“What is it?” he asked, his voice demanding, knowing the difference in her.

“Just the women,” she replied. “There was a murder last night. That’s why I’m late. The police came to the house this morning.”

“Why? What would you know about it?” He was puzzled.

She knew what he was imagining: a prostitute beaten and bleeding coming to the house, then returning to her brothel and being beaten again, this time to death. “No. At least not the way you mean,” she answered. “It was a man who was killed, a client, if you can call him that. They think he fought with one of the women and somehow or other she pushed him downstairs. They wanted to know about women who came in cut and bruised as if they had been in a struggle.”

“And you had seen some?” he said.

“Of course. Every night! It’s mostly that and disease. I couldn’t help because I don’t know how they got hurt, or where to find them again.”

He pushed her back a little, looking more closely at her face. “And would you help the police if you could?”

“I don’t think so,” she admitted. “I don’t know. . . .”

He smiled very slightly, but his eyes read her perfectly.

“All right . . .” she agreed. “I’m glad I can’t help. It relieves me of having to decide if I would or not. Apparently he was, in Constable Hart’s words, ’a toff,’ so the police are going to make everyone suffer, because the family will make sure they do.” She grimaced with disgust. “They’ll probably tell us he was a philanthropist walking the back streets and alleys trying to save the souls of fallen women!”

He lifted his head and very gently pushed back the hair that had fallen across her brow. “Unlikely . . . but I suppose it’s possible. We believe what we need to . . . at least for as long as we can.”

She rested her head against his chin. “I know. But I can’t excuse persecuting a lot of women who are wretched enough anyway, or the pimps who will only take it out on them. It won’t change anything.”

“Someone killed him,” he said reasonably. “They can’t ignore that.”

“I know!” She took a deep breath. “I know.”

Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO