At The Plaza Majestic.

Chapter 8

"Allie?" Smart asked again. I was still standing blankly by the door, still in no small amount of shock at my own stupidity. This was beyond anything I had failed to notice before.

"You're not going to like this" I warned. Smart came over, sensing something was wrong, and he held me by the shoulders as I struggled to collect my thoughts.

"What is there not to like?" he asked. I blanched.

"There's no easy way of putting it" I said finally. "But Slade's alive. There was no murder."

The look in Smart's tired eyes was one of disbelief, and confusion. I felt bad for having to put him through so much when he was already not well. I didn't want to explain any more, and as the Detective Inspector attempted to gather his thoughts, I reached for his hands, which were still around my shoulders.

"But...but you saw his body being removed" Smart finally said slowly. I shook my head.

"No. I saw a body being removed, but it was still very much alive, just drugged, I'd imagine. It couldn't have been a dead Slade, as we know how he was supposed to have been killed, with a knife, and there was no blood stains on the sheet, or anywhere for that matter."

"So who have the Yard got?" Smart asked. I shook my head.

"No time to explain. I'll tell you everything when we get to Brighton. For now, I still really need to be out of here, but I can't lie low in Cardiff. We'll have to go straight to Scotland Yard. I reckon as soon as we leave, they should go in."

Smart sighed.

"If you're in danger, you need to go to Cardiff. I can handle the Yard's side of things, if you'll tell me what to do"  he said firmly. I groaned inwardly. There was no way he was going to budge.

"Alright. Most of it's pretty obvious. You know the details of the gang, although I doubt you'll catch the client, if it is Stephenson. Finding Slade, though, is going to be pretty risky, as unless I'm totally wrong about everything then he's in the circus somewhere" I began to explain.

"You're never totally wrong about anything" Smart pointed out knowingly. I ignored his comment and carried on talking.

"Find the little boy we spoke to a couple  of days ago, Pye. Ask him to show you his uncle. The one who got attacked in the circus."

"You're saying there was a body swap?" Smart asked instantly. I smiled. Clever Detective Inspector.

"Bang on" I told him, grinning. "Now, are you ready to play the part?"

"Let's go" Smart smiled, squeezing my shoulders. "Stay clear for four days, and then meet me on the pier in Brighton at about noon. I'm still not entirely sure what's gone on these last few days. And don't hold back on the insults here, by the way."

"With your permission, I certainly won't" I smirked, before moving away and to the door. Not wanting to delay the moment, I opened the door and the charade began.

It was quite good fun, actually. I stormed out of Smart's room, with him behind trying to stop me. We had a shouting match all the way up the stairs; I knew the rest of the hotel wouldn't be best pleased, but I didn't really care. After throwing everything into my suitcases in my room, I marched down the stairs, cases in hand, holding the rigged one very carefully so the handle didn't snap. Smart was still following, and he was doing a very good job of pretending to be sorry, but Hannah was not to be deterred. She marched out of the door, leaving her ex-fiancee standing in the middle of the lobby of the Plaza Majestic.

Hailing a carriage, I got in, as the driver loaded my suitcases onto the roof-rack.

"Kings Cross Station, please, driver" I ordered, and the carriage rattled slowly away from the Plaza Majestic. I hoped Smart was going to be alright. Sitting back on the seat, I also hoped dearly that I was right about this whole business. Everything fitted lovely and neatly, but it had all been a bit of an anticlimax. Despite everything, I still loved my big dramatic endings, and the fact I hadn't got one this time annoyed me slightly. To be honest, since there was no actual murder in the first place, there shouldn't have been anything to bring to any sort of climax. I knew now Slade's abduction, as it was in reality, had done exactly what Stephenson had designed it to do; distract me and Smart from our task in hand. I assumed that he hadn't expected me to be able to work on both cases at the same time. Still, it annoyed me that I hadn't seen through it instantly. Stephenson, from the little I knew about him, didn't really seem the killing type. Probably because theft and deception were a lot easier to get away with in court. It felt like, despite everything, I had suffered a defeat. He had managed to manipulate me, and Smart, the cleverest person I knew. It made me wonder how many steps forwards this man actually was. Did he know where I was going now?

