Of Night and Dark Obscurity

That was the last entry Irene made.

Caroline closed the little diary and felt the tears on her cheeks. The entire time Irene was going through this in the very room next to hers she had not reached out or spoken to her. She had gone through it all alone. And because she had let herself be enticed by the wrong man; she had paid for it with her life. She felt a heaviness settle in her breast. She must show the book to Val.

???

“Be silent!” Barked Mr. Willow as the others bickered in the darkened back room at the pub. “Nothing ties us to the building and the Chinamen have cleared out.”

“That was reckless,” Mr. Basil turned his eyes to the others. “Most reckless.”

“What was?” Mr. Sage sneered. “The old biddy had it coming to her. And how was that any different than what you have all done.”

The tension in the room was mounting as everyone remained silent. “We need to wait it out,” Mr. Willow said confidently. “That’s all we need to do now.”

Mr. Sage watched as Mr. Willow and Mr. Cedar left, leaving behind only himself and Mr. Basil.

“What are you thinking of?” Mr. Basil asked.

“Nothing much. But I do think I have my eye on the greatest prize of all.”

Mr. Basil grinned in the dark. “Do tell. And spare no details,” he said reaching for his drink.

???

Val stared at the note in his hand and looked about him for the tenth time. It had been a brief note from Caroline asking to meet him at the Crystal Palace Park maze so here he was. He glanced at his pocket watch once and then again at his surroundings. It was a gloomy grey day and no one was about.

He heard footsteps approaching and turned to see Caroline coming towards him. He almost shivered at the delight in seeing her face. She looked healthy with her pink and white complexion and he kissed her cheek in greeting.

“Inspector.”

“Miss Derry.”

“I found something most shocking last night after we parted.”

“Yes. What did you find?” He asked her.

“Can we find somewhere to sit?” She looked around.

“There’s a bench,” he indicated nearby where they were standing.

When they sat down together, he looked at her. She looked tired and pale. She suddenly seemed fragile to him and he wanted to pull her into his arms and kiss the top of her head. The feeling of wanting to protect her coupled with an intense desire for her surprised him.

“I went to my sister’s room last night. I haven’t been in there since she died. It’s too painful,” she said.

“I can well imagine.”

“I happened to look through her jewelry box. I don’t know why. I was just touching things that belonged to her and I found a diary.”

“A diary?!” He asked.

“Yes. She kept it a year before her death. I never remember her writing one before so I never thought to look for one. She writes of Simon; she calls him the artist and there’s another man she refers to as “my Lord.”

“The one Lyle told us of.”

“Yes, but it’s much worse. He treated her badly… he…“ Caroline looked down at her lap. “You can read it for yourself.”

“Thank you. I will read it today.”

She nodded.