The World in Dissonance (Volume 2)

Chapter 2 - Part 5

Part 5

By the time evening settled over London, the atmosphere inside Laurencia's hospital room had become considerably quieter. The events of the day had left everyone exhausted, yet nobody seemed particularly willing to leave. Dedicatus remained near the window, occasionally glancing toward the hospital bed, while Beatrice had settled herself in one of the chairs, quietly organizing the various pieces of information they had gathered throughout the day.

Alyss and Sonya remained close to Laurencia, while Father John stood nearby, keeping a watchful eye over all of them.

The relative calm of the room was interrupted when a nurse entered.

"Miss Liddel?"

"Yes?", replied Dedicatus as she turned her head.

"There are two gentlemen waiting at the reception asking for you and Miss Beatrice. They said they were sent by someone named Glenn."

Dedicatus's visible eye immediately sharpened.

"Ah..."

The girl had been expecting them.

"Thank ya. We'll be there shortly."

The nurse nodded before leaving.

Beatrice slowly rose from her chair, smoothing the front of her clothes with her usual refined composure.

"So they have already found him."

"Looks like it."

"You expected them to be this quick?"

"Not exactly!!”, replied Dedicatus. "But I knew they wouldn't need more than an afternoon if they had the right people on it."

The two girls exchanged a brief glance before leaving the room, leaving Alyss, Sonya and Father John with some questions in mind.

They found the two men waiting near the reception area. It was considerably emptier than it had been earlier in the day. Standing near one of the walls were two men dressed inconspicuously enough to blend into the surroundings. Neither looked particularly threatening, and neither carried himself like a stereotypical member of an organized criminal group at first glance. Their clothing was neat but deliberately inconspicuous, and their manner was restrained.

They possessed none of the theatrical intimidation one might expect from men associated with the British Firms. That, in itself, was part of what made them effective. Glenn had sent two of his most capable investigators.

The taller of the two men, a lean man named Elias Zwei, stepped forward.

"Miss Liddel. Miss Beatrice."

"Evenin'!!”, Dedicatus greeted them with a hand gesture.

Beatrice inclined her head politely.

"Good evening, gentlemen. I presume you have something useful for us."

"We believe so!”, answered the second man, Arthur Bell.

Dedicatus leaned slightly against the reception desk.

"Let's hear it!!”

Elias produced a small notebook from inside his coat then started to read what they dug up.

"We started shortly after receiving the request this afternoon. We treated the drawing as our primary reference and began by checking the areas where a man matching the description could reasonably have been observed without attracting attention."

Beatrice's eyes narrowed slightly with interest.

"You began geographically rather than through his identity."

"Naturally...”, replied the man. "We didn't have a name."

"Quite."

"We divided the search into three layers. First, recent sightings and movements. Second, addresses associated with people matching the general description. Third, any unusual connections between those individuals and the places you indicated indirectly through the circumstances surrounding the request."

Dedicatus smiled faintly.

"So ya didn't just ask people whether they'd seen the bloke."

"No. That would've produced too much noise."

Arthur continued without cutting his fellow tracker.

"We compared several independent accounts. A shopkeeper near Hampstead remembered a man resembling the drawing purchasing medical chemicals several days ago. That alone meant very little. The same description appeared in an account from a bookseller in Bloomsbury, where the man purchased several books dealing with comparative religion, medieval theology, and what the bookseller described as ‘ritual philosophy’."

Beatrice's expression remained composed.

"An interesting selection, but hardly incriminating."

"Precisely! We didn't treat it as such."

“Good!!”, replied Dedicatus while giving a small approving nod.

Elias turned a page.

"The more useful information came from a third source. A cab driver remembered transporting the same man outside London, toward the northwestern outskirts. The passenger gave no permanent destination, but the driver remembered the road because he had been instructed to stop near an old property rather than in the nearest village."

"Do we know where?", asked Beatrice.

"Near Harrow."

That answer made Dedicatus's attention sharpen slightly.

"How near!?"

"About two miles beyond the more populated part of the area. There's an old detached house there, somewhat isolated from the surrounding properties."

"Owned by whom!?"

"We couldn't establish that immediately. The property records are somewhat complicated. The current occupant appears to have acquired the lease through an intermediary."

"That sounds deliberately obscure.", said Beatrice as she folded her arms.

"It may be. Or it may simply be the result of an old property arrangement. We aren't prepared to claim otherwise."

The aristocratic girl gave a small nod.

"A sensible distinction."

Arthur then continued.

"We then compared the description of the occupant with the drawing. Age, height, build, and general appearance correspond closely enough to justify further investigation. More importantly, the occupant has been using the name Edmund Vale."

"Edmund Vale...", repeated Dedicatus quietly as she pronounced the name.

"According to the records we've found, he's a private scholar with no significant public profile. He occasionally gives private lectures and sells translations or commentaries on obscure religious texts."

"How about his occupation?", asked Beatrice.

"Officially? Antiquarian researcher and independent writer."

"And unofficially?"

"We don't have enough to say."

“Good answer!!”, replied Dedicatus while her smile became slightly more pronounced.

Elias opened another section of his notebook.

"There is, however, another connection."

"What connection?", asked Beatrice while she raised an eyebrow.

"Several months ago, Vale was seen attending gatherings organized by a small religious society. On paper, the group describes itself as a theological study circle. Its members discuss apocalyptic literature, early Christian sects, and various interpretations of the Book of Revelation."

Dedicatus remained silent.

Arthur then continued right where Elias stopped.

"We traced several members. The group's meetings aren't particularly frequent, and we couldn't establish their complete membership in the time available. But three names associated with the group have appeared elsewhere in investigations concerning what you might call extremist religious material."

