thursday, well, that was his business, but it didn’t usually involve making his consorts disappear.
Without further ado, Eliza put her book and glass of sherry down on her desk, threw some sand on the fire to put it out, and nodded to Fitzroy.
“Let’s go get William out of trouble.” She left out the implied 'for once'.
******
On the way toward the door, Eliza paused only long enough to pick her hat off the peg and gather her satchel off the hall table. She didn’t need to check the contents of the brown leather bag; she knew it would have everything she needed if anything went awry.
She slammed the office door behind her and made her way down the stone steps to William’s carriage. He was truly in trouble, she realized, because he would rather be hung by his thumbs than share his carriage with anyone, and yet here it was, without him.
She greeted Arthur and stepped inside, followed quickly by Fitzroy. The carriage lurched forward as soon as the detective shut the door, and he very nearly ended up in her lap. His face flushed bright red as he struggled to claim the seat across from her. If the task was not so urgent, she would have laughed.
“Detective,” Eliza said. “I don’t bite.”
His eyes skittered about the carriage, and he refused to look her in the eye. Clearing his throat, he said, “I don’t want to add to the Inspector’s displeasure with me any more than I have to.”
“I won’t tell if you won’t,” she teased, and watched as color reached all the way to the tips of his ears. Chuckling, she added, “Why don’t you tell me everything you know so far.”
“The Inspector asked me not to say anything until he spoke to you himself.”
“Indeed. Then he’s fortunate I’m more agreeable than he is. Do you know how many times he let me suffer overnight in jail?”
“Miss Scarlet? You? A lady?” Fitzroy gaped. “How many times have you been arrested?”
“One doesn’t ask a lady such personal questions,” she said primly and turned to stare out the window.
******
“Finally, you’re here.” William rushed to the cell door and gripped the bars tightly.
Eliza was about to retort that she had come as quickly as she could, but when she saw that his knuckles were white, his face ashen, and his eyes full of worry, she instead asked, “William, are you all right?”
Rather than answer her, he glanced at Fitzroy, who stood fidgeting in the hallway.
“Fitzroy, thank you for bringing Miss Scarlet. I’ll let you know if I require anything else,” William said.
“Yes, Sir.” Fitzroy replied. Out of force of habit he obeyed his superior’s command, despite him being locked behind bars and having no authority.
“William, how bad is it?” Eliza asked as she removed her notebook and pencil from her purse.
“Eliza, it looks like I have a motive to harm them!” William flushed then pushed away from the bars and began to pace.
“Were you having, ahem, relations with them? I mean right before they went missing,” Eliza amended as William shot a glare at her. “I’m just trying to do my job, William!” Eliza said, exasperated.
He ran a hand through his hair. “Right, sorry. I know that. This is just awkward. Erm… I hadn’t seen Betsy in a few months. Not since…”
“… since Ivy interrupted you two?” Eliza asked wryly.
“Right.” William cleared his throat.
“And Arabella?”
William sighed in annoyance. “That woman…”
******
She waited for him to go on, but when he only dragged a shaking hand over his face and beard, she gently prompted, “What about her, William?”
“Eliza, I should have listened to you about Arabella, should have trusted that you knew her better than I did.” He paused, then turned to look her squarely in the eyes, his voice softening as he confessed, “You were right about her, Eliza. I was a fool to believe she was ever interested in me for myself and not as a means of torturing you. You were right, and I was…wrong. There, I’ve said it. Can you forgive me for being a complete eejit?”
Well, well, well, thought Eliza, and the urge to smugly inquire whether she could get his comment about her being right this time in writing flashed like a neon sign in her mind. She forced herself to bite back the flippant remark trilling on the tip of her tongue and instead offered, “There’ll be time to talk of that later, William. For now, tell me when you last saw Arabella, where and how the two of you parted.”
“Do you promise that we’ll talk later, Eliza? That you won’t duck and run, as you’ve always done whenever it comes time for us to discuss something of importance?” he asked quietly.
When she nodded in earnest, William began, “I last saw Arabella a week ago. It was in my office - she had come to meet me for dinner at Gilbert’s that afternoon. She noticed a case file on my desk involving a burglary at a jeweler’s in Clerkenwell. She asked which of my officers were investigating the theft and when I informed her that I was planning to ask for your help with the case, she turned sullen, edgy, and we ended up arguing...over you.”
******
“Over me? Surely not,” Eliza said almost dubiously, ignoring the thrum of something unpleasant and hot flushing over her.
He only looked at her, his glare hard with eyes of steel, and she cleared her throat.
“Right … sorry. So you started arguing and then …?”
Eliza inclined her head for him to continue, but he had fallen silent, averting his glance guiltily. Suddenly she wanted to know exactly what was said, and at the same time, she absolutely did not.
“She was angry that I was planning to consult with you,” William said.
Her hand went to her waist, head tilted as she waited for him to continue. There was definitely more to this than he was saying.
“Be more specific. Tell me what she said.”
She didn’t add the ‘what you said' after it, even if she desperately wanted to know.
“Eliza… things were … I don’t think-”
“Oh, out with it, William! I’m not a wilting violet,” she huffed.
“She said that if I was going to sniff around the skirts of someone like you, then she wasn’t sure she wanted to associate with me. She seemed unable to get past the fact I wanted to ask you for your opinion.”
Heat flooded through her, and she was sure she had turned red. If he noticed, he didn’t show it.
******
Eliza took a deep breath to calm herself. She couldn’t resist blurting out, “I told you she’s the same selfish bully I knew as a child.”
William glared at her, hands on hips. “I’ve apologized already in case you’ve forgotten.”
“I know, I’m sorry. That woman has always been abhorrent to me,” Eliza rolled her eyes. She took another breath and asked, “After your argument where did she go?”
William’s shoulders sagged, and he looked up at the ceiling. “I’ve no idea. I assumed she went home.”
“You know where she lives?” Eliza asked. William nodded. Of course he does, she thought, trying not to look repelled by the idea.
“I’ll need her address. And any other places you know she frequents.” Eliza opened her notebook to a fresh page.
“You’ll need Betsy’s address, as well?” William asked.
Eliza stopped, pencil poised on the paper. “I already have it.”
William frowned.
“Ivy told me.”
It was William’s turn to roll his eyes. He turned away from Eliza and walked to the back of the cell. He flopped himself onto the bench and let his head tap the back wall in frustration. He rattled off Arabella’s address.
“Verrey’s,” he said after a pause.
“Pardon?”
“She likes to have sweets and coffee in the afternoons at Verey’s cafe on Pall Mall. They allow women in there alone.”
Eliza’s eyebrows lifted. “I’ll remember that.” She closed her book, grasped a cell bar, pushed her face through the gap and said, “I’ll find them, William.” William looked at her, defeated.
“Please be careful,” he said softly.
Eliza grasped the bar tighter. “I will.” She stepped back. “Moses will help me.”
William winced as if in pain. “Oh, he’ll be delighted to learn of this turn of events.”
Eliza gave him a triumphant smile and headed for the door.