《Love & Murder: An Eliza Winter Mystery》Redemption
Advertisement
Eliza ended up having the cabbie drop her back at home. She was glad she realized Greensbury's joke before she went pounding on the door at 221b Baker Street. Then she really would have given a reason for people to call her crazy.
As soon as she got inside the foyer, she dashed off to their London home's abysmal library that sat at the back of the house. She kept their Scarsbourgh's home stocked with books, but she didn't think there would be any detective stories lingering in the bookshelves here- but she thought it was worth a look.
If she could get an idea of where and how to start tracking down a missing person, she'd be on her way. Greensbury might have been joking, but it was worth reading another detective's methods of solving a case.
Her long finger ran along the four shelves of books they had stored, but nothing turned up. She rifled through some papers on top of the massive wooden desk that sat adjacent to the shelving unit to see if any of Arthur Conan Doyle's work had been clipped and saved. It didn't seem like something her father would have read and saved but it was worth a shot.
Eliza releases a sigh when nothing turns up after her quick rummage through the small room. She thinks of the Tennyson's massive library and knows she'd probably find Sherlock saved somewhere in there. At the thought of the Tennysons, Eliza goes still. She tries to shove away the thought as soon as it entered her head, but it took root and grew quickly.
Instead of detective stories being stored away at the Tennyson's, Eliza could find a real detective looming somewhere inside those walls. Not that she ever wanted to see Lord Colin Bradshaw again in her life, but he was someone who owed her. She could forgive his slip if he helped point her in the direction of Penelope. Give her some pointers on how to track her down.
She knows the Tennysons own a telephone, so she quickly dashes off to her own in the entryway. As soon as she lifts the mouthpiece she freezes, she knows she should speak to him face to face. That way if she needed to take notes, she'd have both hands free. Or if he didn't feel like helping, she could scorn him in person. She drops the mouthpiece back into the cradle and spins around to call out to Lucy. Lucy appears at the bottom of the stairs moments later and Eliza looks to her, "I know I have just returned, but I am going out again."
Advertisement
"I'll get your hat my lady," Lucy says eagerly before helping Eliza prepare for another outing. Eliza decides to stay mum on the details of where she's headed because she knows Lucy's brown eyes would bulge out of her head if she knew Eliza was seeking out Bradshaw. Eliza had filled her in on the incident that happened at the Erikson's and Lucy was as appalled as Jane was at his slip.
"I won't be long. I'll be back in time for supper," Eliza tells Lucy before she slips out the door and finds herself in another cab.
When Eliza arrives at the Tennyson's, she waits impatiently as she sends her calling card inside. The cab is stifling and her high lacey neckline has her growing agitated with the heat. She goes to climb outside for some air when she sees someone walking out from the side of the house. She turns to face the brick enclosure when she locks eyes with Bradshaw. He freezes at the eye contact and Eliza decides to break protocol. She isn't going to wait for an answer from inside when the person she came to see is a few feet away.
"Andrew isn't in," Bradshaw says as he strides over to Eliza. She notices he's still charming when he's not in his formal wear and the thought aggravates her.
"I'm not here for him. I am here for you Lord Bradshaw," she says flatly and when he's close enough to her, she sees the sun bringing out the light blues in his eyes. Another thought that aggravates her.
"You can call me Colin here, I'm just Colin when I am in London," he tells her and while she wants to ask where he prefers to be called by his formal name, she breezes past it. She has more important things than formalities to discuss.
"Alright then, Colin" the sound of his Christian name sounded foreign, "I'm here for you."
"Oh? And to what do I owe the pleasure?" He asks with a grimace, not wanting to converse with her as much as her not wanting to converse with him.
Advertisement
"I thought of a way you can redeem yourself," Eliza says while folding her hands in front of her.
"I didn't know I needed redeeming," he says with a smirk that catches Eliza off guard. He was supposed to already be throwing himself into an apology. Not acting as if he did no wrong.
"From embarrassing yourself? I assure you, you do," Eliza snaps back and Colin shifts his weight. He too must be hot, dressed in a shirt, vest, jacket and tie. His matching brown homburg hat is tucked under his arm and she could tell he wished he had it on his head as his eyes are squinting from the direct sunlight.
"You are refreshingly direct Lady Eliza." He says with a smirk, "You know I tried apologizing to you once already about the library mishap, but you didn't seem too keen on hearing it."
"This isn't about the library rumor your fiancée started, it's about you calling me Crazy Eliza," Eliza says with her own smirk, but something she said has Colin shaking his head. "What?" Eliza snaps at Colin's confused expression.
"It's just, it's twice now you've referred to my fiancée or my beloved, yet I have no idea to whom you are referring?" Colin asks curiously.
"Miss Adelaide Greensbury of course," Eliza says, surprised that he doesn't know who he's courting.
"Adelaide? Why do you think I am courting Miss Greensbury?" He asks, genuinely confused. Eliza stands frozen for a moment. He's not attached to Adelaide? He seems appalled that she would even suggest that he was.
She shifts her weight while trying to regain control of the conversation and says, "Because Bridgette Walscott said you were." He smiles and then wipes a hand over his grin.
