HONOR MISPLACED

Arthur Browne

Chapter Three

   Elroy Jones dropped Charlie off at the small pub not far from where Charlie worked. The Black Mare was old, and had become something of a home away from home for many of the men of the Metropolitan Police, especially the unmarried ones. Edmund Hotspur, owner and proprietor of the establishment gave Charlie a wave from behind the ancient and well-used bar. Charlie meandered to his usual table, sat and ordered a pint from the barmaid.

Her name was Anasera Trinonoff, and she was a raven-haired beauty with a captivating accent. She had also, without having worked at in the least, captured the hearts of most of the male denizens of the Black Mare. There were scores of stories making the rounds about her, but it was most commonly accepted that her parents were members of the Russian aristocracy that had been forced to flee the country due to some sort of dispute with the Czar himself. There were also rumors of a sizable cache of gems being smuggled out of the country with them, but this was hard to lend credence to. Wealthy Russian aristocrats did not let their daughters work in a pub.

Charlie did his usual harmless flirting with the girl, but though he was single and unattached, and she was certainly a captivating girl, he had just known her for so long that he had developed a protective and brotherly feeling towards her. She was well aware of this, and indeed tended to treat him as something of an older sibling. They just genuinely liked each other.

Charlie saw his uncle enter the pub and head his way. He had already ordered the usual, a shepherd’s pie for himself and the fish and chips for uncle Jack. He noticed right away that his uncle looked a little downcast, and signaled for another pint, although he knew that it would already be on the way. In fact Anasera nearly beat uncle Jack to the table, and she too noticed that he was not quite his usual chipper self. “What’s this, then, are we feeling out of sorts today?” She combined a wonderful smile full of small but dazzling teeth with a gentle hand placed upon the older man’s shoulder.

Sure enough uncle Jack’s woebegone manner was not up to the struggle against this abundance of concern and warmth, and then cast the girl a grateful smile of his own. “Nothing for you to fret your pretty head over, my girl, now get you back to work,” Jack said, striving for severity but falling woefully short of the mark.

The girl took his advice, and turned to go, but not before once again lighting that corner of the room with her smile. Both men watched her go, each fighting the temptation to let their eyes slide down to watch the sway of her hips. And they each succeeded admirably, much to their credit.

But then uncle Jack was staring into Charlie’s eyes and his own eyes were smoldering with a cold, dark anger. Charlie could suddenly imagine his uncle, Lee Enfield rifle with fixed bayonet in hand, running through no man’s land, past shell holes and barbed wire, to come grimly face to face with the Germans in the trench ahead of him. A small shudder crept down his spine.

“What have they learned about the Colonel’s boy, Charlie?” his uncle hissed at him through clenched teeth. He looked a little ashen, and there was a quaver in his voice. Charlie had never seen him like this. “Do they know anything? Anything at all?”

“I only got put on the case a couple of hours ago, Uncle Jack, it’s a little early to have solved it yet,” Charlie said evenly.

Uncle Jack seemed even more shocked for just a moment. “So it’s you they put on the case? I would’ve thought this warranted someone with a little more… rank.”

Charlie was certain that his uncle had been about to say ‘experience’ and only change the word to spare Charlie’s feelings. But his uncle made a valid point. “I think the higher ups are handling the important part of the case, dealing with the family, keeping the publicity down to a minimum. I am just the investigator of record in case we hit a dead end. Then they will have someone to lay the blame on.” He shot his uncle a smile to show that no offense had been taken.

His uncle looked slightly embarrassed. “That isn’t what I meant at all, lad. You’ll do a bang up job, no doubt. But you must let me know if you learn anything. You will, wont you lad?” His uncle reached across the table and grasped his wrist with a hand that was still remarkably strong. “To lose a son in the war is nothing if not expected for that family, but this, this is just unfair. The old man deserves better.”

