Under the Floorboards (and In the Walls)

The Tragedy of Sophie Wilde-Lucy

 I sat across from Kipps at a little tea place a few blocks from the Fittes House. His suggestion. I called him at the first phone booth I came to after leaving Portland Row. When I had explained the connection between the source at both locations he sat, thinking. His blonde hair was cut short. He looked crisp and official in his Fittes Team Leader uniform. A soldier. But I had seen the tear in his eye when he told me about Sophie Wilde. I knew he was someone who could offer both compassion and wisdom.

Finally he said, "So someone stole the source from you just to put it in a random old lady's house? Why?"

"That's the mystery."

"Why come to me with this?"

Maybe I wasn't going to get as much wisdom as I had hoped.

"I thought you might have a different perspective on it. Something just feels off." I held my mug of tea up to my lips and took a deep breath before drinking the strong warm liquid.

"You said that this Aunt Tildy had hired another agency before you but they postponed? Who was that?"

"She didn't say I don't think. Just that they were a new agency."

Kipps looked thoughtful.

"What?"

"Nothing yet. Find out who the other agency was. But in the meantime, there's someone you should meet. I might need your help with something myself."

Kipps brought me to the flat of Janice Wilde. Sophie's younger sister. They had shared the flat until two days ago. She was a little red eyed but seemed more put together than I think I would be.

Kipps and I sat on a low sofa while Janice curled up on a large armchair. She held a worn pillow against her chest. You could assume it had belonged to Sophie.

Kipps sat closest to Janice. And the tissue box. "Jani, tell Lucy what you told me."

Jani sniffed and rubbed a tissue over her nose. "A week before... before it happened Sophie was jumped by someone on the street. She was coming home from a case and had a source with her. The man got the source. During the scuffle she pulled off his mask though and saw his face."

"Did she draw a picture of it or anything?" I asked, leaning forward. I tried to make my face as sympathetic as possible. I was sorry for her, but George said that when I tried to look it I ended up looking mad.

"She wasn't good at drawing." Jani closed her eyes in concentration. "But she said he had small eyes, wide forehead and a scar above his lip on the left."

I made a note of it on my pad.

"After that she was really nervous. She said she thought someone was following her."

"That's when she came to me about it," Kipps said to me. "She thought she had stumbled on a conspiracy but she hadn't figured out anything solid. She thinks someone is stealing relics for a larger purpose than just selling on the black market. She doesn't think it was a simple relic man who jumped her."

Jani gave out a little sob and covered her face. I didn't know what to do but Kipps seemed capable with comforting her. I'd never seen Kipps this tender with anyone. But if he was dating Sophie, he must have known Jani pretty well.

I didn't know it was insensitive to ask but Kipps had brought me here to help figure out what happened. Sometimes you had to be blunt. "What went on the night Sophie died."

Jani cleared her throat and Kipps rubbed her shoulder. "Sometimes she was hired by an agency to work with a team but other times she went by herself. On those cases she'd often take me with. I'd stay outside in a chain circle." Jani shrugged embarrassed at her inadequacy. "I'm a listener but I'm not very good. Sophie would just take me along as back up in case something went wrong. Tt was an unusual case from the get go. A little old lady came to use crying that morning. She said she didn't like the big agencies and wanted someone small. She insisted that it wasn't a big ghost. Just a slight feeling of malaise and some cold spots. A type two, nothing more."

I almost snorted. How would the old lady know what kind of ghost it was?

"There were four different visitors in the house." Kipps said, lips pursed.

I gasped.

Sophie never stood a chance. She was completely unprepared." Tears were making their way down Jani's dark cheeks again. But she didn't wipe them away. "I couldn't even help her. She was ghost touched almost as soon as she got in the house. I didn't hear a thing. Not a visitor, not even her scream. Just silence. After a while I knew something had gone wrong. When I opened the door, there she was. I dragged her out with chains and she didn't even-" the rest off whatever Jani was saying was cut off my her sobs. Kipps and I sat in silence for a moment. Respecting her grief. Kipps wiped a couple tears away himself. When Jani had calmed down a bit I asked tentatively, "And you think that maybe it was on purpose?"

"I have no proof." Jani sniffed. "The Saunders Paranormal Investigators took over the case the next day."

"What about the old lady?"

"She was hit by a truck last night on her way to a hotel."

"A truck?" I gasped.

-

I trudged home deep in thought. There were a lot of strings here. I needed to pull until I found something. But first I had an apology to make.

I found Lockwood in the basement practicing on Joe and Esmerelda. I watched him for a minute. His polished, practiced movements. Attacking on one side, and then the other. His hair was slick with perspiration and flipped neatly as he spun. Finally he made one last thrust at Joe and stood still. He must have felt my presence because he spun, rapier ready, to me. He grinned, and I couldn't help smiling back.

Panting from the exercise he asked, "Hey Luce, wanna take a turn with me?"

Maybe it'd put him in a more forgiving mood if he beat me in a fight.

I grabbed my rapier and got into a fighting stance.

His rapier shot forward and I parried quickly and returned with a move of my own. We danced around the basement for a while before he made a quick twist and tore my rapier from my hand. It fell with a clatter on the floor. Lockwood grinned at me over his blade. "Good job Luce. You're really improving."

I glowed with the praise even if he had just disarmed me in less than five minutes. Clearing my throat I said, "Lockwood, there's something I wanted to speak with you about."

"I hope it's not about contacting sources again." Lockwood said lightly as he cleaned his blade. Lockwood was freaky about keeping his blade from every rusting. He never put it away without cleaning it first.

"Yes. Kind of. Mostly." I took a deep breath and Lockwood looked at me with raised eyebrows. He was giving me his full attention. "I want to apologize for going behind your back with that. It was wrong of me. I broke my word to you and I'm sorry. It won't happen again," I said in a rush.

Lockwood waited a moment to make sure I was finished and then he smiled at me with that bright smile. "I'm glad we're on the same page. Of course I forgive you, Lucy." I smiled back at him and he took a step toward me. He played with his fencing gloves with his long fingers. "And I just want to say, I don't mean to stifle you. You have a great talent. But I want to help you use that talent wisely." He was looking into my eyes and I caught my breath. "The best agents can die in the most foolish ways. I'm here to support you."

Ok not romantic but still touching.

"Thank you, Lockwood. That means a lot."

"Now, we have a case to prepare for."

He had no idea.

It's finally the weekend!!! Woop woop! At least for me at this moment. :) I had a lot of fun with this chapter. I have never written anything with romance tho so let me know what you think of the soft scene at the end. Trying to get better. Stay safe. Watch out for deer! #SaveLockwoodandCo #DEPRACrollcall