Chapter Eleven
‘What now?’ Salter asked round a mouthful of meat pie.
‘Now we tackle the half-brother. He might be able to tell us something of interest about Adelaide.’
Salter sniffed. ‘He obviously didn’t like her, given that he was so willing to tell the world how glad he was that she’s dead. I’d be interested to know why. Anyway, I don’t suppose we’ll be able to take anything he tells us as gospel.’
Riley gave a wry smile. ‘Since when did we start expecting anyone to tell us the truth?’
‘Fair enough.’ Salter paused to thoughtfully chew another bite of his pie. ‘I’m surprised you didn’t ask Paul if he knew Adelaide, sir.’
‘He told us he was unaware if his employer had any female friends. Besides, I didn’t want him to warn Clement about the reason for our visit.’
Salter quirked a bushy brow. ‘Interesting that he didn’t ask though.’
‘I noticed his reticence but don’t necessarily think there was anything sinister about it. I don’t need to tell you that the majority of law-abiding citizens are taken aback by a visit from us, and they’re so keen to appear helpful that they don’t always ask the most obvious questions.’
Salter examined the contents of the remainder of his pie, gave a resigned shrug and consumed it in one large bite.
‘We don’t even know yet what the connection between Clement and Adelaide actually was, and that’s because they were so secretive about it,’ Riley went on to say. ‘So I doubt whether Paul would know either. And if Clement really has been in France, he won’t have heard about Adelaide’s death—which is why I didn’t want Paul forewarning him. Even so, I expect the brother will take pleasure in letting him know the moment he gets back.’
‘You think the brother disapproved of Adelaide because of her profession? He didn’t like being reminded of his own mother’s humble origins?’
‘It wouldn’t surprise me. It seems that Clement’s firstborn inherited the bulk of his estate and his half-sibling resents him for that, and goodness alone knows what else.’ Riley finished his indifferent pie, barely conscious of what he was eating, and wiped his fingers on his handkerchief. ‘Come along, Salter, we are for Billingsgate. The market will be over for the day by now so I expect we shall find Raymond Clement in the nearest tavern.’
They ran their quarry to ground in the inaptly named Lamb Tavern, a beacon for those associated with selling fish in the nearby market. It was doing a brisk trade. Upon asking the landlord, Clement was pointed out to them. Riley took a moment to study him before approaching. He was surrounded by people, but appeared sullen and disinterested in the company. He was staring into a tankard of ale and taking no part in the conversations that buzzed around him. No shouting the odds today. Instead he looked distracted and nervous.
He was a large man, with equally large hands, a bulging stomach and thinning, straggly brown hair. He looked up when Riley and Salter approached him and opened his mouth, as though about to tell them to find someone else to annoy. One glance at Riley’s decent tailoring, combined with the fact that he probably looked as out of place as he felt in an establishment full of coarse individuals who smelled strongly of fish, and he snapped his mouth closed again.
‘Clement?’ Salter asked.
‘Who wants to know?’ he asked sullenly.
Salter introduced them both and asked the man to step outside. He looked as though he might refuse, then thought better of it, downed his drink in one long swallow, stood up and belched. The stool he’d been sitting on toppled over and Clement himself didn’t seem too steady on his feet, implying that the ale had had just downed was not his first of the day. Several people turned to stare as the odd procession made its way to the door. No one attempted to intercede or threaten the two policemen, implying that Clement was not popular.
‘What do you want?’ Clement leaned against the tavern’s wall for support, not appearing to feel the rain falling steadily on his hatless head.
‘You were heard shouting about the death of a young woman,’ Salter said. ‘What do you know about that?’
‘A young woman…’ He scratched his head. ‘I shout about a lot of things when the mood takes me. What young woman?’
Salter grabbed Clement by the lapels of his coat and slammed him roughly against the wall. ‘You know bloody well what woman,’ he said. ‘If you think we’re going to stand about getting wet while you give us the runaround, you’ve got another think coming, sunshine.’
‘All right! All right! Adelaide, that’s who you’re talking about, yeah?’
Riley smiled inwardly. Sometimes it was best left to Salter to get the desired result.
