Kapitel 3: Chapter 3

Lewis and Garret arrived at the Gaiety Theatre in Westminster five minutes before the twenty o'clock show. Emily would perform as one of the corps de ballet. Despite her role, both were still looking forward to her performance.

They walked up to the second level of the theatre, went to their seats on the first row and finally sat down. It would appear that all of the seats beside theirs in the theatre had already been occupied, making the event sold out. Garrett observed it and asked Lewis, "Are people really interested in ballet? I mean I do respect Millie's job..."

"They do, Garrett. And tonight, one of the top ballet dancers in London will perform. Beatrice Thomas."

Garrett was sitting like it was his first time spectating a ballet show but had watched a few times while Lewis had his left thigh sitting atop the right thigh and his right elbow resting atop the armchair.

It was eight o'clock but the show had yet to begin. A man walked on the stage until he positioned himself at the center. The show would have started when the lights were turned off. The audience started to mumble.

"Something's not right," Lewis murmured.

The man on the stage began to make his announcement, "Ladies and gentlemen. The theatre would like to thank you for coming to spectate this wonderful event. We were thrilled about this event as we prepared for it, and we know you still are waiting. However, due to unprecedented circumstances, we have decided to postpone tonight's show."

The whole theatre immediately filled with shock as the mumbling of the audience increased rapidly. Meanwhile, Lewis and Garrett clutched on their armchairs while leaning forward and stood up from their seats.

Lewis and Garrett swiftly got up from their seats and went to the theatre backstage to speak with Emily about the reason for the postponement of tonight's show. As soon as they got to the backstage, the chaotic ambience of the area met them.

"Bloody hell, what's goin' on?" asked Garrett.

Lewis looked around with his eyes and noticed the absence of Beatrice Thomas. He answered Garrett, "I can't give you an answer… I don't see Beatrice Thomas."

Some of the dancers spotted the two and noticed Garrett. They panicked in response given the fact that Garrett barged inside the ballet company's workshop not long ago.

That got the men's attention and Lewis whispered to Garrett's ears, "So sorry to hear your reputation's passing."

"Oi, it ain't dead yet!"

In the chaotic atmosphere, Emily with her costume and coat on was on her seat when she too saw the men. She stood up and approached them. "Lewis! Garrett! What are the both of you doing here?"

Lewis responded, "We want to know why the show has been postponed."

"What's with all the mayhem here, Millie?" Garrett questioned Emily.

Emily answered, "Beatrice has gone missing."

Realizing what she just did, she immediately covered her mouth with her hands. Lewis knew such information was supposed to be confidential.

He also realized the title of the show was taken literally. Presumably, Garrett should have also realized it.

"Why are you coverin' your mouth?" Garrett asked.

A woman in her fifties approached the three and immediately spoke in a condescending manner, "Guests are not allowed in here! Emily, who are these gentlemen?" The three looked at her and Emily instantly put down her hands.

"You must be the ballet master of your company, madam," Lewis deduced.

"I am very sorry gentlemen, but you must leave at this instant," the ballet master responded.

Garrett told her, "But she said Beatrice Thomas went missing."

The ballet master was shocked by Garrett's statement, looked at Emily and scolded her, "Why did you tell them about Beatrice?!"

"I'm very sorry Madam," Emily apologized.

Garrett told the madam, "Don't worry about it. We won't tell anyone." The madam stared at Garrett and asked with doubt, "And why should I trust the both of you?"

"We can help you find her," Lewis suddenly answered.

Garret, Emily, and the madam simultaneously looked at Lewis after he gave his answer.

Garret called out, "Hey are we doin' that? You know what you're doin'?"

"Are you sure you can find her?" Emily asked with uncertainty.

The madam looked around and asked to move to a location with more privacy with her and they agreed as they moved further from the backstage.

"Gentlemen, I'm Eleanor Bates, ballet mistress of London Ballet. And yes, you are correct about my line of work. Emily and her fellow dancers call me Madam Eleanor. And you must be..."

"Lewis Johnson, Madam. And this other gentleman is Garrett Fisher."

"Ah, yes. You said you can help us."

"Well, yes we can help you find Ms. Thomas. I know you do not want the audience and other outsiders to know about her disappearance. It will cause turmoil between them and the company since she is your top dancer."

