A Thousand and One English Nights (Book Three of The Powder Trail)

Chapter Fifty Eight: Anna Kitty Killyou

Jack was in the hall of the Athenaeum that evening. He had been told there was a very costly and magnificent frieze running round the outside of the building – a never-ending procession of men in togas carrying urns, which was incidentally how Jack viewed the whole of Ancient Greek civilization. He hadn't seen it, just as he hadn't even glanced at the smart new morning coat, dress shirt, and Ascot tie he was wearing. Every inch of him was concentrating on the complicated matter of not killing anyone yet. He had no energy to spare for little details.

Brandt had dressed him this morning, while whispering not very hopeful words of caution.

"Remember, the safety of the girls depends upon you inflicting as little damage as possible. Don't hit the servants in livery. Those belong to the club. Lord Elsmere has his own men. They'll be the ones wearing bowler hats, with a pin bearing his crest on their neck-ties. Now be careful. Other members have their own men too. Don't hit anyone who isn't wearing his crest, and don't even hit them when there are other servants around to see it. Oh, and needless to say, don't kill any of them. Asking the club to gloss over one murder is quite enough. The more damage you do, the more tempted they'll be to call in the authorities. For the same reason, keep breakages to a minimum. Most of the club's members would be more upset about a broken statue than a murdered Lord – especially if it's a genuine antiquity – so don't tempt them."

Don't tempt them, Jack thought wearily. When had anybody ever worried about tempting him? When had anybody ever prayed his patience?

He signed the visitor's book, and stood painstakingly still while someone was sent for to collect him. Now there was nothing else to do, he forced himself to pay attention to his surroundings, if only to memorize the route to the Lord Elsmere. 

Classical statues stood in niches and on pedestals, some of them missing limbs, either because they were damaged originals or because the club's proprietors thought that was how Greek statues were supposed to look. Brandt had said that everything here was modelled on the Parthenon – that great symbol of civilization – and it gave Jack a happy tingle in the pit of his stomach to think how uncivilized his night's business was.

A man in a bowler hat, his neck-tie bearing the double-headed eagle crest that Jack had been memorizing all day, came down the marble staircase. This was a special torture for Jack, because it was one of the people he was allowed to hit, but it was too soon to hit him. Still, at least Lord Elsmere hadn't come to collect him personally. Jack was fairly sure he'd forget all words of caution – perhaps even his own name – when he finally beheld that man's face. So, to keep his itching fists under control, he tried to remember what else Brandt had said when he'd been dressing him that evening.

"Fortunately, Lord Elsmere won't meet you in a public area. He thinks Charlotte Grey has spies everywhere, so he generally keeps to his rooms above-stairs. In fact, he's not very well-liked among his fellow members, which is another reason why, if you restrict the damage to Lord Elsmere and his men, they might let the matter go."

Jack had tried to catch hold of all this. But it was like trying to keep an impression in wet sand – angry, angry wet sand. Lord Elsmere had stood and watched while the gargoyles tortured Ellini. He had told them what to do, urged them on when they got tired. He had probably been trembling with sick excitement the whole time.

The bowler-hatted man said "Jack Cade." It didn't seem to be a question, so Jack didn't dignify it with an answer.

"You will follow me please," said the man. He didn't introduce himself. He was nameless and conversationless as he led Jack up the marble staircase, past a statue of Apollo, through the kind of library that would have given Ellini a spontaneous orgasm, and then into a warren of rooms with velvet drapes and leather-upholstered chairs.