Copper Visions (2 page)

"Who would want to steal a dead body out of your apartment?"

Sophie looked at him. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, if he was as dead as you say he was, he obviously could not have left on his own so somebody would have had to come in and get him. Who would have known he was in here? And then would want to steal his body once he died?"

"Do you think somebody else knew he was here? Maybe they were listening outside the door when I panicked?"

"Did you see anybody outside your door when you left to come get me?"

"I don't think so. I wasn't really paying attention to that. There's always people around here but I have the cellar to myself mostly and I didn't see anybody else down here when I left."

"Did you rush out directly after you realized he was dead?"

"No..." she said slowly. "I checked him first, see if I could figure out who he was."

"When you realized who he was is when you came to get me." David did not make it a question.

"Well, yeah," Sophie crossed her arms. "I mean, if it was just some bloke it wouldn't have mattered as much, would it? But he was a toff and had the credentials to prove it."

"Then somebody knew he was coming here," David said. "The man who introduced him to you, to start. And whoever drove the conveyance he took to get here."

"You think he had a driver?"

"People don't walk through this area like that, Sophie, you know that. He wouldn't have made it a block in without somebody trying to take whatever he's carrying."

“Ok, ok, so people knew he was here. How did he leave?”

Sophie was startled by a knock at the door, followed closely by the landlady letting herself in. “Now, look here, Miss Fisher. I ain't picky about how my tenants make their rent but if you're going to have constant –oh.” She stopped, startled by the metal face of Sophie's visitor.

“Oh, Mrs. Tunstall. This is David. He's an automaton.”

“So,” Mrs. Tunstall sneered. “You're servicin' the likes of them, are you? Can't say as I'm surprised, a girl like you, though I wouldn't think they'd need that kind of servicin'.”

“What? No, Mrs. Tunstall.”

“Oh, he's servicin' you then? You makin' that much off the toffs? I wouldn't think there'd be a demand for a girl with metal arms but what do I know. They're different than honest folk, and that's no mistake. Though I wouldn't think they'd be so bad you'd be needin' to hire yourself someone, unless your arms ain't the only things what's metal.”

“I'm afraid you're very much mistaken, Mrs. Tunstall. Ours is not that kind of relationship.”

“Well, none of my business, is it? I just came to tell ya that if'n the toffs get rowdy, you can call my boy George and he'll throw 'em out for a gear so you don't have to run and get their friends. This one seemed quiet enough but I don't want my rooms wrecked because someone had too much to drink and saw your gears and couldn't handle it.”

It took a moment for the import of what Mrs. Tunstall had said to sink in. “Are you saying his friends came and got him?”

“Came shoutin' for me to let 'em in. I don't know why you locked the door if you were sendin' his lads to come get him. He didn't look in much condition to run away when they carried him out. I'd think they were drunk, too, the way they were carryin' on. I'd think lunch was a bit early in the day to be that knackered but who am I to judge the likes of them?”

“Did they say anything to you, Mrs. Tunstall? Maybe a message for me? Or did they leave anything with you?”

“Nah, nah, nothin' for you, dearie. Were you expectin' them to?”

“I was expecting somethin', yes.” Sophie's brow furrowed.

“Whut, did they leave without payin'? Now, that does explain their hurry but it's a damn shame to do that to a workin' girl like you, Sophie.”

“Did they leave in a private conveyance?” David asked.

The landlady glared at him then shook her head. “Nah, it was a hack they brought with 'em. One of the ones you see around the nicer places to get fleeced early in the morning. Takes 'em home quiet as you please and only charges them a little extra.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Tunstall.”

“Ask around, dear. I don't like seein' a girl get stiffed just 'cause she's a bit different. Maybe your metal friend can help you get what's yours.” The landlady shot a distrustful look at David. “Just remember, the rent's due Friday, same as always. I'm as sympathetic as the next landlady but I'm afraid I have to insist on promptness from all my tenants.”

“I understand,” Sophie said. “Thank you for your help.”

The landlady humphed and let herself out. Motioning Sophie to stay quiet, David checked the hallway a few moments later and caught her skittering further up the stairs.

Sophie took a deep breath and felt her cheeks cool.

“She doesn't think much of me, does she?” David said.

“She doesn't think much of anybody,” Sophie replied. “So, what do we do now?”

“Well, I should think your problem is largely solved. The dead body has been removed from your apartments.”

“But by who? And why?” She paused as something else occurred to her. “And he didn't pay me.”

“Sophie, I hardly think that's the most important thing to get worked up over.”

“Maybe not but look, David, this is all I have left. I may have been dirty when I was working in the mines but I was honest. I saved what I could and I cleaned up nice enough I coulda made a decent match, had babies, maybe a home. All that went with my arms, David, but I still have some dignity. A bloke offered money to have lunch with a girl with mechanical arms. That's it, no matter what the gossips say about me. I did my part and I deserve what's fair.”

“So you want to get what's owed to you from the dead man,” David said.

Sophie hesitated then drew herself up. “Yes.”

“The one you killed.”

