“Yep,” Ruce affirms “There is a new dance class that just opened in East Street, They offered to teach dancing at a lower price but it would not be personal. However, most people prefer it since they feel like they are not alone. I would like to learn it someday too..”
Dan ask. “And Madam?”
“S...Sorry, I got caught up in the detail…” Ruce returns to his nervous self when Dan asks him a question. “Madam Lucine fought with them and since then she reported having fewer customers…. Wait detective are you suggesting that the culprit may be from the dance?”
“It is Possible” Dan mused, he only asked because he was interested.
“Oh, my light!” Ruce screamed in surprise he seemed like he just discovered something “The rumors about Madam Lucine might start from there! And the culprit might be mad at Madam Lucine and kill her daughter! Detective, thank you for pointing me in the right direction!”
Dan smiles affirmatively and continues to look around the room. He's content to let his assistant's imagination run wild because he, too, has no idea what's going on. Freddy, in his opinion, is the most suspicious of all because he was around at the moment she was likely to be murdered. Madam Lucine appeared odd, but he didn't know how high Maxwell's reputation was, so he was willing to overlook it. Finally, the maidservant does not appear to be capable of murdering her employer's daughter.
We could gain more leads if we were to ask about more or is there more evidence in this place? Hard to say because he was not a real detective.
“Gentleman, are you done inspecting the place?” George interrupts Dan's train of thought.
“It seems like we need to speak to the new dancing Class that just opened. My assistant thinks they would yield useful information”
“N...No, detective I..”
"I don't believe you have to any longer, Freddy is on the run. We haven't been able to find him since yesterday, and his landlord hasn't seen him either."
It confirms Dan's theory, yet Dan feels like something is missing. Many questions remain unanswered concerning the whole mess. He would prefer to stop here because he lacks the necessary skills, but something in his head tells him to continue.
“You sure he’s the guy?”
"He's the one who's running. I'm sure you’ve seen a lot of suckers like him. Perhaps he falls in love with the Madam's daughter but is rejected, so he plots to kill her. A classic love story," George answered, his brow perking up with curiosity. "Are you suggesting that it's not Freddy?"
“Many things still didn't add up, Mr. Goerge. Call it a hunch, but I feel it's not as straightforward as you make it out to be. I'll have a chat with the dance class first”
“I trust your judgment on that," said Mr. Goerge. "Unfortunately, I can’t stay with you any longer, Detective. Madam is rather dissatisfied with our efforts, and I will have to lead the search party myself. I’ll contact you when we get a hold of Freddy. See you soon, Detective!" Groege then left the scene for other officers to handle. He'd order some of his men to follow him. Meanwhile, Ruce and Danl board the carriage to locate the dancing class because Dan can't seem to find any more clues here.
“So who organizes the dancing class?” On the way Max opens up a conversation, he would like to find out more about himself and this place, without being too obvious of course.
“I“Evelyn Montgomery, a well-known dancer from London, organizes it. She came here to Birmingham to spread the art of dancing,” said Ruce, his voice filled with admiration. “She’s quite the romantic, moving here just for her dream…”
Dan nods absent-mindedly, his gaze drifting to the streets, he isn’t keen to know about Ruce's romantic feelings for the woman. Instead, he decides to look around the street to see how far he has come. So far, he believes he has returned to the early 1800s. He wasn't sure when, but Ruce's ramblings provided crucial information, indicating that he was most likely in England. Which is not the ideal location in this day and age... perhaps anywhere would be awful.
The horse gallops through the street filled with people going about their day and soon it passes over the bridge and they arrive at the East streets of Birmingham. Dan took out his pocket watch to see that it had only been around 15 minutes since they left Madam Lucine's house.
They soon arrived at their destination, and in front of them stood a building with many more flowers than the others. However, the overall structure remains the same one large apartment. Dan wondered if they'd be able to hear what their neighbor was up to. He'll find out later when he unlocks the door inside. He comes across a receptionist sitting behind a counter. She appears to be the landlady of this establishment and is slightly older than middle age.
“Hello, sir! Are you here to rent a room or visit someone?” He hurried put her book away and turned to Dan.
“I heard that there is a dancing class organized here by Evelyn Montgomery. May I know where is it?”
“Do you have a reservation for the class?”
“I’m Detective Maxwell, I have some questions for Mrs. Montgomery. It won’t take long” He replied hoping the landlady would let him pass. To be honest he isn’t sure what he was doing either, at this point he would rather see this case through.
“You’re Detective Maxwell?” she asked, skeptical since she had never seen the detective before. “Could I see your identification?”
Oh shit, He felt he could get away with relying on the detective's reputation, but he forgot that not everyone knows his face. His hand reaches into his overcoat for identification. He pulls out a wallet and opens it, revealing all of his money and a card with a picture of a detective on it with no hat and less mustache. He displays it to the landlord.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“Looks good, Sorry about that, there have been a lot of imposters lately. Lady Evelyn can be found in room 203 on the second floor..”
“Thank you”
Dan ascended the stairs with Ruce, who appeared to become anxious. The same goes for Dan as he looks up and reads the room number, Ever since he arrived here, he couldn’t read a single thing. Ruce said that this was England but he hadn’t been reading any English so far. The journey upstairs was brief and didn’t take that much out of Dan's body.
“D..detective we have arrived…”
Dan abruptly stopped and looked at the door Ruce was pointing to. Above it Dan could barely make out the number on them, 302. it was written in such an alien way that he couldn’t believe it was a real number. Moreover, it wasn’t even 203, it was 302. Are you sure this is the place Ruce? Or did the reception Lady lie to him? he couldn't be sure but what was he could be decreed that this was an Arabic numeral. This makes him a bit anxious. He looked over to Ruce and could see his assistant being nervous. From the other side, slow but elegant music could be heard. Ruce, interrupted him with a weak voice as he was ready to knock on the door.
