04: WATERLOO TWO

Within an hour, St Croix returned to the offices of Baxter, Narrows and Tyrol, only to be met by two members of the newly formed City of London Police. They asked for his name and the nature of his business at this address. He expressed that he was a client of Sir Percy’s and that the daughter of a sitting Member of Parliament awaited her boot's return.

One of the constables disappeared up the stairs, only to return a few moments later. First, he told his partner that this man was expected and then said to St Croix, “I am sorry, Governor, but given the state of the world and the city, we cannot exercise too much diligence.”

St Croix acknowledged the Constable and replied, “I shall make it known to your superiors within the professionalism of your duty in the service.”  

Upon entering Sir Percy’s chambers, he saw that even for a room of its size, it appeared crowded.

Sir Percy was seated behind his desk, Evelyn Harwood was in a chair to his left, and three other men were standing looking at the door as if they were awaiting his arrival.

One of the men, the eldest of the three, introduced himself and the others. 

“I am Inspector Harland Miles of Scotland Yard; this is Inspector Roy Cooley and Chief Constable Colman of the Metropolitan Police.”

“Before you ask any questions that may alter your memories, I want to assure you that you are not under any suspicion. We want you to recount your first encounter with young Miss Harwood this morning.” 

Jonathon looked at Miss Harwood, and she nodded her head a few times in quick succession.

St Croix recounted everything, explaining why he was on Waterloo Bridge and up to just encountering the police officers outside the building. Being good at his word, he commented on the two constables' attitudes, posture, and conduct. 

Inspector Miles pressed him for any additional detail that he may have on the large boorish man that had knocked down Miss Harwood.

Thinking for a moment, St Croix replied. “Russian, I only caught a passing glimpse of him, but I saw that he had rough, solid Slavic features. I glanced at his hat, which appeared to be an excellent example of a Russian black sable.

Then, as I was helping Miss Harwood to her feet, I looked again at him and noticed he was walking with a limp favouring his right leg; his right foot seemed to be, I believe, the word out-toed or Duck-footed. The opposite of the more common pigeon-toed.”

St Croix knew that the man was Russian as almost everyone from east of the Vistula had a distinct and unpleasant odour.

Miles looked pleased and expressed his gratitude, saying, “A large, well-to-do Russian with a Duck foot and limp is considerably more than we had half an hour ago. And your assessment of this man greatly agrees with what was considered before this morning.”

“Excuse me, Inspector, may I inquire about this matter and to whom this matter is related? A simple act of rudeness is not usually found in the purview of the Yard.”

The two Yard Inspectors looked at one another, and Cooley removed the notebook from his pocket.

“Based on what you said of this man, and because Sir Percy vouches for your character, we may preliminarily assume that an individual with ties to St Petersburg may, in a way, want to discredit The Honourable Mr Harwood and cause an incident that may reflect poorly on Her Majesty’s Government of Mr Russell.” 

“Sir, If I may ask, in what way are either myself or, more importantly, Miss Harwood involved in some Czarist plot?”

“Your large brutish bear of a Cossack did not accidentally impact Miss Harwood but took the opportunity to slip a note and small packet into the pocket of her over-garment.”

“May I ask what this packet consisted of?”

“Unfortunately, despite your great assistance, no one here is at liberty to discuss this matter further, and not again upon leaving this room.”

Once the police and the Yard Inspectors took their leave, Sir Percy, Evelyn, and St Croix discussed what had just transpired in hushed tones and, after a few minutes, agreed not to raise the matter again.

St Croix mentioned that he must be going and that when on the errand to find a repair for Miss Harwood’s boot, he employed a Hanson to wait for him outside the law office. By now, the poor driver would likely be beside himself with doubt and frayed patience, and he offered to take Evelyn to her father’s residence.

Boarding the cab, Harwood instructed the driver to proceed to an address on Little Russell Street; this took Jonathan by surprise as he had expected the ride to cross Waterloo Bridge in the direction Evelyn was travelling earlier in the day. During the ride, they briefly touched on what they called ‘The Russian Incident’ and spoke of the weather and the Queen’s upcoming tenth anniversary on the throne.