Thick As Thieves Read Free

Bailey and Bridewell flashed through my mind. I used Hennie's advance to nudge up closer to the gentleman.
    "Don't let us detain you," I said, taking Hennie's arm to hasten her along. My other hand hovered over the man's pocket, and I slid the emerald ring into it, brushing against him to conceal the movement of my hand.
    "Where to, Mr. Dalton?" the man's groom called from his perch.
    "Hyde Park," Dalton replied.
    I saw him glance at the approaching constable, and wondered at his lack of curiosity in leaving at this exciting juncture. If it were me, I would have waited to see what was going forth. In fact, I was struck with the notion that Mr. Dalton was in a hurry to escape himself. Perhaps he just did not want to be involved as a witness in some unsavory case. "Are you sure you're all right?" he asked.
    "We're fine, thank you," I assured him.
    He climbed into his coach and it rattled off. I was glad the nice man got away before I was utterly disgraced, but I still thought it odd.
    The constable and Parker reached us at the same time. "Arrest her. She's robbed me of an emerald ring," Parker said.
    "There is your thief!" I retaliated, pointing at Parker.
    A loud and excessively vulgar wrangle ensued. We went into Parker's shop to escape the gawking crowd. Hennie and I endured the indignity of having our reticules and pockets searched. I gradually got the idea that the constable had some familiarity with Parker's unsavory reputation. His attitude seemed to be that if someone had got the better of him, so much the better.
    "We'll leave it up to the courts," he said. "You, madam, can bring a charge against Parker. And you, Parker, can do likewise, if you want to be bitten to death by lawyers. It is up to you. Do you want to lay charges, folks?"
    Parker and I exchanged an angry, knowing look. "It is not worth my while," I said grandly, "but I shall warn my friends to avoid this establishment."
    "I can do without your friends, thankee. Maybe the ring fell on the floor. I'll have a look," Parker said, and began to make a show of looking around the floor.
    Hennie and I ducked out to the waiting carriage. "Where to, madam?" Topby called.
    "Hyde Park," I replied.
     

Chapter Two
     
    We took a moment to recover our breaths. "What did you do with the ring, Eve? I made sure they would find it in your pocket, and we would end up in Bridewell," Hennie said, when she could speak.
    "I got rid of it when I saw the constable coming."
    "You threw it away?"
    "Certainly not. I slid it in that gentleman's pocket, the man I bumped into. He was handsome, was he not? That is why we are going to Hyde Park."
    Hennie smirked. She has the idea that I am interested in nothing but finding a husband. She is quite mistaken; I want a circle of female friends, too. I am tired of being an Ishmael. "To recover the ring, Hennie. He directed his groom to Hyde Park. Keep an eye out for him when we get there."
    "I am sure you will spot him, Eve," she said snidely.
    "His carriage was plain black. Not a coroneted door. I rather hoped he might be a lord."
    Overcome by a belated seizure, Hennie dissolved into a fit of giggles. "You are up to all the rigs. You even noticed his carriage lacked a lozenge. I made sure you would go straight home and dose yourself with hartshorn, as I feel like doing."
    "Why, there is no need to go home to do that. I have a bottle right here. What an excellent idea. I am feeling shaken myself." I drew a small cut-glass bottle from my reticule and unscrewed the lid to inhale the spirits of ammonia. When my eyes were watering and my lungs felt as if they were being pricked with pins, I gave Hennie the bottle to have a whiff.
    "I wonder who he can be," she said. Her breaths were shallow from the ammonia.
    "I have no idea. Unfortunately, we do not know his sort." I meant the sort who inhabited the charmed circle. "I hope he is still at the park, or we have lost our ring."
    "How shall we approach him, if he is there?" she asked. "He must have