“Well, do hear this, Miss Spencer,” Tomlin said, his voice rising. “You will wait outside this room until I have finished questioning Matron Brooks.”
“They think John is a Fenian,” the matron said, still clinging to Leo’s arms. “But he would never have done this.”
“Dita, had you seen him at all today? Did you notice his injuries?” Leo asked.
Tomlin growled, “I am the one asking the questions here.”
“Then you should inquire if Miss Brooks knows how PC Lloyd received the black eye and gashes to his face that I noticed just before the explosion,” Leo suggested in a clipped voice.
Jasper exhaled, bracing himself for Tomlin’s wrath. He was accustomed to fielding Leo’s insolence, but Tomlin wasn’t. Slowly, Lewis backed out of the doorway and made himself scarce.Lucky bastard.
“I will ask the questionsIdecide are important,” the inspector replied sharply. “Wiley!”
Several moments later, the Criminal Investigation Department’s desk constable shot into the small interview room, his chest puffed up and his cheeks red. When he saw Leo, his expression changed instantly to one of derision. She and Horace Wiley were at constant odds, and though Jasper generally disliked the constable, he chose to overlook him whenever possible. Leo, however, chose to needle him.
“Escort Miss Spencer out of the building,” Tomlin ordered Wiley.
A smug glint of pleasure crossed Wiley’s expression, and he reached for Leo’s arm. Jasper intercepted, clasping the constable’s forearm before he could touch her. “Don’t,” was all he said, though even to his own ears, the sound of his voice was as menacing as pond ice splintering underfoot.
Wiley wrenched his arm away and glared daggers at him but didn’t try to take her arm again.
“Someone, escort her out of here,” Tomlin demanded, a vein that cut through his forehead becoming more visible by the second.
“He was carrying a valise.” Leo’s comment severed the growing tension. “Constable Lloyd was about ten or fifteen paces away from me when I saw him. He appeared unsettled. Nervous. He looked to be fresh from a fist fight, and he was carrying a brown leather valise.”
“A leather case housed the bomb,” Sergeant LaChance confirmed. “We’ve found remnants of it near Lloyd’s body.”
Miss Brooks let out a small wail and returned to her seat, her trembling hands clasped over her mouth.
Jasper clenched his hands into fists.Christ. Ten or fifteen paces? Any closer, and Leo would have surely been killed.
“The valise wasn’t his,” she continued.
“How could you possibly know that?” Tomlin asked. “Did you speak to him?”
“No,” she answered. “In fact, when he saw me, he turned and started walking away from the Yard. But I’d already seen that it was a woman’s valise. The leather was heavily embroidered and embellished down the center with a floral pattern. When he stopped and turned, I believe I saw a monogram embroidered on it too. Why would he have had a lady’s case when he lived alone in bachelor’s rooms? And by his visible apprehension, I think it’s possible he?—”
“You’ve suffered an injury, Miss Spencer. Hit your head in the blast, it looks like,” Tomlin interrupted. “Go home. If I need more of a statement from you, you will be summoned. This isn’t a request.” He glared at Jasper with an unspoken order to remove her at once.
Jasper held the inspector’s glare, but he had no standing to object. This would be Tomlin’s case, not his. That rationale didn’t stop him from feeling stymied, however, as he stood aside and gestured for Leo to leave the room. She did, albeit unhappily.
“That man is a bully,” she seethed, once the door had slammed shut behind them.
“That may be, but as this is a bombing, he’ll be leading the investigation into it.”
“Do you think Constable Lloyd’s remains will be brought to Spring Street?” she asked as they wove back through the busy department.
As it was the closest morgue, Jasper suspected the remains would indeed be delivered there. No autopsy would be ordered, as cause of death was more than evident. But there could be more to learn from the man’s remains.
“Perhaps you shouldn’t assist Claude with this one,” Jasper said. Leo wasn’t affected by dead bodies, but John Lloyd had been an acquaintance. Not to mention, she’d seen him die.
“I’ll decide that for myself, thank you.” She picked up her speed, walking toward the department’s exit.
He overtook her to block her path. “I know what you are thinking, but this is not an investigation you can force your way into.”
“He was Dita’s beau. They were about to become engaged to marry. He wouldn’t have done this willingly,” she said, ignoring him as she was wont to do.
“Then let Inspector Tomlin and his men find out what really happened. You need to stay out of it this time.”
