Private Investigation Read Online Free Page B

Private Investigation
Book: Private Investigation Read Online Free
Author: Fleur T. Reid
Pages:
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connect them, except…”
    “Except that they were all carrying substantial amounts of money. The boy had been sent on an errand to buy books for his father. Henry Watson had become a little vague in recent years and no longer trusted the banks—instead he preferred to keep his savings in stocks and bonds about his person. And Miss Allan was carrying the takings from the temperance movement’s recent fundraising effort for Women Brought Low by Drink. And yet,” he said, leaning forward and fixing the inspector with his disconcerting silver gaze, “not one of them was robbed. The murderer did not even bother to snatch Henry Watson’s silver-headed cane.”
    The inspector looked gormless for a moment. “Oh…” he began.
    “Yes,” said Lucien. “The connection is that the motive for each murder was, purely and simply, to kill the victim as quickly and with as little fuss as possible. Immediate financial gain was not a factor…and yet most criminals are opportunists and even if they did not go through the victim’s pocket would take a ruby hatpin or other such trinket. But there is another connection, is there not?”
    Ladd nodded, apparently lost for words.
    “You did not make the same connection I did, that much is clear.” The inspector seemed to bridle at Lucien’s words, but he held up one long, elegant hand in a conciliatory gesture. “But you did make a connection. What?”
    The policeman shrugged again, stuffed his damp handkerchief back into his pocket, and extracted a small, white oblong of card. He made to hand it over to Lucien, but the detective gestured towards Lilly, so she took it instead, noting its contents quickly in her notebook, then reading it aloud for Lucien and John’s benefit. “Dr Moriarty Cain’s House of Spiritual Solace. Dr Cain will contact the spirit world to bring you messages of comfort from your lost loved ones.”
    She looked at Lucien in surprise, and he gave her a smug little smile, like a cat licking cream off its paws.
    “The family of each of the victims received one of these cards shortly after the murder,” said the inspector. “The boy’s parents. The old man’s widow. Miss Allan’s twin sister.”
    “Good!” said Lucien, suddenly all brisk efficiency, and he rose to his feet. “Thank you, Inspector. I will be in touch in due course.”
    The inspector rose to his feet looking bewildered, but allowed himself to be hustled towards the door. “But…”
    “In due course, my dear Inspector Ladd. The wheels are turning. The mechanism is ticking. I have the case in hand. Please don’t let me keep you.” And he ushered the perplexed policeman out of the door and closed it behind him with a decisive click.
    He turned back, beaming. “And what do you make of that, Lilly?”
    “Uh…” She hadn’t expected to be asked to contribute to his deductive process. “Well, I suppose it makes sense for a medium to solicit clients from among the recently bereaved…”
    “Ha ha, yes! And Dr Cain’s House of Spiritual Solace has such a good reputation of late. Curious, really, when you think of the cheap tricks you described to me—the fishing wire and luminous paint you saw on your previous visits. Dim light and thrown voices and light projected onto gauze. Why, I wonder, are his powers as a medium suddenly so respected?”
    Lilly cocked her head to one side, considering. “And that’s why you want me to convince Mrs Langley to take me to one of his séances. To see what is different.”
    John, who had been making tea again, pressed a cup of the steaming brew into her hands and gave her a conspiratorial smile. “We already know you’re a good observer. A keen student of human behaviour. Creeping around and peeping through keyholes…”
    She blushed and gave him a wry look. Then she returned her attention to Lucien. “But I’m not a trained observer. I’m not a detective. Why don’t you go yourself?”
    He shook his head. “I’m too well known.”
    She
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