Of Night and Dark Obscurity

“I know exactly who you are,” Val said in the dark of the night.

Charles seemed to take a step back and he glared at Val. “Pierce,” he sputtered. “You miserable—“ he began to swear at him and then stopped.

“Come along with us,” Felix said.

“I know what this is about,” Charles said hotly. “This is about her. You’re jealous. I asked her to marry me. You’re angry.”

Val ignored him and signaled for the hansom cab to draw near.

“Why don’t you save your drunk ravings for the police station?” Felix said smiling as he began to lead Charles to the waiting cab.

Suddenly with no words, Charles broke loose from Felix and reeled back and threw a punch at Val’s face. It was an awkward punch but it connected with Val’s face.

Felix sprang on the man and hauled him into the cab while Val took a moment to recover. When he joined the men inside the cab, Felix was smiling.

“At least now we can hold him for maliciously inflicting grievous bodily harm upon any other person with or without any weapon,” he grinned.

Val and Felix looked over at Charles who appeared to be sulking.

“And if deemed guilty, that’s a misdemeanor,” Felix said as Val knocked on the roof twice to get the cab moving.

Chapter 22

When they entered the police station, it was like entering a graveyard. It was past two in the morning and even the cleaning lady who polished the wood and mopped the floors was nowhere to be seen.

“In here,” Felix said placing Charles into a small room with a table and two chairs and locking the door behind him.

Val took off his large coat and hat which were wet from the rain and placed them on the rack. Felix did the same.

“You’ve got a right shiner there, Guvnor,” Felix took notice of the growing black eye Charles had given Val.

“It’s the least of my worries. Why don’t you make some tea and we’ll get started.”

Felix nodded and disappeared. When he returned with the three cups of tea, they both entered the room where Charles sat looking sullen and irritated. Felix took his cup and leaned against the wall while Val sat facing Charles.

“Tea?” He said politely.

“Bastard,” Charles swore under his breath.

“Suit yourself,” Val said taking a cup in hand and sipping it.

“You’ve no right to hold me,” He sputtered. “I was out at my club and was coming home when you two goons accosted me. I’ve done nothing.”

Felix made it a point to meet Charles’ eyes and then looked over at Val’s face. He shook his head while Charles angrily pulled the cup of tea toward him.

“What do you want from me?” Charles asked.

Val smiled and retrieved the file that he always kept nearby on his desk. It contained much of the documents that he had compiled over the course of the investigation into the primrose strangler. He sat across from Charles Lyttleton and watched him carefully.

Sometimes it was the little things that he noticed about a person that could be a telltale sign. They fidgeted with their fingers, they moved things about the table, no eye contact, too much eye contact. Charles sipped the brown tea and looked about the room.

“Quite the place you’ve got here, Pierce,” he said sarcastically.

“Indeed. And we get such a nice class of people in here too. Thieves, murderers, peers of the realm such as yourself. You know. Your common criminal.”

“I demand to know why you are holding me here. Why you were hiding outside my home—“

“We were waiting not hiding,” Felix interjected.