The Potent Perfume (The Lady Mortician's Visions series) by Helen Goltz

Author:Helen Goltz [Goltz, Helen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Atlas Productions
Published: 2024-08-13T00:00:00+00:00

With three train journey times to choose from daily, the men chose the 4pm train to Ipswich, arriving at 5:15pm. Ipswich’s North Star Hotel provided a welcome meal and comfortable overnight accommodation.

Early the next morning, after breakfast, the gentlemen paid the hotel bill, leaving their luggage to be collected before the noon train, and took their seats in the two-horse, four-person carriage Bennet had organised. Miss Ward lived on a large rural estate on the outskirts of Ipswich, and the journey would take twenty minutes or so.

‘The hotel was an excellent choice for the night. Thank you, Bennet,’ Harland said as the horses started. He observed the scenery in all its morning crispness, enjoying the cool temperature before the day warmed up.

‘I had it on authority it was the place to stay,’ Bennet said. ‘My clerk, Daniel, is very good at managing an itinerary. We are staying at the Globe Hotel in Toowoomba tonight; first-class rooms, hot water baths, and a porter will meet us at the station.’

Harland smiled. ‘Perhaps lower your expectations a little. A first-class venue in Australia may not be as grand as the name suggests in Britain. We are heading to the bush after all.’

Bennet chuckled. ‘Then I won’t expect all the royal trappings.’

‘I have a friend in Toowoomba, Sir, and they would not like to be considered the bush,’ Gilbert said. ‘They are the gateway to the bush and became a town in 1858, a municipality in 1860. His uncle is the mayor and very well off, I am led to believe.’

‘I stand corrected; thank you,’ Gilbert,’ Harland said, restraining a smile.

‘My pleasure, Sir. Also, I hope I haven’t overstepped, but I took the liberty of sending a telegram to Miss Yalden last evening,’ Gilbert said, referring to the lady who held his heart. ‘I asked if she might speak with Miss Kirby to find out if Harry Beaumont and Teddy Tate paid for the portrait using a business name or address.’

‘Excellent thinking, Gilbert,’ Harland said. ‘If we know of their established business, it will be hard for Harry Beaumont to deny it.’

‘My thoughts exactly, Sir. Hopefully, a telegram will be waiting for us at the Globe Hotel when we arrive this evening,’ Gilbert said.

‘Good work, Detective,’ Harland said.

After a short while, Harland sighed and looked at Bennet. ‘I can’t imagine how you bore the trip here from England, all those days at sea. Several days travel is enough for me.’

‘It had its challenges, but it also had its charm as all travel does,’ Bennet said. ‘Like last evening, that steam train trip was quite an adventure. How fast it is compared to the trusty horse and cart.’

‘Thank goodness,’ Harland said.

‘Can we speak of the case?’ Bennet asked but started to do so without waiting for consent. ‘I wonder how the symptoms might vary for blood poisoning and chloroform poisoning.’

‘I did not have time to source that information, having just been told of the presence of chloroform before we departed,’ Harland admitted. ‘Do you know, Gilbert?’

‘Yes, Sir.

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