Virtue

He almost flinched as his booted feet landed on the wood of the dock. He hadn’t stepped foot on London soil in over fifteen years. Sebastian Fletcher looked around. The Isle of Dogs hadn’t changed much despite signs of advancement that could be seen everywhere. Evidence of the perpetual construction that would transform the docks into a vision of the future was all around him but when you looked at what lay beneath, he could see that the same stagnant condition had driven him away from London at the age of fourteen was still there. Completely unchanged. Hopelessness of those on which progress was built. He glanced over at his companion. Thomas was more than just his valet. Some might call him his man of affairs. To Sebastian, Thomas was friend and confidant. “Can you get everything delivered to the townhouse?”

Thomas nodded. He knew Sebastian needed to come to terms with being back in London but there was nothing he could do to assist him in that process. “Of course.”

Sebastian inclined his head in acknowledgment and started on the path out of the docks that would lead him into the stews and slums. As he moved away from the docks the streets grew narrower and more suffocating. He wasn’t sure what he was hoping to find. He had long since put away the childish notions of belonging somewhere so he knew he wasn’t looking for evidence to the contrary. The longer he walked the more he understood he was looking for atonement.

He could tell the sun was setting even though it seemed like most of the sky was blocked by a low fog that settled on the streets of London. The Seraphina had docked early, something he took an inordinate amount of pride in. But it also meant he had been walking the slums and stews of London for well over four hours. He needed to find a hackney to take him to the townhouse. The realization set in that he felt more at home in the slums than he knew he would on the modest street he would call his abode over the next couple months. He knew could find a hackney a couple streets over, closer to the brothels. At this time of night, there shouldn’t be much traffic.

He started to pass an alley but movement caught his eye. Pausing, he focused on the shadows. Curiosity got the better of him and he changed direction. He imagined it was just a street rat rummaging for their next meal. His eyes adjusted to the dimness as he proceeded further into the shadows. A figure, dressed in threadbare trousers and a yellowed shirt covered by a coat that he couldn’t imagine provided much warmth, was crouched over something on the ground. A hat was pulled low on their head, obscuring their features. There was something off about the figure but he couldn’t put his finger on exactly what nor did he have the chance to figure it out. His movement into the alley alerted them that they were not alone. After a quick glance at him over their shoulder the figure stood and darted off into the shadows. He was pretty sure this alley led to one of the more traveled streets. The street rat could easily lose themselves in the narrow winding streets of the stews.

Curious about what they were foraging for, Sebastian walked deeper into the shadows. He abruptly stopped as details materialized. The street rat hadn’t been foraging for food. A body, if you could call it that as this point, lay grotesquely displayed among the trash and debris. The stench of blood masked by the other odors permeating the stews. The street rat was incredibly brave or incredibly desperate to have been as close as they were. The sight before him turned his stomach. He had seen death before, but it always caught him off guard. Taking another step forward and studied the sight. The amount of blood staining the dress she wore could have only been caused by a blade slicing into her repeatedly. The detail that took him aback was that her eyes were open. She had been awake when death took her.

Turning back towards the entrance to the alley, he retraced his steps. Reaching the street, he looked for a constable knowing that he wasn’t likely to find one. There was something jarring about the activity on the street juxtaposed with the hellish scene behind him. Noticing another street rat eyeing a group of gentlemen on their way to either one of the brothels or hells that littered the streets ahead, he caught his eye. “Would you like to earn some coin for an errand?” Reaching in his pocket he pulled out a small bag and dumped the contents into his hand. “One now. One when you return with a constable. Tell him a body has been found in the alley.” He watched the boys eyes darted over to opening of the alley behind him. “It’s not a sight you need to see.”

The boy scoffed and took the coin that was being offered to him. “Can’t be no worse than that girl they found a couple weeks ago. She was slashed up something awful.”

Sebastian frowned at the boy’s comment. “You’ll fetch the constable?”

The boy shrugged. “There’s one that usually hangs out over on Swan.” He glanced over at the alley again before turning and running off.

