The Curious Case Of The Clockwork Menace (11 page)

So Nelly wouldn’t commit to Rommell, who had a direct
challenge for his pursuit of her.
That
could be motive, but how did
Hobbs fit into all of this? Perry’s pulse quickened in excitement.
All of the little bits of puzzle pieces started rearranging
themselves in her head. Still not complete, but she felt like she
had the edge piece of the puzzle in her hand. From there, she’d be
able to start filling in the other pieces.

Was Hobbs
Nelly’s beau? If Nelly loved Hobbs and was seeing him privately,
perhaps someone had found out? Beckham? Or Rommell? Neither of them
would like discovering Nelly had a low-rate human suitor, when
she’d turned both of them away.

She needed to
find Garrett. Now. But first... “What was Nelly’s response to
Beckham? And did Rommell ever warn her away from Beckham?”

“
Nelly treated Beckham the same way she treated Rommell, as if
it were all a great lark, and that she might consider it, but
not... not yet. And Rommell never confronted her in public, though
he often
sought a private audience when he
came in to go over the books with Fotherham.” Miss Radcliffe pursed
her lips. “Although... There was an altercation here a month ago,
when both Rommell and Beckham came backstage after the play. Nelly
laughed it off, but she locked the door on
the pair of them, and insisted on one of the stagehands
seeing her to her hackney afterwards, so it must have shaken her
up. The pair of them went at it
, until
Fotherham
broke them apart, and told
Beckham he was not longer welcome backstage. I never even thought
to mention it. Do you think it has something to do with what
happened?”

“
It’s something we’ll consider,” Perry told her. “If anything
strikes your attention as important, I’d appreciate it if you let
us know. Sometimes the most random snippets of conversation can
break a case.”

“
Of course.” Miss Radcliffe nodded earnestly.

“
Excuse me, ladies.”

They both
looked up.

Arthur
Millington tipped his head to them, “Miss Radcliffe. Hope you’re
feeling a mite better.”

Miss Radcliffe
smiled. “Thank you, Arthur. I’m much recovered.”

“
Might I have a word, then? It’s about the lighting during the
third act?” Impatience made him shift under their
scrutiny.

“
Of course.” Miss Radcliffe patted her hair into place, then
handed Perry back her handkerchief. “If I think of anything I shall
come directly to see you.”

They hurried
onto the stage, where several other actresses were gathered with
Mr. Fotherham.

Perry slipped
a small brass piece out of her pocket, and slipped it into her ear.
Fitz, one of the other Nighthawks, had designed the aural
communicators for Nighthawks who might have to work alone, and
Perry and Garrett often used them. Within the range of the theatre,
they’d be able to communicate, without anyone else hearing.

If Garrett had
his turned on.

Perry fiddled
with the frequency. She needed to find Garrett. This new
information–

A scream tore
through the theatre.

Perry spun toward the stage.
Miss
Radcliffe!
She started sprinting, her
wrist pistols spinning into her hands, as she fought her way
through the sudden flurry of actresses that scattered toward the
backstage and perceived safety. It was like fighting her way
through a flock of startled chickens.

Gun fire
barked. Perry grabbed a young woman in a ball gown and jerked her
behind the nearest prop - an enormous set piece that was crafted to
resemble a ballroom in some fancy Echelon manor. “Stay down!”

More screams
lit the auditorium.

“
Stay back, you beast!” A man yelled.

Perry crouched
behind the curtains, twitching them aside in order to see. From the
other side of the stage, she saw Garrett duck behind a wardrobe
prop, his pistol in hand. Their eyes met and Perry nodded, feeling
relief.

Miss Radcliffe
was on her knees, with Arthur Millington and a couple of other
stagehands forming a protective circle around her. Fotherham
staggered off the stage and fell, as something pushed past him.

The huge, lumbering form roared incoherently, and drove
toward the edge of the stage near where she hid. Perry stepped
forward, sighting along both barrels of her wrist pistols. A
hideous face swam into view, frightened eyes locking on her and
yet, not seeing her. Perry’s breath eased out, the world narrowing
to the man’s massive chest, and the sensation of her fingers easing
over the triggers. At the last minute she jerked the pistols up,
and he rushed past her.
Hell. That was
Lovecraft–

“
Don’t shoot!” she yelled, taking off after him. Leaping off
the stage, she spun her pistols back into the sheaths at her wrists
and started after him.

