The Experimental Murders (Elysium #2)

Chapter Six

 "The tea shop girl?"

Trinket nodded. "I think she was about to tell me more, but there were customers milling about."

Booker tented his fingers and rested them against his lips. "It's surprising she'd be willing to tell you about it at all." He gave her a teasing smile. "You must have a trustworthy face."

"Or maybe she's so desperate to get this secret off her chest that she's ready to confess everything to the first person who takes an interest."

Puckering his lips, Booker considered this. "Possible. Still."

He rose from the settee and made his way to the front door. Before Trinket could even follow him, he had thrown it open and was calling out to one of the nearby street urchins. A little boy with a dirty face approached.

"Where's Gin?" Booker asked.

"Doing business out in the market," the little boy replied with a slight lisp.

"Go find her and tell her I have an important task for her."

The boy nodded enthusiastically and scurried off in the direction of the city center. As Booker closed the door, Trinket eyed him warily. "What do you need Gin for?"

"Perhaps this tea shop girl is desperate to tell someone the information she has. However, on the chance that she's already regretted confiding in you, I need a little leverage to convince her."

He walked towards the laboratory door. "You mean blackmail," she said, trailing after him.

Wincing, he leaned against the doorpost. "Blackmail is such an ugly word. I prefer to call it bartering for information."

"Emma is a nice girl, Booker. We shouldn't get her involved with this."

"Seems she's already involved. Besides," he winked at her, "most people aren't nearly as nice as they seem.

~

Gin worked quickly gathering not only the dirty information Booker wanted but also some tips on Emma's schedule. It seemed she frequented the Clocktower on an almost daily basis. Considering this was one of Booker's favorite haunts, he made plans with Trinket to dine out that very night in hopes of seeing her.

The alehouse was more crowded than usual. Thick smoke filled the air, and Trinket could hardly hear herself think over the boisterous laughter and drunken singing. The crowds of rowdy men and women pressed in on her, and every bump and nudge made her twitch. Her fingers went numb with tingling. Her ears rang. Dark figures darted in and out of her sight as voices whispered unintelligible words in her ear.

Booker took hold of her hand and pulled her off to a small table in the corner partially shrouded in shadow. Away from the noise and commotion, her pulse slowed, and the voices faded into the background.

"How are we going to find her in this crowd?" she asked.

"Perhaps luck will be on our side."

A serving girl brought them each a bowl of the stew of the day, but Trinket paid the slop no mind. She was more interested in finding the lithe and winsome Emma amidst the sea of people. As she searched, her eyes fell upon a familiar face. Bald, ugly, and as large as a mountain. Her chest tightened, and she clenched her teeth. The Ape Man. No, he went by Squeeze now that he had joined the Dead Mice. Not that she had known his real name anyhow. To her, he was just one of the heartless caretakers at Elysium Asylum. The one who had been careless enough to let her escape.

Turning her attention back to her stew, she stirred it slowly while thinking back to what Scales had said earlier that day. His words had most certainly been a threat. Was he interested in the mutilated corpse as well? What he wanted with a dead body was beyond her. Still, that chilling smile of his would not leave her mind.