That thought scared me. I realized there was a very large chance he did, beacuse of the ruckus Smart and I had just made back at the hotel, and besides, right then, I didn't fancy taking any chances. I decided that I was going to disobey Smart and go home. Hopefully, if I was sneaky enough, I would get away with it. I began very swiftly to plan.

I left the carriage at Kings Cross Station, tipping the driver so he would remember my passage. Picking up my suitcases, I  hurried into the busy crowd, and made my way to the ticket office, to buy a single to Cardiff. The train I chose left at half past three, and as it was now five past three I reckoned I could just about manage to pull off my crazy idea. I made my way to the train platform, and after waiting for an agonizing ten minutes, I eventually got on board and found an empty compartment for myself,in carriage E. Casually, I shut all the blinds. This was actually a clever double-bluff. Anyone watching me would think I didn't want anyone to see me because I was worried I was being followed, which was true, but the main reason why I didn't want anyone looking in was so they didn't see what I was about to do. I had ten minutes, and after wedging the doorhandle, I pulled another dress and shawl out of my suitcase, along with a rather awkward looking hat that sort of matched, and began to get changed.

Truth be told, I only just made it. Deciding on abandoning the suitcases, I jumped off the train in a different dress just as the whistle blew, and I waved madly at an invisible family member as the train pulled out of the station. Then, pulling my hat down to cover my face, I escaped. 

Feeling incredibly paranoid, I walked quite a chunk of the way back to Paddington. In the end, I hitched a cart, but I made sure I was far enough away from the Plaza and Kings Cross before I did so. It was coming towards teatime when, having ditched the conspicuous hat by letting it blow casually off my head during my cart ride, I was finally walking up the little path to Isabel's flat. Quietly, I let myself in, to hear Isabel's voice coming from the sitting room.

"Er, yes, it is rather late. I'll fetch your coat..."

Before I could blink, she was in front  of me. I couldn't think of anything to say, and it seemed, neither could she, although she did glare rather furiously at me, pointing firmly at the kitchen. I sneaked through while she got Fisher's coat for him. I had  recognized it on the stand.

After a few minutes, she came through. I was sitting meekly on a kitchen chair, and I think she could tell I was a bit shaken up. Sadly, the only reason why I was shaken up was due to a reason I had invented in my head.

"Well, you're alive, at least" she said curtly. Right then, I wasn't in the mood for her to be mad at me.

"You were right, Izzy" I said quietly. "More right than I think you meant to be."

"What...what do you mean?" Isabel asked, her anger all but lost.

"I regret going to the Plaza" I admitted.

"Smart?" Isabel said instantly. I shook my head.

"No. Worse."

"Worse?" Isabel asked, sitting down opposite me and taking my hands.

"The client the gang was dealing with was Old Man Stephenson" I explained.

"You've met him before" Isabel pointed out worriedly. I nodded.

"More times than you know, and, I think, more times than he would have liked. Which means, technically, I'm now a threat."

Isabel sighed, standing up and walking over to the cooker, her back to me. There was a pause.

"Please don't shout" I almost pleaded.

She turned, coming back over, and scooped me into a hug.

"You're a complete idiot, you know" she muttered.

"I know" I replied weakly. "I'm sorry."

"We'll do our best, alright?" she promised. I nodded, and she let me go.

"Tea?" she asked.

"Yeah" I smiled, sitting back down.

"Did you hear?" Isabel asked. "About the train explosion at King's Cross this afternoon?"

I knew she was trying to change the subject, but I had an ominous feeling she had just failed.

"Where...was it going?" I asked quietly.

"Cardiff" Isabel replied promptly. "The half past three. Charlie from a few doors down told me, as his brother was part of the cleanup team..."

I dropped my head into my hands.