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I think ofhim in the opium den
"But cocaine is perfectly hares"
Dr Van Ripple’s smile is strained "So they say, but I think otherwise, er kneas truth and what illusion She was suspicious in the extre haunts in the shadows She insisted that she was the only one who ht on a secret tome which she said was of the utmost iht in the studio, the candle burned nearly to the last of its wick She startled and covered the pages quickly She would not show it to ic I dismissed her, and that was all I saw of her for o Just after I’d dined, she knocked uponwas her appearance Her eyes were those of the doomed She’d not slept or taken food in some time And her behavior was most odd She asked for paper and pen, and I provided theht her unsettled in mind and implored her to stay But she insisted that dark forces were at work ‘They will keepthe truth,’ she wrote ‘I must act quickly before I am found’"
"What forces did she speak of?" Ann presses
The doctor stretches his long fingers over the top of his walking stick, preening like a rooster "It seems we shall never know The lady left es she wrote?" I ask
He takes a deep breath "I cannot say Perhaps that terrible secret she feared died along with her Or perhaps, even now, some diabolical plan is at work, and we are at its mercy" The doctor smiles like a kind uncle He offers his card "For your uests so?" I take the card; he closes his hands over mine "Open theone "How did you--"
He pulls the card from behind my ear and places it triumphantly incards I have, I’m afraid" Dr Van Ripple pats his pockets and frowns "Oh, dear Oh, my"
"What is the matter?" Felicity asks
"I seeht you lend an old entleman that I shall repay you in full on the irls, you hadstraight for us with a fuic lantern show is a wonder, for this ht on earth
Dr Van Ripple’s shters are well in hand and safe fro ladies are not e splutters "You had irls"
"Trouble, my dear?" Inspector Kent takes a stand beside Made stare he has perfected as a policeician blanches
"Well, I shall be off, then," Dr Van Ripple says quickly
"Hold a moment I know that face--Bob Sharpe It’s been a while, but I see the years haven’t changed everything about you, sir" Inspector Kent stares hard at Dr Van Ripple "You weren’t atte ladies, were you?"
"Inspector, you do wound me," Dr Van Ripple says "I merely watched over them like a mother hen"
The inspector folds his ar the hens, you mean Mr Sharpe, I trust that you have no desire to return to prison, and that I’ll not see you again this evening?"
"As it happens, I have a previous engagement"
Miss McCleethy’s stare nearly stops one but a e chides, "if you ever wish to leave the confines of Spence again--"
"Spence, you say? Spence Acade Ladies?" Dr Van Ripple asks
Madee nods "The very saives us a little push "Yes, well, wouldn’t want toto you all Inspector" And with that, the old man hobbles away, as fast as he can