All That Glitters: A Maggie Power Adventure (Maggie Power #2) *Unedited version*

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

He had been fidgeting and slipping his hand inside his great coat pocket for most of our journey to Euston. There was something Blake wished to ask me, but I thought he may well have convinced himself that my earlier upset was too great, and the subject he wished to broach would have to wait.

If his distracted hands were not dipping in and out of his great coat pocket, they were playing and fiddling with the eagle upon the top of William Templeton-Wells' newly found cane, which he carried with him.

"We have also uncovered this," said Blake hesitantly, as we alighted the omnibus at the magnificent Euston Arch. "I'd almost forgotten to give it to you earlier, with all that's gone on this morning."

He handed me a letter.

"Remember we spoke of Miss Emma Strum, the Templeton-Wells' family governess?"

"Indeed," I replied, trying my best to hide my earlier fascination with the ex-governess.

"This was sent not long after she had been dismissed from Templeton-Wells' household. His wife found it while searching through his private papers."

"Why give it to me?" I asked.

"The contents appears to be pretty ordinary; nothing unusual or incriminating. I think if you could read it over, give it a quick perusal with those insightful feminine eyes, you may very well see things that my men and myself might have overlooked. It could contain some female subtlety that escapes us. Take your time. Take it home and have a good read if you wish."

I placed the letter in my pocket.

Blake continued talking, telling me the bland details contained within letter. That Miss Emma Strum had been applying for a position in Broadstairs, with a well-regarded family in the town, and wished for a reference from the Templeton-Wells family to aid her chances of fresh employment.

When he was finished on Miss Strum, we continued walking in near silence, as we followed the New Road westward until it became Marylebone Road – the same route taken six days ago by the missing banker. It was a pleasant afternoon, but Blake was pessimistic about finding anything new on his journey.

"You know these streets as well as any man in the force," he said. "And, sometimes, it is the most obvious things which we overlook. I have been up and down this route these past few days. And can see nothing new for looking."

I always believed Blake overestimated my knowledge of the streets. True, those days when I had to beg and forage for an existence – scavenging up and down the riverside, living day-to-day by my wits and instincts alone – had indeed toughened me up. It left me with an inclination for how streets were, or with a grave feeling for when something seemed amiss. However, when Blake gave my father the choice of leaving me behind in London – with food, warmth, shelter and clothing – or taking me back to an uncertain future in the north, I was relieved when Father agreed to leave me under the Emily's guardianship.

"It's probably far too late to find anything new now. I believe the best form of detection is about preventing something as awful as this occurring in the first place. In plain-clothes I can infiltrate the criminals and befriend those who have criminal contacts. I can anticipate and act accordingly. Yet this case was most unpredictable. No threatening letters beforehand, nor a single hint of what was about to occur."

After the shock of the news earlier that morning, I felt strangely relieved to be out of the house. Although, as we walked, I still carried the nagging thought that Whitmore was out here, too: free and walking these self-same streets. But Blake's presence reassured me that I was out of harm's way, at least for the moment.