The Affinity Bridge (37 page)

Newbury approached the door to the lounge and knocked loudly before entering. Veronica jumped to her feet. “Sir Maurice! Oh…” Her mouth fell open in slack-jawed amazement when she laid eyes on his bedraggled appearance. She crossed the room, took him by the arm and led him slowly to a nearby chair. Her face was a picture of concern.

Newbury smiled. “Do I really look that bad?” Veronica looked away, refusing to be drawn on the question, but Bainbridge was more to the point. “You look like you’ve gone ten rounds with an Indian tiger. Are you badly hurt?”

Newbury couldn’t help but laugh. “That’s the second time you’ve asked me that today, Charles, and the answer remains decidedly the same; no more than can be expected.” He shifted in his seat where the leather upholstery was pressing painfully against his wounds. “I think we’ll get today’s excitement out of the way, and then I’ll be paying another visit to the Fixer, to see if he can’t dose me up with some more of that miraculous compound of his. I took a bit of a beating out there today.” He fell silent, watching the fire gutter in the grate as the others waited for him to go on.

Bainbridge pulled at the edges of his moustache impatiently. “Are you going to elaborate, then? Did you lose him somewhere?”

Newbury watched Veronica as she made her way back to her seat. He shook his head. “No. He’s very much dead.”

Bainbridge nodded, his face unreadable. Veronica looked aghast. “What happened?”

“I chased him over the back wall and along the High Street, whereupon he leapt up onto a passing ground train and scrambled onto the roof. I followed suit, we scuffled, and he fell to his death. It’s a damn shame. It would have been far more useful if I’d managed to restrain him instead. I would have liked the opportunity to question him about the case.” He glanced at Bainbridge. “I left instructions for the body to be taken to the morgue.” Bainbridge nodded his approval.

“You fought him on the top of a moving ground train?” Veronica’s voice was strained.

Newbury nodded. “Indeed.”

“What were you thinking of! You could have easily gone over the side with him!”

Bainbridge raised an eyebrow at this outburst from Veronica. “Miss Hobbes, it is clear to me that you are still suffering from a certain degree of shock, which is only to be expected following the nature of this morning’s attack. Perhaps you need some time alone to recover?”

Newbury smirked as Veronica bit back on her retort. She glanced over at him, her eyes flashing. “My apologies, Sir Maurice. I did not mean to question your judgment.”

Newbury gave a half-hearted laugh. “Oh, but you are quite correct in this matter, my dear Miss Hobbes. It was a rather foolhardy exercise, and one I shall be in no hurry to repeat, I assure you. I’ve had quite my fill of hand-to-hand combat for the time being. What galls me terribly is the fact that I did not even manage to apprehend the villain for my troubles.”

Bainbridge spluttered. “On the contrary, old boy! Your actions have resulted in the removal of a major criminal element from the streets of London. You are to be congratulated. A job well done!”

Newbury shrugged noncommittally. He turned towards Veronica. “And Miss Hobbes, I assume you are quite well? Were you hurt in your struggle with the man?”

Veronica shook her head. “No, I’m well enough, thank you. A little shaken, perhaps. I’m pleased to report that you and Sir Charles arrived before the situation degenerated into actual violence. I should have hated it if I’d found cause to actually use that hot poker on the man.” She shot a sardonic glance at Bainbridge, who seemed impervious to the witticism, or else was simply choosing to ignore it.

Newbury smiled. “You certainly seemed to have everything under control when we arrived, Miss Hobbes. I’m only sorry that I had to involve you in this terrible business. If I’d imagined at the outset of this investigation that it would in any way put you in danger, I would, of course, have refrained from including you in proceedings.”

Veronica edged forward on her seat, clasping her hands together in front of her. She looked anxious. “Not at all, Sir Maurice. I wouldn’t have it any other way. I couldn’t bear to be excluded now.”

Newbury nodded slowly. “Very well, then.” He smiled, as if satisfied that he had done his duty in giving Veronica the opportunity to back out. “Let us order the events in our minds. Miss Hobbes, can you tell us exactly what happened here? Before I chased the villain from the scene, I mean. It could be pertinent to the case.”

Veronica sighed. “I’m not entirely sure, I’m afraid.” She glanced from Newbury to Bainbridge. “I was in this room, taking a cup of tea before the fire, when I heard a sound from the hallway. I turned to look just as the man you saw, dressed as the blue policeman, barged in and came at me with his fists. I grabbed the poker from the fire and used it to drive him back into the hallway. That was when the two of you arrived. He must have found his way in through the back somehow.”

“What about your housekeeper?”

“Mrs. Grant has only just arrived for the day. She’s in the kitchen at the moment, searching out a temporary prop for the door. She doesn’t begin her duties until half-past nine on a Thursday.”

