Miss Morgan and the Gypsy

Nineteen: The Case Begins



"She will be pulled out of the Thames River!" St. George bellowed, enraged and looking as if he were ready to bash Nicu upside his head. "She will be in danger at every turn!"

"I will not let any harm befall her, Phal. I must ask, why are you here? And what makes you think you can just barge in here unannounced?"

Nicu didn't even bother looking up at St. George. Instead, he continued working with the lab equipment he had sprawled all over the place.

"Since when has that ever been a problem?" St. George growled. "Your sister's furious with you and is, at this very moment, in the carriage transporting Miss Morgan here, trying to convince the poor young woman to not go along with your scheme."

"Oh, well, Phen is going to be disappointed. There is no convincing Miss Morgan of not proceeding with our arrangement."

"Since when have I not been enough?" St. George bit out. "I have always been your secondhand. I've forked out payment. I've been helpful with insights-"

Nicu finally glanced up at St. George and raised that blasted offensive brow. His gold eyes were enhanced by the ridiculous goggles he was wearing and not in a good way.

He resembled a frog.

"There is no need to put Harriet Morgan in danger."

"This is what she wants, Phal. She has keen intellect that far outweighs yours. It's because of her I have a pathway to solving this case. I must say, she might be more useful than even Phen."

"I will not leave her alone with you and I will still be joining you on this case."

"Jealousy is unbecoming of you," Nicu stated, grabbing the intricately designed lighter and sparking it to life. "I will have no need of your services on this call. My apprentice and I have it handled."

"Don't call her that! She will not be your apprentice."

"But she is. All of you need to calm down. She is safest with me and if we hope to solve this case, I will need her. Now step back Phal."

Ripping his hat off, St. George did the exact opposite, taking one forward. "What are you working on?" he asked, leaning in just as Nicu lit the concoction. A fire sparked savagely, biting St. George's face, causing the man to fall back and howl in terror.

"I told you to get back!" Nicu chastised.

"I'm fine. It only scared me." St. George collected himself and ran his hand down his face but paused at the odd rubbery feeling along his brow.

He removed his hand, eyes wide as Nicu stared at him through those bug-eyed goggles with a raised brow. "That is not a good look even on you, Phal. You should've listened to me."

St. George didn't respond and instead grabbed a silver tea pot that was in dire need of refurbishing, but still had enough shine to it. He stared at the ghastly sight reflecting back at him.

His eyebrows... were gone.

Vanquished.

Singed right off his now reddish pink skin.

"By God, what did you do to me?" he whispered in horror.

"You did it to yourself. There may be some good out of it, though."

"Oh, please inform me," St. George growled, shoving his hat back on top of his head, covering up the slightly burned flesh.

"It may help you learn some humility when it comes to looks. Your vanity is quite irritating to put up with," Nicu remarked. "Now enough about that-"