Clement pushed himself upright and a little of his confidence returned. ‘Well, good riddance to her is what I said when I ’eard about it. Ain’t no law about expressing an opinion.’
‘But there are laws against murder,’ Riley pointed out.
‘Whoa!’ Clement raised unsteady hands, palms outwards. ‘Don’t know nothin’ about no murder.’
‘How did you know Adelaide?’ Riley asked. ‘Were you one of her customers?’
‘At her prices?’ He turned his head and spat on the ground. ‘Do me a favour.’
‘Then why did you take against her?’ Salter asked. ‘What did she ever do to you?’
‘She turned my brother against me, that’s what.’ Clement swayed a little and bumped his hip against the wall. ‘Me and Michael, we was all right until she came along. Me da, he left his blunt to Michael on the understanding that he looked after me. Michael started up his wine thing and I was gonna join him, until she talked him out of it.’
‘What do you know about wine?’ Salter asked derisively.
‘As much as Michael did when he started out. I can learn, or I would have if he’d of given me half a chance.’
‘How could Adelaide have stopped that from happening, even supposing that she did?’ Riley asked. ‘You’re not making any sense.’
‘I don’t rightly know.’ Clement ran his fingers through his sparse wet hair, leaving pink sections of his scalp exposed. ‘I saw them together once by chance in the street. I was curious to know who she was. Michael ain’t much of a one for the ladies, and I thought she might be taking advantage of him. Anyway, I was curious so I followed her back to Maiden Lane and then it became clear precisely what she was.’
‘You have something against prostitutes?’ Riley asked mildly.
Clement responded with an ugly sneer. ‘I ain’t never had to pay for it and don’t plan to do so any time soon.’
‘What explanation did your brother give for his friendship with such a highly unsuitable person?’ Salter asked, scowling at Clement as he swayed, struggling to remain on his feet.
‘I asked him about her, right enough. Good at being judgemental is our Michael, but he don’t like it when others judge him. He came over all defensive like, said it was nothing to do with me and that she was just an old acquaintance. But I knew he saw her several more times. I called at his rooms and could smell ’er in ’em. And after that, every time I asked about me working with him, he made excuses. Said it wasn’t the right time.’
‘Your father didn’t make any provision for you before he died?’
Clement blinked blearily. ‘Come again?’
Riley sighed, wishing the rain would ease up a little. He stood beneath the inn’s porch but a persistent stream of water still found his shoulders and the top of his hat. Salter broke in. ‘Your old man left you without a bean,’ he said. ‘He left it all to his older son.’
‘His only son,’ Clement said reluctantly, hands now thrust into pockets as he kicked sullenly at a loose stone. ‘I’m his step-son.’
‘You share the same surname,’ Salter pointed out. Riley’s sergeant stood in a position that left him directly exposed to the rain, but if he felt discomfited by it he gave no sign.
‘Me Ma took his name when she married ’im and changed mine too.’
‘How old were you?’ Riley asked.
‘Ten, or thereabouts. Michael was fifteen. We were chalk and cheese. Him educated, me barely able to write. But he took an interest in me, encouraged me to better meself. Which is why I thought he would keep his word about the business.’ Clement sniffed and wiped his nose on the back of his hand. ‘Just goes to show how easily a woman can turn a man’s head.’
‘Like your mother turned your step-father’s?’ Riley asked.
‘What the hell do you—’
‘Your mother was a whore,’ Salter said, easily warding off Clement’s aggressive move by prodding his chest, causing him to fall back against the wall. ‘Don’t suppose she could help what she had to do to survive, yet you seem very willing to judge others who find themselves in the same position. Makes you wonder, doesn’t it, inspector? I mean, Adelaide represents everything that our friend here most despises in women. His mother, herself a whore, ups and marries a man who treated him like his own and whose son encouraged him to better himself. He idolised that son, then found out he secretly associated with a woman in the same profession as his mother’s. Shattered all his illusions. No wonder he’s glad she’s dead. Makes you wonder if he knows how that came about.’
‘Indeed, it does, sergeant. My thoughts exactly.’
‘When did she die?’ Clement slurred, a drunken half-grin spreading across his face.
