The grail of clockwork and death

Chapter VI

Dakoda turns to leave but pauses.

“What are your thoughts on the suicides?” She questions, Lucca pauses and hums in thought.

“Well I'd say it's an interesting and strange occurrence, although I must admit I was only aware of one, has there been another since?” Lucca answers.

“Ah, I see she the inspector has not released any information to the public about his death yet,” Dakoda mutters, she glances between her employee and the child.

“Yes there has been another, someone very dear to me, and I confess I am highly suspicious of it all,” Dakoda explains quietly.

“Well I would suspect so, two people who you have personally known, that must be a horrible thing to have to bear on your conscious without questioning why,” Lucca utters. With a small nod of appreciation Dakoda smiles.

“I appreciate your understanding, detective inspector keeland seems to think it an overreaction,” she discloses.

With a curt nod of farewell, Dakoda steps out of the shop and adjusts her skirts before walking towards the carriage.

“Menachem, You may take us home now,” she instructs.

“Affirmative, my lady,” The mechanical maid replies gathering the reigns. Dakoda steps up to enter the carriage only to be halted by an eerie tingling down her spine, glancing around she spots nothing out of place, except possibly the beggar at the corner street. She pulls out her purse and becomes the poor young man over,

“Hear sir, Go buy yourself some food,” Dakoda mutters handing the raggedy man 20 pounds,

“That should be enough to get you by for a while, I encourage you to find work,” She adds

“God Bless you, Lady, You are a lifesaver,” the man thanks before hurrying away towards the market, with a sigh Dakoda enters the carriage,

“A life saver? If only that were so, Then Virgil would still be alive and I would not wish death upon myself as much as I do,” She murmurs under her breath leaning back into the soft carriage seats, she leans over and draws open the carriage windows curtains. Gazing out at the city as it passes by she lazily observes the common folk.

The carriage passes by an alleyway and as it does so Dakoda catches a glimpse of something she had hoped she would never have to bear witness to again in her lifetime,

“Menachem! Stop the carriage immediately!” she shouts her eyes widening as she leaps out of the slowing carriage, she lands on the metal grates -which make up the majority of the sidewalk ground - with a harsh thunk. Slowly standing and brushing off her skirts as passerby's stare at her in shock she turns to the closest person to her,

“Call...Call inspector Keeland,” She breathes out as the adrenaline coursing through her causes her breathing to become uneven.

“Tell him there's been another one,” She adds taking a step towards the direction of the alley, her ankle twists under her and she lets out a shriek as she crumples to the filthy ground. A crowd had begun to gather around her as Menachem rushes from the carriage,

“Lady Cipher! What were you thinking hurling yourself out of a moving carriage like that you could have had yourself killed!” The maid scalds as she assists Dakoda in standing,

“Oh Hogwash, It is merely a bruise,” She mutters once again brushing off her skirts, she hobbles in the direction of the alley not giving any protest to the crowd in follow, as she arrives at the entrance of the alley she turns to the crowd,

“Has anyone gone to fetch Scotland yard yet?” She questions, when no reply came she turns with a groan of irritants to the alleyway. Taking a deep breath she limps into the dark alleyway in order to observes the crime scene, not yet looking at the body which hung from the steam pipes above her she scrutinized the ground around the alley, Dakoda deduced that there had been some form of struggle between at least two people, Weather that had happened before of during the death of the man above her she was not sure, she took notice of how few items which could be used as steps there were, a few crates hear and there but not many close enough to be considered the item which the man could have used, just as she takes note of a trail of footprints leading away in the dirt and grime of the alley she hears the clatter of footsteps behind her and the sounds of Keelands men cordoning off the crime scene from the public's eyes.

“Lady Cipher!? What in heaven's name are you doing here?” Inspector Keeland Asks flabbergast.

“I am the one who sent for you Detective, I spotted the sod hung up as my carriage passed, I do believe, that there may have been a second person, Most probably female judging by the heel print… Lord… Lord Smith?” Dakoda recites to Keeland dawdling off as she looks up to the body which hung above them.

