What if their man had shown up, only to detect something that sent him running?
It made no sense. They had the theater surrounded. No one coming in or out went unnoticed. Still, Ada couldn’t shake the feeling that something was dreadfully wrong.
It took forever to sweep off every step leading from the bottom of the theater to the lobby doors. By the time she finished, the clock read half past five.
As if on cue, the group began to gather. Edison, walking with his normal, confident gait, pushed through the doors from the lobby. Spencer stuffed his rag back into his pocket and came up from the stage area while Nelly worked her way down the aisles from the far side of the room.
As the actors filtered back onto the stage, Edison jerked his head to the side, indicating that they should regroup in the lobby.
“Something’s off.” Spencer was the first to voice what they all must be thinking.
Edison and Nelly both nodded.
The slight girl pushed her ragged head cloth out of her eyes. “I’ll nip outside and get the ladies.”
Ada slumped onto a horsehair sofa. Disappointment mingled with an odd sense of relief. The combination sucked the last of the energy from her legs.
Edison laid a hand on her shoulder. “We’ll try again tomorrow.”
Ada tried to smile, but she feared her acting skills were not up to par.
Why would tomorrow be any different?
*
Deflated as an old balloon, Ada let Edison steer her out of the lobby.
Once out on the street, she had to duck her head away from the late afternoon light that pierced her eyes, making them water furiously.
Nelly and Spencer followed them out. Though disappointed, neither seemed as utterly drained. They must be used to the wild emotions elicited by this sort of danger, she imagined.
As her eyes adjusted to the light, she saw Meena and Briar coming down the pavement toward them. Their youthful, confident energy contrasted with the worn, tawdry gowns, like ripe, beautiful fruits wrapped in scraps of old newsprint.
“Police! Police!” A man’s voice yelled from across the busy street. “There’s been a murder.”
Spencer and Edison exchanged some sort of silent signal and bolted off toward the commotion.
Before stepping off the pavement, Edison turned to face her. “Stay here,” he ordered.
Meena and Briar must have heard the cries as well. Skirts held up above their ankles, they hurried along with the surging crowd.
Bodies rushed past, pushing Ada against the side of the building, as every person on the street rushed to investigate.
Her heart knocked against her ribs. It couldn’t be him. London was famous for crime. A robbery gone wrong. A falling out between thieves. It had to be a coincidence.
Please, she prayed, let it be a coincidence.
Beside her, Nelly sniffed. “Don’t know about you, but I don’t take well to be ordered about like a dog.”
“Nor do I.”
Nelly turned to Ada, a mischievous little smile curving her lips, and held out her arm.
Ada took a deep, bracing breath and hooked her arm through the smaller girl’s. With a final nod, they plunged into the crowd.
Crossing the street proved an easy task. The curiosity seekers threading their way between the omnibuses and carriages had brought the traffic to a stop.
Making their way down the narrow alley at the far side proved more difficult. The narrow space was crammed shoulder to shoulder with gawkers. Ada could see nothing but jackets and silk hats and bustles.
Being small of stature, Nelly had it worse. As the crowd squeezed in around them, the poor girl was hemmed in by dark-colored coats.
But what she lacked in size, the plucky thing made up for in determination. With the aid of a few well placed elbows, Nelly pried open a sliver of space and disappeared into the crowd, leaving Ada shoulder to shoulder with a group of somber clerks.
She was glad her handbag hadn’t been part of her disguise. The crowd would be a prime hunting ground for pickpockets. Not that she had the least skill in picking them out.
As if by magic, Nelly emerged from the crowd directly in front of her. Her face solemn, she waved. “Come on.”
She gripped Ada’s hand and pulled her through the wall of humanity, as if she were threading ribbon. An instant later, they emerged into a tight clearing. Spencer and a few volunteers were holding back the crowd. A woman’s body—more a pile of rags, really—lay crumpled up against a wall.
Edison crouched next to the form, cradling her head in his large hands. He’d turned the woman onto her back and wiped her long blonde hair away from her face.
Except for the gut-twisting angle of her neck, the poor thing could have been sleeping.
With a nod, he gestured for Ada to come forward. “I’m sorry to do this,” he said, his eyes full of sympathy. “Do you know her?”
Ada swallowed the bile rising in her throat and forced herself to concentrate on the pale face. Nothing about the woman’s features seemed familiar, though it would be hard to tell given her face was so devoid of animation.
Ada shook her head, unable to form words.
It could have been her.
Would have been her, had Edison not charged to her rescue. Only she wouldn’t have looked so peaceful. Death by cyanide would have left her in a rictus of agony.
Gorge rose in her throat. Her ears buzzed, making the voices of the crowd, the shouts, the gasps, the prayers, rise and fall in unnatural waves of sound.
The shrill call of a police whistle cut through the buzz with the ease toluene cutting through paint.
“Here now, let us through,” a voice accustomed to command called out sharply.
Ada caught the knowing look that flew between the league members. Without a word, Meena and Briar and Spencer dissolved into the crowd.
Edison remained by the body. He set the woman’s head gently back down as two blue-coated officers stumbled their way forward.
He acknowledged them with a nod. “Officers.”
Nelly tugged on Ada’s arm. “We best move on.”
Too stunned to think for herself, Ada allowed the girl to guide her through the throng and back out onto the main street.
Traffic on the main road was moving again as if nothing had changed.
Ada blinked in the faltering sunlight. Life had certainly changed for that poor woman. Changed in an unimaginable instant of terror.
Ada clutched her hands together, fighting the urge to run… or burst into a flood of tears.
Meena rushed up to her. “Are you all right?” She took her gently by the arm and steered her to a small table set back against the windows of a cafe.
Knees trembling with shock, Ada sank down onto the chair. “I think so.”
Briar slid into the seat opposite while Nelly took the final chair.
“That’s a nasty business,” the young girl observed.
“Nasty, indeed,” Briar added. Her voice lacked its usual cheer.
Meena sat with her elbows on the wrought iron table, her chin propped in her hands. The smudges of dirt on her cheeks and the sad state of her beat-up old hat only added to the gloom.