She needed no further encouragement. “While the crown was using it, I suspect there were guards present—or at least other nobles. It wouldn’t have been as easy to blend in back then—especially as it wasn’t so densely traversed. You could perhaps fool someone that you were a foreign noble given special dispensation if you could dress the part, but as you might imagine, getting ahold of such garments…” Avery trailed off as her eyes met Saga’s, and she smiled a little sheepishly. “You don’t want to hear this, do you?”
“No, I do!” Saga assured. “It’s like a walking history tour.”
“You’re humoring me.”
Saga took Avery’s hands and squeezed them reassuringly. Touch came so easily to her. It was a casual gesture of connection—it wasn’t flippant or meaningless, merely without gravitas. It simply was. “I promise you, I’m not. I really am enjoying hearing about this.” She realized something, looked down at their hands and released Avery. “Sorry, I know you aren’t the most touchy person. I’ll be better at remembering.”
“No, it’s…” Avery flexed her fingers at her sides, too aware of how different the air felt without Saga’s hand in her own. “I’m not offended.”
Saga chuffed an embarrassed sort of laugh and focused back on theprevious conversation. “Let’s say you were caught on the King’s Road without special dispensation—what would happen?”
Avery began walking again, putting her hands in the pockets of her coat to grasp the lining and distract herself from Saga’s absence. “I suppose it depended on which monarch you offended. For a while they were rather liberal with the death penalty.”
“So basically we’d be walking on a death road.”
“In theory,” Avery admitted. “I don’t know of any who dared to commit the crime, truth be told.”
“It would be an incredibly stupid way to die,” Saga observed. She affected a different accent. “Did you hear about Marv? Murdered in the street last night he was.Oh, was he robbed?No, took a five-foot stroll down the King’s Road, guard took him out rather instantly.”
Avery laughed despite herself. “That’s good. Very accurate, I’m certain.”
“Be thankful for change then, I suppose.” Saga pointed to the address plaque secured to the large wooden gate as they reached a break in the old brick wall. “This must be it.” She peeked around and saw a much smaller door inset to the left of the gate that had been retrofitted with a camera and intercom system.
Avery ran her tongue along her lower lip thoughtfully. “I don’t suppose you know if the Chelsea Bun House is still in operation?”
Saga shook her head. “I’ve never heard of it, but if you’re looking for what I think you are, a lot of bakeries make them. Pretty standard pastry in London. We have them at Hudson’s most days.”
“Merciful fates,” sighed Avery. She could feel her mouth watering.
“Don’t drool in front of the murder suspects, dear,” Saga joked.
Avery playfully cut her eyes at Saga and cleared her throat with an authoritative cough. She pressed the intercom buzzer.
It took a few moments. Long enough that both women started to wonder if they should press again.
Then, at last, the intercom crackled with a very cross, “What is it?”
“Carys Varney?” Avery asked.
“Yes,” the voice fizzled back. “What is it? What do you want? I’m not buying anything.”
Avery and Saga exchanged a look before she continued. “My name is Detective Inspector Avery Hemlock, I’m here on behalf of an ongoing investigation. This is my associate Saga Trygg, would you mind if we asked you a few questions?”
The door gave a mechanical whine, unlocking electronically to allow them entrance. “Come in. Quickly, before the neighbors see you or hear something.”
Avery pushed the door in and allowed Saga to pass in front of her.
The younger woman tripped immediately over an overgrown bush that stretched its thorns over the pathway. She caught herself before Avery could reach for her, pausing to regain her balance before straightening up again. “Didn’t think we’d have to deal with booby traps.”
Avery struggled to suppress a laugh. “Are you hurt?”
Saga checked her boots. The laces were riddled with thorns, but otherwise, she was uninjured. “I’m not bleeding.”
“At least you have found your silver lining,” mused Avery, closing the door behind her before carefully stepping around the bush herself.
“It’s like the Secret Garden in here,” said Saga.
Avery didn’t need to know the reference to comprehend the meaning. The grounds, while vastly diminished from the grand acreage of its birth, had been left to decay. Anything that grew seemed to sprout from spite and natural tenacity rather than any conscious act of cultivation. The stone path that had once trailed pleasantly from the wall to the main house was broken from age and neglect, leaving it malformed with stones damaged, overturned, and missing. “Probably safer to walk off the path.”