“But… How… This can't be,” Dakoda murmurs, trying to wrap her head around the discovery.

“Lady Cipher, Please Explain what Is going on?” Inspector Keeland Sighs

“Open your eyes and observer, Inspector Keeland! There is another dead man. which I am to assume you are going to label as a suicide!” Dakoda hisses gesturing up to the body of Lord Smith. “If you are going to insist that these are still simply suicides, Come and find me at a later date because as far as I am concerned this was murder!”

“Lady Cipher I have already told you, Without sufficient evidence we can not prove it was murder.” Keeland calmly states walking closer to the body.

“You are clearly going through the trauma of finding another close friend like this, I insist you return to your carriage and be on your way home,” he adds. Dakoda turns away from him and glares down deeper into the alley,

“I Will leave, If you walk with me down this alley, And we do not discover anything suspicious,” She challenges. Keeland stands silently weighing up his options before sighing

“Come along then,” He groans walking off down the alley following the footprints which Dakoda had pointed out. She walks along beside him -silently analysing the surroundings looking out for any other possible clues- limping slightly as her bruised ankle throbs with each step.

As they approach what would be the middle of the alleyway Keeland comes to an abrupt halt. Dakoda -Who had still been looking down in hopes of finding a clue which would help prove it to be murder- walks right into him.

“What are you doing, Inspector, Stop dilly-dallying and keep moving, The sooner I can find proof that these deaths are murder the… the sooner…” Dakoda trails off as she looks up and comes to face the corpse of Lady Smith strung up from the Steam pipes in much a similar way as both Lord Smith and Virgil.

“Are you ready to admit… That these ‘suicides’ are not as they seem?” She whispers in a quiet voice as she holds her breath and takes a few steps back.

A shiver goes down Dakoda’s spine as the cold glassy eyes of Lady Smith stare down into her soul. She looks down and grimaces.

“Dakoda, There is still no proof that these are not just suicides, There is no evidence to connect them, no signs of another person being present at the scenes, I can not just make assumptions because of a strange situation of them being.... serial suicides,” Keeland sighs

“Serial suicides!? You would call gladly label these deaths as… as serial suicides?! Oh But you Just cannot admit that there is a small possibility that it is Murder!” Dakoda growls,

“Lady Cipher, I Am giving you a chance to try to prove to me that these are as you say, murders, If you can not find a clue which would suggest murder, then You are to let it go and return to being all ‘high and mighty’ at your manor!” Keeland hisses,

“I am going to go and retrieve some of my men to bring them to this scene, If you have not found anything by then, You done, Got that Lady Cipher,” Inspector Keeland mutters walking away.

Dakoda sneers at The retreating form of the detective before turning her attention to the ground below the body, Noting how the grime and dirt had been disturbed by what one would assume was the crate on which she stood, with a huff she analyses the create which followed the pattern of the disrupted dirt, for once it held up as being a solid step for which a woman of Lady Smiths size could have used to stand upon. Going back to where the create would have been kicked away Dakoda scrutinizes around the dirt. with a gasp and slight glimmer of hope She grins.

“Surely Inspector Keeland Must See this as a clue,” She mutters as she deduces that the dirt had been disturbed in a way which would cover any footprints retreating the crime scene. Just as she is about to turn to find Keeland something catches her eye, just poking out of Lady Smiths Jacket pocket, A small Cream envelope, Dakoda carefully hobbles closer -taking care not to put to much pressure on her ankle- to the corpse and she carefully plucks the letter out of her pocket. Her heart sinks at the thought that perhaps this could just be a case of serial suicides like the Detective had suspected. She flips the envelope over in her hands and freezes.

“Lady Cipher, Now is Your chance, Show me what you’ve found,” Keeland demands as he walks up behind her. She hastily stuffs the letter into her pocket and beacons him to halt.

