Murder on Fleet Street by Strauss Lee

Author:Strauss, Lee [Strauss, Lee]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Mystery, Historical, Crime
ISBN: 9781774090749
Goodreads: 50606538
Publisher: La Plume Press
Published: 2019-01-01T08:00:00+00:00

Encountering Felicia in the corridor, Ginger greeted her with a careful, “Good morning.”

“I know, I slept in,” Felicia said, her face newly painted and her eyes bright, “but I’m ready to go whenever you are.” It seemed their harsh words the evening before were forgotten. Felicia’s inability to hold a grudge was one of the many things Ginger loved about her.

“I’m going to work from home this morning,” Ginger said. “You don’t mind taking a taxicab to the office?”

“Oh,” Felicia replied airily, “if I must. I’m nearing the end of my book, so I’m quite excited to get working on it. I think I dreamt of the answer to my story dilemma. I’ll just have a bite to eat and be off.”

“Don’t forget to follow up on our last client.”

“I expect news of his lost cousin to come in the post this afternoon.”

“Perfect.” Ginger held Felicia’s gaze. “And be vigilant. There was news of a bombing this morning.”

Felicia’s mouth dropped open.

“A small explosion, no injuries. Just be careful.”

“I shall.”

Ginger returned to her study and tackled the post piled on her desk. She reviewed the fashion catalogues and magazines coming from Paris, particularly enjoying the French language ones as it kept the language sharp in her mind. It reminded her of Captain Smithwick’s request, his bold solicitation. Outlandish, and yet much in line with how the secret service worked.

However, there must be someone else up to the task.

Ginger telephoned her shop manager, Madame Roux, who assured her that business was brisk and under control. New bolts of fabric were due to arrive in the next day or so, and Madame Roux promised to ring her the minute they did.

The door pushed open, and when she didn’t see the face of Pippins or Lizzie or any other human, Ginger’s gaze dropped lower to the ground.

“Hello, Bossy. Are Mr. Fulton’s lessons boring you?”

Boss trotted to Ginger, his nails tip-tapping on the wooden floors, and she reached down to pat him on the head.

“You’ve come to help me make up my mind, haven’t you? I know, I can’t be an ostrich about it, can I? If it’s bad news, it’s bad news whether I understand the message or not.”

Boss cocked his head, nudged her calf with his wet nose as if to say “Get on with it”. He then found his bed near the fireplace, though, with the few coals in the grate growing black, there wasn’t exactly a lot of heat emanating from it.

The note was in her skirt pocket. After a deep sigh, she removed the folded scrap of paper.

Code.

A shiver slid down her spine.

EcQllqZdQor1

It was a literary Pandora’s Box. Open at one’s peril.

Ginger trembled and folded her arms as if to ward off a chill, but her physical response had nothing to do with the temperature of the room.

“We’ve done this once before, Bossy, remember? Shall we try the same trick?”

Ginger placed her fingers on the home row of her Underwood typewriter, then let her fingers drop one row. She typed out the coded message as if her index fingers were still on F and J.

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