Page 15

Recognizing the voice, as if it hasn’t been playing in my memory and imagination all weekend, I school my dismay and dark musings just as PC Charles circles the bench and stands before me, dashing in full uniform. “PC—”

He holds out a hand. “We settled on Charlie, didn’t we?” A moment of uncertainty flutters through his eyes.

I take a quick inhale to set myself to rights, but my breath catches in a hiccup halfway. “We did. I’m sorry. I forgot.”

He gestures to the bench beside me. “May I?”

A sweep of my hand gives my assent as I’m not certain I won’t hiccup again if I try to speak.

“I was hoping to run into you, but—” He stalls. “What’s wrong, Gemma?”

The kind way he says my name, as if it’s a fragile and precious thing, almost brings me to tears again. But I don’t let it. I blink, breathe in as much cold air as I can without either coughing or looking completely ridiculous, and set my face towards the green. “It’s cold out today.”

“Quite.” Charlie settles back and doesn’t speak, look at me, or move for a good long time. And just as I’m about to spill and tell him all about the cake debacle, he leans towards me. “I have a puzzle for you.”

“Me?”

“I heard at the pub last night that you’re the one who discovered it was Giles Manning who was stealing all those sweets from Mr. Hastings’s store a few weeks back, right?”

I nod.

“Then yes. Two cases make you a bit of a sleuthing expert.”

That pulls a giggle from me. “Hardly. The day after the robbery, Sallie happened to mention Giles missed school, and I remembered his mother came in for cream of magnesia that very morning. It wasn’t a huge leap.”

“Not a leap anyone else made.”

I bask for a brief moment in doing something right and in what feels like a compliment. “How’d you hear about that? I only told Mr. Hastings.”

“He told Chief Wilmot, in Giles’s best interest, really. He hoped the chief would talk to the lad and set him straight. But Sergeant Boyle overheard, and if Sergeant Boyle hears anything, everyone else will learn it at the pub straightaway.”

Charlie sits back again and stares out across the green once more. “Now for my puzzle. Mr. and Mrs. Lombard were robbed the night before last.”

“The Lombards? On High Street?” I blink at the unexpected turn of our conversation.

“Do you know them?”

“Not really.” I peer towards their home a few blocks away. “I’ve done the weekly deliveries a couple times and stopped at their house. But I’ve only met their housekeeper and their dog. She is friendly. The dog is most definitely not.”

“Yes, Mrs. Russell has been helpful.” He twists fully towards me. “I’ve been asked to investigate the robbery at their house, and I’m not sure . . . I’m not sure I’m going about it right.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, following the war, I worked four years with the Metropolitan Police as a PC. I had a beat I liked and I knew my duties. But here, it’s more than that. There are only two of us, with Sergeant Boyle, and there’s detective work, and I—” He stops and his eyes dart away from me. “I’m not getting it sorted.”

“I understand not getting it sorted.”

He offers me a flat-lipped smile. I mirror one back because I do understand. I understand getting put into a job and wanting to do your best but finding success just out of reach. Creativity. Distraction. Whatever it is, you just need help. And asking your boss is rarely the answer as that can bring a whole host of new problems.

“Tell me the story.”

“The what?” His brow furrows.

“A detective follows evidence, yes, but I follow the story. That’s what made sense in each of those ‘cases’ you credited me for. What I observed fit a story. So tell me the story.”

Charlie nods. “Mrs. Lombard owns three valuable rings she puts in a little dish on the windowsill above the sink when she does the washing up on Tuesdays, Mrs. Russell’s night out. Last Wednesday morning, she reported the rings stolen from that dish. But the house was locked, the window above the kitchen sink locked, and no friends dropped by Tuesday night.”

“And she’s certain she left them in the dish? She didn’t put them back on after finishing up?”