Red Dog Conspiracy: A Noir Future Steampunk Crime Family Saga

Tony hadn’t returned by tea time, so I sat in my study alone and took my tea there.

A man in brown followed me to Vig’s place.

A man in brown took the boy to the carriage.

At least one man in brown watched me. I almost caught a glimpse of his face several times. He always seemed familiar.

Could this be the same man in brown who followed Stephen and frightened him so?

At first I passed off Stephen’s fear as a child’s paranoia, but Stephen was more than a child.

This explained something which bothered me earlier. Perhaps the man in brown followed Stephen the day I was to meet him, frightening him so much he felt the police were his only hope.

And this scoundrel was allied with Jack Diamond.

I drank my tea with a sense of foreboding.

One reason I hadn’t wanted to tell Mrs. Bryce I would find David was I wasn’t sure I could.

There was more than pride at stake. Being a woman investigator meant most people didn’t trust I would do more than take their money and apologize when I failed. Even most women would rather pay more and have a man take the job, feeling only a man would give a proper day’s work.

My only leverage so far was I never failed to complete a case. All my contacts were given permission to say so.

For me to take the case then not find David Bryce — whether dead or alive — could mean the end of my career.

Not having had luncheon, I ate everything the maid brought me, not realizing it until I saw her surprise when she returned. “Will you be having anything else, mum?”

“Another pot of tea, please.” I almost asked for rum, but I needed a clear head.

“Yes, mum.” The maid turned to go.

“You’re Jane’s girl, aren’t you?”

“Yes, mum, Mary Pearson.” She curtsied.

“Thank your Ma for the sandwiches, they were very good.” Fortunately, they were good; we ended up having them for the next several weeks, until Tony tired of them and asked for something else.

“Thank you, mum.” She curtsied and left with the dishes, coming back a few minutes later with a pot of tea and a fresh cup and saucer.

I pulled over an ottoman and put my feet up. There were so many questions. What puzzled me most about this case was the motive. Why did they take David?

The kidnappers never asked for ransom: neither gold, nor items, nor information. Instead of taking a rich child, they took a widow’s son. They didn’t sell the child to men who preferred such toys, but simply kept the boy, as they kept the guards.

These men gained nothing from the kidnappings other than a brief time of torment, which perhaps gave them a perverse sort of pleasure. In a way, this reminded me of Roy, but Roy seldom released his victims. That raised another question: why let the men go and not the boy?

Something in this felt personal.

Perhaps they meant to strike a blow at our Family by capturing Spadros guards and attacking Tony. I understood Jack Diamond’s hate, if it were he I saw, two blocks away. If someone murdered Joe, I might want to strike back at them, especially if I were mad.

But what was the man in brown’s motive? Why partner with Jack, of all people? Or was this man just a lackey?

Many of our servants weren’t descended from the first Acevedo Spadros, as it turned out. But I never heard of the Diamonds using retainers from outside their Family.

After the murder of Jack’s friend, the Diamond and Spadros Families were at war for almost a year. During that time, the Diamonds expelled anyone from the quadrant who couldn’t prove ties to the Diamond Family. Many of those foolish enough to flee to the Spadros quadrant ended up in Roy’s torture room.

For a while after, you had to be related to the Diamonds to even live in their quadrant. Even now, people said: Diamonds only protect their own.

This man in brown didn’t look like a Diamond to me. So where did he come from? The man in brown must be a man of means or influence, to move so easily between quadrants. Even Jack Diamond would have trouble doing so.

Did he leave the card on my doorstep? I had seen no one skulking outside our home. With the attack, our men had been coming and going too much for strangers to get close without being seen. I wished I could get a better look at the man, or determine a way to identify him….

His clothing choice made a formidable disguise. Every fashionable young gentleman of means dressed in brown that season; there might be several thousand in the city.

The door opened and Tony came in. He still wore his overcoat, as if he came in straight past Pearson.

I rose to greet him, but he waved me to sit. “I can’t stay; my father wants to take the route the guards remember and see what we find.”

“But you’re not completely well.”

He raised his hand. “I won’t be in danger. We have fifty men to search, and six will stay with the carriage. There will be no second ambush, unless this scoundrel has more men than we imagine.”

If he did, it could be all-out war. “Be careful. I would have nothing harm you.”

Tony smiled, and came over to kiss me. “I hope to be home before dinner. It should be quick, whatever we find.”

And then he left me sitting with cold tea and fear.

* * *

Tony did return long before dinner, but sat quiet and pensive. After dinner, we sat in Tony’s library by the fire, sipping brandy.

Finally, I ventured, “How did your expedition fare?”

“Poorly,” Tony said. “We had the men describe the path, each blindfolded, each in a separate carriage, but neither destination showed sign of their captivity.”

Two men, two destinations? This seemed odd. “Where did you end up?”

“Two warehouses in Spadros. Both guards were definite in that they did not cross a river.”

They didn’t cross a river. Why did these men move the boy?

Tony shook his head. “Where could this gang be hiding?”

“You think it’s a gang?”

“What else could it be? No matter how large or strong, no man could overpower four armed guards, bind them, transport them, and hold them for weeks by himself. And six attacked me and my men.”

This made sense. “And then there’s the little boy.…”

Tony clapped his hand to his forehead. “I completely forgot the child. I saw no sign of him. I don’t know where to look for him. I’m sorry.”

Even though I would rather find David myself, I felt a sense of loss at Tony’s failure to find him. Someone needed to find him; by now, he must be in a terrible state, not even having other captors to comfort him.

What sort of monster would do this to a child? “This situation enrages me.”

“I feel distressed as well. If the other Families hear our guards can be treated so, we could find ourselves under attack as they seek advantage.”

I hadn’t considered this. Should I tell Tony what I saw?

How could I? I wasn’t supposed to even be in the Diamond quadrant, much less chasing child-murderers around the city.

The only proof of Jack Diamond’s involvement? A glimpse of a dark-skinned man two blocks away wearing white and the word of a widow from the Spadros slums.

Against a Diamond heir, whose family owned the prison and had enormous power over the courts, it was no evidence at all. For the Spadros Family to make such a dire accusation without proof could plunge the city into war.

But I remembered what Josephine Kerr told us as children in the Pot: never let anyone get the upper hand, or they will kill you.

Josie ran our gang, the High-Low Split, with Joe as her backup. Even the High Cards listened to her. By the time I was taken to be betrothed, the other gang members in the Spadros section of the Pot were either part of the High-Low Split, or they were dead. “You’re right in this. You must punish these men, and soon. No one respects those who can’t protect and care for their own. This is why those in the Pot are so despised.”

“I don’t despise you, or your family. Never think that.”

I put my hand on his. “I have never thought so. You have only offered comfort and support.” No matter what Roy had done to me, this at any rate was true.