The Experimental Murders (Elysium #2)

Chapter Four

 There were three men in the parlour with Booker when Trinket arrived home. She recognized one as Jewkes, but the other two officers were unfamiliar to her. They pulled their attention away from Booker and focused on her as she closed the front door. Cautiously, she made her way into the parlour and glanced at Booker lounging on the settee.

"Perfect timing," he said. "These fine officers are likely parched from all the questions they've been asking. Perhaps you could make them some tea? I'd have offered myself, but as we both know, my tea is not to everyone's taste."

Trinket responded with a single nod before returning to the hallway and making her way to the kitchen. After setting the kettle on the stove, she went to the kitchen dresser to select a simple black tea, though not the strong one that Booker was partial to. No one deserved to be subjected to that.

She turned back to the stove and started at finding Jewkes standing in the doorway, one of the unfamiliar officers behind him.

"Constable Jewkes," she said, giving a polite nod.

"Miss Trinket, correct?" Jewkes said.

"The tea will be ready shortly if you'd like to wait for it in the parlour."

"I'm not here about tea." He walked further into the kitchen, taking in the whitewashed walls and the brown dado. Running a finger over the table in the center of the room, he gave a gruff chuckle. "Not as elaborate as I would have expected from Booker Larkin."

Pulling out the tea set, Trinket placed it on the table and eyed Jewkes and the other officer warily. "Kitchens are not generally known for being overly decorated. Fire hazard."

"Yes, but you and I both know that Booker Larkin is not one to follow societal norms."

"Is there anything I can help you with, Constable?"

Jewkes leaned against the table and watched as she set tea strainers over the cups and scooped spoonfuls of leaves into each one. "You seem like a nice girl, Miss Trinket. I have to say, I was surprised to see you slumming around the morgue with Larkin. Even more surprised to see that you're still with him."

She held back a crude laugh. A nice girl. Nice girls were not sent to asylums. Nice girls did not attempt suicide. Nice girls did not attack their employers with knives in fits of terror. Then again, most girls didn't suffer from hallucinations on a daily basis, nice or not.

"I take it you've heard about the dead body found in the alley this morning?" Jewkes asked.

Gritting her teeth, she continued to silently prepare the tea.

"Strange to find the body of a complete stranger in such a small city. Not unheard of, but strange nonetheless. But that's not the unsettling part. What has us all out of sorts is the condition of the corpse's fingers. See, they aren't fingers. They're talons. Bird talons."

Trinket's gaze flickered from Jewkes to the officer hovering behind him. "Sounds a bit far-fetched."

"About as far-fetched as a wolf with metal teeth."

Stiffening, she returned her attention to the task at hand. "Is there a reason you're talking to me about this instead of Mr. Larkin?"

"All right, I'll cut to the chase." He leaned in closer, and she could smell cigarette smoke on his breath. "I know that Booker Larkin is more than capable of creating monstrosities. Up until now, all I've seen are mechanical abominations. But I wouldn't put it past him to attempt combining man with beast. And I certainly wouldn't put it past him to resort to murder in order to advance his supposed science. The question is, has he crossed that line already?"