Free The Contrary Tale of the Butterfly Girl: From the Peculiar Adventures of John Loveheart, Esq., Volume 2 by Ishbelle Bee Page A

sunshine.
    “ I thought I had better warn you, ” says Loveheart.
    “ Of what? ”
    “ I think your uncle is dead and I believe the Professor has some sinister plan for your sister. ”
    “ What can I do? ” I say.
    “ You ’ re too little, Pedrock. Fear not! I have managed to acquire a bomb and I am thinking of blowing him up, ” laughs Mr Loveheart.
    I really don ’ t know how to respond to that remark.
    Detective White and Detective Waxford compare notes
    I find Bizwit Street after some initial confusion. I had travelled down to London immediately after receiving Waxford ’ s telegram and have left Constable Walnut to take statements from the villagers to see if he can acquire any further information. I knock on number 38 and Henry Waxford, hobbling , opens the door.
    “ Come in , Percival. ” His voice is like roasting wood on a fire, spitting and cracking.
    We sit in a very comfy study surrounded by his book collection and he hands me a glass of whisky and props his foot up on a cushion and stares at me.
    “ So, how is the case developing? ”
    “ Professor ’ s physician found decapitated in Mr Grubweed ’ s house and now Mr Grubweed is missing; they both worked for the Professor . The murder weapon, an axe, was found in the hands of a six year-old cousin, Boo Boo, who claims a man called Mr Angelcakes is visiting her at night. ”
    “ This is a wicked business, ” growls Waxford. He sinks back his whisky. “ And that Professor has everything to do with it. Have you interviewed him yet? Seen his butterflies? ”
    “ Yes, yes, it was bizarre. His house is a maze and it appears the Professor dabbles in the occult: he managed to evict myself and Walnut from his property using …” – I pause – “ some sort of black magic. ”
    Waxford looks a little shocked. “ Black magic? More like trickery, Percival. They ’ re all nuts in that village. Especially that bloody Mr Loveheart. ”
    “ Loveheart can be extremely cooperative. You just have to humour him. ”
    “ I ’ m glad I don ’ t have to go back there. ” Waxford sighs. “ It would have driven me mad. ”
    “ I have been reading your journals and they have been most helpful. Is there anything you left out which could aid me now? ”
    Waxford wiggles his bandaged foot. “ I tried to research the Professor and it was very difficult. He has two family members alive. A wife, Lucy, who is in a madhouse. Her full name is Lucy Dewdoll. By all accounts she didn ’ t go mad until she married him. And guess who one of the doctors was who signed the certificate to condemn her? ”
    “ Hookeye? ”
    “ Yes. And she ’ s the sixth wife he ’ s had. ”
    “ Good G od , what happened to the rest? ”
    “ I couldn ’ t find out. I was sure I was being followed at the time. Not a scrap of proof. His brother is Ignatius Hummingbird, who holds a seat in the House of Lords and has influence with the prime minister. I ’ m afraid Professor Hummingbird is very well protected. ”
    “ Where is his wife now? ”
    “ Well, they are divorced due to her madness and she resides in the Blue-Flower Institution near Blackheath. But she may have information for you which might help. She is the only lead I can think of. ”
    “ Thank you, Waxford. Tell me, what do you think he ’ s up to, the Professor ? What ’ s really going on? ”
    “ There were a lot of suspicions at the time. The main line of thinking was that Hookeye and Grubweed were providing bodies for experimentation. The question was how they were getting these bodies. But I can ’ t see the reason for the Professor to have any interest in such a thing. He ’ s obsessed with his butterflies and his research on the Aztecs. No, in my opinion there is something else going on. ”
    “ I found a little red diary in Icarus Hookeye ’ s coat pocket. Inside were numerous drawings of butterflies. ”
    “ What meaning could that have, other than a connection to the Professor ? ”
    “ That ’ s