Newbury sank back into the clutches of his chair, smiling. He glanced at the clock on the mantelpiece. “Do you think Mrs. Grant could find it in her heart to prepare a pot of Earl Grey for two gentlemen in urgent need?” He glanced over at Bainbridge. “Charles and I have a great deal to talk to you about.”

Veronica frowned. “I am sure Mrs. Grant will be only too happy to accommodate you. But what is it that you need to discuss?”

Newbury ran a hand over his face, sitting forward in his chair. “I think we’d better start at the beginning.”

Newbury recounted his theory to Veronica over a pot of tea, in much the same way as he had explained it to Bainbridge earlier that morning in the offices at Scotland Yard. Veronica nodded solemnly as she took it all in, and Newbury could see by the look on her face that she thought it made a terrible kind of sense, when all the facts were considered alongside each other.

“So you’re essentially saying that Chapman and Villiers organised the glowing policeman murders as a means of obtaining human brains for use in their automaton devices?”

Newbury nodded.

“And that you believe the reason that some of the automatons have been malfunctioning—thus causing the airship crash, amongst other things—is because a number of those organs were carrying the revenant plague?”

“That’s about the size of it, my dear. Of course, questioning the man who was posing as the glowing policeman would have helped to establish the link with more certainty, but the clues are all there: the human organs in the automatons that attacked me; the blue powder around the throat and collar of the murdered Christopher Morgan, who had previously threatened to expose Chapman and Villiers; the glowing policeman coming after you this very morning. It all fits together perfectly. I suspect if we were able to disinter the bodies of the glowing policeman’s earlier victims we would very quickly be able to establish that the brains had been removed from the bodies. The fact that those organs have all been sourced from the Whitechapel slums, where the revenant plague is rife, coupled with the fact that we know the virus has an eight day incubation period, suggests that the revenant symptoms might not present until days after the automaton units were sold on to their clients.” Newbury sat back, crossing his legs and taking another mouthful of Earl Grey.

Veronica shook her head. “It’s all in their heads! Ha! I should have realised earlier.” She sighed. “It’s all in the heads of the automatons.”

Newbury frowned. “What was that, Miss Hobbes?”

Veronica met Newbury’s gaze. “Oh, nothing. Something for later, perhaps. It has no bearing on the case.” She clapped her hands together. “So, what is our next move?” She glanced at Bainbridge.

“Chapman and Villiers. It has to be. As Newbury has already pointed out, the moment they get wind of the fact that their assassination attempts this morning have failed, they’ll have to make a run for it. We need to get to them first, if we’re not already too late.”

Newbury shook his head. “No, they’re both as arrogant as each other. Chapman probably thinks he can take us on at our own game, and Villiers, I suspect, doesn’t care one way or another. I doubt they’ll run. In fact, if we’re lucky, they’ll play right into our hands.”

“And directly into a noose, too, if I have any say in the matter.” Bainbridge tapped his foot on the carpet, coughing loudly. “Shall we make haste?”

Veronica stood. Newbury did the same. “If I may make use of your bathroom facilities before we leave, Miss Hobbes? I would very much like to wash away some of this blood and grime before making the journey across town.”

Veronica smiled. “Of course. Let me show you where to go.” She led him from the room, showing him along the hall to the small bathroom.

Newbury hesitated before the door. He turned to regard her. “Thank you, Miss Hobbes. I won’t keep you for long.” He held her gaze for a few seconds, noticing for the first time the small smattering of freckles across the bridge of her nose. He smiled warmly, hesitated, and then went on. ““I’m very glad you survived this morning unscathed.”

Veronica laughed, softly. “And I’m very glad that you survived at all.” Her voice was barely a whisper, as if she didn’t want Bainbridge to overhear their conversation. She put her hand on his arm. “I thought after yesterday…”

“I know.” He looked pained. “I’m sorry I put you through all of that. I’ll be well enough with a little time.”

Veronica shook her head. “You have nothing to be sorry for, Sir Maurice! It is I who should be thanking you. Your efforts against the revenant creatures were enough to save all of our lives.” She leaned over and kissed him gently on the cheek, her lips leaving a cool, damp impression on his skin.

Newbury cleared his throat, embarrassed. “In that case, Miss Hobbes, after the manner in which you found me in my study the other morning, I do believe we’re about equal.” He offered her a wide grin. “Now, if you’ll forgive me, I really must attend to my wounds. I fear this suit is already beyond saving, but I’d like to give it my best shot all the same.”

Veronica laughed, this time not bothering to hide her amusement. “You’ll find some fresh bandages in the cabinet underneath the sink.”

Newbury stepped into the bathroom and clicked the door shut behind him. He listened to the sound of Veronica’s footsteps disappearing along the hallway before undressing in the mirror, setting the tap running, and tending to his raw and bloody wounds. It was only just after ten o’clock in the morning, and already it was proving to be a long, painful day.

_{Chapter Twenty-Six}