Sebastian watched him run off in the general direction of Swan. He figured there was a fairly low chance the boy would return with a constable but it was his only option for now. Leaving the woman’s body alone in the alley didn’t seem right. Pulling his watch out of his pocket he glanced at the time. He vaguely remembered how long it would take to get to Swan from here and back. There were a couple taverns on Swan that fifteen years ago had been easy targets for a street rat looking for a meal. He imagined not much had changed.

Giving a look around the street, he retreated back into the alley. The scene was still as unsettling as it was the first time he had seen it although he allowed himself to take in details he hadn’t picked up on before. She was maybe eighteen or nineteen. She hadn’t been a member of society. This was a working girl and if he had to guess she hadn’t been working long. She didn’t quite have the used up look most of them had…the look that said they had given up long ago. He studied how she was positioned. She had been placed there. There was no evidence of her fighting back. Her hands were folded across her chest, clutching something. He couldn’t quite tell what it was since it was obscured by the dark stain of blood. He wished he had a lantern with him. The lights from the upper windows of the buildings didn’t quite cast enough light down to see clearly.

“That the gent, boy?”

Sebastian turned towards the voice and saw his street rat with a constable and two other men carrying a wicker basket. Slipping his hand into his pocket he pulled out the coin and dropped it into the grimy hand of the boy. It dawned on him what had been off about the figure crouching over the body when he first arrived. Their hands had been clean. He frowned to himself as the two men unceremoniously picked up the woman’s body and dropped it into the wicker basket. He walked over to the constable. “The boy said it wasn’t the first woman found carved up.”

Shrugging the constable eyed Sebastian. “Wouldn’t think a member of the Fancy would be concerned about a body in he stews…unless you’re the one that put her there.”

Sebastian raised an eyebrow and stared at the constable. He had started to protest the assumption that he was a member of the ton but then realized what the constable had actually said. “Don’t be ridiculous…why would I have the boy summon you if I had put her there. Besides, I arrived this afternoon on the Seraphina. If other bodies have been previously found I’m afraid I was in New York at the time.”

The constable shifted his attention to the men carrying the basket out of the alley. “Maybe.” He looked back at Sebastian. “Don’t know what concern this is to you anyway.” Nodding, he followed the two men out of the alley.

Sebastian watched him until he disappeared around the corner. Pulling another coin out of his pocket he held it out to the boy. “Tell me about the other body.”

The boy grabbed the coin. “Keep paying me and I’ll tell you anything you want to know.”

“Where was she found?”

“A couple street over.” The boy eyed the man standing in front of him. He seemed genuinely interested in the dead girls. “Why?”

“Two bodies carved up sounds like a problem. Do you know who they were?”

The boy shook his head. “I didn’t get a good look at their faces before the body snatchers got ‘em.” The boy glanced around him before leaning toward Sebastian. “I heard there were others. I didn’t see them but when I mentioned the other girl, One Hand Mike said there’d been others. All of ‘em workin’ girls.”

Sebastian nodded and pondered the idea of someone killing prostitutes. It bothered him that the constable hadn’t cared that someone had killed the girl and left her body to be found but it hadn’t really surprised him either. The stews had long been abandoned by both man and God. He looked at the boy again. “One more question. Do you know a street rat that wears trousers, a yellowed shirt with a jacket? Hat pulled down low. Maybe more concerned than your normal rat about keeping their hands clean?” He watched recognition cross the boys face as he looked to the side and shook his head. He knew who it was but he was protecting them. That was okay for now. “If you think of anything else, my office is off of Williams Square. Phoenix Shipping.” He watched the boy nod, then turn to run off.

Looking back at where the woman’s body had lain, he stalked back and stood next to the dried blood. He noticed a flower. It looked old and dried out, like it had been there for weeks. Kneeling down, he picked it up by the stem and examined it. There were blood stains on the dried petals. This is what the woman had been clutching in her hands. Knitting his brows in contemplation, he rose to his feet. Dropping the flower to the ground he retreated out of the alley.