Salter told him and Clement’s smile widened. ‘Can’t have been me. I was playing cards until the early hours, right here in this godforsaken tavern, in the upstairs room. There were a dozen of us and we all left together. Some of us were having trouble seeing straight, much less walking. I was in no fit state to kill no one, not that night.’
Riley eventually let him go, unsurprised when the man staggered back into the tavern.
‘He hates prostitutes, and he was jealous of Adelaide for claiming his half-brother’s attention,’ Riley said as they hailed a hansom and he gratefully sank onto the worn seat. ‘He has a vicious temper and could easily have killed Adelaide. Even if he wasn’t in his cups, which he most likely was because it seems to be a near permanent state with him. But he doesn’t have the wits to plan such a complicated crime, much less carry it out.’
‘I agree, sir,’ Salter said, adjusting his damp headgear. ‘But his name remains on the list of suspects?’
‘Absolutely.’
‘Fair enough. What now?’
‘Back to the Yard. We shall see what the others have unearthed and I will give the superintendent my report, such as it is.’
‘What are your thoughts, guv? You usually have some idea who did the deed by this stage in an investigation and, blow me, half the time you’re right, even though there’s not always any evidence to support your theory.’
‘Theories aren’t much use without facts, Jack, you know that. At the moment I am as much in the dark as you are, but after we’ve spoken to Michael Clement we might know a little more. He’s the only person we know of who was in contact with Adelaide outside of Maiden Lane.’ Riley still had Celeste to speak with that evening, but he refrained from enlightening Salter in that regard. ‘This has to do with revenge. Either that or someone had a very good reason for silencing Adelaide that we don’t yet know anything about.’
‘Blackmail?’ Salter speculated. ‘She must have known a lot of sensitive information about her clients. Some men treat their doxies like they were in the confessional.’
‘And the girls have to remain as tight-lipped as a priest would or they’d find themselves out on the street. Quite literally. Discretion is everything at Mrs Sinclair’s end of the market.’
‘Aye, but it must be tempting to speak out sometimes.’
‘Adelaide was too clever to take a chance like that. She rose to the top of her profession and still remained a virgin, which says a lot for her intellect.’
Their conversation continued until they reached Scotland Yard, whereupon they were both taken up with their other duties. Riley wasn’t expecting his detectives to have unearthed any startling new information and so wasn’t as discouraged as they appeared to be by their lack of progress. He spent some time listening to their accounts, and in return updated the men beneath his command on the information that he and Salter had obtained.
‘I need you to keep a weather eye on Clement’s establishment in Dover Street and his rooms in Hay Lane,’ he told Carter and Soames. ‘The moment he returns to London, I need to know about it. His assistant promised to give him that message but I need to be sure that he receives it, and gives me his immediate attention.’
Riley gave his men their assignments for the following day and then clearly surprised Salter by telling him to go home.
‘It’s early yet,’ Salter said.
‘There’s nothing more to be achieved today, Jack. Go home and enjoy being with your family. I shall see the superintendent and then be off myself.’
‘Right you are then, sir.’ Salter gathered up his still damp hat. ‘I’d best be off before you have a change of heart. See you in the morning.’
‘That you will, Jack. Good night.’
Left alone, Riley took a moment to gather his thoughts. The investigation wasn’t proving nearly as straightforward as he had hoped it would be. When were they ever? The deeper he delved, the more people he discovered with reasons for wanting Adelaide out of the way. Unless…until he discovered the identity of the murderer, Danforth’s position would remain untenable, he reminded himself, leaning back in his chair and indulging in an expansive stretch. That ought to be cause for celebration. Riley had long been of the opinion that Danforth was not a natural leader and did little to enhance the reputation of the Detective Department. But to see him dismissed under such circumstances—circumstances that couldn’t be kept confidential indefinitely—would not sit well with Riley’s conscience. He might not respect the man but he didn’t deserve to become a laughing stock simply because he had what many would regard as unnatural desires he was unable to control.
With a sigh, Riley pushed himself to his feet and made his way to the superintendent’s office.
‘What’s your opinion?’ Thompson asked, having listened to Riley’s progress report. ‘Will we catch the blighter, do you suppose?’
