Page 35 of Across Space and Time

“Yeah, that’s it. Elizabeth Wilcox.”

“Did Elizabeth have a daughter?”

“Yes. Miss Prue. Sweet thing, always has a smile on her face.”

“Have you met Mrs. Wilcox or her daughter?”

Mr. Rhodes nodded. “Once or twice, sir, I went with John when he was making a delivery to the bakery. They buy fruit from the Duke’s estate.”

Hugh recalled Prudence telling him that they bought their fruit from a farm outside of the city. “What kind of fruit?”

“Apples, mainly, sir. Some rhubarb and blueberries too.”

“How often were the deliveries?”

“About once a week, depending on the season.”

Hugh swallowed hard before he said, “I do not wish to alarm you, Mr. Rhodes, but we do have a corpse back in the morgue who sounds like it might fit your description of Mr. Henries. Would you be willing to take a look and see if you can identify him? We have not had a positive identification of him yet.”

“Oh.” Mr. Rhodes’ face fell. “Oh, poor fellow… I… Yes, I suppose I can do that.”

Hugh nodded and rose to his feet. Mr. Rhodes followed him up, his hat wadded into a tight ball in his hands. “This way,” he said, keeping his voice as gentle as he could. “I will warn you, sir, the bodies are not in good condition due to the fire.”

Mr. Rhodes nodded miserably. “Yes, sir, I understand. But if it’s John, I’d rather know so we can all be at peace.”

Hugh nodded and led him outside and down the short path to the morgue. He knocked on the door as a courtesy to the team inside before opening the door to lead Mr. Rhodes in. Dr. Ledbetter looked up from another corpse he was working on, then quickly pulled a sheet over it. “Hello, Constable Danbury.”

“Good afternoon, doctor,” Hugh said, giving him a polite smile. “This is Mr. Rhodes. Can you show him the man you showed me earlier from the bakery fire? It’s possible it may be someone missing from the estate he works at.”

“Yes, of course,” Dr. Ledbetter said, moving a few tables away to another table with a sheet draped over it. Mr. Rhodes followed him to stand by the head. Dr. Ledbetter folded down the sheet enough to expose the man’s face. Empty eye sockets stared blankly at nothing, blackened skin cracked and flaking. The corpse’s lips peeled back from its mouth in a gruesome grimace, revealing the missing top front teeth. Mr. Rhodes clapped a hand to his mouth.

“Yes, that’s John,” he said, sounding a little faint. “That chip there on the sharp tooth, that’s definitely him.”

Dr. Ledbetter quickly flipped the sheet back over the corpse. “I’m so sorry,” Hugh said, gesturing to Mr. Rhodes to follow him out again, giving Dr. Ledbetter a grateful nod that the older man returned.

Mr. Rhodes hurried out of the deadhouse, leaning down with his hands on his knees to suck in air once they were enough away that the smell of decay did not completely permeate the air. Hugh debated patting the man’s back in reassurance but wasn’t sure if his touch would be appreciated at the moment, so he just let the man breathe until he straightened up again. “Thank you, I know that had to be very difficult to see,” he said, giving Mr. Rhodes a kind smile.

Mr. Rhodes sniffed and swiped at his mustache with the back of his hand. “Poor, poor fellow. He was a good soul. Didn’t deserve that.”

“Can you think of anyone who might have wanted to hurt him?” Hugh asked.

Mr. Rhodes kneaded his hat between his hands like he was trying to make it into bread. “No, sir. Didn’t have an enemy in the world, as far as I know. Kind of a quiet fellow but wouldn’t hurt a fly.”

Hugh nodded. “Is there anything more you can tell me about the afternoon he disappeared?”

Mr. Rhodes shook his head. “Nothing more comes to mind, sir.”

“That’s all right,” Hugh replied. “Thank you very much for the information, Mr. Rhodes.”

“Do you think it was an accident?” Mr. Rhodes asked suddenly.

“Was what an accident?”

“The fire at the bakery?”

Hugh was silent for a moment. There was too much coincidence for his liking. “I’m not able to comment on it at this time,” he said, feeling guilt wash over him like a tidal wave. “We are still looking into it.”

Mr. Rhodes took a deep breath. “Thank you, Constable. I appreciate it.”

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