“Look at the dirt, It has been disturbed. As though someone was hastily covering up footprints, But we followed Lady Smiths trail to find the body, So who had come from this direction, And then left in this direction covering their tracks,” She announces, Pointing out that which she had found,

“This does not mean anything, This could have been caused by a number of different things, Lady Cipher, Stop Wasting our time and return to your home, Or am I to have one of my me escort you back to your estate?” He huffs.

“Fine, Have It your way, I will Prove to you one way or another, that these deaths are not caused by the victims, I just wish you would see now that it is so, Before there are more bodies added to the list,” She mutters with one last glare before she turns with a stomp of her heel and returns to the Alleys entrance.

As Dakoda tries to scurry past the crowd of citizens and journalists trying to get a good scoop she is bombarded with questions

“Ma’am, what can you tell us about these deaths, Are they also suicides? Are they linked to Lord Humphrey? Did you know this man? What is further in the alleyway that caused the detective to need his men?” multiple of the people ask her as she pushes her way past.

“I Am not obligated to share any of that information with you, Any Information I would be to share with you would be incorrect anyhow,” She growls storming through the crowd -the anger which boiled her blood causing her to momentarily forget about her possibly injured ankle- and to her carriage.

“Meachem, Take us home, I promise I will not leap From the Carriage this time,” Dakoda instructs with a soft slimmer of humour to mask her irritants cause by the inspector.

Dakoda enters the carriage and with a groan falls into the seat, with a crack as the reigns hit the wood of the carriage and a jolt as the vehicle starts to move Dakoda lifts her cumbersome skirts up enough to reach her boot, she unlaces it and hisses in pain as she removes it. She frowns inspecting her swollen and bruised ankle,

“If only that jump had done more damage, than perhaps I would not be left to deal with this dreadful life,” She sighs, carefully pulling her boot back on.

________

Opening the door to her study she shuffles in and drops into her desk chair. She leans forward and pulled out the mysterious letter which she had retrieved from the crime scene, with narrow eyes she contemplates opening it, the cursive writing spelling out her name, her full name.

“Not Lady smith's handwriting, it is far too messy for a women of her stature,” She mutters quietly to herself. “And the Coffee stain on the back would lead me to assume it has been written by someone in a hurry,” She adds

With a sigh, Dakoda picks up her letter opener and tears the envelope open,

“Cheap paper, definitely not written by the Smiths,” She murmurs slipping the letter out.

‘Dear Dakoda’ with a scoff she rolls her eyes.

“Whoever has written this is so terribly rude,” She whines reading on

‘I know you are suspicious of these deaths, As you would be after all that I have put you through. But I am to let you know that if you continue to stray down this path. The path in which you continue to try and prevent me from completing my goal, I will be left with no choice but to stop you.’ she reads. Gulping she hesitantly re-reads the paragraph of the letter, she then continues

‘Everything which I have done, I have done for you, and I only Ask that you appreciate that and forgive me for the sins, and for the heinous crimes which I have been forced to commit to Complete these tasks.’ she reads, her suspicions and theories of who had been the author this becoming more evident.

‘Sincerely …’ she reads, the name had been smudged over as though they had only thought to keep it anonymous after they had written it, with a gruff groan Dakoda throws the letter down on her desk.

“Surely… Surely Detective inspector Keeland shall have to believe me now.” Dakoda gasps in realization. She picks the letter up and stores it safely in her desk drawer.

Ignoring the threat of which this mysterious person had made towards her, Dakoda opens her notebook and picks up her quill making a forensic profile of each of the victims which had been found.

After ten minutes of rushed writing, Dakoda had compiled a list of all the similarities between the deaths.

“All were acquainted with or close to me, all hung, in rather a similar way. All in close proximity to my estate place of work. All deaths occurred within a month.” Dakoda mutters reading over her notes.

“And now I have a letter, which is addressed to me, found on the body of Lady Smith, and said letter contains vital information to provide the Detective with a viable reason to investigate these as murders,” she declares standing up. Grimacing at the sudden pressure on her ankle she sits back down.

“Menachem,” she calls out.

