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My mood swing had apparently gone c
ompletely unnoticed. He motioned towards the closed steel door behind him with a careless finger. ‘I have put Karim in charge of the investigation, and he has his methods.’
‘Methods like what?’ I demanded. Darn, this was… frightening. Something inside me told me I should report this to the police. But if I did that, I would end up on Mr Ambrose’s list of traitors, barring all chances of my independence. I was too selfish to risk my entire future on behalf of some greedy little thief I didn’t know from Adam. All right, I know I’m not a very good person! But at least I’ll get paid for it soon.
Mr Ambrose still hadn’t answered. He was looking at me intently.
‘Methods like what?’ I repeated the question.
‘That’s nothing a lady such as yourself needs to concern yourself about.’
‘Oh, I’m a lady now, am I?’
‘Currently, it looks like it,’ Mr Ambrose said, gesturing towards my dishevelled dress. ‘More or less, at least. It’s high time that you got back into your trousers though, Mr Linton.’
I narrowed my eyes.
‘Why? Do you have work for me, Sir?’
‘No. I’m sending you home early.’
I was about to protest when he raised his hands. ‘I know. I agreed…’ he paused to take a deep breath and with effort said: ‘I agreed to let you work for me, just like any other private secretary. This is not an attempt to get rid of you early. I’m giving you half the day off because you’ve had an exhausting day so far. Trust me, even if you don't notice it now, you’ll notice once the excitement of the hunt goes away. You need to rest, and I need to stay with Karim for a bit longer, so right now I don’t have anything for you to do. Tomorrow you will come back, and you will work for me as hard as anybody else.’
For a moment I searched his face, trying to determine whether or not he was being truthful. Of course it didn’t work. Not with his standard stony expression.
‘Promise?’ I asked.
He nodded. ‘I promise on my honour as a gentleman.’
‘But…’ I hesitated before asking the question. ‘But I’ll still have to come dressed up as a man?’
‘Yes.’ His voice was as hard as granite. ‘I cannot and will not accept a female secretary. I will not be made a fool of in front of the entire city. Either you come dressed as a man, or you never return.’
I nodded. This was hard for me to accept, but it was unavoidable. I turned to leave, but Mr Ambrose called me back, and so I turned again.
‘What is it, Sir?’
‘You know very well what it is. I want to know.’
‘Want to know what?’
‘Your method, of course. Well?’
‘What method? What are you talking about?’ I asked, truly bewildered.
A muscle in his jaw twitched in an annoyed sort of way. ‘Don’t play games with me! How did you do it? Find out where Simmons was?’
Ah! That was what was eating him. I struggled mightily to constrain my grin but probably failed.
‘How about a deal?’ I said. ‘I tell you my method, and you tell me what’s in the stolen file?’
His silence was answer enough.
Once again, I saw that mountain of money in front of my inner eye. And he had said it was too little payment…
‘I won’t tell a soul,’ I said. ‘I promise!’
‘No!’ He shot a glare at me. ‘I don't have to make any deals with you. You work for me. You will tell me how you did it. Now!’