“On accident.”

“How do you want to start? Do we wait and go around tonight to see who picks up at the nice places?”

“If they're takin' fares durin' the day, they're probably at the post.”

“We'll go there, then,” David said.

“I can't,” Sophie said. “It's too far. I have an idea, though.” Going to one of the cabinets in her little kitchen, Sophie removed some small coins from a box then went out to the street. The hurry and noise of the city moved around her; people with no defined profession watched others work, deliveries were being made and children played and watched all of it as a sort of ubiquitous audience. Some were watching her emerge with wide eyes and most ran away when she beckoned them over. One intrepid boy approached her though, looking cautious but not particularly afraid.

“Whut?” he asked, sidling up to her.

“Were you around here earlier when the hack came up?” Sophie asked him.

“Mebbe. What's it to ya?”

“I've got a blank here if you know anything about what happened,” Sophie bent down to him and showed one of the coins in her hand.

“I know sumpin',” the boy said.

“What do you know?”

“I know the hack was waitin' when the bloke went in.”

“Do you know who the driver is? Or would you recognize him if you went looking at the other dirvers?”

“Yup, but I ain't lookin' for a blank.”

Sophie handed him the coin then showed him another. “I've got a pin if you'll find the driver for me.”

The boy looked at is suspiciously. “Whatchu want him for?”

“I just want to ask him a question or two. Maybe hire him if he knows what I need.”

“Alright,” the boy spit on the ground. “Money up front.”

“Half up front,” Sophie said. “And a bonus if you find him fast.” She handed him a second blank.

“You the one that lives in the cellar?” the boy asked, making the second blank disappear behind the first one.

“Yes. You come find me when you've got what I want, right?”

The boy grinned at her. “Yeah, I'll be right back.”

Sophie turned back to the house to see David watching her. “What?” She asked, walking back in to go back to her apartments.

“I didn't know anybody still used blanks. They've been out of production for years,” he said, following her.

“Well, now you know different,” she said. “I bet you don't even have any.”

“No, I don't. However, I have servants to run what errands I can't do for myself.”

“How come you answer the door yourself, then?”

“Do most people have their servants answer the door?”

“Most people who have servants do, yeah. I mean, I would guess they do. Can't say I've visited enough houses with servants to say for certain but it's always a butler or a maid who answers the door in the stories in the paper.” Sophie thought for a minute. “I think there was one where it was the footman but the butler was missing cause he was the murderer.”

“You read stories in the paper?”

“Don't everybody? When I was living with the girls at the mine, we'd get together and get one every week, even had enough extra to have the boy deliver it to us instead of havin' to go get it ourselves.”

“Which ones do you like the best?”

“Me? I liked the adventure stories, where some professor goes and finds places that were made up a long time ago and everybody thought they was stories but he thinks they're real and goes and finds them.”

“Not the romances? I would have thought they would have been your favorite.”

“Nah. Some of the girls did but they never struck me as real. I mean, nobody lives happily ever after and most of us girls are common as clay, not some lost princess or some such. We'll be happy enough if we decide to be and take care with the lads we choose.”

“That's very pragmatic,” David said.

Sophie shrugged. “We're most of us like that, if we actually think about it. Simple goals, like living long enough to have babies and see 'em grow, seein' the brothers and sisters we worked for be happy and maybe get a little bit above us, have a romance of a sort, enjoy bein' with the people who love us.”

David started to ask a question but was interrupted by a knock at the door.

It was the boy she'd hired, smiling and holding out his hand. “I found him for you, miss, and brought him with me.”

“I'll just go out and see, shall I?” Sophie said.

There was a hansom waiting on the street outside, the driver looking at her expectantly. “Do you need a cab, miss?”

“It depends. Were you the driver who helped two gentleman pick up a friend from here earlier?” Sophie asked him.

“I was, miss. Is there some sort of problem?” The driver looked nervously at the door.

“Can you tell me where you took them?” Sophie asked.

“I can. Question is, why should I?” He turned to her suspiciously. “Ain't nobody told me yet why you're wanting them and I won't get caught up in anything that's gonna get me in trouble.”

“The gentleman in question owes for services rendered,” David said, coming up to stand next to Sophie. “His friends helped him to skip out on paying the bill.”

The driver gave the metal man in front of him a long look, then another one at the arms of the woman next to him. “So you're what, collecting a debt for the, erm, lady?”

“I am assisting the lady in collecting this debt, yes.”

“You don't look the sort,” the driver said.

“I don't believe there's enough of my kind to have 'a sort',” David said, stiffly moving closer to the cab.

The driver gave them a long look and finally shrugged his shoulders. “Well, I can tell you where I dropped them off but I'm not sure how much it will help. It weren't nowhere special and I doubt they stayed around after I left.”

“Can you take us there?” David asked.

“Sure, sure, but it'll still cost you the fare. I may have a soft-spot for ladies in trouble but I still have to make a living.”

“Yes, I understand. Can you wait here for us? We won't be long.”

“I can wait for a few minutes. It'll cost you, though.”