No Effect
Polly stood with Elizabeth Allan near the Chelsea embankment. The former checked her silver pocket watch, a gift from her employer, for the fifth time. Henry was nowhere to be seen.
"Did the scientist say a time to expect him?" Elizabeth asked. She was anxious but did not want to appear pushy.
Polly sighed, "This, unfortunately, is how Henry works." She tucked the watch into the pocket of her skirts. "His second telegram told me to bring you straight here."
"I don't like this place," Elizabeth shuddered. "I want my husband back."
Polly put a comforting hand on her shoulder, "If this spectre has anything to do with his disappearance, Henry will find him."
"How did you get into this line of work? If you don't mind me asking," Elizabeth asked curiously.
Polly thought of her father and the event that changed her life forever, "The day I met Dr Neville was quite an adventure. I have stood by him ever since."
"He seems quite eccentric," Elizabeth replied.
Polly smiled, "Very."
Elizabeth laughed in return. They found themselves casually strolling along the embankment towards the location of the spirit.
"Are you sure this is the place? I would have expected more of a police presence," asked Polly as she scanned the area, surprised to not see anyone patrolling.
"Over there by the water is where it happened. Where I last saw my..." Elizabeth trailed into thought.
Polly then had no doubt they were in the correct location. After walking a little further, they saw two uniformed officers.
"Ev'ning ma'ams. Please keep moving, this area is currently restricted," said the older officer. A tall man with a proud moustache.
"What's going on?" Polly asked ignorantly.
"You'll have to read the paper in the morning like every other good civilised person in London," Moustache spoke again.
Elizabeth stepped forward, "Please, officer."
"Sergeant," the tall man coughed.
"Excuse me, Sergeant. My husband was here last night. He's missing, we are here to find him. Please help us."
"I'm sorry, miss. We are dealing with something more severe than a missing persons case. You need to file a report at the station."
"Sergeant, we know you are dealing with a murder case. It was in this morning's paper. We would like to prove it is not our man and give Mrs Allan here much needed peace of mind," Polly said firmly.
"Listen, miss. We cannot help you. Once the victim has been identified we will notify their immediate family, as procedure."
Polly was becoming irritated by Sergeant Moustache, "So, you have not identified the man?"
"It's ongoing, miss."
"What about the murderer? And the rumours they are not human?"
"Ongoing investigation. It's always human, that's why it's called murder. Do you understand?" The sergeant spoke rudely.
Elizabeth pulled Polly's arm, "Let's go. We should wait for the scientist."
"Yes, please move along. This is not a safe place for women."
Polly stared at the officer angrily, "What do you mean by that, Sergeant?"
The sergeant smiled, "There's still a murderer on the loose," he said with a wink.
"You are a brute, Sergeant," Polly said abruptly before nudging Elizabeth and marching off.
"Now what?" Elizabeth asked as she caught up.
Polly sighed, not for the first time, "Now we wait for the bloody scientist."
A faint blue glow in the distance caught Elizabeth's eye, "I hope he won't keep us long. I fear we have ill company approaching."
"What do you mean?" Replied Polly as she followed Elizabeth's gaze to the blue glow. "Bother," she hissed.
The glow of the spectre grew more prominent as it gradually moved closer towards them. If it had seen them, it did not show it. His face was expressionless as it hovered a foot above the ground.
"What is it doing?" Elizabeth asked nervously.
"I have no idea," Polly replied. "Why is he even still here."
The floating spectre was within a hundred feet before it spotted them in the incoming twilight. "Mrs Allan," he grinned. "You've brought fresh blood. A blackamoor, no less."
"Rude and racist," replied Polly.
"The least of your concerns, moor," the spectre hissed.
"Where is my husband?" Elizabeth begged. "Where is Richard?"
"Mr Allan, was an annoying wretch. Turns out he did not like swimming," he laughed.
"You are a horrible, foul-mouthed gruff," said Polly. The ghoul smiled at the compliment. Polly smiled in response but not for his benefit. She caught a glimmer of reflective light hitting a small lens behind the spectre. She knew of only one who wore such elaborate goggles that could be spotted in the dark.
Elizabeth also saw the scientist walking up behind the ghoul. She saw he was holding a stick which she took for a walking cane until she saw the end of it spark.
"Better late than never," Polly whispered to Elizabeth. Damn you, Henry, she thought to herself.
The spectre noticed the women were looking at something beyond him and turned to see an odd looking man wearing bizarre attire and strange trinkets. "Who are you?" He growled and moved toward the scientist.
"Call me, Doctor. Sorry I'm late, ladies. Been an eventful day," Henry explained and raised his rod, swinging hard at the ghost. Bright sparks shot everywhere and the living three had to briefly cover their eyes.
There was a cackle and when the sparks were gone they all looked on in shock. The spectre was holding firmly onto the rod. It had no effect on him at all, "Lovely light show, Doctor," he cackled again.
The scientist looked surprised, "Well, that was unexpected."
Polly gasped, "What now, Henry?"
Henry stumbled backwards a step. He grasped the rod with both hands and pulled, trying to loosen the ghoul's grip.
"Isn't that supposed to stop him?" Elizabeth asked.
"That was the idea," Henry said as calmly as possible through gritted teeth. "No matter, we will not lose control of the situation," he was still battling the grip of the spectre.
