The Agent's Demon by L E Medlock

Author:L E Medlock [L. E. Medlock]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Stone Soul Publishing
Published: 2023-09-20T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter twenty-nine

“Another murder?”

“Aye, miss. I was passing near the Tower and I ’eard the local police give up the cry. Miss Bhatt said you and Rayne’d be here and told me to come sharpish and tell you.”

My stomach clenches into a hard knot. “Please send for Agent Rayne,” I tell the butler. “Have him come here at once.” The butler bows and leaves. “Where did it happen, Doyle?”

“The International Workers’ Club, miss. Up by Berner Street.”

“I know it. Thank you.”

“Do you want me to take you there, miss?” He pales as he says it. I shake my head.

“Go back to the agency; wait for Monaghan. We’ll find out what we can and join you there.”

“Aye. Be careful, miss.” He disappears into the gloom of the street and I yank on my gloves.

“Berner Street,” Steel asks, donning his cloak. “Is that in Whitechapel?”

“On the district border.” My hands are shaking. I still them by clenching my fingers together. Come on, Rayne. “If we get there in time, do you think you can track the killer?”

“If the trail isn’t too obscured, yes.”

Rayne materialises, finally. “What is it? I was in the middle of—”

“Doyle found us,” I cut in. “There’s been another murder. We need to go.”

To his credit, Rayne does not ask questions, just grabs his cloak and gestures at me to lead the way.

It’s almost two in the morning, and the city is quiet, but as our coach approaches Spitalfields the chatter grows. Berner Street, when we reach it, is clustered with people.

I jump out of the coach before the driver stops and stride over to the crescent line of police holding back the crowd. The place is lit with flickering gas lamps and faint mist curls over the air. I pull my cloak tighter around me. A body lies behind the officers, on the path heading into the yard.

“Officer!” I call to the nearest policeman. “What happened?”

The man glances at me, takes in my cloak and the green silk peeping out underneath. “Move along, miss. The street ain’t a circus.”

“We need to see the officer in charge,” Rayne commands and flashes his identification. “I’m a government agent.”

“You could be the Queen herself and you wouldn’t be getting any closer. Move on, now.” He pushes us back, his truncheon barring us from getting any nearer.

“These are City district police,” I tell Rayne, taking note of their uniform. Berner Street lies on the other side of the district’s border from Whitechapel. “They’re not going to let us in.”

Rayne mutters a curse. “If we can’t get closer to the body, how can we find the killer?”

I turn to Steel. “What do you think?” I ask, keeping my voice low. “Can you sense anything from here?”

The demon gazes past the police at the heap of cloth and blood that’s all we can see of the victim. “There is something,” he says. “I’m not sure what class it is. But there’s something.”

“What are you waiting for, then?” Rayne asks. “Where is it?”

Steel glares at him and I touch his arm, draw his attention to me.

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