“Gone where?” Jasper asked.
“She told Mr. Stewart’s parents she was taking the train back to London.” Lewis set the telegram onto their shared desk.
“Do we know where Mrs. Bates lives?” Jasper asked.
“Rupert Street,” Leo offered. At his and Lewis’s looks of surprise, she shrugged. “She hosted a WEA meeting once. Are you going to see her?”
Jasper was more interested in calling on Mr. Stewart. And if Leo’s theory about Mrs. Bates wanting to come to roost inGeraldine’s nest was correct, he thought she was more likely to be found there.
He turned to his sergeant. “I’ll join you in the lobby in a moment.”
Understanding, Lewis tipped his hat to Leo and went on ahead. A few constables had trickled into the department, including Wiley, who shot Leo a scowl.
“What happened last night?” Jasper asked. Whatever it was, it had unsettled her. Perhaps it was why she’d been here so early.
“It will hold,” she said. “I’m missing something. What happened yesterday?”
Picking up his hat and coat, he considered telling her that it was related to the case and thus, something he couldn’t discuss with her. However, she would only take umbrage with being fobbed off. She’d then likely retaliate by not telling him what had happened to her the previous night.
So, as they left the detective department, he quietly and quickly explained that the address in Foster’s pocket was for the bank managed by Porter Stewart, that Foster had gone there a few days before his death to meet with him specifically, and that the meeting had lasted less than five minutes before Foster left in an ill humor.
“Mr. Stewart said something to make him angry?” Leo guessed.
“Or Niles Foster upset Mr. Stewart and was then told to leave.” They walked slowly toward the lobby, Jasper’s eyes peeled for Inspector Tomlin. If they crossed paths with him and he said even one word to Leo, Jasper wasn’t sure he would be able to keep his temper as he had yesterday. “Mr. Stewart wasn’t at home when Lewis and I called on him yesterday. We’re going to try again today.”
“We know Niles Foster was desperate for money. He’d had an altercation with a Spitalfields Angel while gambling atStriker’s Wharf, and he’d also argued with Lord Hayes,” Leo said. “Now, we have him in a bad interaction with Mr. Stewart shortly before Sir Elliot decided against speaking at the WEA meeting. Don’t you think it all a bit odd?”
It was certainly questionable. “Not only that, but a young lady whom Foster was…having relations with,” he said, selecting his words more carefully than he might have with Lewis, “said he’d claimed to have come into some information that was going to make him a small fortune.”
Leo stopped walking. “Do you think he might have tried to blackmail Mr. Stewart with this information?”
“It’s possible. I plan to find out.”
“May I come with you? I’ve met Mr. Stewart and?—”
“Have you forgotten that I was attacked in my home after our visit with his wife?” he interrupted. “Leo, you cannot be involved in this any longer. I’ve sent Mrs. Zhao to stay with her sister, and if I could, I’d send you too.”
She balked, but he wasn’t about to back down. Not even when she set her jaw and started to walk past him. He caught her elbow. Then lowered his voice.
“I know you want to help, and I know you’re sharper than half the men here,” he said, the admission as surprising to him as it was to her. She gazed at him in awe. “But this is dangerous work, and I cannot do it properly if I am constantly worried that something bad will happen to you.”
He held her stare until she blinked and averted her eyes. Releasing her arm, he took a breath and put some space between them. The narrow corridor where they stood was beginning to fill with officers.
“You should leave before Tomlin arrives. He’s not fond of either of us at the moment.”
“Why, what did you do?” she asked.
“Nothing I regret,” he said, deciding not to tell her about their tense interaction the day before.
Leo tried but couldn’t hold back her grin as they passed Constable Woodhouse and stepped out into the yard. “Did you punch him in the nose for me?”
Jasper barked a laugh. “As satisfying as that would have been, I can’t afford being reprimanded by Chief Coughlan again.”
“I suppose you’re right. The man isn’t worth that sort of trouble,” she said. “Good luck with Mr. Stewart.”
He’d expected more of an argument from her but dismissed his skepticism as he spotted Lewis, waiting by the stone arch. Leo started away.
“About what you wanted to tell me before,” Jasper called. She tarried a moment, looking back at him. “Come to Charles Street tonight.”
