A Willful Grievance: A Lillie Mead Historical Mystery (The Lillie Mead Historical Mystery Series Book 2) by Lisa Zumpano

Author:Lisa Zumpano [Zumpano, Lisa]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781999104320
Publisher: Fielding House Press
Published: 2019-05-27T06:00:00+00:00

31

Superintendent Petters

Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire

A thick fog had rolled in with the departure of the afternoon light and what little Superintendent Felix Petters could see of the road from behind his windshield was now wet and slippery. He leaned out of his driver’s side window, thinking his lack of sight must be partially because of the car’s dirty glass. It wasn’t, and the biting cold made his eyes water and his cheeks burn. He ducked his head back into the car and dried his eyes with his handkerchief, fighting back the suffocating feeling of claustrophobia which he always got when there was fog.

The orphanage wasn’t far from the police station, but the poor visibility had caused their journey to take nearly double the time as they finally pulled up in front of the building near a long, low, crumbling stone wall. A small lantern glowed by the front door, lighting the path with the bare minimum of illumination. Petters wondered if he shouldn’t walk the boy inside to explain his tardiness for dinner. He smiled to himself. Jeremiah wouldn’t have to have many more dinners in this dismal building. Once the adoption papers were approved, the two of them could dine wherever and for however long they pleased.

Something fluttered just outside his line of vision as he halted the car. Jeremiah had his hand on the handle of the door and Petters wordlessly held up a hand. The car’s headlights shone into the fog, giving it the illusion of being thicker than it actually was. Unmistakably, Petters saw the flash of an emerald green coat he had seen before and he realized he was still being followed by a woman not astute enough to realize that a tail needs to change clothes in order to not be detected. Why would London send such an amateur? Was it Basil Wilkinson who had hired her? Or that perfectly dressed gentleman who disliked gruesome crime scene photos?

“Stay here a minute, would you?” Petters was out of the car in a shot and moving quickly towards the spot along the wall where he had last seen the coat. She was gone, as was expected, but he made a quick jog of the block anyway to see if he could catch up with her. A clear night would have make the task easier, he thought, as he hurried back to the car with the sound of his shoes on the pavers echoing against the mist.

“What was that all about?” Jeremiah looked at him, perplexed, still sitting in his seat.

“Nothing. I thought I saw someone I, uh, knew. Must have been mistaken.”

The boy stared out over the dash. “Or not telling the truth.”

He was too astute, this kid.

“I better get going, the nuns don’t like late arrivals for dinner…usually means the strap,” the boy said, pushing his door open and getting out with some reluctance.

Petters winced at the thought. “Right—I’ll walk you in, shall I?”

Jeremiah put his head back into the car. “Or perhaps I could come to Tynesmore with you tonight?” He raised his two perfect little brown eyebrows.

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