Page 40

Shortly after the discovery of Calliope Collier’s body in the river, the Thames River Police had filed the first reports, but as soon as the police surgeon determined that someone other than Miss Collier herself had caused her death, E Division had begun investigating.

At the station, they were directed to Hardy’s office, which Gideon found quite like his own. Too small, with a sturdy, battered wood desk, a creaking captain’s chair, and a smoky coal fire in the grate. He offered them each a chair in front of his desk, then sat and pulled a pile of files atop his desk closer to him.

“Thank you for seeing us so early,” Gideon said after introducing Electra and reaching out to shake Hardy’s hand.

Tall and wiry, with short-cropped brown hair and a narrow face, Hardy had a palpable energy about him that made Gideon imagine he was driven as an investigator and not terribly fond of sitting at his desk, laboring over paperwork.

“Of course,” Hardy said as they all sat. “I am keen for any details you can offer regarding Miss Delacourt, considering there might be a connection to the Collier case.”

“Have you found any connection?” Electra asked.

Hardy pressed his lips together. “I have not. Instinct tells me there is one, but I have no proof of it yet.”

“Can you tell us what you’ve learned so far?” Gideon asked.

“Of course.” Hardy flipped through the documents in front of him. “She was found last Friday evening, around midnight, by a passerby on Blackfriars Bridge. The River Police recovered her from the water soon after. From initial examination, it was clear that it had not been a robbery as she still wore jewelry and had personal objects in one pocket and rocks in the other. This led to the assumption that she had entered the water on her own.”

“How was she identified?” Electra asked.

Hardy glanced at her. “Among the personal items in her pocket was a small book.” He slid a document toward the edge of his desk.

Electra leaned forward to see a sketch of a small book of The Iliad. The artist had drawn the back and front and then an interior page with an inscription: To Miss Calliope Collier, a lady with the name of the muse of poetry should have this book.

She shifted the document so that Gideon could read the details too. He immediately added a couple of lines to his notebook.

“Do you have the book?” she asked Hardy.

The sergeant shook his head. “Most of the personal items were returned to the Collier family.” He focused on the reports in front of him once more. “One of the patrol constables recalled a Collier family on Marchmont Street. He knocked on their door, and it turned out to be the young woman’s family. Soon after, her father identified her at the mortuary and confirmed her age as twenty-three, that she lived in separate lodgings, and worked at the British Museum.”

Hardy let out a sigh and settled back in his chair. “According to everyone I’ve spoken to, she was gregarious, likable, and pretty. A young woman with a few friends and several gentlemen admirers who were vying for her attention.”

“That list of gentlemen?”

Hardy leaned forward and pressed a hand against another folder. “I’ve spoken to them all, at least the ones whose names I’ve been given. Potter at the museum. Barclay at the pub. And Nicholas Frye, a former museum employee.”

Electra recalled how Kerrigan had seethed about the young man.

Gideon seemed to read her thoughts and asked, “Tell us more about Frye.”

“Several of us are well acquainted with the lad. He had come to our notice even before this case. Petty theft. Disturbing the peace. Quite a character.”

“He threatened Miss Collier.” Electra did not think she should confess what she’d seen, since Gideon had not explained her purpose in accompanying him.

Hardy nodded as he said, “He did and admitted as much to me when I spoke to him last.”

“And the claim that he’d stolen from the museum?” Gideon pressed.

“I spoke to…” He glanced at the documents on his desk again. “Mr. Kerrigan, who employed Miss Collier. No evidence of a theft exists. My conclusion is that he lied. That he was attempting a boast to impress Miss Collier, and it turned on him in the worst possible way.”

“What was the nature of Frye’s specific threat to Miss Collier?” Gideon asked.

Hardy reviewed his notes. “A porter, Mr. Nelson, overheard Frye say, ‘You snitch on me, and you’ll regret it. It would be terrible if something marred that pretty face of yours.’”

“Was her face marred?” Electra asked. “When she was found.”

“No, it was not.” Hardy shrugged. “Frye left his employment two weeks before Miss Collier’s disappearance, and he committed a theft in Covent Garden a week and a half later. She was last seen on Monday, October 6. Frye was taken into custody for the theft in Covent Garden on Friday, October 10, but hours before Miss Collier was found in the Thames. He was arrested in Seven Dials. A compatriot snitched on him and led us there.”

Gideon tapped his fingers on his thigh. “It disturbs me that Seven Dials is so near Blackfriars Bridge.”