Charlie assured his uncle that he would do all that he could, and keep him appraised of any progress. The food arrived and the conversation turned to more mundane things, if talk of war can ever be called mundane. Time passed as time will, and as they were finishing their meal Billy Dawes came rushing up to the table.

“Good afternoon, Uncle Jack,” Billy said to the older gentleman. Nearly everyone ended up calling him Uncle Jack sooner or later.

“Hello, Billy my boy, you look to be carrying some important news, if I don’t miss my guess.”

“Uh, indeed, Sir, I am.” Billy turned to Charlie with no pause for breath. “You have a visitor, Sir, it’s the Crowley girl, I mean to say she is sitting in your office as we speak. Just walked in a little while ago looking for you. I tried to send her on to the Chief, but she would have none of it. Insisted on talking to you personally.”

“Well there’s nothing for it then,” Charlie realized aloud, wiped his mouth, and started to formulate an apology to uncle Jack, but it was waved away before it had been begun.

“You get to work, Charlie, and get this thing sorted. Plenty of fares for me to haul at this time of day.”

With a quick wave to Anasera and Mr. Hotspur, Charlie and Billy were off.

Within a very few minutes Charlie was standing outside the door to his own office, straightening his tie and running his fingers through his hair before thrusting the door open and entering the dingy room to find an attractive young lady seated in the only other chair in the room besides his own. He extended his hand and introduced himself, feeling more than a little ill at ease.

The young lady in question rose to shake his hand, offering him a subdued smile. Charlie noticed that her eyes were red. No doubt the loss of her brother had hit her rather hard. His first impression of her was that she somehow, despite her sadness, made the small, dim room seem both larger and brighter. She was fashionably attired in a long, light grey wool skirt… but not too long, part of Charlie’s mind couldn’t help but notice… with matching jacket over a cream-colored blouse. Her hair was trimmed rather short, and was honey gold, a shade that matched her complexion and her eyes, which were light brown with little golden flecks. She wore no jewelry at all and she smelled absolutely marvelous. Charlie had to bring himself up short. He was examining her much too intimately, and he feared that this appraisal would be only too obvious.

In fact a hint of a smile did pass fleetingly across her lips, in which Charlie took great delight, as he held her hand just a little too long for social convention and gazed into her eyes just a little too deeply for common courtesy.

“I’m most pleased to meet you, Inspector,” the young woman insisted, “I am Katherine Crowley, but you must call me Kat. Everyone does.”

Charlie felt himself flush. He had not expected the privileged daughter of a Baron and Lord of the realm to be quite so unnervingly pleasant. Oh, he had expected graciousness and good manners, but not such warmth as this. He don’t know why it surprised him, but it did. His next thought was to wonder what exactly it was that she wanted from him. Perhaps she was wondering why the case had been handed to such a lowly individual as he. He was not kept in suspense.

“I just came by to see if there was any way I could be of any help at all,” she stated calmly, locking eyes with him. “I’m sure you must have questions that the family could help answer. And I know my father has something of a reputation as a… well, he can be a little intimidating. But I know my… I knew my…” she stammered just a little, and her eyes brimmed with tears, and Charlie almost reached out and put his arms around her to comfort her, so powerful was the urge to keep this girl from any sadness at all. She blinked and forced herself to continue. “I was very close to my brother. We had no secrets at all. So if there is anything you need to know, anything at all, or any way that I can help. They’ve given me some leave from my duties so I could attend the…” Again she was unable to continue and again Charlie was struck by the desire to take this woman in his arms and comfort her.

He decided that changing the subject would help. “I read somewhere that you are an ambulance driver for the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force. I’m sure that must take a great deal of courage, and you must help a great number of people.” He realized that this made it sound as if he had been studying up on her, and that on top of that it was just a little condescending.

But she favored him with a smile that said she appreciated his efforts, and told him, “Oh, I do love it so. It isn’t always a pleasant job.  And the uniform is frightfully uncomfortable, but…”

And at this moment the Germans decided to pay London another visit and the sirens began to go off all over the city.