PROBLEM - Anthony Lockwood

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

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xv

thats very mean, and no (yes) i'm not (might be) the height of a 12 year old

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THE FOUR AGENTS walked through the streets of London.

"We've been looking at it the wrong way around," Lockwood declared. "It's not about us helping Annabel, it's about her helping us."

"How?" Alice questioned, walking alongside him. He was dressed in his usual suit and a trench coat, and she had to keep her eyes on the ground because at this point looking at him was like looking at the sun.

She wore the same red dress but with black tights and her regular pointy shoes. She had her cloak clasped at her collarbone, but the hood was up, over her open hair, which she put forwards to try and hide as much of the throat bruises as she could. She was strangely cold after channelling.

"It's all about media exposure," Lockwood explained, "Annabel's disappearance was a big story. It's far bigger than us burning a house down. If we solve her murder, the headlines we'll get will cancel out all our bad press overnight."

"I thought you said no more pet projects?" Lucy interjected.

"It's not a pet project anymore," Lockwood replied, "It's the main event."

George shook his head, "It won't make us 60 grand."

"It could make us more," Lockwood countered. "I mean, think of the millions of old people sat at home, nothing to do but reminice and read the papers." He turned to Alice, gouging her reaction, "They love murder mysteries. It's a bona fide front page splash. Barnes won't dare move against us."

Barnes was the inspector.

Alice was literally terrified of him.

"Leave me out of it," Lucy implored, "I don't like my name in the papers. Had enough of that crap back home."

"Me too," Alice added, "I don't want people hearing my name."

If an Orpheus Society hunter saw it, she'd be on the run again.

"You just have to know how to deal with them," Lockwood assured, "Leave all that crap to me-"

Alice grabbed his arm, "Lockwood, we mean it. Don't put us in the spotlight. At all."

"The most important thing is solving the case, right?" Lucy cut in.

They made their way towards the British Archives.

"This is where it all happens," George warned, "Quietly. So behave yourselves." They made their way into the archives and began researching Annabel Ward, reading up on anything they could find."

"That's it, she was in Hamlet playing Ophelia," George declared.

Alice looked up from the newspaper she was reading, "That makes sense." She grabbed the paper from George as he grabbed something else. "'Annabel Ward's moving Ophelia captures the depths of tragic romance'. That's cute."

"These kind of depths," George added as he brought over an illustration, showing it to Lucy, "That's why the two of you were lying in the bath, fully dressed. Ophelia drowned with dasies."

Lockwood put down his newspaper, leaning forwards to see the illustration too.

"That's why we kept seeing dasies in our dreams," Lucy realised.

"She wen't mad, killed herself because of how Hamlet treated her," George explained.

"Yeah but Annabel didn't kill herself," Lucy countered.

"But the part she played and what happened in her life started mirroring each other," the bespectacled boy told her. "Hamlet and Ophelia. Annabel and her abusive lover."

Alice leaned back in her seat. Perhaps Annabel wasn't a witch, but she might have sold her soul to one for her acting sucesses. To become as real as Ophelia, one had to become Ophelia.

"You think whoever played Hamlet killed her?" Alice inquired.

"Hugo Blake, that's his name, look," Lockwood declared. He began to read from the newspaper. Alice leaned next to him, eyes scanning the words also, "'The case of Annabel Ward took another twist last night, when actor Hugo Blake was arrested in connection with her disappearance. Ward was rumoured to be in a relationship with her dashing Hamlet co-star after the pair were spotted together having an intimate dinner at a private members club'."

Alice looked at the picture in the newspaper, "Look, she's wearing the ring."

"So, Blake was arrested, but he got away with it?" Lucy questioned.

"Well, there was no hard evidence; no eyewittnesses, no body," Lockwood explained.

Alice frowned, "It might not have been him, though - remember, her lover was jealous of some guy he thought was with her."

"Guys, listen," George cut across, grabbing another paper, "'Blake was released Monday night without charge. Police said their investigation had run dry.'"

Lockwood folded a newspaper, turning to look at Alice, "Unlike ours," he quipped, voice low.

Alice smiled.

"Well done, Tony!"

They turned at the sound of the jeering voice, to see a group of four, uniformed agents approach them. They looked like stuck up pricks. "Doing your research before the job this time."

Lockwood stayed seated, but Alice stood up, crossing her arms. Whoever these people were, she didn't like them. Lucy and George also stood, on the other side of the table.

"Is it Tony?" a girl inquired mockingly, "Or is it Andrew now."

"Keep it down, Kipps. This is a library, not a braying gallery of bellends," George insulted.

Alice watched as Lucy looked at Kipps with a faraway, quiet look in her eyes. Like she was studying. "Ahh, Lucy Carlyle - the new assistant."

"Colleague," Lucy corrected, crossing her arms, "This is Quill Kipps, he has the highest mortality rate of any team leader."

"I'm top supervisor, of the country's top agency," Kipps retorted as Lockwood chuckled mockingly, "I get the most dangerous jobs, precisely because of how good I am. Unlike him," he jabbed at Lockwood. He turned to Lucy, "I'll say it again, you won't stick around too long, sweetheart."

Lucy rolled her eyes, "I think we'll stay."

Kipps eyes found Alice, and he chuckled, "Another one? Shouldn't you be doing your SAT's or something?" He turned back to Lucy, raising his eyebrows quickly, as if regarding her, "Not when you find out what he's really like. Everyone leaves him in the end."

At that, Lockwood stood up, grabbing his rapier and pointing it at Kipps, who got his too and blocked him. "Her name's Alice. My name's Lockwood," he smirked, "And you need a ladder."

Kipps furrowed his brows, his eyes flickered to Lucy for a second before looking at Lockwood again, "No I don't."

"Yes you do," Lockwood assured, and then he twisted his sword around Kipps' and the latter's rapier was thrown upwards and became imbedded in the ceiling.

As Kipps grunted and looked up, Alice noticed Lucy looking at his jawline.

Lockwood turned and sheathed his rapier, looking at Alice with a proud sparkle in his eyes. She hoped to every spirit in London that she wasn't blushing.

She was blushing.