“
Perry!” Garrett’s voice echoed, then a curse as he realized
she had no intentions of stopping.

Lovecraft
lurched toward the side door, hitting it with his shoulder. Wood
splintered, and he bellowed in rage, then vanished into the
blinding sphere of afternoon light.

Perry winced
at the brightness - her sensitive eyes preferred night - and leapt
through the hole he’d created. Her shoulder clipped a startled
passer-by in a bowler hat and she spun off balance, collected
herself on the base of a gas lamp, then kept going across the road
as Lovecraft smashed a man off a monocycle.

Horns blared
as an omnibus steered desperately around her. Perry leapt up onto
the seat of a steam-carriage to the startled cry of the driver, her
boot hitting the top of the carriage as she slid over the polished
walnut exterior and dropped off the other side. Shock ran up her
calves as she landed, and she only just managed to leap off the
road as a carriage hurtled down upon her.

Ahead of her
Lovecraft vanished around the corner, elbowing people out of the
way. He was shockingly fast, but so too was she.

Perry went
after him, ignoring the shouts behind her. He pounded through an
abandoned church cemetery, long neglected, and she made up time by
hurdling the iron fence, and reaching out to snatch at his sleeve
as he thundered across another road.

With a snarl
he threw her off, and slammed through a pair of gates into a park.
A squirrel tore up the nearest tree in fright, and people looked up
in shock from their picnic rugs, scrambling in a mad rush to get
out of the way. There was a cricket match in progress among a flock
of young schoolboys, and a gentleman in a top hat snatched a boy up
under each arm, as she and Lovecraft drove straight through the
middle of it.

Perry made one
last-ditch effort.

“
Stop!” She threw herself into a tackle, dragging him down to
the grass.

A blow stung
her ears, and she rolled over his shoulder in a tangle of arms and
legs, until she came up against a tree. Lovecraft staggered to his
feet, and drew back his boot as if to kick her in the face.

“
Lovecraft!” She held up a hand. “I’m your friend, remember?
It’s Perry. From Hobbs’ shop!”

Recognition
dawned. “Nurly,” he said.

“
Yes,” she let out a breath of relief, not daring to move.
“I’m trying to find Nelly. To help her. Why did you come to the
theatre?”

“
Nurly!”

“
Nelly’s not there, remember? She’s gone away. I have to find
her.”

Wringing at
his cap, he rocked back and forth, wide eyes frightened as he
watched people running away from them. “Gone. Nurly gone. Jerm
gone.”

“
James?” she asked. “James is gone?”

He looked
panicked. Perry rolled onto her hands and knees. What was he trying
to say? “I can help you,” she said. “You can’t find James or Nelly,
can you? Is that why you came to the theatre?”

“
Jerm hurt. Jerm gone.”

Her breath
caught in the back of her throat. “That’s right. Did you see the
man who hurt James?”

Tortured eyes
met her own. Lovecraft tore at his cap, as though to hide behind
it, but he nodded.

“
Was it someone at the theatre?” she asked breathlessly. “Is
that why you came there?”

Whistles
screamed as the local constabulary came on the scene. Lovecraft
cupped his hands over his specially-designed earmuffs, wincing.
Whatever she did, she would have to do it quickly. She could see
they all had pistols.

Hell and blazes
. She needed time to
talk to him. Lovecraft
had
witnessed Hobbs’ murder - he knew who’d done
it.

But if he
stayed here... Where people didn’t understand him...

“
Go,” she said, meeting his gaze, and imploring him. If they
caught him, they wouldn’t hesitate to shoot. Not with his
appearance. People were always frightened of what they didn’t
understand, and Lovecraft was like a child trapped in a man’s body.
He wouldn’t know how to appear unthreatening. “You need to run! Go!
They’ll hurt you! Go home! I’ll find you!”