“send for Inspector Keeland, let it be known I have made a revolutionary discovery on the case,”

With silence as her reply, Dakoda looks up to the empty space where her maid usually stood.

“Ah, yes… I am alone in this discovery,” she hums with slight arrogance. “Perhaps I shall look at the locations with more detail and then I shall try to predict where the next possible victims might be found?” She murmurs to herself opening up a map the city on her desk, tracing along the old paper of the map with her finger Dakoda makes a path from the victims homes to her estate, her workshop and where the body's had been found.

“All have been in close proximity, with the exception of Lord Humphrey, Who was killed extremely close to the train station, within two streets distance from the train station…” She continued on now fully aware she was talking to herself out loud, “That means he was definitely the first, It was highly likely the killer had just gotten into town and had chanced upon Lord Humphrey and taken advantage of the opportunity,” She mumbles scribbling down notes under the information she had already compiled.

“Lady Cipher, Your mail,” Menachem announces as she enters the study,

“Put it down just hear and continue with your duties, Have one of the others call for Detective inspector Keeland, I Believe I have Discovered some information He would be interested in,” Dakoda instructs.

“Affirmative, Lady Cipher,” Menachem bows setting the mail down at the edge of the desk as instructed then exiting the room quietly. Dakoda merely continues to go over her notes.

She reaches for the letters without looking up from the map and pages of messy theories.

“Perhaps… it is somebody that I know, Or have known at some stage in my life?” She queries while opening her mail.

“Tch, just more blimmin invitations, I have already hosted my own party, and many of my friends are dying, Can these imbeciles not just leave me to wallow in my self-pity.” She scoffs flicking through the pile to make sure there were no important letters before throwing them into the rubbish bin by her desk.

She focuses her attention back on the map and after a few quick calculations based on the locations she already had compiled she marks on the map a selection of possible locations which another murder could take place.

“If I am to assume that only people who I know are to be in the firing line, I am to guess that Lord or Lady Thompson is to be the next in immediate danger,” she murmurs.

Carefully pushing her chair back she stands to make sure her ankle is not going to be too cumbersome while she walks this time.

Once she is sure she can stand and walk without the assistance of her desk or the walls she slowly hobbles to the phone room. Once she enters she takes a seat and turns to Audrey.

“Is detective keeland on the line yet?” She enquires.

“Yes, My Lady, will you be needing anything else?” The maid enquirers

“some privacy,” she mutters picking the phone recover up and holding it to her ear.

“Keeland,” She greets sourly.

“Lady Cipher you best have an impressive reason for this telephone call,” Inspector Keeland huffs,

“I do actually, inspector, I Have uncovered some very important evidence with which I can prove that these deaths are in fact murders and I have estimated who could possibly be the next target and where they might be attacked.” Dakoda Discloses

“Give it up woman, They are not murders, Leave the detective work to the actual detectives and go fix a clock or whatever it is that you do!” Keeland snaps at her, his voice coming through the telephone with a grainy sound to it.

“If you insist on dismissing this information which I was willing to share with you, I shall have to investigate it myself,” Dakoda replies with a steady and stone cold voice. “I shall not allow this heinous monster get away with murder, not this time,” She calmly states.

“For the last time Cipher, It is not murder!” Inspector Keeland expresses.

“I guess we shall see, but keep in mind, inspector, If I am correct and these are murders, Where does that leave you? With a pile of bodies whose deaths could have been prevented had you just listened to me the first time?” Dakoda puts forth, with silence as a reply she scoffs “That is what I had Thought,” She mutters before hanging up her telephone receiver and exiting the room.

While Dakoda limps up the grand staircase in order to make her way to her bedroom -to ready herself for the night- she calls out summon Menachem,

“Lady Cipher,” She bows, standing at the base of the grand staircase.

“Have a bath prepared for me,” She demands

“Affirmative, Lady Cipher,” The maid answers hurrying off in a civil way to heat water for Dakoda’s bath.