‘I certainly hope so, sir, but those hopes currently hinge upon Clement. I shall be most interested to hear what he has to tell me. I’m thinking, you see, that he and Adelaide were somehow intending to undermine her family’s business. They had the expertise and, God alone knows, Adelaide had reasons aplenty for wanting revenge, especially against the uncle, but just as much against the aunt. She was the one who ran that household, even after Huxton’s marriage. Left to her own devices, Mrs Huxton would probably have believed Adelaide’s allegations. But the aunt persuaded her otherwise, resulting in Adelaide’s fall into prostitution and her mother’s early death.’
‘More than enough reason for a resentful woman to want revenge.’ Thompson nodded. ‘I agree with you there and can’t say as I blame her. Can’t see an old lady creeping into a brothel at the dead of night and committing the crime herself, but that doesn’t mean she didn’t arrange for it to be carried out. If the uncle told her he’d seen Adelaide and what she had become, that would be more than reason enough. Protect the family name, and all that.’
‘Quite so.’
‘Very well, Rochester, you’d best get on with it, but keep me informed.’
Riley inclined his head. ‘Naturally.’
‘Has Danforth tried to contact you?’
‘No, not as yet, but I expect he will.’
‘Well, he damned well shouldn’t.’ Thompson fiddled with his pen as he scowled at nothing in particular. ‘His best—indeed his only—hope of hanging on to his career is to keep a low profile and hope that the murderer is caught quickly, before the newspapers get their teeth into the story. If they do that…well, we both know that Danforth’s presence at that place will eventually come to light, and then there will be nothing I can do to protect him.’
‘The waiting will be wearing him down, I shouldn’t wonder.’ Thompson grunted his agreement. ‘In his position I would want to know what was going on, even if I couldn’t realistically expect to be kept fully informed.’
‘Naturally you will decline to tell him anything. I’m depending upon you to do the right thing, Rochester. Someone has to fill Danforth’s position if it’s taken away from him, and you are by far the best candidate. Don’t make any mistakes and put yourself out of the running.’
Riley assured his superior that he would not, thinking as he left his office that promotion would be bittersweet if the opportunity was created at the expense of Danforth’s stupidity.
He walked briskly through the detectives’ room, collected his coat and hat and set off in yet another cab for the south of the river. It was time to find out what Henry’s paramour had to say for herself.
Riley was surprised to discover that Celeste occupied the whole of a semi-detached house of faded elegance in a respectable street. He wondered if she had set up her own brothel, accounting for her need for such a large establishment.
There was nothing faded about the lady herself, he was soon to discover. In her early twenties, her sophistication implied that she had reached the pinnacle of her profession. The moment Riley was admitted to her salon by a uniformed maid, he noticed her naturally gracious movements even before he took in her quite exquisite beauty. She had a waterfall of dark hair, striking blue eyes and a fresh-faced innocence—a combination that he could easily imagine bringing out protective instincts and jealousies in the most selective of men. Men like his brother, married to a shrew of a woman who brought little joy into his life.
Celeste wore a respectable afternoon gown that clung to her svelte figure, showing it off without revealing an ounce of unnecessary flesh. Another surprise.
‘Lord Riley,’ she said, standing and offering him a slender hand. ‘Thank you for coming.’
Riley took her hand, unsurprised to discover that it was as cool as everything else about her. ‘Your message brought my brother to London in person. Naturally I was curious.’
‘Poor Henry.’ She shook her head, a tiny smile playing about her lips as she resumed her chair and waved Riley into its twin. ‘He never did understand the rules.’
‘Money doesn’t buy everything,’ Riley suggested, deciding to be blunt.
‘In his case, certainly not.’ She gave Riley an appraising look that implied the same rules might not necessarily apply to him. ‘May I offer you refreshment?’
‘Thank you, but no. I cannot stay for long.’
‘You are not at all what I expected,’ she said, canting her head and regarding him speculatively.
‘Whereas you exceed my expectations,’ he replied, because it was true. Celeste spoke with a refined accent that didn’t sound affected. Celeste, which was obviously not her given name, was well-born and accustomed to mixing in decent society.
‘I shall take that as a compliment.’
‘It was intended as one.’ Riley allowed a short pause. ‘You have information that might help my investigation into Adelaide’s death, I believe.’
