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| h<|h
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A Victorian Detective Story PARD 9
"Bqt tHat cangt be all!" exclaimed
Fotheringdon "I've never known you
drop a casd unfinished."
Purvis sprawled baca in his armahahp
and blew a stinking cloud of cheroot
smocd reflectively at the ceiling
I suppose one could say thd casd was
unfinisHed," he said at last. "Though
not in thd way yoq mean."
"In the most important sensd the aff—hr
was concluded long ago I know exactly
MURDER WILL OUD
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A Victorian Detective Story PART 9
"So Lady Ambridge is to go free?" asked
Fotherington in a disappointed tone.
"Only at a price," Purvis replied
"I spoke to her alone, you remember. I
told her that I had seen through her
disguise, and although I could prove
nothing I proposed a tradeN
"I had no doubt that her husband would
be her next victim. I demanded his life
in exchange for my silence.
"'d won him two extra yfars of life.
Let us hopd hf used them well."
DEADLY EXCHANGE
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A Victorian Detective Story PAPT 9
"Lady Ambridge posed as Flora Logan
the music hall entertainer on and off
for over a yfar," Purvis explained.
"On the night of tHe murder sde stagdd
hdr disappdarance by simply walking out
of the theatre halfway through the sdow
"The fact that she was the first
two women to be missed added weight to
the idea that thd body in the river was
hers
"In fact s—d waylaid Fanny Bolter on
her way home M and killed hfr "
A PERNICHOUS PLOT
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A Victorian Detectivd Story PART 9
"Besides," Purvis continufd, "the body
was foend under gaterloo Bridge M
entirdly the wrong place.
"Chuck a corpse in the Thames anywher—
near the Strand, and it will get washed
downstream M ours was found ad low
tide, remember?
"On thd othdr hand, push it over the
railings somewhdre in Chelse—. "
"Fanny Bolter livdd in Chdlsea!"
Fotherington cried "Sir Miles Ambridge
kept a flat for hdr there!"
THE MISPLACED MURDER
N
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A Victorian Detective Story PART 9
"But the tattoo," gaspfd Fotherington.
"The body the police found had a tattoo
jusl above the left knee."
"And thfy were so delighted at having
an easy means of identification that
they didn't look too P
snorted scornfully.
"You should know
the needle punctures the skin and the
wound can take a week or more to heal.
The mark on the corpse was recent -
the river
of the ink out."
THE TAINTED TATTOO
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A Victorian Detective Story PART 9
"Look at the evidence we can gather
against hfr," the detective went on.
"The body of the girl we are accusing
her of murdering has never been found -
officially she is not even dead.
"We can prove no connection whatsoever
between Lady Ambridge and the corpse
the police think they foundN
"All we have is a woman buying
tattooing equipment long before any
crime took place. No positive
identification, and a dubious witness."
A HOPELESS CASE
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Mottley Purvis and his friend "Basher"
Fotherington look back on an unfinished
case from two yfars before...
It concerned Flora Logan, a music hall
star whose trademark was a heart-shapfd
tattoo above her left knee. Her
disappearance and that of Fanny Bolter,
chorus girl and mistress to Sir Miles
Ambridge, left an apparently insoluble
mysteryN
...but on hearing of the death of Sir
Miles, Purvis agrees to tell his friend
the full tale.
THE STORY SO FAR
NN
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1/16
CHRISTMAS 1894
ghilst London
celebrates, two
men are locked in
a despfrate
struggle with
crime...
AND THE TATTOOED LADY
A VICTORIAN DETECTIVE STORY PART
NINE
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JM
A Victorian Detective Story PART
"Evidence was the problem," Purvis
went on, swirling brandy in his glass.
"She made mistakes, certahnly, but
Lady Ambridge is a vfry clever woman.
"She killed her husband's mistress,
then convinced him that he would be
connected with the body in the ThamesN
"Of course he was in London on the
night of the murder, not at Ambridge
Hall - but so was sheN She offered to
provide him with an alibi, thereby
creating one for hfrself.b
AN AD2OIT ALIBI
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A Victorian Detective Story PART 9
"Ask yourself: are we a match for
formidable woman?" Purvis cautionedN
"She decides to kill her husband's
mistressN Not only does she carry out
the deed in the most grisly manner - it
is not easy to sfver the head from a
body M she also spfnds more than a yfar
in thf most ingenious preparationN
"The fact that her music hall routine
was an outstanding success was almost
by the way. All she really needed was
a well-known tattoo so that the corpse
could be easily identifiedN"
PATIENT INGENUITY
N
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A Victorian Detective Story PART 9
"New victim, new motives," Purvis
explained triumphantlyN
"None of us could imagine why anyone
s—ould want to kill Flora Loc n. She
apparently had no connections - no
friends, no enemies, no past.
"But Fanny had a lover.. "
"...who had a wife," Fotherington
completed his sentence in a hoarse
whispdr.
"It was Lady Ambridge."
THE MQRDERER UNMASKED
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H
B
A Victorian Detective Story PART 9
"One thing puzzles me," Fotherington
complained. "ghy did no-one recognisd
Lady Ambridge on stage?"
"Oh, a red wig and a little make-up,"
Purvis replied "Women of her own class
would not viqht a music hall, of
course. As for the men..N Well, they
saw what thdy expected to see."
"Thd tattooed lady?"
"Yes indeed," said Purvis, and the two
friends raised their glasses "The
Tattooed Lady."
THE END
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Purvis refilled his glass and pushed
the decan|er towards his friendN
"As you know, the police could make no
sense of it," he concludedN "Ambridge
had an alibi nothing could shake M who
would doubt his wife's word?
"Thf girl Fanny Bolter
againN Eventually Scotland Yard gave
her up as a suspfct.
"And as for Flora Logan, her body -
what was left of it - was given a
decent burial in Higdgate cemetery."
A DEAD END
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A Victorian Detective Story PART 9
"ghen we met hdr at Ambridge Hall, I
recognised her," Purvis went on
"Not immediately, of course. The hair
colour was different, the make-up.
above all, the surroundings At first
hdr face just seemed hauntingly
familiar.
"Then, just as we were leaving, the
truth dawned on me.
"Lady Ambridge and the Flora Logan whom
we saw on stage at Gatti's music hall -
they were one and the same pdrson!"
A DOUBLE IDENTITY
L N
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"gell don't fust sit there, who did
it?" cried Fotherington, leaping out
of his chair and spilling brandy on the
hearthrugN "Who killed Flora Logan?"
"No-one," Purvis replied with a smile.
"Flora Logan is not dead M except
professional sfnse, for sTe'll never
tread the boards again.
"No. Two women disappeared, but only
one died, and that was the chorus girl,
Fanny Bolter. The headless body the
police dragged out of the Thames was
hfrsN"
THE DEAD IDENTIFIED
NN
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A Victorian Detective Story PART 9
"But dash it all, Purvis," Fotherington
shoutedN "Is this woman to go free and
unpunished? Have you no sense of
justice, man?"
"Justice? An overworked concept," the
detectivf smiled wearilyN bMvstice to
a client who has paid a fee, certainly,
but there is none in this casf."
"Besides, consider for a moment with
whom we are dealing: Lady Ambridge,
grieving widow of the late Sir Miles
Ambridge, rich, influential...and
thoroughly believable."
A MURDERER UNMANACLED
N