The Angel of Darkness - Caleb Carr [82]
He placed the balled-up bundle on the walkway near the obelisk’s base, then quickly put on a pair of very light gloves. We all crowded around as he began to untangle the little ball, its yellow-and-white fabric soiled and damp. As he proceeded, the shape of the thing became identifiable.
“Looks like a—a tiny hat,” Mr. Moore said.
“A baby’s hat,” Miss Howard said, indicating two little strands of delicate, braided cotton string what were used to tie the thing at the chin and a trim of white lace around its front.
“There’s something else,” Marcus said, still flattening out the fabric. He unfolded the back of the cap to reveal fine golden embroidery at its rear border: “‘A—N—A,’”he read out. The rest of us just stared at the thing as the detective sergeant looked up and out at the park. “Well … looks like west it was. She got rid of the hat in case somebody stopped her—probably the only identifying article on the girl.”
“Don’t jump to any conclusions, Marcus,” Lucius said. “She could have stuffed the hat in here and then gone the other direction.”
“I don’t know,” Mr. Moore said, standing between the obelisk and the benches. “It’s a good thirty or forty feet out of her way—that’s time she’s wasting, stuffing it in there. Plenty of other spots to hide it if she went east—starting with the construction site.”
“True, Moore,” Dr. Kreizler said, staring up at the obelisk. “But in addition, there is the question of where she chose to hide it—where precisely …”
“What do you mean, Doctor?” Marcus asked.
But the Doctor only turned to Miss Howard. “The Egyptian obelisk. It’s one of a pair. The other stands in London. Do you know what they are known as, Sara?” Miss Howard just shook her head. “‘Cleopatra’s Needles,’ “the Doctor went on, looking back up. “An ominous title—she was quite a deadly woman, Cleopatra.”
“And yet,” Miss Howard continued, getting it, “the ‘Mother of Egypt,’ in her day. Not to mention the lover of Caesar and Antony—she even bore Caesar’s child.”
“Caesarion,” the Doctor said with a nod.
“What the hell are you two on about?” Mr. Moore demanded.
But the Doctor just kept talking to Miss Howard. “Suppose, Sara,” he asked, moving toward her, “that the apparent paradox is not a question, but the answer? Something connects the two sides of the character, the two faces of the coin. We don’t know what that connecting element is yet, but the connection exists. So that what we are faced with is not an inconsistency so much as a troubled unity. Aspects of a condition—related stages in a single process.”
Miss Howard’s face darkened. “Then I’d say we’re running out of time.”
The Doctor gave her a quick look of agreement, then called out, “Marcus! The children Nurse Hunter attended—how long did you say the average interval between their births and their deaths was?”
“Not more than a few weeks,” Marcus answered.
“Laszlo,” Mr. Moore insisted, in that way he did when he felt like the mental pack was pulling away from him. “Come on, what are you two talking about?”
The Doctor continued to ignore him and counted on his fingers. “She took the child on a Thursday—that was ten days ago.” He glanced at Miss Howard again. “You’re right, Sara—the woman may be entering a critical phase. Stevie!” I hopped it up to him. “Can we carry everyone in the calash?”
“Not at top speed,” I answered. “But I don’t see any cabs around.”
“I don’t want a cab,” the Doctor answered urgently. “We’ll need the time together to explain.”
“Well—traffic shouldn’t be too bad,” I judged. “We oughtta be able to go at a decent trot. Frederick’s had a couple of days off, he’ll be game.”
“Then get him—now!”
As I shot off to fetch the calash, I heard Mr. Moore still asking what was going on and the Doctor telling him to hurry up and get into the carriage, that he’d explain what he and Miss Howard were thinking once they were on their way downtown. I pulled the rig around to them, and then