"Something tells me you talk too much," the spectre growled.
"It has been mentioned on occasion," replied Henry. He swung a leg out to kick the spirit but his shoe passed through his body like vapour. Worth a try, He thought.
"Keep your toy, Doctor," the spectre growled and released the rod causing Henry to fall backwards. "You are of no use to me," he began to slowly hover away.
"You cannot leave now, sir. Not until you tell us what happened to Mr Allan," Henry spoke with authority.
"Piss off," the ghoul hissed.
"That was rude," Henry said turning to the two women.
While the ghoul's back was turned, Henry saw another opportunity to use his rod. He sparked it up and swung hard at the spectre's back. Electricity cracked and sparks flew. When the light cleared the spectre was still there. He glared at Henry, "Chancer, aye?"
Henry shrugged his shoulders. "An opportunist."
"Don't antagonise him, Henry," said Polly.
"I know what I'm doing," Henry replied confidently.
"That's what I'm afraid of," Polly replied with little confidence.
The spectre raised his arm towards Henry and an invisible force pushed him backwards, forcing him to the ground, "You don't want to end up like the other man," he growled.
Polly and Elizabeth helped the scientist back to his feet, "We need to rethink our tactics," his assistant said. They all stood watching the spectre.
"This is fascinating," Henry spoke. "This apparition is completely immune to the electromagnetic field of my tech."
"You can write a book on it later. First, how do we get out of here?" Polly said with frustration.
"Perhaps we need a new approach," Elizabeth inputed.
"I have an idea," Henry approached the spectre again. "If you please, sir. Did you murder Mr Allan?"
"I should have. He did not know when to shut up either," The ghost replied.
"So he's alive?" Elizabeth asked.
"I did not say that," he replied.
"You didn't murder anyone last night?" Henry asked.
"I did not say that either," he replied.
"Where is my husband?" Elizabeth screamed.
The spectre let out a loud menacing cackle for a response. He disappeared out of sight, the cackle lingered in the air like an echo for several seconds after.
"Well," said Henry taking a deep breath. "That was interesting. The good news is I believe the murder case is not our Mr Richard Allan."
"Where is he then?" Elizabeth pleaded.
"That is the question," replied Henry. "That and where has our companion got to? Polly! To the lab!"
"We have a lab?"
"Work in progress, Miss Alexander. To Hugon."
The trio walked towards the road and took the next available carriage to Hugon Road. Upon entering the house, Henry immediately ran to his office to check the batteries on his equipment. He fumbled through some papers scattered across his desk and almost threw himself down the stairs to join the women in the front room.
"I don't have an answer yet," he exclaimed as he entered the room.
"We're no closer to finding anything out about the spectre or the whereabouts of Mr Allan," said Polly.
Unsure of what to do, Elizabeth stood up and offered to make everyone tea, leaving for the kitchen. Henry spread his papers across the table and began studying them.
"What are you looking for, Henry?"
"I started building a prototype stick. More powerful than my current rod. It may be enough to send our friend to the forever beyond. I just could not get it finished and working the way it should. The answer is here in these pages, I'm sure of it."
"Can I help you look? What is it you are searching for?" Polly asked.
"A currency, a formula. I'm unsure," Henry scanned the room. "I need to increase the-" His eyes fell on the far wall and a map of London. "What's this?" He asked.
Polly looked pleased with herself, "This is your first telegram. This map is of west London, from Slough to Westminster. The pins indicate where most of our cases are reaching us from. As you can see, there are areas like Westminster, Hammersmith, Brentford and Hanwell where the numbers are much higher than other districts."
"Fascinating," replied Henry. "And Richmond Park? Lady Donovan's?"
Polly pointed to a lone pin. "Just the one. Whatever happened there was just coming into fruition while you were there to intervene.
"Remarkable," Henry stroked the strings joining each of the major activity landmarks. He studied each one and then the next. "We certainly have our work cut out as soon as we clear up the Thames and find Mr Allan."
"Indeed," Polly replied.
"Tea's ready," Called Elizabeth re-entering the room. She placed the tray of mugs and a boiled pot down on the table near Henry's papers.
"Thank you, Mrs Allan," Henry and Polly said together.
"What is our next move, Mr Neville?" Asked Elizabeth thoughtfully.
"We rescue your dear husband, Mrs Allan, of course," said Henry ecstatically. He poured himself a cup of tea and began flicking through the papers again.
"It's late, Doctor. Perhaps we should pick this up again in the morning," Polly stated as she held her pocket watch.
"We can't leave Richard out there alone another night!" Elizabeth pleaded.
Henry watched Polly close her watch and move to pocket it. "That's it," he shouted excitedly. "I need silver, lots of silver."
"What in heaven for?" Polly asked. She grasped the watch tightly.
"It makes a great conductor. Better than my current mixture of copper and aluminium. My next baton will be able to create enough electricity to smite the most stubborn of entities, including our guest by the Thames. Do not fear, Mrs Allan. Tomorrow, we will get your husband back to you." Holding his rod, Henry left the women and marched straight up the stairs to his office to work on his new silver baton.
Polly knew that would be the last of it that night. She pulled out some blankets and pillows and put together a couple of makeshift beds for Elizabeth and herself. Tomorrow was going to be the day to solve this problem once and for all.
***