“No, he just handed me the box and smiled. I noticed he had very bad skin.”
I untied the bow, which fell softly aside, and lifted the lid off the box. Inside were ten perfectly preserved white milky human teeth, and a calling card:
* * *
Ebeneezer Tumbletee
Travelling Magician and Collector
of Rare Antiquities
* * *
Frederick looked horrified and stepped back across the kitchen floor. “Get that thing out of here, now.”
I followed his wishes and disposed of the box. I walked a half a mile from the Priory to a little stone bridge, and dropped the foul gift into the waters, watching it carried downstream. My hands were clenched and sweating and my heart felt as though it had been squashed by a fist.
When I returned to the Priory, he was waiting for an explanation. I felt physically sick. I sat back down in the chair in the kitchen while he hovered above me, furious.
“I am so sorry,” I said, my head in my hands. “I have no idea why this has happened.”
“You’re a policeman. You must have enemies, Goliath,” Fred muttered. “Who have you angered?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never been sent teeth before.”
There was the sound of a horse and carriage and we both looked up at one another. We walked to the door, where outside stood a blood red carriage and a cabby, a young man with bright orange hair who approached us gingerly. “My name is Foxhole. I am here to collect Detective Honey-Flower. An invitation from Mr Tumbletee, Esquire.” He had a wicked little grin upon his face.
“Don’t get in that carriage,” Fredrick boomed and stood in my path, and he glared at Foxhole, “And as for you, sir, I don’t appreciate your master’s vile gifts.”
Foxhole stepped back and muttered something inaudible under his breath. I put my hand on Fredrick’s shoulder. “Let me go. I have to find out what he wants.”
Foxhole opened the carriage door. “In you pop, sir.”
Frederick stared at me. “Are you mad? What power do these people have over you?”
“Please, Fred. You have to trust me. Send a telegram to Detective Sergeant White. Inform him of what has happened.”
“I’ll have him back by midnight, sir. Just like Cinderella,” smirked Foxhole.
“You better,” demanded my uncle, and turned to me. “I will be waiting for you.”
I stepped into the carriage, which was lined with red silk. Fred watched me leave. He looked so worried for me.
We drove off down the beautiful red mile leading out of the Priory grounds, while the little black box floated downstream gently on silver notes of water.
We drove for an hour while the sun descended – an orange melting into the flat frying pan landscape. Foxhole remained silent, occasionally glancing over at me with his curious little dark eyes.
Finally, the carriage stopped. The sky outside was inky black and dotted with stars. Foxhole opened the door.
“Where are we?” I said.
He had a mouth like a slit in a moneybox. “Your dinner reservation.”
We were standing in a large flat field. In the centre was a table laid for dinner, with a candle burning and a bottle of red wine. A heavy, fat moon sat over us, providing a luminescent light, as though a theatrical backdrop. Seated at the table was a young, slim gentleman dressed in an elegant dinner jacket, his top hat resting on the ground. As I approached him, he rose and our eyes met. His face was moon glow white with black eyes and a pox-scared complexion. His hair stardust white. He looked half fairy, half demon.
“Welcome, Goliath Honey-Flower.” He spoke softly and gestured to me to sit while he poured out the wine. Foxhole wandered back to the carriage. I wondered whose field we were sitting in and whether a disgruntled farmer would suddenly appear, shotgun in hand, upon discovering two gentleman having dinner. He might get the wrong idea.
“Did you enjoy the teeth?” He sipped from his wine glass. I considered for a moment that he was perhaps completely insane.
“What do you want from me, Mr Tumbletee?” I refrained from drinking the wine.
“You interest me, Mr Honey-Flower.”
“What on Earth are you talking about?” I fumed.
“You destroyed the Crumb Siblings – my little project. I had invested a great deal of time and energy in them both and you put an end to it. You have been an inconvenience to me. And you have been noticed.” His eyes rolled upwards.
“They were mass murderers and they tried to eat me,” I said, disgusted, banging my fist heavily on the table. It shook violently, the wine bottle nearly falling off. Tumbletee stepped forward and leaned over me and whispered, “They were my pet project. You spoiled my fun.”
I stood up and squared with him. I was huge in comparison to him. I was built like a wall and a foot taller. His face cracked into a slight smile and he delicately stepped back. “It’s like you’ve been carved from a rock. You’re a force of nature. But you will stop your meddling into my affairs in future or I will be forced to deal with you.”