“D..Detective.. could you go in by yourself?”
“Why?” Dan's anxiety was shot through the roof. is there something wrong with the music?
“Well, I…”
“Hello, gentleman! What business do you have with this fair lady?” The door opens to the outcome of a sweet voice. A girl dressed lightly opened the door to greet him. She has blonde hair and black eyes. Ruce looks like he just got his soul sucked out of his body. he ran off and went downstairs. Leaving both Dan and the woman to gaze in amazement. Dan wants to run to but his leg wouldn’t follow him. He looks back at the Lady is sees that it’s most likely The woman they are after. She has an elegant aura around her but nothing seems to be out of the ordinary. Why did Ruce run?
“What's wrong with him?” She asks after Ruce takes off.
“I don’t know” Dan looked back at Evelyn “Maybe he got scared because you’re too pretty.” Dan jokes to shake off his fears.
“Didn’t think you would be quite a fox” Evelyn smiled and placed her hand on his chest “What do you want? A discount for my class? I could do it for free you know.”
Dan is quite taken by her actions this is too fast!
“I’m just stating a fact” Dan answered honestly, the woman had a rather decent face and he thought she would open up more with the compliment. Also after a brief consideration, he could see that Maxwell wouldn’t say these. "And no, I'm not here to take your class, I'm Detective Maxwell, are you Lady Evelyn?"
“Yes, what brings you here detective?” She seemed a bit nervous now that she was talking to a detective
“I’m here to inquire about your experience with Madam Lucine,”
“That bitch!?” Her mood quickly sour in just a split second, Dan is quite glad that he opens with a compliment. “Fine, let's get this over with. come in” She led him inside the room and told him that the class would be dancing without her. There is only one huge room in the class, with a separate room for her bed.
“Are you still teaching?” Dan asked after seeing some students in the back of the room
“Can’t you see?” Evelyn answered with a snort “ Do another round! I’ll be busy for a bit. I better see you dancing when I’m done!”
It appears that she does not have enough money to rent another room, or that she is extremely frugal. Then she led him into her bedroom. There was simply her bed, table, and chair, as well as as much makeup as a middle-class woman could get in the 1800s. She sat on her bed and motioned for him to take a seat in the chair.
“What do you want to know? Make it quick I don’t like talking about her”
“Why are you so pissed off with her?” Judging from her attitude this Lucine must have been a pain in the ass or she’s just overreacting. Either way, she looks eager to speak.
“Piss, off!?” She blows up her pent-up anger “That bitch just keeps pestering me to close my business, she is so annoying. Last time she called the church on us saying we were a cult gathering. She’s completely insane!”
“Cult?”
“Yeah! If the police hadn’t intervened we would have been burned at the stake! I wish she would just drop dead for all her troubles.” Her face is seething with rage and annoyance, Dan imagine that almost being burned must not be a good experience so he could see why Evelyn was so pissed off. “Why are you inquiring about her anyway? did she catch a stray bullet?”
“Nothing of the sort, Madam is still alive and kicking. Unfortunately, her daughter doesn’t share the same fate.”
“Oh,” She expressed her surprise and quickly turned it into sympathy. Sure, she hated Lucine but she wouldn’t go that far to harm her or her daughter.
“Why are you in Birmingham?” Dan changes the subject to lighten the mood.
“Curious about me?” She tilts her head “Everybody believed that I came here to pursue my dream of spreading the love of dancing but truthfully I just feel like living in London is suffocating. Every day the air is thick with fog and dust but, here in Birmingham is not that bad. Furthermore, the cost of living here is far lower than in London. I arrived here about a month ago, and my life has improved dramatically.”
Perhaps it’s because of the news but Lady Evelyn feels a little chatty. Dan couldn't comment because he had only been here for a few moments, but he could imagine the dusty street wouldn't be good for your health. He is more interested in the world than ever before.
“What’s it like living in London?” Dan pres her with more questions.
“Not as good as everyone expected” Evelyn replied with a sigh “I used to think that living in London was great but after some time it just feels heavy, Maybe it’s just me? I don’t know”
“Are any of your students acting suspicious?”
“No! I don’t think…” She firmly rejected the claim but upon thinking about she could remember someone ” Actually, there might be one, Houston. He is about twenty years old, has a gentlemanly body, and has a pleasant attitude. He is easy to talk to and follows my instructions very well, but sadly he fell for Lucine. I don’t know how much he’s into her but it’ enough to leave my class. He vanished after learning about Madam Lucine.”
“When did this happen?”
“I don’t remember… about a month ago? Maybe 2, Let me check” She walked up and searched through her desk to find a file and paper. “Here it is last time he took my class was 2 months ago.”
“Wait, you said you arrived here a month ago?” Dan always has a good memory so he could pick up on something weird.
“That…” The entire room fell silent as she flicked the book page, her face puzzled. It was as if Dan had reminded her of something she had forgotten. Her mind got foggy as she tried to recall what had happened. She felt very frustrated since her age wasn’t that much.
“Maybe I need to check up with the doctor… or the church. I usually keep track of my students but as far as I remember I only came here a month ago…. Why did I… Forget about it, maybe it was a slip on my part.”
“...” Dan's mind also told him that this was something very amiss with Evelyn. It is not like she was the culprit but more like a piece that has been used. This is deeper than he thought, what did he get himself into?