Read Online The Curious Case Of The Clockwork Menace by Bec McMaster - Free Book Online Page A

his
arm out from under her grip. “Nuh. Nuh. Stay ‘ere. Nerly.” Fisting
the enormous clockwork fingers, he curled them up by his face.
    “ Nelly’s not going to come here again,” Perry whispered. “Nor
Hobbs. Do you understand that? Hobbs has... gone to sleep. Forever.
You put the coins on his eyes, didn’t you?”
    That set him
off. He pounded his fists against the brass muffs that covered his
ears. Then again.
    Perry tried to
grab his hand. “Please don’t, Lovecraft. You’ll hurt yourself.” She
swallowed. “Come back to the Guild with me. Maybe you can help me
find Nelly? If you answer my questions, I might be able to trace
where she’s gone. Maybe she’s not sleeping, like Hobbs? Maybe you
can help me save her?”
    The big brute
bared his teeth at her. “Nuh!” Agony twisted his ugly features. For
a moment, Perry almost reached out again, at the look in those
childlike blue eyes, but he shoved past.
    Lashing out at
her, he drove her back into the wall, and thundered toward the
ladder. Perry caught her breath, then started after him, but he
jerked the ladder up through the trapdoor and slammed it shut. The
lock clicked home and footsteps hammered dust down between the
floorboards. Then a door slammed.
    Gone . He was gone.
    Damn it. Perry
glared up at the trapdoor. It was going to give her a devilish
time, trying to get it open. And what in blazes did any of that
interaction mean?
    At least she
now knew that Nelly had been a frequent part of Hobbs’ life. Nelly
must have visited often enough for Lovecraft to have formed some
sort of affection for her, which meant the link was there. Hobbs’
murder was directly involved with Nelly’s disappearance.
    She just had
to find out how.
    As soon as she
got that damned trapdoor open.

 
    The theatre
was a hive of activity.
    Last minute
costume changes had to be seen to for Miss Radcliffe, who was
slightly taller than Nelly Tate had been, someone was screaming
about greasepaint in the wings and demanding to know where the wig
for Concetta was, and the lights were all blaring as the stagehands
tested them.
    Garrett used
the cacophony to move about relatively unseen in the background.
Nelly’s dressing room was the last in the row, and somewhat
isolated. He spent an hour examining the walls and mirrors in the
room, trying to locate any hidden passages backstage. One door led
to a storeroom filled with garish backdrops, but there was no sign
of any other mysterious way in or out of that area.
    Someone had to
have seen her leave. Unless she’d not been missed in the chaos?
    But if there
was blood in her room, then she should have been injured. Surely
someone would have noticed if Nelly had staggered out of her room,
or even been helped out by someone else.
    Garrett found
a small, out-of-the-way alcove from which to watch the stage, while
he waited for Perry. It wasn’t long before a dark-figured blur
stepped past the stage directly into the wings where he stood.
    “ Lord Rommell.” Garrett tipped his head to the man.
    Rommell looked
less than pleased to see him, though he responded with a curt nod,
and settled in beside Garrett. “How is the case progressing? Is
there any sign of Nelly?”
    While he’d
questioned Rommell the day before, the man’s sudden involvement in
the reward for her return gave him a new lead to chase.
“Unfortunately, there’s been no sign of her. Might I ask about your
involvement with Miss Tate? That’s quite a substantial reward
you’ve posted.”
    Rommell’s
attention seemed caught by something on stage. “Nelly was under
certain contractual obligations to me. I ensured that she gained
the role she desired, and was properly attired in jewels and
clothes, and in return...” He gave a suggestive gesture.
    “ Ah.” Nothing more needed to be said. Nelly had been Rommell’s
mistress. “Are you aware that flowers were delivered to her almost
every week during her last run? Red roses. They didn’t by chance
come from