"That is quite true, Mr. Johnson, but how can you help us find our prima ballerina?"

"This gentleman and I have known the streets of London for a long time and I believe such experience will help us find Ms. Thomas. Consider it an agreement of trust."

"Thank you so much for offering your help, gentlemen. I am in debt to you."

Garrett realized Lewis's reasoning so he stopped thinking about complaining. Instead, he demanded, "Madam, what can we get in exchange?"

"Two hundred pounds," said Madam Eleanor.

"That's a hundred each. Deal," Lewis accepted.

Lewis and Madam Eleanor shook each other's hands as the men agreed to search for Beatrice Thomas in exchange for pennies.

The next morning, Garrett just reached the riverside of Thames in Lambeth, the borough where Beatrice Thomas lived according to Emily. He spotted Lewis at a dock and approached him.

"You're here," said Lewis.

"Shall we begin?"

"Let's."

The two left the dock as they began searching for one of the top ballet dancers in London.

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Kapitel 4: Chapter 4

On their way to Beatrice's apartment, Lewis and Garret were having a conversation as to how they got themselves in this situation.

"Are you sure we can find her with 'our experience?'" Garrett asked.

"Thanks to that, we are able to navigate the entirety of London."

"Good point, but... how about we find her outside our 'navigation skills?'"

"That's where critical thinking comes in."

Later, they arrived at the doorstep of the apartment when Lewis suddenly spoke, "I'm glad you came by the way. It seems like your reputation is on the line."

"What do you mean?"

"Remember when Madam Eleanor looked at you when you told her we'll keep everything in secret? I thought her gaze was peculiar. Then I looked more and I saw a gaze of... suspicion. Perhaps she found out about the incident. The ladies might have remembered your face and told the madam. Emily is less likely, she would not do that."

"What now?" Garrett worried.

"Our success might change their perception of you to a gentleman. They will be less likely to fear you and the madam might come to fully respect you. At least that's what I think."

Garrett was somehow a little bit relieved and said, "Let's hope that happens."

Lewis smiled and looked at the door. "It seems so quiet," he described. Garrett then proceeded to knock on the door.

Waited for seconds, Garrett knocked again but to no avail. "Bollocks! She's not here."

"What do you expect? She's missing." Lewis suggested, "Let's ask people nearby."

An old lady from the sidewalk noticed the two men and yelled, "Are you looking for the lady, gentlemen?"

"Looks like she knows Ms. Thomas," said Garrett.

He and Lewis approached the old lady and interrogated her. "Do you know where Beatrice Thomas went?" Garrett questioned.

"I ate breakfast just now so I have not seen her today," the old lady answered. "She might be still tired. I heard her ballet company had a show last night. Give her some time."

She was unaware of the postponement of "The Lost Swan" and both men looked at each other realizing it.

Lewis told the old lady, "I want to ask a trivial question."

"You're welcome to," the old lady kindly replied.

"Have you seen her leaving this house yesterday?"

"Oh, yes indeed. I even told her a good morning before getting in a carriage."

"In a carriage, you say," Garrett intriguingly responded. "What did it look like?"

"I think it was mostly black with a little bit of gold on the sides."

Lewis spotted a carriage that matched the old lady's description that was farther behind her. He pointed to the carriage. "You mean like that carriage?"

The old lady turned around and looked at the carriage and positively answered, "Oh yes, that carriage. The horses too."

The coachman at the front of the carriage just turned to the same street with them when he made eye contact. At the same time, he saw Lewis pointing fingers towards his direction. As he did, he immediately looked away and turned his carriage around.

The gentlemen wondered about the coachman's decision to turn around. Garrett shouted at him, "Excuse me, mister!"

Instead of stopping, the carriage suddenly changed its speed to fast. Whips were heard from a distance. It was as if the coachman was afraid of something... or of Garrett.

Lewis and Garrett were even more surprised that the latter yelled. "Oi, stop right there!"

"We have to stop him!" Lewis exclaimed.

Garrett quickly spotted a wagon with its two horses, empty. "Guess we have to borrow that one!"

He and Lewis ran towards the wagon and he whipped the horses as soon as they rode, leaving the old lady behind. "I wonder what their problem is."

The owner found out his wagon was taken and yelled, "Hey, my wagon!"

