Saga’s skin was perhaps too dark to betray a blush, but there was something about the way her body language shifted that suggested it all the same. She hunched into herself, her fingers interlaced, her thumb stroked along her palm, and she bit her lower lip as if attempting to suppress a growing smile. “I mean, it’s probably nothing, like you said—”
“No.” It was the first time Avery spoke firmly on the matter. “Don’t do that. It’s a strong lead.” She picked up the photograph. “One I didn’t have a minute ago.” And one that meant infinite trouble if it led to questioning Iona, but somehow that fact felt rather insignificant at present.
“You would have gotten there,” Saga assured quietly.
“I would have eventually,” Avery agreed. “But I’m herenowbecause ofyou.” In the past, she’d had little use for partners. She’d had sources, and allies—the Irregulars, of course—but never someone to work directly beside her. It was not about thinking she was above it or even about protecting someone from the dangers of investigating. She’d simply never needed someone else and found her mind worked best in silence.
But this woman was different. Her mind wasn’t merely a flint to strike a torch against, but a blaze all her own. Perhaps a little prone to the fantastical, but the fantastical was ultimately why Avery was here. And while she was confident she would acclimate in time, time was not necessarily on her side when it came to solving this case.
But if she had a partner? Someone who could, temporarily if nothing else, fill the gaps? She spoke softly. “What are you doing after this?”
Saga matched her volume. “After…?”
“You said your shift was ending soon.”
“Oh.” Saga’s breath was shallow, uncertain. “No concrete plans, I suppose. Why?”
“I was going to investigate the victim’s home and talk to some of her neighbors. I think it would be invaluable if you’d come with me.”
There was an odd exhale as if Saga had been holding her breath, and then a long pause before the next inhalation as if the process had become suddenly foreign. “Seriously?”
“Did it sound like a joke?”
“Well. Maybe… I don’t really know how you… You really want my help?”
Avery swallowed. She did. Shereallydid. When she spoke, she kept both her volume and tone low. “I don’t know how much your uncle told you, but I’ve been out of Londonfor a while, and I’m struggling to acclimate at the pace I think this case demands. I could use someone with your unique skill set.”
“My incredible resemblance to a cupcake?”
The deflective levity was noted, but otherwise ignored by Avery. “Our victim was not only found under unique medical circumstances but was in the medical profession. You have a plethora of inside knowledge but aren’t known to the area. I could use a second pair of eyes; you’re incredibly perceptive and appear to have an above-average grasp on human behavior.” She smiled genially. “And despite your strange impulse toward self-deprecating humor, you’re charming. That’s not only helpful but also makes the more tedious work bearable.”
Saga’s lips parted to speak, then she hesitated. “I don’t know,” she said with a disbelieving laugh. But everything about her posture and tone said she did know. She was suppressing a smile, her eyes had drifted thoughtfully to the side the way they did when her mind was deep in thought, and she was leaning back playfully on her heels.
Avery leaned forward with a devilish grin. “Come on…” She coaxed. “What’sone more puzzle?”
Saga’s eyes crinkled. “Let me close out.”
20William Feetham was a stove maker from Ludgate Hill in London, and it was he who patented the first known mechanical shower. In 1767 it utilized a hand pump to push the water into a vessel above the user’s head, wherein they would pull a chain to release the water down on top of them.
Unfortunately this design did not accommodate heated water and ultimately was counterproductive, as it recycled the same dirty water for every cycle.
Still, it would be the cornerstone for the contraption we know today, and we would all be better off thinking of our imperfect ideas as foundations for better ones than dismissing them as failures.
21While the modern shower is indeed a marvel, Hudson’s was originally built in the eighteenth century, and there is only so much hot water these old buildings can supply when multiple taps are being utilized simultaneously.
22When first named, Knightsbridge was a great title for an area hardly inhabited. Then it was too inhabited by the wrong sorts of people. While now one of the most affluent neighborhoods in London, through the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries it was a favorite haunt of villains, highwaymen, and rogues. Though, depending, you may agree little has changed.
