Ultimate Nyssa Glass, H. Burke [cat reading book .TXT] 📗

lip and pushed the flowers at Ellis’s nose. “These are scented, though. Smell them!”

Ellis waved away the boy’s flower-bearing left hand, completely unaware of the light-fingered right hand dipping into his breast pocket.

“Hey there!” Nyssa leapt to her feet.

The boy withdrew, Ellis’s silver pocket watch clenched in his fingers. His eyes widened.

Nyssa lunged towards him. Her hand tightened on the pickpocket’s wrist. “Oh no you don’t!”

“Help! Help! She’s hurting me! She’s beating me! She’s breaking my arm!” The boy wailed.

Every eye on the boardwalk zeroed in on Nyssa. Disconcerted by the attention, she let her grip slacken. The boy wrenched away. Ellis grabbed at him, but only managed to catch the basket of flowers. The boy dropped it and disappeared into a knot of tourists.

Nyssa started after him but stopped, uncertain which way he’d gone.

“Great, just great.” She stomped back to Ellis’s side.

Ellis shrugged and picked up a cloth rose from his lap. “Flower? Apparently these are scented.”

She groaned and sank onto the bench.

***

By the time Ellis and Nyssa got back to their workshop, the sun was setting. They’d given a report of the robbery to a policeman, but while the officer took their information and description of the boy, he hadn’t been optimistic about recovering Ellis’s watch.

Nyssa doffed her peacoat and slammed it onto the counter. “I can’t believe I let myself be taken in by that kid,” she fumed. “I was that kid. I know how it works. Such an idiot.”

“Nyss, I can afford another pocket watch. Let it go,” Ellis soothed. He turned up the gaslight, bathing the workshop in a warm glow. “Things will look better in the morning. Let’s have something to eat. I bet Mrs. Hampton has dinner waiting for us.”

Nyssa’s stomach grumbled in response. Though having a housekeeper had been an adjustment, Nyssa had come to look forward to the warm meals and fresh laundry.

Their workshop was in a narrow three-story building, built right up against the surrounding businesses, a tailor on the left and a candle maker on the right. The first floor held their store front, a small kitchen, and Ellis’s quarters. The second contained a sitting room and one bedroom Nyssa claimed for herself. The third story was Mrs. H’s attic room.

Nyssa liked the arrangement. A few nights when she’d been unable to sleep she’d wandered down to the workshop and found Ellis already tinkering with some invention. They’d sit up for hours, consulting on projects and chatting about everything from mechanics to favorite mystery novels.

They locked up the shop and headed back into the living quarters. When they opened the kitchen door, the savory odor of herbed chicken rose to meet them. Nyssa inhaled.

Mrs. H was a round faced, chubby woman with the olive skin of a native San Azulan but blue eyes suggesting some of her blood came from the Continent. She smiled and took a metal cover off a platter of chicken and vegetables.

“Oh, you’re finally back. I was worried your dinner would get cold.” She filled two glasses with creamy milk tea then motioned towards the table.

“We didn’t mean to be out so late,” Ellis said after they bowed their heads and whispered grace. “We set out for a quick stroll but ran into a pickpocket and were delayed with the police.”

“My goodness.” Mrs. H gasped. “You’d think the police would have a better handle on such things.”

Nyssa spooned out a helping of green beans. She didn’t want to think about anything that had happened today.

“It wasn’t a great loss.” Ellis stabbed his fork into a breast of chicken. “Let’s eat and turn in early. It’ll be a busy day once customers catch sight of Nyssa’s new sign and come banging on the door.”

Halfway through the meal, the door buzzer sounded, and Mrs. H scurried to open it. A dark eyed San Azulan police officer in a navy blue coat followed her back into the kitchen. He stood erect, his bronze buttons gleaming, face framed by impressive, ebony sideburns.

“Mr. Cormac? You reported an act of larceny this afternoon, did you not?” he asked. His eyes swept over the table. When his gaze met Nyssa’s, his nose wrinkled, and he quickly looked away.

Nyssa flushed. What was that about? Do I have “wanted for murder” written on my forehead now?

“An extremely minor act.” Ellis nodded. “I hardly expected a follow up.”

“Did you find Master Ellis’s watch?” Mrs. H asked.

“We may have. It seems shortly after the incident in question, a young boy was caught red-handed wrist deep in a lady’s purse. When we brought him in, he had several small items of value on his person, including this.” The officer reached into his coat and pulled out Ellis’s glinting pocket watch. “It matched the description you gave in your report.”

“That’s it, all right.” Ellis smiled.

The table blocked him from the officer and maneuvering his chair around would have been awkward, so Nyssa stood and accepted the watch. The officer dropped it into her hand without a word and wiped his fingers on his trousers. Nyssa scowled.

Ellis cleared his throat. “It was good of you to bring it all this way.”

“Well, I have a favor to ask in return. The thief is held on ‘attempted’ robbery right now. Claims he picked up most of his trinkets on the street and the woman who caught him after her purse is lying. We can probably make a case anyway, but it might clinch things if you could come down and identify the blighter.”

“I suppose I could.” Ellis pushed away from the table. “Nyss was a witness as well. Should she come?”

The officer shook his head. “Your word would be enough, sir.”

Ellis steered out into the hall with the officer following. Nyssa rose to shut the door behind him and caught their muffled voices.

“I don’t mean to meddle in your private affairs, sir, but your lady friend … This afternoon someone left an anonymous tip claiming she’s wanted on the Continent …”

Nyssa’s ears burned, and she ducked back into the kitchen, slamming