“Mr. Terrance. You mentioned none of this before,” Felix said skeptically.
Mr. Terrance looked about sheepishly and smiled. “Sometimes in the afternoon I take a little brandy in my tea. You know. Medicinal purposes.”
“We saw you in the morning,” Val pointed out.
“Sometimes I indulge in the morning too,” he smiled. “Keeps the blood strong.”
“Keeps the blood tipsy,” Felix murmured before Val shot him a look.
“Please continue.” Val asked the old man.
“When the man returned to the cab, I heard him tell someone else in the cab that they must go to Pratt’s that evening,” Mr. Terrance said firmly.
“Pratt’s?” Val asked straightening up in his chair. “The gentleman’s club in London?”
Mr. Terrance shrugged his shoulders. “I suppose he was speaking about that. I know of no other entity called Pratt’s.”
“Thank you, Mr. Terrance. You’ve been very helpful.” Val said shaking the man’s hand before he asked Felix to see him out.
Felix returned shortly. “The man’s a lush. He probably made the whole thing up.”
“Maybe,” Val agreed. “But we know the day Prudence Finch was found so we can visit Pratt’s and do some looking around. Maybe someone remembers the two men. It’s something.”
???
Pratt’s Club was located on Park Place in London and took its name from William Nathaniel Pratt. He had been steward to the Duke of Beaufort. When he died in 1860, his widow and son continued the Club with his name.
Pratt’s ground floor and basement were where most of the club’s activities took place. The two ground-floor rooms had been made into one with the southern end partially screened off by two fluted ionic columns of wood. The entrance hall was separated from the staircase by a pair of heavy doors.
The basement was divided into a dining room and kitchen with dark-red wallpaper and dim lighting. White marble chimneypieces with inlaid green marble and Grecian figures decorated much of the building.
Because Val belonged to a different gentleman’s club which had been around for over 100 years, he had never had a reason to visit Pratt’s. He knew very little about the club and when Pratt’s widow Sophia came into the room, he greeted her and introduced himself and his sergeant to her.
“Gentlemen. Can I offer you a cup of tea? Brandy?” She asked as the three took seats near a fireplace.
Val shook his head. “Not at this time, thank you.”
“How can I
help you?” She asked.
“You are no doubt aware of the murders that have been occurring in London recently,” he began. “Five women have been strangled.”
“I believe I have read something about that in The Times,” she nodded and shifted in her seat.
“We’ve had a witness come forward where one of the women was discovered. He overheard something and we are following up on that conversation.”
“Oh yes? Pray what did he hear?” She asked, pulling out a small hand fan she began to fan herself.
Val looked over at Felix and then back at the woman. She appeared nervous and the room was not hot, in fact there was a fire burning as it was a bit cool.
“There was a witness at Regent’s Park who overheard a man telling his unseen companion that they were to visit Pratt’s that day,” Val told her. “That day was the day the body was discovered.”
Sophia Pratt smiled and shrugged, “That could mean many things.”
“Of course, it could.” Val said. “A man seen at the scene of the murder speaking about coming to his club. It sounds not at all suspicious.”
“It could have been the last name Pratt that they meant and I’m certainly not the only Pratt in London.” She pointed out.