☆ ᴡᴀᴛᴛʏꜱ 2024 SHORTLISTER!! ☆
A tragic misunderstanding. A murder. A secret. An unlikely partnership. A spirited countess and an enterprising racketeer.
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Manchester, England. May 1925.
The Roarin' 20s. An era of glamor, decadent parties, jazz mus...
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To have the undivided attention of all the room's occupants was both daunting and thrilling. Per her discussion with William the previous evening, Rose divulged all she had learned and discovered since that fateful day when she'd interviewed to be James Gallagher's secretary. A day that resided in the very recent past, yet felt like a lifetime ago.
William had given Rose his blessing for her absolute uncensored recount of events, therefore she kept her explanations short and to the point, but withheld nothing from the sordid list of discovery. Gallagher's behaviors and objectives, in so far as she had witnessed. Jimmy's colorful report of his father's relocation and seizure of properties venture. The corresponding deeds and documents Rose had found in the safe, along with how she'd ascertained the combination. And at last, Gallagher's long standing affair with Geneviève.
With each passing sentence, the charge of incredulity in the air seemed to crackle and intensify, and the eyes of her collective audience grew wider. A few imaginative obscenities burst from Ransom's lips, but otherwise, all the attendees were entombed in a dumb silence.
“...Gallagher murdered her,” Rose concluded. She looked down to find that her hands were shaking, and she clasped them together to keep them still. “He ended Geneviève's life in order to bury the secret of his illegitimate son. I was able to rescue her letter, which he attempted to burn. But a photograph of Geneviève and the baby also exists; unless it, like Geneviève, met with an untimely end.”
A lengthy pause ensued, in which the members of her audience exchanged glances and whispered exclamations. Tension hummed throughout the room, from floor to ceiling.
“D'ya think that's what happened?” Audrey asked at last. “To the photograph? It was destroyed, or disposed of?”
“In all honesty? No,” Rose replied. It was nothing but an inkling, yet for reasons she couldn't articulate, she knew she was right. “I believe, had he chosen to destroy it, the photograph would have been in the rubbish bin along with the letter. Half-burnt and discarded. It wasn't. Were I a gambler, I'd wager Mr. Gallagher kept it. Something by which to remember his lover. Not to mention, the only image of his son he'll ever see.”
Audrey's lips curved in half a smile. “So, it could very well be in his safe, then. Along with all those lovely contracts and documents of ownership.”
“It wouldn't surprise me,” Rose agreed. “He would want to keep its location controlled. Away from prying eyes. And he wouldn't dare take it home, where his wife might stumble upon it. No. If that photograph still exists, it's in his office. Of that, I'm certain.”
“And how's about the son? Your...beau?” Ransom said, waging a teasing finger in Rose's direction.
Rose pulled a face. “Jimmy. And he's not really my beau, thank you.”
“The peanut-shell-wanker,” Archie snickered, and Crispin and Elijah joined in.
“Right, yeah. Right. Jimmy,” Ransom chuckled. “He knew about his dad's affair. But not the baby. I got that right?”