The playful smile left Celeste’s lips and she looked genuinely upset. ‘A sober reminder of the travails of our profession, if any such reminder were necessary.’
‘Excuse me, but I imagine that both you and Adelaide could have made more permanent arrangements, if you so wished. Indeed, I know that’s true in your particular case and to secure the affections of a man in Henry’s position would be considered quite a coup.’
‘Some of us prefer to retain a modicum of independence, Lord Riley, even if we are never completely free to please ourselves. But then, who in this life is?’ She fixed Riley with a significant look, as though assuming that he pursued a career as a policeman through necessity. He decided not to correct her misconception. He was here to learn what she could tell him about Adelaide—not trespass onto personal territory. Territory that he seldom discussed with anyone and was certainly not prepared to talk about with his brother’s former courtesan. ‘I was partly responsible for training Adelaide, did you know that?’
Celeste’s melodious voice jolted Riley from his reverie. ‘No, I did not.’
‘I knew her slightly when we were young. Our family homes were close to one another, but that is all I am prepared to say about my own background, since it is not relevant.’ Riley inclined his head in silent agreement. ‘I always liked her, and hated the atmosphere she’d had to endure as a child, so when I left home and established myself, I wrote to her. We kept in touch that way. When she was forced from her home she came to London and looked to me for help. I was employed by Mrs Sinclair at the time and persuaded her to allow Adelaide in.’
‘Did she know what would be required of her?’
‘Not immediately. I assumed she would stay away for a while and then return home, but I underestimated her courage. She told me she wanted to be like me and asked me to teach her how to go about it. Mrs Sinclair could see her potential and agreed to take her on in training and…well, the rest is history.’ Celeste fell into momentary contemplation, her bright eyes staring at the fire. ‘We none of us spoke about our reasons for finishing up in such an establishment, at least not collectively, but I suspect we all had similar tales of exploitation to relate. Adelaide did open up to me and her story was typical, but far from breaking her, her experiences had made her stronger. She had an attitude about her that suggested she was a survivor, willing to exploit men’s weaknesses for her own profit and gain a modicum of revenge against the male sex whilst she went about it.’
‘Excuse me, but is that not what every woman in your profession does?’
Celeste offered him a patronising smile. ‘To some degree, but many of them are unable to disguise their distaste for what they have become. Adelaide, on the other hand, had a natural flair for flagellation, domination if you like, and I quickly spotted that gift.’
‘One that you share?’
She smiled and inclined her head. ‘It is a very lucrative accomplishment but not something one would succeed at unless it came naturally. To Adelaide it came very naturally. I pointed that out to Mrs Sinclair and she agreed that I should train Adelaide to assist me, or take my place when the time came for me to leave, which it inevitably would. The turnover in such establishments is rapid. Anyway, Adelaide learned quickly and excelled. I believe that she continued with that tradition and was herself training Ruby.’
Riley flexed a brow. ‘You are well informed.’
‘Adelaide and I had few secrets from one another.’
Riley shifted his position, watching Celeste closely. ‘I confess to being surprised that you both befriended and encouraged Adelaide. My experience with the girls currently employed by Mrs Sinclair is that they are highly competitive and not inclined to form lasting friendships.’
‘That’s true as a general rule. Mirabelle certainly felt threatened by Adelaide.’
‘Ah, but you didn’t need to worry about Adelaide eclipsing you.’ Riley nodded. ‘Now I understand.’
‘Celeste acknowledged the compliment with a gracious nod. ‘There was something about Adelaide that made me take to her from the outset. I will concede that’s unusual for ladies in our line of work, but there are exceptions to every rule.’ She blinked rapidly. ‘I shall miss her.’
‘You left Mrs Sinclair’s house and moved to Chichester, I assume.’
‘Yes. I grew tired of all the bickering that you yourself noticed amongst the girls, craved a change and so decided to try my luck alone.’
‘But you remained in touch with Adelaide?’
For the first time, Riley appeared to have surprised Celeste. ‘She kept my letters?’
‘We haven’t found them yet. I learned from another source that she received regular letters until a few months ago which is, I assume, when you returned to London. At which point you met with Adelaide in person rather than corresponding with her.’