Beatrice's expression changed almost imperceptibly.

"Extremist?"

"Not violent, as far as we can determine. At least, not from what we've found. Their writings are simply... unusual."

"How unusual?"

The man hesitated.

"They refer repeatedly to an organization calling itself the Cult of the Anti-Christ.”

Beatrice's eyes briefly moved toward Dedicatus. The young maiden with medical eyepatch, however, showed little to no surprise. She had expected something along those lines.

"So Person X, or Edmund Vale if we refer to his name, really is connected to them," she murmured.

Beatrice immediately noticed the certainty in her voice.

"You were expecting this."

"Sorta. Well, I knew he was either a Satanist or a Luciferian tied closely to the cult!!”

Beatrice looked at her rival for a moment but did not press the question yet. Instead, she returned her attention to the investigators sent by Glenn.

"How strong is the connection?"

"At present? Circumstantial.", replied Arthur carefully. “We found no document bearing his signature and declaring him a member. No formal membership list. No direct evidence that he founded or commands the organization. What we have is a chain of associations: Vale attended gatherings where people connected to the group were present, his writings overlap with their interests, and several people associated with him have links to the same theological circle."

"Which means...”, summarized Beatrice. “That he is associated with the same intellectual and social environment, but we cannot yet establish his precise position within it."

"Exactly."

"That's enough for now!!", declared Dedicatus while nodding m.

Beatrice glanced toward her.

"You seem remarkably satisfied with that."

"I didn't ask 'Who is the mastermind behind everythin’?' I asked 'Find Person X.' They found someone matchin’ the drawing, identified a plausible name, located his residence, n' established a connection to the group I’ve been investigatin’ with Good Ol’ John."

She looked back at the two men.

"That's a successful afternoon."

Neither investigator reacted to the compliment. They simply continued.

"There is one more thing."

"Go on.", replied the aristocratic girl.

"We noticed Inspector Virgil Blackwood during the investigation."

Beatrice's expression remained calm, meanwhile Dedicatus merely sighed.

"Of course ya did!!”

The investigator looked between them.

"He appears to be following the same trail. We saw him questioning people around one of the locations connected to Vale. Given his reputation, we assumed he'd eventually reach the same conclusion."

"That is hardly surprising.", said the aristocratic girl while adjusting her gloves.

"You two know him?", asked the investigator.

"Unfortunately!!”, replied Dedicatus.

"That is perhaps unnecessarily harsh.", said Beatrice while giving her rival a slightly disapproving glance.

"He told me to stop playin' detective."

"You did behave rather suspiciously at the theatre."

Dedicatus ignored the remark.

"We didn't ask him why he was looking for Vale. That wasn't our concern. We simply thought you should know another investigator is pursuing the same individual.", continued Arthur.

"Quite right!!", answered Dedicatus. "That's all we need to know."

There was no need to explain the circumstances at the theatre. Virgil had obtained the VIP attendee list from the director, and Dedicatus knew exactly what that meant. With his intellect, experience, and almost obsessive attention to detail, it had been inevitable that he would eventually identify the person they were searching for.

"He'll probably reach the same address!!”, said Dedicatus.

"Probably?", asked Beatrice.

"Definitely!!”

She looked toward the hospital's large windows. The last traces of daylight had already begun disappearing over London.

"But not tonight."

Beatrice understood immediately.

"You believe he will wait until tomorrow."

"Yeah!!”

"Do you mind explaining why?"

"Because Virgil Blackwood isn't Glenn."

The two investigators exchanged a brief glance. But Dedicatus still continued.

"Glenn's people can afford to move through London's streets quietly. Virgil has a badge, procedures, paperwork, witnesses, n' a reputation to maintain. More importantly, look at the hour."

She gestured toward the reception area.

"By the time he has enough information to justify actin’, it'll be too late to do much tonight. And Virgil's the sort who won't rush a conclusion simply because he's impatient."

Beatrice smiled faintly.

"You are referring to his principles!"

"Exactly!!”

The young aristocrat considered the matter for several seconds before nodding.

"Then it would be reasonable to assume that tomorrow morning will be considerably more interesting."

Dedicatus grinned.

"That's what I'm countin' on."

Elias closed his notebook.

"There is one final detail. The house is occupied at present. We did not approach it."

Dedicatus's expression immediately became serious.

"Good."

"We thought you'd prefer it that way."

"I do. Don't approach him yet. Don't scare him off, don't start a fight, n' don't give him a reason to disappear. ‘Dat’s what I told Glenn."

"Very well...", the two men nodded before stepping back. "Our work is finished then."

"Yeah!! Give Glenn my thanks."

"We will."

Once the men departed, Beatrice remained beside Dedicatus for a moment, silently watching them disappear through the hospital entrance.

"So...", finally said the aristocratic girl. "We have a name, an address, and a probable connection to the organization behind our investigation."

"Yep!!”

"And you already suspected he would be connected to them."

"Yep!!”

Beatrice turned her head toward her rival.

"You could have mentioned that earlier."

"Could've.", replied Dedicatus while giving her rival a mischievous smile.

"You are infuriating.", said Beatrice after sighing a bit.

"Been told that too."

For the moment, however, there was nothing more to be gained from continuing the investigation.

It was already evening, and neither girl had any intention of rushing blindly toward Edmund Vale's residence. Whatever awaited them there could wait until the next day .

By the end of the day, Beatrice eventually returned home, while Father John made his way back to the church. Dedicatus remained at the hospital with Alyss and Sonya, keeping watch over Laurencia through the night.

The investigation could wait. For the moment, Laurencia came first.