Page 21 of A Silent Curse

“Did she mention what she hoped to find?”

“I cannot say, Inspector. She only told me that she feared that Miss Collier had come to harm by way of one of her gentlemen friends. Apparently, she had several.”

“Did she mention the gentlemen by name?”

Miss Longfellow shook her head. “Not a single one. Almost as if she wished to keep Miss Collier’s secrets, or protect her privacy. She had only ever mentioned her as a lively and charming co-worker before that day.”

“Had Iris ever expressed a desire to leave the city or part from her family?” Electra asked.

“Not to me. I even teased that once I was employed and left school, we could get a flat together in the city, but she seemed reticent to leave the house on Eaton Square.”

“Anywhere you two daydreamed of visiting?” Gideon asked, wondering if perhaps this troublesome gentleman in Miss Delacourt’s life had caused her to want to escape London for a time.

Miss Longfellow pressed her lips together and bowed her head a moment, as if trying to recall. “Not that I remember, no. My goal was to find employment after my studies, and the only daydream Iris ever discussed was becoming known for her art.”

Gideon dipped his head to add the detail to his notebook.

“The idea of her up and leaving without telling anyone is…” Miss Longfellow murmured. “I don’t think it’s possible. She once told me she was wary of train travel after reading of a terrible derailing accident. She had no desire to leave London. Something must have happened to keep her from returning home.”

Gideon lifted his head and waited as Miss Longfellow sniffled and dried a tear that had escaped. He was on the verge of ending the interview, since it seemed the lady could give them nothing definitive about the man who’d been menacing Miss Delacourt, when Electra leaned forward as if to catch Miss Longfellow’s eye.

“Beyond offering to have your brother speak to the man bothering Iris, did you give her any other advice about how to handle the matter?”

The question caused Miss Longfellow’s cheeks to pinken. “I don’t have enormous experience with gentlemen, so I confess I did not know how best to advise her.” She paused, drew in a breath, and said, “The only advice I gave her, and I hope to God it didn’t cause anyone to harm her…” Her breathing began to speed again.

“What advice?” Gideon pressed as gently as he could manage.

“I told her to be honest.” When she lifted her tear-edged eyes, there was a bleakness in her expression that made Gideon’s own gut clench.

If Miss Delacourt had confronted this bothersome gentleman, what might he have done?

“Too often we try to tiptoe around what we truly want, truly feel, particularly ladies. We are taught to keep the peace, to be congenial, to be agreeable. But sometimes you are misconstrued,” Miss Longfellow rushed out, as if trying to defend herself.

“You did nothing wrong,” Electra assured her. “You were merely trying to help your friend.”

Miss Longfellow seemed to gather herself and sat up a bit straighter. “You might ask Violet,” she said. “She is the only other person I can imagine Iris sharing those details with, or perhaps even Bram Seaton.”

Chapter Six

Gunther’s Bank wasn’t far from Baker Street, only a handful of blocks away. And since it was a temperate day, with autumn sun peeking through clouds, Gideon and Electra decided to walk to the bank.

It reminded Electra a bit of the walks they’d taken years ago, often at twilight, when he’d tell her eagerly about his initial training in the police force. Now that they were spending more time in each other’s company, she thought they might resume their evening strolls. As yet, they hadn’t.

But today was no leisurely stroll. They matched each other’s quick, determined stride, both of them aware of the need to find any clue that might lead them to Iris Delacourt.

The young woman’s father’s hope that they might find her before the family spent yet another evening without her weighed on Electra’s mind.

“Why do you think Miss Longfellow didn’t tell Roger Delacourt about the man who was troubling Iris?” Gideon asked.

Electra wondered the same. “Maybe she was trying to protect Iris’s privacy, especially since Iris seemed so reticent to tell her any details.” She sensed the young lady’s worry for Iris and also a sense of guilt, perhaps for not divulging the details to Roger Delacourt. “Perhaps she thought Iris would return and did not wish to have broken her trust.”

Gideon looked her way, not bothering to hide how dubious he seemed to feel about that possibility. “And yet she could not imagine Iris leaving on her own. Insisted she had never even expressed a desire to leave London.”

“That did strike me as odd,” Electra admitted. In the Delacourt library, there had been books on various countries, accounts of travel. As someone of an artistic bent, had Iris truly never imagined traveling?

“What she said about the bothersome man did sound a great deal like Violet’s description of Abraham Seaton,” Gideon said.

“It did.”