She laughed again when she saw it was Alexander. “Oh yes, I always laugh when I see others working hard. Makes me feel much better about all my own hours of work ahead. You will absolutely never guess all the headway I’ve made on the investigation!”
“Tell me about it over lunch. I’ve been in there for hours,” Alexander said, indicating the library. “Besides, you can’t meddle in police business on an empty stomach.”
* * *
“So, you see, I actually have the letters,” Saffron finished.
Alexander nearly choked on a sip of tea. “You took them?”
“What did you expect me to do, read them and put them back with Snyder breathing all over me?”
“Snyder was breathing all over you?” Alexander’s dark eyes narrowed.
“I suppose not. To be fair, the fellow is just starved for attention. Who’d pay him any mind with Dr. Henry around? He was like a puppy when I said I wanted to hear about his side of things,” Saffron said with a doting smile. “But hopefully it was worth it.”
She glanced furtively about the teashop. The single room was cramped with far too many rickety tables, but the usual rush of students in search of a bite between classes was still an hour off. The young woman at the counter was paying them no mind, so Saffron took out the letters. Four slightly battered envelopes were addressed to Dr. Henry in feminine handwriting. Two had been sent to what must be his home address, and two had been sent to the university. She set them on the table in the small space between their now empty plates and opened the first one.
“‘My dearest darling …’ Oh, it’s signed ‘Daphne,’ and not Cynthia Henry—big surprise. ‘I miss you terribly … Do come visit me soon …’ Oh goodness.” Blushing, she passed the letter to Alexander, whose eyes widened slightly at the steamy suggestions that took up most of the letter.
“How … creative,” Alexander remarked dryly, returning it to its envelope.
The second letter, signed “Lola,” was much the same, although the writer was not as elegant in her descriptions as the first.
“No surprises there,” Saffron said, batting away any lingering embarrassment at the contents. “We knew that he’s a Lothario. Those were both sent to the university, not his home. Perhaps they didn’t know him privately and knew he worked for the university.”
Alexander agreed and opened the next letter. “‘Dearest Lawrence, I must speak with you urgently,’” he read. “Oh.”
Saffron paused in opening the last envelope. He passed her the letter he held.
Dearest Lawrence,
I must speak with you urgently. Please, darling, I love you so, and I know you love me too. Our dreams could be realized so easily if only we could meet and discuss our future. Please, come to me soon. I don’t want to come to you, lest someone discover us, but I must speak to you.
Your truest love,
Eris
“Well, she certainly is a lot more interested in him than I’d thought,” Saffron concluded.
Alexander took the letter back and read over it again. Saffron sighed and frowned down at her teacup, thinking. Miss Ermine asking to speak to Dr. Henry urgently suggested a lot of possible situations, one in particular that came to mind, especially in reference to the future. But Miss Ermine didn’t look to be in trouble. It was possible that, had she become pregnant, her family was rich and powerful enough to hush it up. Or Eris could have been mistaken and simply afraid she was pregnant. Or it could have been something else altogether that brought out the urgency in Miss Ermine’s phrasing.
Alexander put the letter back in its envelope. “I’ve heard Henry describe his collection of artifacts. There’s every possibility that he has something poisonous stashed away.”
Saffron watched his thoughtful expression with a mixture of intrigue and appreciation that had nothing to do with the mystery at hand. She didn’t know when Alexander had become her collaborator in this inquiry, but she was glad of it.
He nodded to the final envelope. “Go on.”
The last letter was also from Miss Ermine. Ink splattered angrily across the small piece of paper.
Lawrence,
After I gave my love to you, this is how you repay me? How dare you, after all I’ve done? You’ll be sorry.
Eris
Saffron let out her breath, read the brief note aloud, and replaced it in the envelope.
“Does it have a date?” Alexander asked after a moment.
“No, neither of hers do.”