Murder on the Prince Regent: An unputdownable historical murder mystery by Irina Shapiro

Author:Irina Shapiro [Shapiro, Irina]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Storm Publishing
Published: 2025-11-03T00:00:00+00:00

TWENTY

Despite Ransome’s offer of his carriage, it took Sebastian more than an hour to get back to Blackfriars, since a wagon had lost its wheel on the Strand just as the brougham turned into it, and it took a long while to right the conveyance and move it to the side of the road to let the traffic pass. Sebastian returned just in time for dinner, and a good thing it was too. He was starving. It had been hours since he’d eaten the thin vegetable soup, and his belly felt as hollow as if he hadn’t had anything since breakfast.

The dining room was awash with gaslight, there was a succulent aroma of beef, and the two people at the table were the only individuals Sebastian cared to be with on this dark night. Gemma seemed rested, but Colin looked preoccupied, his mind obviously still on his work.

“Do either of you have any objections to discussing the results of the postmortem over dinner?” Colin asked once Mabel had delivered the first course, which thankfully wasn’t more soup, and departed. Sebastian studied the tiny mounds of salmon mousse presented on slivers of toast and served with a slice of cucumber and a sprig of dill. He rarely got to enjoy such elegant fare, and made a mental note to compliment Mabel as soon as she returned.

“I’m very eager to hear what you have discovered,” Gemma said, and looked to Sebastian.

“It takes a lot to put me off my food,” he said, and popped a triangle of toast into his mouth, savoring the delicate flavor of the mousse.

Colin took a sip of water, then set down his glass. His mousse remained untouched. “Gemma correctly identified the cause of death as asphyxiation. There’s a petechial hemorrhage in the lungs, but there’s also another, more obvious sign of strangulation. In their frenzy, the killer applied a considerable amount of pressure.” Colin pointed to a spot beneath his chin. “The hyoid bone is just here, and it was crushed by the base of the cage. Judging by the victim’s facial expression and the residue beneath his fingernails, I’m almost certain he was conscious during the attack and tried to fight off his assailant but didn’t have enough purchase to get a good grip on their hands.”

Gemma winced, and Sebastian thought that she was imagining Anthony Blackstock’s final moments and the agony he must have experienced as his neck was crushed and the life was squeezed from his lungs. No one deserved such a frightening, brutal end, not even a man who had seemingly been fascinated with torture and collected objects that should have been displayed in a museum to warn future generations about the cruelty of man and what it could lead to when left unchecked.

“Would it require the strength of a man to crush the hyoid bone?” Gemma asked.

“I shouldn’t think so. If a woman put all her weight into pressing the pillow down on the victim’s face, the iron band would do the rest.

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