While riding the carriage they took from the thugs, with Garrett driving, he asked Lewis, "Why do you think she was kidnapped?"
"Who knows about this boss's motive? But one thing is for sure: he ordered the Untamed thugs to kidnap Ms. Thomas."
"You think he's part of the gang? I'd be more than happy to wreck 'im up."
"You really despise the Untamed, do you?"
Garrett could not be blamed for his hatred. The thugs would occasionally go to Fisher Armor Shop. Foolish as they could be, they always demanded for arms without charge but to no avail. Because Garrett and his father would scare them off every time as a counter by pointing their self-calibrated guns at them.
They stopped at the other side of the street as they arrived at the fanciest house in Whitechapel.
"Barging into the house is not a clever idea," said Lewis. "We need to think of something."
A long-haired man with his fancy attire and cane emerged from the house. He closed the door and walked through the pathway. "I think that's the boss," Garrett notified Lewis.
Lewis scrutinized the man from afar, confirming the same features as what the interrogated thug mentioned. "That's him, Garrett."
Racing against time, Lewis immediately thought of infiltrating the house while the long-haired man was away. Then he spotted a red Untamed jacket from inside the carriage. He quickly got down from the seat in front to get it.
He threw it to Garrett and told him the plan he just formulated, "Disguise yourself, follow him and see where he is going. I will infiltrate the house to find Ms. Thomas."
Garrett agreed to the plan. He immediately changed coats and got down to start tailing the long-haired man at the sidewalk. Meanwhile, Lewis went to the front door of the house unnoticed.
He checked the door but it was locked. He circled around but the backdoor was locked, and the windows were also locked.
The windows from the second floor were locked as well. Except one from the side. It may seem like it from afar but it was slightly open and Lewis noticed it. "How am I supposed to get in," he muttered.
He saw ledges that could be used to climb. And so he used those to climb all the way to that window. He struggled at first but was able to manage to hold onto the ledges. He did it fast so people would not notice the activity.
He held onto the window ledge with two hands then he finally got his knees onto it. He quickly went inside that room and looked around outside for security.
As soon as he turned around, expensive furniture and great interior design caught his attention.
Because of the expensiveness of the furniture in the room, he assumed the room to be the bedroom of the man who left.
Lewis started to inspect every corner of the room to search for possible clues.
From the inspection, he found a golden knife inside a drawer. Well-organized.
More importantly, he also found more letters.
He opened them and saw dates starting from March 15 to March 21 so there were seven more letters. And in those seven letters, "Alfred Willis" was the name of the sender, just like from the first letter to Beatrice.
Then he started to read them, "Meet me at the church in Lambeth... Let us see each other at the Garden at the Strand... Look for me at the market in Whitechapel near Thames. We need to talk..."
Lewis kept reading until the sixth letter. "Meet me at my house tomorrow. Bring all the letters you have been ignoring to respond. With your scent (of course). If you ignore me again this time, there will be consequences.
By the way, I heard you are having a ballet show tomorrow. Perhaps we can do it, just the two of us."
He reacted, "If they were supposed to meet yesterday, then why was she still abducted? This "Alfred Willis" must be a madman!"
After surveying the bedroom, Lewis checked the other rooms but did not find any more clues. He then went to the living room. All the furniture and stuff were also expensive. After seeing all of them, he was convinced of its owner's wealth.
Which brings him to think, how come there was not a single maid?
He continued to search for clues but did not find anything.
He was tempted to sit down on a lavish couch while looking at the entirety of the living room. But he did not give in and remained standing. "Father's business is doing very well. Why can't we just buy more expensive furniture?"
Then he looked at the grandfather clock to his left. It was made out of mahogany and looked shiny as well. The time was 11:20 in the morning.
He continued to stare at it and hear its ticks to its very sound detail. As he did, he started to have a bad feeling about the clock. And that bad feeling gradually grew.
"I should get out of here," he said. He went straight to the back door as going out the front door might put him under suspicion. He finally got out of the area and went back to the carriage to wait for Garrett.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Garrett was following the beautiful long-haired man but discreetly despite wearing an Untamed coat. He passed through many people walking in the opposite direction just to catch up with the man he was tailing.
The man then took a turn to the right. Garrett walked faster so we would not lose sight of him. He took a peek behind the brick wall of a building before going in the alley to avoid getting detected. It was far to look but he saw a campfire and some Untamed thugs.
"Gentlemen!" The boss yelled to get the thugs' attention. The thugs immediately stood up from their seats on the bricks and gathered around him.
"A stronghold, ain't it," Garrett murmured.
A voice called him out of nowhere."You ain't comin?"
Garrett turned around and saw two red coats. At first, he thought of striking them but he realized he was wearing the same coat as theirs. "Uh, sure. I'm comin."
He left his post and went to what looked to be a gang stronghold together with those red coats.
They reached the stronghold when the boss in fancy clothes was talking to his men. He stopped speaking as he noticed their arrival.
"Ah, more men," he said with relief. Garrett, despite his tough personality, was feeling uneasy about the place.
The boss continued to speak, "Tomorrow night, we will set to the river for a performance of a lifetime. But before that, we still have a borough cleanup to do. Those Pincer ruffians will not stop their resistance against us."
Garrett raised his eyebrows after hearing the boss. He was aware of the sizable strength of the Untamed against all the other gangs in London that led to wiping them out. Except the Pincers, the resistance gang the boss mentioned.
The thugs dispersed and went back to their posts. The boss asked one of them, "Is she still there? Has she behaved?"
"Yes, boss."
"Very well." The man looked at Garrett and told him, "Since you just got here, I'll show you inside."
Garrett responded, "Inside, boss?"
"Yes. You are going to meet our actress for tomorrow's performance."