Page 6 of Secrets in the Dark
“My fault—I ran into her,” Della explained quickly.
“And he’s a cop—a copper here, right? Or a bobby?” Shelly asked, looking at Edmund.
He smiled and said dramatically, “They call me Mr. Detective—Detective Inspector Edmund Taylor. And, of course, ladies, we’re all at your service.”
“What happened to lover boy?” one of her friends asked.
“That’s Ginger. Ginger Cannon and my other friend here is Tess Garcia,” Shelly said in way of introduction. “Oh! And you must see this lady’s badge! She’s Special Agent Della Hamilton, FBI.”
“In England?” Tess said.
“Attached to a case,” Della said briefly.
“Vampire King!” the pretty bartender, who had gone silent in the middle of her story when they’d arrived, spoke up.
“He’s been caught, right? The news went on and on about him. Well, of course. Creepy and scary as hell. So, what about lover boy?” Tess persisted.
“Gone. And I’m starting to like myself in good British ale. You can get me another,” Shelly said.
“Well, I think I could do that. Nice to have met you all and please, enjoy London, but take care,” Edmund said.
“Whoa!”
They were all startled when the pretty bartender, who had turned to the television just as a soccer match was interrupted by a newscaster cutting in with “breaking news.”
Every London paper had received a letter—claiming that Jack the Ripper was back in the city.
They all paused to listen.
“Naturally, the police were informed immediately and many believe this to be a hoax, but just an hour ago the station received an anonymous letter, a single type-written page, mailed to the station from nearby warning, Jack is Back. We don’t know how serious this threat to be, but with recent murders in and around our great country, we felt that it was only right that our populace and our tourists be warned immediately.”
She went on speaking, describing the recent capture of Stephan Dante and warning that everyone, especially young women, needed to be careful.
Watching the screen, Edmund shook his head. “Jack is back. Great.” He seemed to forget Shelly McNamara and her friends. “Of course—”
“It could be a hoax,” Della said. “And I’m sure that it’s with the police and a forensic crew by now, and maybe they’ll find out that it is a hoax, or, at the very least, discover something about whoever sent it.”
“A hoax by an idiot, or a warning from a protégé!” Edmund said. He realized that the three girls at the bar were watching him, but he no longer seemed to need to project a cordial image for his city.
“Please! Be careful,” he said.
He started out of the pub and Della was quick to follow, turning back to the three young women with a smile. “So sorry about the beer. Do be careful!”
Close on Edmund’s heels, she saw that Mason had found them. He was shaking his head with disgust.
“Never even got to follow him—he raced out through the kitchen. He was gone when I hit the alley, but I tried both directions and... It may be nothing,” he said.
“Probably nothing,” Della said. “Just a guy with a petty crime behind him afraid of authority.”
“But something about him bothered you,” Mason said.
Della shrugged. “Yes. But... Hey. Intuition can be wrong.”
Edmund was watching her. “I saw him so briefly,” he said. “But... I don’t know. I got the feeling I had seen him before and I don’t know in what context.”
“We can keep looking,” Della said.
“We can. But...”
