Four days had come and gone since Adeline last met with Mr. Grae at the distasteful tavern on Martin Lane. Since that unfortunate and disturbing experience, she and the good detective agreed upon henceforth meeting at Hyde Park, a far more respectable gathering place not far from Adeline's terrace house.

Hyde park was a particularly fashionable meeting place for upperclass Londoners who wanted to be seen. Most enjoyed horseback riding in their finest clothes on the route du roi, while others delighted in a leisurely row on the Serpentine River and Long Water in their Whitehalls. Adeline and Thomas had been fond of long walks in this historic park early on in their marraige, a tradition initially shared by the couple, but one which unfortunately met its end quite some years before.

It was nearly sunset as Adeline made her way through the park on foot. The day had been unusually foggy and warm, but as the sun began its descent, the landscape cooled and the air cleared, granting the inhabitants of London a much needed reprieve from their own steadily noxious atmosphere. With the sun sinking slowly down toward the horizon, its fading light was interrupted by the tall silver maple and weeping beech trees, casting long, crawling shadows along the ground.

As Adeline sat waiting on one of the many benches facing the Serpentine, she was enchanted by a pair of Great Crested Grebes as they performed an elaborate mating ritual.

The couple, with their black and chestnut colored head plumes drifted slowly toward one another until the male broke water and performed a ripple dive so that he might approach the female unseen, his steady advance only given away by the merest ruffle on the glassy water's surface. As the male resurfaced he reared up out of the water, displaying his proud chest. The female reacted, half-opening her wings to ruffle her feathers, then both water birds extended the frills on their cheeks, establishing a partnership.

After this, the pair began an elegant water ballet, facing each other as they took to shaking their heads from side to side, then turned to delicately flick the feathers on their backs with their bills. Adeline was enthralled when the couple both dove down into the water only to quickly resurface with greenery in their bills.

Suddenly a black figure caught Adeline's periphery, giving her a start. She shifted to see Mr. Grae just as he sat on the bench with his familiar woolen frock coat, unkempt beard and black top hat.

'Mr. Grae,' she greeted, glancing quickly at him before turning back to face the Grebes, still hesitant in his presence.

The detective quietly watched the water birds while they met each other breast to breast, rearing up high out of the water and padding wildly with their feet to keep their balance.

'So, have you any news?' Queried Adeline, breaking the detective's observation.

Sighing, Mr. Grae was compelled to offer a warning, 'Mrs. Moore,' he paused, 'Before I tell you wha' I've found, you need to consider whether or no' you really want to go down this road. All due respect, ignorance can be a blessing, and sometimes we think we want to know the truth abou' a thing, but at the end of it we only wish we hadn't gone through the trouble'

Adeline breathed in deeply, 'I must know everything, Mr. Grae'

The detective retrieved a rolled cigarette from his breast pocket and proceeded to light it with a stick match, drawing in a long, slow pull of smoke, 'There is an establishment going by the name of the Hobbyist on Lansdowne Road, Mrs. Moore, only you'll find no signs or advertisements for it'

'I'm afraid you'll have to elaborate'

'The Hobbyist is a gentleman's bawdy house, Mrs. Moore. A brothel operating on the floors above Ashfords Tailoring'

Adeline sat quietly for a moment in contemplation, 'Thomas was quite familiar with Ashfords'

Mr. Grae simply nodded, allowing his employer to consider the facts of the matter before proceeding, 'Mrs. Moore, I must ask for you to grant me access to your husband's personal i'ems. Documents, letters and the like'

Adeline felt defensive, 'What do you hope to gain from such an invasion of privacy, Mr. Grae?'

'The dead have no need for privacy, Mrs. Moore. Someone killed your husband, and you hired me to find ou' who. I've got to know everything abou' Thomas if I'm to figure out why it was someone wan'ed him dead'

Adeline fidgeted anxiously with her fingers, 'I will perform a thorough search in Thomas's study and be sure to bring you my findings'

Mr. Grae seemed perturbed, 'It's important I complete the search myself, Mrs. Moore. In my experience it's common for loved ones to instinctively hide sensi'ive information abou' the deceased in an attempt keep their digni'y intact. It interferes with my investigation'

Adeline grappled with the idea of allowing a stranger to root through Thomas's personal possessions. However, Mr. Grae was an expert on these matters and she was not willing to risk negatively altering the investigation with her stubborn reservations, 'Very well. shall we go now?'

'Aye,' Mr. Grae nodded as he stood from the bench, cigarette branched in the corner of his mouth.

Adeline rose from where she was seated, smoothing her hands over the front of her apron overskirt to prevent any ruffling that may have occurred while she sat.

'Adeline?' Uttered a voice from behind where she stood.

She turned around to see her friend, Eli Grant approaching, a quizzical glint in his eye.

'Eli,' Adeline remarked, unable to mask her surprise and apprehension. She looked to Mr. Grae and back to her old friend as if having just been caught doing something entirely scandalous.

'What a pleasant coincidence. I was just on route to pay you a visit,' Eli smiled as he closed the distance between himself, Adeline and the detective.

Adeline tittered nervously, observing Eli's slight recoil as he looked the shaggy detective up and down with thinly veiled disgust.

'I'm afraid you would not have found me there,' she smiled.

Mr. Grae's brow furrowed at Eli's curious and judgmental expression. He drew one last puff of smoke into his mouth before dropping the remainder of the smouldering cigarette to the ground, extinguishing it with the bottom of his boot.

Adeline knew it was expected of her to make introductions and she saw no way around it, 'Mr. Grae, this is my dear friend, Eli Grant. . Mr. Grae here is a private investigator,' She spoke tensely, looking back and forth between the men as they dissected one another.

Eli's expression remained curious, if not suspicious while he extended a hand toward Mr. Grae, 'An investigator, you say'

Acquiescing to Eli's polite gesture, the men shook hands, albeit a forced exchange.

An uncomfortable silence proceeded the interaction, urging Adeline to step in once more, 'Mr. Grae and myself were just leaving to. .' She hesitated, 'To go have a look through Thomas's study'

Eli knit his brows together, 'What ever for?'

The good detective quickly altered the course of conversation, 'Were you a close friend of Mrs. Moore's husband before his passing, Mr. Grant?'

'I've been a friend of the Moores' for eight years now'

'Thomas and Eli were work colleagues,' Adeline added.

'At Barclay's Bank, yeah? Did Mr. Moore have any dissa'isfied clients worth mentioning?' Mr. Grae prodded.

Eli placed his hands into his trouser pockets, 'Not to my knowledge. Am I to understand you believe Thomas's death was conspired? I was under the impression that the event was nothing more than a deadly mugging'

'Mrs. Moore wants to be thorough is all,' replied the detective, 'Are you familiar with a business goes by the name of The Hobbyist?'

To this question Mr. Grae carefully regarded Eli's response.

'The Hobbyist? No, I don't believe I am,' Eli answered, glancing at Adeline with an inquiring countenance.

Adeline was discomforted at the detective's boldness in questioning one of her dearest friends. Surely he could not think that Eli played any sort of part in Thomas's death. She certainly did not.

'Mr. Grae. We had best be on our way,' Adeline suggested, intent on saving Eli from such an intrusive line of questioning.

'Might I join you and Mr. Grae on your walk? I'm embarrassed to admit I haven't anything else planned for the evening,' Eli queried, his eyes bright and hopeful.

'Well I. . I can't imagine why not. Perhaps we can have tea while Mr. Grae performs his search,' Adeline simpered, having no choice but to make the best of an awkward situation.