Ada & The Queen (The Woodhouse Series #3)

Chapter 9

CHAPTER 9

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*Whitechapel/Scotland Yard, London*

A body lay in an alley of Whitechapel. Police had been called when a milkman found her, her eyes open and glassy, her mouth open and her veins black with blue bruising.

"Do we know who she is?" Theodore asked as he approached Adler, early in the morning at the crime scene. The body had been covered, a police cordon in place as passersby gathered, aghast in horror at the death before them.

"No idea..." Adler replied as Theodore crossed the cordon and crouched down, lifting the cover to see the dead body, dropping it instantly at the horror before him. "We can ask around if anyone recognises her."

Theodore looked at the body - her head was facing the alley towards a courtyard where a cordon had some children watching the police at work.

"Judging by the way she fell, I can only assume she came from the street..." Theodore gestured in that direction, standing up. "She must've come here...looking for help."

"No puncture wounds from initial assessment..." An officer said, inspecting the body. "The coroner is on his way."

A police wagon was brought to the street as Theodore and Adler stepped out, scouring the streets and buildings. Gambling, taverns and inns - Whitechapel was notorious for it all.

"We need to ask in these establishments..." Theodore said as Adler frowned.

"Brothels are illegal..." Adler reminded him and Theodore nodded.

"That may be so but it doesn't mean laws are followed. And besides...these women do not venture far from their homes..." Theodore explained. "She must've lived around here somewhere..."

Adler ordered a few officers to begin door-to-door enquiries in the whole area to see if someone was missing or had any information.

A wagon from the coroner's office soon arrived, and the body was gently placed on a stretched, the sheet still covering it and taken away.

The sooner the coroner found a cause of death, the sooner they could find out who was responsible.

***

"No one talked..." An officer relayed back to Adler and Theodore back at Scotland Yard. "We knocked in the places where women were living, and they either claimed they weren't missing someone or refused to talk."

"Well...that doesn't sound suspicious..." Adler replied sarcastically as Theodore sighed, leaning on a wall.

"Prostitutes have an aversion towards law enforcement..." Theodore explained. "As you said, brothels have been outlawed since last year and they've had to take their business into the streets or their homes. It's their livelihood, even if it is illegal and they're not going to let us try and stop them. I've always had great difficulty in getting them to talk..."

"So...how do you?" Adler asked, dismissing the officer who left the office.

"Florence does..." Theodore replied, a small smile on his lips.

"Well...where is she?"

"In Oxford..." Theodore replied. "She's meeting friends there for a few days..."

Adler nodded. "You know she is not the only person who can help us?"

Theodore frowned, looking at him. "What do you..." He saw Adler's face - a knowing look as if Theodore knew exactly who he was talking about.