The Mudlark Murders: A Victorian Historical Murder Mystery (The Field & Greystone Series Book 2) by Williams Lana

Author:Williams, Lana
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lana Williams Books
Published: 2024-11-26T00:00:00+00:00

Twenty-One

Amelia stared out the window of her laboratory, debating the wisdom of venturing to Blackfriars again. The gloomy afternoon matched her mood. Restlessness had caused her to seek solitude in her lab that afternoon rather than politely keeping her aunt company in the drawing room.

She’d intended to continue her experiments on mushrooms but couldn’t focus. In truth, she wasn’t certain what she was looking for. Experiments were more meaningful when a hypothesis was set forth to examine. Merely studying the advantages and disadvantages of various fungi felt pointless when there were so many poisonous types.

There was fly agaric, which looked like something out of a fairytale with its bright red top. The deadly dapperling commonly found in Europe was often mistaken for an edible mushroom. Destroying angels or fool’s mushrooms were similar in that they also resembled an edible variety. There were also death caps, autumn skullcaps, and ink caps, the latter of which was only fatal when combined with alcohol…

What she’d learned thus far hadn’t proved to be particularly helpful or answered the question of why someone would give any of those to a child. She was beginning to fear the subject was too immense for her skills. If only she’d asked Mrs. Drake for advice after listening to her lecture.

If she were to venture to the mudflats again, what purpose would it serve? Amelia assumed Henry had spoken with the dredger, though if he hadn’t the time, she would offer to do so. He already had so many pressing cases to investigate, and…and unsolved ones.

Yet Captain Booth had advised against speaking with Watson. And she couldn’t forget Henry’s warnings about how dangerous the area could be. She didn’t want to worry him, only help. She felt certain if he had learned anything of interest, he would’ve called on her.

Movement on the street below caught her notice, and she leaned closer to the window to see a familiar figure striding along the pavement toward her house.

Henry.

A mix of relief and excitement filled her. He must have news to share, or he wouldn’t call during working hours. Perhaps he’d learned something from the dredger.

Yet the thought of attempting to have a meaningful conversation with her aunt present dampened her anticipation. Aunt Margaret still didn’t know about the mudlark death, let alone Amelia’s involvement in the investigation.

While she was a grown woman with a life of her own, she wasn’t anxious to share the details of the case with her aunt—or field her presumably numerous questions and concerns.

Her aunt hadn’t been her usual self during the visit thus far, but Amelia had yet to determine the nature of the problem. Since she had a few secrets of her own at the moment, she hadn’t pried. Hopefully, her aunt would soon share what was bothering her.

For now, Amelia was anxious to hear what Henry had to say. It would be best if she asked Fernsby to show Henry up here so they could speak in private.

Impatient, she walked to the door and opened it, moving to the top of the stairs to listen.

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