A Slash of Emerald (A Dr. Julia Lewis Mystery #2)

Chapter 1

Annie O’Neill peered into the January mist and thought, Why didn’t I hail a cab?

She had a crown for the fare, but the coin’s solid weight in her pocket meant she would make her rent that week with shillings to spare. The girl pulled her woolen shawl tight to her neck, scant protection against the clammy cold that crept from the river.

Birdcage Walk by St. James’s Park was a lonely stretch on any evening.

That night, the shrubs and trees loomed from a wall of fog, taking solid shape only as she drew closer and passed them.

Annie crossed the road to put them at a distance.

Once she reached Fleet Street, she could hop an omnibus and ride the route for sixpence.

The mist veiled the visual world but sharpened the sounds around her: a cat’s angry screech, the hoot of an owl .

. . and then footfalls. Boot leather tapped and scraped behind her.

Annie glanced over her shoulder, peered into the gray void, and shivered.

She picked up her pace. At the corner, she stopped to listen.

The follower still trailed her, and the footsteps were louder now.

Then she thought of the girls: the shopgirls who’d disappeared, one by one, without a trace.

Annie pulled her skirts away from her ankles and ran.

Two figures darted from an alley and blocked her path. A man grabbed Annie’s wrist when she backed away, pulling her close, panting gin and stale tobacco in her face.

“What’s your hurry, luv? The night’s young.”