Continuing to her dressing room Dakoda enters and strips down out of her dress pulling a soft silky emerald green dressing robe on to cover herself, taking her time she makes sure to put her dress back onto a clothing hanger and returning it to its place in her wardrobe.

She then sits down at her vanity pins her hair up so to keep it out of the way of possibly getting wet while she bathes, with a cloth she removes her light makeup and then stands and walks to the bathroom.

Entering the spacious bathroom Dakoda silently shuffles to the copper clawfoot bathtub which was located in the centre of the room, she dips her hand in to check the temperature, approving of the perfectly heated water she turns to the mechanical maid,

“Thank you, Menachem, You may leave now,” she declares. With a curt nod the maid scurries away and silently pulls the elegant door shut behind her, Dakoda clicks the intricate lock of the door shut and de robes carefully sliding into the hot water in the bathtub, inhaling the delicate scent of lavender and rose as the perfume of the soap in the water envelopes her.

The aromas of the soap and heat from the water work in harmony to relax and soothe her racing thoughts and aching muscles, she lays back and allows herself to soak in the warmth and tranquillity. She stays like this until the water starts to cool down, what must have been close to three-quarters of an hour, possibly even longer.

As the water cools she opens her eyes and picks up a soft washcloth, cleaning herself she pauses at the thin delicate lines of red carved into her legs, most were faded with an exception of a few darker rawer. biting her lip her sight flickers up to the cabinet and sink just to the side of the room. She hesitates but eventually forcefully tears her gaze away from where she knew the sharp razor blades were kept,

As she continues to wash, Her breathing begins to tremor as her thoughts are filled with the nagging need to feel pain. Biting her lip and digging her long well kept nails into her palms she stands up getting out of the now lukewarm bath water, with water dripping down her skin she stalks over to the cabinet and pulls it open, picking up he shaving razor which she had purchased while on holiday with Virgil and his mother last year, she unfolds it, the cold steel glistening in the evening sunlight streaming through the bathroom window. She grips the smooth marble handle tightly and holds the cold, sharp blade of the razor against her thigh. Pausing she contemplates what she is doing.

“I could end my pitiful life, one flick of my wrist and I'll have severed my own vein, then I could see mother and father again, be with Virgil for eternity,” she whimpers quietly.

“No one else would have to die because of me, nobody would miss me all that terribly anyway, I have my last will prepared, my employees will be well looked after,” she whispers her hand shaking slightly. The blade just grazing her skin causing a droplet of her crimson blood to drip down her slender leg, mixing with the water. The numbing pain causes her to let out a sob as she moves the blade away placing it back in its place in the cabinet.

“but I can't now. Not yet, if I end my own there is no knowing what this murderous maniac will continue to do using me as an excuse,” she croaks limping back to the bathtub and slipping back into the water, the small things line of blood mixing into the water as she submerges the cut.

“Lady Cipher, Are you Almost done? It has been a long while since you entered the bath, and it is late, Perhaps it is time for you to dry off and retire to your nice warm bed, lest you become sick,”

Menachem calls out through the door.

“I will be out in a minute, you may start to warm the bedding now,” Dakoda replies softly.

“affirmative, Lady Cipher,” The mechanized servant recites.

Dakoda could imagine that the maid had probably bowed on the other side of the door. Her eyes flickering shut for a moment then she stands and grabs a towel. Drying herself off she then adorns her dressing robe and exits the bathroom.

On her way to her dressing room, Dakoda passes Audrey.

“Audrey, would you please go and drain the water from the bathtub,” she orders as she strolls past the young girl.

“Yes, My Lady,” Audrey murmurs scurrying away to the bathroom.

Dakoda steadily and slowly walks through the halls her heart racing and thoughts filled with a paranoid buzz,

“Lady Cipher, I have prepared your nightgown for you,” Menachem chimes with a bow. Dakoda jumps slightly at the sudden presence of her maid.

“thank you. Menachem,” she breathes out while accepting the nightgown

“That will be all, Menachem, good night.” Dakoda murmurs walking into her bedroom and closing the door.