Celeste tilted her head. ‘You are very perceptive.’
‘Did Adelaide tell you why she left her family and finished up selling herself?’
‘For the same reason as a lot of us do.’ Celeste lifted one elegant shoulder. ‘She was molested by her uncle, her family didn’t believe her and she wasn’t prepared to sit passively by and wait until he decided to rape her.’
‘You believed her story?’
‘Oh yes.’ She looked away. ‘It was so similar to my own circumstances that there could be no doubt. Except that I was cornered by my own father when he was in a drunken rage and didn’t escape quite so easily as Adelaide.’ She let out a slow breath. ‘I lost my virginity to my own father at the age of fourteen.’
Riley shook his head. ‘I am so very sorry. No wonder ladies in your position grow to despise men in general.’
‘I was made to believe it was my own fault, that I had brought it on myself and no one would take my word over my father’s if I said anything.’ She stared off into the distance and shrugged again. ‘That was probably true. That I wouldn’t be believed, I mean. So I decided my father wouldn’t have an opportunity to do the same thing to me again. My older sister had left home abruptly at an early age. She lives in London so I came to her and…well, progressed to what I do now. Except now it’s on my terms. Men can pay for my body but they will never own or control me. Adelaide felt the same way.’
‘Were you aware that she died a virgin?’
Celeste’s smile highlighted her delicate beauty, making Riley see why his brother was so enamoured with her. An evening in her company would make a man forget all his troubles, even if their liaison wasn’t sexual. She simply had that way about her. What she had just told him about her own circumstances also explained why she was unwilling to become Henry’s exclusive mistress. Tight as a tic with his money, if Henry purchased sole rights to her services he would most definitely want to control her.
‘Yes,’ she said. ‘We used to laugh about that. It was an ultimate means of control. A virgin holding sway over all those powerful men. We couldn’t help wondering how they would have reacted had they known the truth.’ Her smile abruptly faded. ‘Now we shall never find out.’
‘What did you and she talk about when you met?’
‘Oh, her revenge, of course. She survived by plotting her family’s downfall.’
Riley tried not to show how interested he was in that comment. ‘Did she indeed,’ he remarked casually.
‘She blamed her aunt as much as her uncle for allowing matters to run out of control. She described her aunt as a jealous old harridan who resented Adelaide and totally dominated her mother. Adelaide followed her family’s fortunes from afar and knew of her mother’s death. That was the final blow and everything she did from that point onwards was with single-minded determination to have her revenge.’
‘How?’
‘You will have to ask my husband that question,’ Celeste replied with a casual wave of one hand.
‘Your husband?’ Riley jerked upright. ‘Excuse me, but I was not aware that you were married.’
She dismissal Riley’s comment with a negligent shrug. ‘Is there any reason why you should have been?’
‘Well no, I suppose not, but I assumed—’
‘You assumed,’ she said, an edge to her voice, ‘that because I sell myself, no respectable man would want a permanent connection with me?’
‘Quite the reverse, I do assure you. My brother would walk over hot coals if you would agree to his terms.’
‘He is not asking me to marry him—and even if he was in a position to do so, I would not accept him. Henry has yet to learn that not everyone in this world is impressed by his elevated position within society, or would like to have any part of it.’ Celeste smiled. ‘I married a year ago, which is why I returned to London. It suits my husband and me not to advertise the fact that we are married, but it is no secret either.’
‘You no longer offer yourself to other men?’
‘Oh, I do occasionally, with my husband’s prior knowledge and approval. I am very skilled at what I do, Lord Riley, and charge accordingly. We need, or should I say needed, every penny that we could raise between us in order to help Adelaide gain her revenge.’
Riley shook his head. ‘I’m sorry, I don’t have the pleasure of understanding you. Why would you want to give everything you have to help Adelaide? I know she was your particular friend, but still…’
‘Oh, Michael and I are in it primarily for profit but if it also meant that Adelaide could even the score, then all to the good.’
‘Is your husband here?’
‘Not at the moment, but I am expecting him back later tonight or in the morning. He is in France at the moment.’
A teasing smile graced Celeste’s pretty lips, which was when the penny dropped.
‘You are married to Michael Clement,’ Riley said slowly.