Page 10 of Dead Beside the Thames
“Or it might be found somewhere that will help us identify the site of the murder,” Penelope offered.
“Or,” Barnaby more grimly added, “it might be in someone else’s possession and lead us to the murderer.”
“All good reasons to hunt for it,” Stokes said. “I’ve already got a team under O’Donnell and Morgan searching for signs of the murder site. I’ll ask them to keep their eyes peeled for any sign of the whip.”
Penelope caught Barnaby’s eye. “This might be a good case on which to enlist the help of your new network.”
In unison, Charlie and Stokes asked, “What network?”
“It occurred to me,” Barnaby explained, “that there are a lot of young lads who, for various reasons to do with their employment—or sometimes, lack of it—are out and about all over London.”
“They see and hear and take notice far more than adults do,” Penelope stated.
Barnaby threw her a fond smile. “We started with some of those who have passed through the Foundling House and expanded from there. They’ve proved surprisingly useful in gathering information whenever we’ve had cause to use them.”
Penelope met Barnaby’s gaze. “Aside from anything else, we should see if they can find someone who saw Charlie after he left White’s.”
Barnaby dipped his head in agreement. “Around St. James at that hour, it’s even possible some of them saw him themselves.” He smiled at Charlie. “To tick every box, we should also get Garvey’s testimony.”
“I’ll leave all that to you,” Stokes said. “And if your network stretches to the riverbank east of the Tower, you could get yourlads asking around there, too. From the Tower to the Duke Stairs is a fair stretch to search, and if we do find where Sedbury was put into the water, we’ll need to determine if he was killed nearby or elsewhere and brought to the spot already dead.”
“Ultimately,” Penelope stated, “we’ll need to learn why Sedbury went to wherever it was he was killed.”
No one argued. Stokes looked around the table. “Any other pertinent information?”
“Actually,” Penelope said, “while I’m not up with the latest regarding any Hale family issues, when I wracked my brain, I recalled hearing some rather vague rumors about Sedbury looking to marry the Ellis girl, but she’s barely out, and from all I’ve heard of Sedbury thus far, she doesn’t seem the sort one would imagine would catch his eye. She’s very much a sweet innocent, so I suspect the rumors are mistaken, but it’s an oddity—one I’ll clarify.”
Barnaby said, “Earlier, Charlie and I were going over what we know of Sedbury’s half brothers—the older two, Jonathon and Bryan.”
“They’re much younger than us,” Charlie put in, “and so don’t move in the same circles, so we don’t know them well.”
“True,” Barnaby concurred. “Nevertheless, from what we do know, both live entirely unremarkable lives and have done nothing that would strike one as out of the ordinary.”
“Out of the ordinary, and we would have heard of it,” Charlie explained. “But in that family, as far as the menfolk go, it was always Sedbury who grabbed all attention.”
“Albeit very much on the male side of the ton.” Barnaby smiled at Penelope. “He was rarely seen in the ballrooms or drawing rooms.”
Penelope wrinkled her nose. “It sounds as if I’ll have to focus my inquiries on the other members of the Hale family and leave Sedbury himself to you and Charlie.”
“On that point”—Charlie looked at Stokes—“if you wish, I could ask around the other whip collectors—put out feelers, so to speak—to see if any of them have heard of a Duckleberry Longe coming up for sale.”
Eagerly, Stokes nodded. “That’s an excellent point. For all we know, it could already be out there in some shop.”
“Not necessarily in the hands of the murderer,” Barnaby said. “Even if he took it, he would know it was the murder weapon and would pass it on as quickly as he could.”
Stokes had pulled out his notebook and was jotting. “Indeed.”
“I’ll contact my usual sources,” Penelope said, “and see what they can tell me about those rumors concerning the Ellis chit and also what they know about the other members of the Hale family and about any known tensions between them and Sedbury.” She arched her brows. “Or for that matter, any known tensions between Sedbury and anyone else in the ton.”
“That would be extremely useful.” Stokes grimaced. “Especially as I will doubtless find myself answering to the marquess at some point. However”—he shut his notebook and pushed back his chair—“before we do anything else, you two and I need to search Sedbury’s rooms and question his staff.”
Barnaby readily pushed back from the table. “Where are Sedbury’s rooms?”
“Number fifteen, Duke Street. First floor.”
Penelope stood, bringing the men to their feet. “Right, then.” She bustled around the table. “We each have work to do.” Watching her fondly, Barnaby saw her eyes gleam behind her spectacles as she enthused, “Let’s get to it!”
Stokes smiled and followed Penelope from the room, leaving Barnaby and Charlie bringing up the rear.