Tears wet his
eyes, then the big man turned, and started running. The pair of
constables bolted past her, and Perry took her time rolling to her
feet, brushing the grass off.

Garrett caught
up to her, grinding to a breathless halt. “Are you all right?”

Perry brushed
a couple of leaves off her shoulder. “I’m fine. How is everyone at
the theatre?”

“
Shaken up, but not harmed. What the hell was that? Why the
hell didn’t you shoot?”

Perry wet her
lips. “That was Lovecraft.”

Garrett cut
her a look. “Hobbs’ adopted... project?”

“
He’s not a project,” she said sharply.

“
Did he hurt you?” He brushed grass off her arms, cupping her
shoulders and turning her around to examine her. As she spun back
the other way, he caught her chin, and tipped her face up, heat
flaring through his blue eyes. “He hit you. You’re
bruised.”

“
It’ll fade. I did tackle him, after all. He never meant to
hurt me–”

“
Bloody hell, Perry. It didn’t look like that. You said he
wasn’t a threat!”

“
He wasn’t. At least, I didn’t gain that impression. He was
frightened of me–”

“
I know your instincts are good,” he said, in a hard tone,
“but sometimes you’re wrong.”

“
And sometimes you’re a fool!” She snapped, turning back to
the theatre.

He caught her
arm. “You didn’t see what happened, Perry! He went straight for
Miss Radcliffe! Millington barely managed to push her out of the
way when Lovecraft attacked. He knocked down three men, and broke
another’s arm. You think that’s not threatening?”

“
Miss Radcliffe?” she murmured, slamming to a halt. “Did he
attack her?”

“
Tried to.”

They stared at
each other.

Perry’s mind
raced. Was she correct? Did Lovecraft come to the theatre to get
revenge on the person who’d shot Hobbs? Or had he not truly
understood what she’d been trying to ask?

Was it Miss
Radcliffe
?

She too had
motive. A prime new role as lead actress, and the only proof that
Rommell had a hand in the disappearance, had come directly from her
pretty lips.

Had that
entire story earlier been something that the actress had made up? A
way to cast suspicion on the lord? After all, Miss Radcliffe was an
actress. Maybe the tears had been feigned?

Perry’s gut twisted in doubt. If it was a lie, then the woman
was one hell of an actress. Perry
could
have sworn those tears had been real, but how could she tell
Garrett that? He already thought her hare-brained, for
thinking that Lovecraft wasn’t a threat to her.
If she tried to tell him her suspicions about Miss Radcliffe -
after all of their previous arguments - he’d no doubt think Perry
was trying to stir trouble again.

“
Can you track him by scent?” Garrett asked. He knew how good
her senses were.

Perry
hesitated - then slowly shook her head. “No. I can’t smell
anything.”

Which was a
lie, but if she were going to talk to Lovecraft then she needed to
do it alone. He would be too frightened of anyone else, and she
knew Garrett didn’t believe her.

“
Let’s get back to the theatre,” she said.
“And see how Miss
Radcliffe is
faring.”

And
afterwards, she’d see if she could pick up the scent trail that she
could sense.

The theatre
was bedlam.

Fear and excitement tainted the air, and it seemed the entire
acting troupe had emerged from whichever little hole in the theatre
belonged to them, to see what all of the fuss
was about.
The room was abuzz with
talk that
the pursuit had
lost Lovecraft, as he circled back around near
the theatre.

He could be
anywhere nearby. Perry’s fingers twitched as everyone whispered
about it.

Lord Rommell
was furious. “You knew this creature?” he demanded, stepping
forward just enough to make her uncomfortable.

Perry found
her back against the theatre wall. “I encountered him yesterday.
He... he’s some kind of anomaly but I don’t believe he meant any
harm–”

“
Perhaps you shouldn’t form such assumptions,” Rommell
replied. “Without an actual basis to your theory besides
feminine
intuition.” He
actually turned his back on her, focusing on Garrett. “I want a
search mounted. I want this... this creature found. It’s quite
evident he has something to do with Nelly’s disappearance, and this
incompetence is not what I’m paying the Guild for. If I hadn’t
stepped in when I did, it would have torn poor Miss Radcliffe to
pieces!”