The men kept their eyes on the carriage as they would try to stop it. As Lewis kept looking at the carriage, he spoke of its appearance, "Black and gold on the sides… isn't that the one we saw yesterday?"

"What?!"

"The carriage that was going fast!"

"You mean that one we saw yesterday?"

"That's what I just said, Garrett!"

The coachman kept looking back at the chasing wagon and he continuously whipped his horse to go faster. But the wagon would catch up to him since his carriage only had one horse compared to the wagon's two.

"Now that's horsepower!" Garrett shouted as he whips on the horses repeatedly too.

"Please stop the carriage!" Lewis shouted at the coachman, begging.

The coachman did not listen to his heed. Garrett was not surprised by it. "This bloke's stubborn, innit?"

Lewis thought of a crazy idea. He went to the wagon and instructed Garrett, "Get the wagon beside the carriage!"

"What are you up to?" Garrett asked.

"I'll jump over."

"Are you blaine?!"

"Well what choice do we have if he doesn't stop?"

Garrett did the instruction anyway, whipping at the horses more. Lewis had himself ready to jump. "Don't fall off, mate!" said Garrett.

Lewis jumped over to the roof of the carriage and the coachman heard the sound from behind. He was so shocked he instinctively pulled the brakes of his carriage. The horseshoes frictioned with the ground surface when the horse's master pulled the reins.

The carriage began to lose its control and Lewis lost his balance . He shouted while gripping onto the sides, "We just want to talk to you!"

Garrett realized the carriage was losing control so he gently rammed it to avoid colliding with the side of the road. It went on until they finally stopped.

The people witnessed the chase with mumbles. Garrett got off the wagon while Lewis quickly got down the carriage. When they just did, they already saw the coachman running away. "Oi, he's gettin' away."

The man tried to run away but was quickly tackled by Garrett.

"Ugh, get off me!" He tried to escape but with Garrett's build it was futile. "Who are you? Are you one of them? Please let me go! I'll give you what you want, just leave me alone!"

"Them? Who are they?" Garrett wondered while holding the man down.

Lewis, who found the situation messy, told Garrett, "I think that's enough."

Garrett let go of the coachman and the latter did not attempt to escape this time. He rubbed all of the dirt on his clothes. "Don't worry, mister," said Lewis. "We just want to interrogate you."

"I-interrogate me?"

The coachman did not look calm at all so Lewis invited him to sit down somewhere. Meanwhile, Garrett fixed the mess by pulling the carriage and the wagon they "borrowed" at the side of the road.

"The ride and the wagon are at the side," Garrett informed the two men on the bench.

The coachman calmed down for a few moments and started to speak, "What is it that you want to ask?"

Lewis and Garrett looked at each as to who should ask first, but then it was Lewis who decided to start the interrogation. However, he did not want to ask about Beatrice immediately. "Before we ask you the question, we want to know why you were running from us. What we are suspicious of."

"He even said 'they.'" Garrett told Lewis. "He must be scared of some blokes. Prolly a gang. Maybe it's those Untamed bastards."

The coachman answered, "I thought you men were one of the men who hijacked my carriage."

"Hijacked?" Lewis reacted.

"First thing that already occurred in the morning. I could not even get passengers yesterday! Fortunately, I was able to find the carriage and my horse at Whitechapel. I spent the whole day searching."

Lewis then remembered the time when he and Garrett saw the fast carriage yesterday. Not only it had the same colors, but also the same horse as he was currently looking at right now. A brown one.

"I'm certain his carriage is the one we saw yesterday, Garrett."

Garrett responded while looking at the carriage, "You're right."

"Although, I did not see the driver because it went too fast. I thought it could've been you, mister."

The coachman denied, "It was not me! I would never drive that fast. Oh my, what have they done to my carriage..."

"Where'd you find your ride exactly? Where in Whitechapel?" Garrett questioned.

"In an alley at the north of the borough," the coachman replied.

Garrett asked more, "Who stole it, by the way?"

"I don't know who they are. I have nothing to do with those scoundrels!"

Lewis and Garrett perceived it was no use asking about Beatrice. The coachman told them he did not get a passenger, meaning he did not have Beatrice as his passenger. They presumed she was inside the carriage that went fast yesterday.

And now they set on to the next location.

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