"It seems Miss Walscott is also the one that told you I had declined your advances in the library. I think we've discovered the culprit of these falsehoods," he says with a rock of his feet. Eliza stares at Colin, he visibly let some emotional wall down at the revelation as he suddenly looks much more comfortable with where the conversation is going. His scowl has been wiped clean. Eliza glances at her hands and shakes her head
"You know, I learned a long time ago not to trust a word she said. I don't know why I assumed she was being honest with that," Eliza confesses, giving Colin an embarrassed smile.
"Well, I now know not to believe anything Miss Walscott or Miss Greensbury says." Colin replies with a softer smile, "I'm usually quick to discover the vicious ones. Don't know how those two slipped by me." Eliza can tell their sparring session is over...for now.
"Your skill set is actually why I am here," Eliza finally admits and she watches Colin's blue eyes become curious. With a slight tilt of his head, he responds, "Oh?"
"Yes, I need some pointers on being a detective. I need some methods and strategies of tracking someone down," Eliza says with her chin a little in the air. However, her proud stance quickly deflates when Colin lets out a laugh.
"You're a detective now?" He asks incredulously and Eliza scowls at him, "Of course I'm not. I just need help finding my missing friend, but I'm at a loss as to how." He eyes her, curious as to her request and with a sigh he gives in.
"Come on in then. We can discuss this far away from this awful heat," he says and with a nod, he leads her inside.
Advertisement
Rise
Su Xue, a woman in her mid 20s, is struggling both in paying rent and finding her path in life. Her latest stint has her trying to become a popular League of Legends streamer, though to poor results. One day, she is interrupted in the middle of a livestream by a surprise visit from her landlady. She is informed that she will be having a new roommate. The landlady’s nephew, Lin Feng, a 18 year old boy who has just transferred over to Shanghai for his last year of high school.Though initially opposed to it, Su Xue reluctantly agrees to the arrangement. She learns that the two share a common interest—League of Legends—and that he’s really amazing at the game. Lin Feng also reveals to her he wishes to become the best professional League of Legends player in the world.The next day. Lin Feng attends his first day of school as a transfer student at High School 13. He meets Ouyang and Yang Fan, and the trio find a common passion in League of Legends. Lin Feng is then introduced to Ren Rou, the president of the esports club with a fiery personality, and Tang Bingyao, a quiet bookworm with a love for money and a surprising talent for the game.A little about Lin Feng’s past is revealed. He was a once pro player, the youngest in history and a contender for the best player in the world. Until the finals of the Season 1 World Championship. There, he lost to his arch-rival, an equally brilliant Korean youth. That was the peak of his career, and also the turning point in his life. He stepped down from his team and disappeared from competitive play altogether. Now, after a four year long hiatus, he aims to make a comebackOver the next couple of weeks, Lin Feng learns about the upcoming Shanghai 16 School Tournament, and that his school’s esports club had performed especially poorly the previous year. He agrees to coach the club’s team and help them win the first place trophy this year. And so, he starts the members of the club out on an intense training bootcamp.Meanwhile, the Season 5 League of Legends World Championship is taking place at around the same time. Tian Tian, one of Lin Feng’s former teammates and best friend, is on one of the Chinese teams playing at Worlds. After a poor showing, he is on the verge of a mental breakdown. Lin Feng witnesses everything in a viewing party with the esports club members and becomes worried.On the day of the Shanghai 16 School tournament, Lin Feng reunites with Tian Tian on the phone. He tells Tian Tian he’s going to return to the professional scene, that he’s making a new team and plans to invite him. But Tian Tian has to vow not to give up at Worlds and keep winning. Tian Tian agrees, and Lin Feng promises he’ll fight alongside him. Lin Feng then heads into his match with renewed resolve, to climb from the bottom all the way back to the top, and overcome the rival that defeated him so many years ago.
8 1136Phoenix's Requiem
Painfully shy and conflict-averse, Yun Ruoyan is a scion to a noble house only in name, a puppet embroiled in political machinations beyond her ken. At the tender age of eighteen, poisoned and at death’s door, she finds herself thrown out into the streets. Her relatives have all been executed, betrayed by her dear husband and her cousin. With her dying breath, she curses her own weakness and swears revenge.When Yun Ruoyan awakens once more, she is thirteen, transported five years into the past by the will of the heavens. Her death-defying experience has changed her: no longer is she the malleable creature she once was. But more questions await at every corner—what is the truth behind the birthmark that disfigures her appearance? What are the circumstances surrounding her mother’s mysterious death?Will the phoenix rise from the ashes, or will she fall once more in thrall to fate?
8 646Poison Physician Consort
Follow Bai Luochu on a journey back to the peak as she reincarnates into the body of an orphaned daughter of the former great general of the Cloud Water Nation.With the Three Great Immortal Sects in front of her, her mortal enemies who caused her death, how would she rise to the top again?With her astounding medical skills and ability to create heaven defying poison, Bai Luochu heals the crippled meridians of her new body and attracts the attention of all three princes of the Cloud Water Nation!
8 1749Rebirth of a Fashionista: This Life Is Soo Last Season
Cinderella went from rags to riches, but when you are already at the top, fate is more than happy to kick you down. A car accident kicks off Sheng Jiaoyang's reverse Cinderella story by trapping her soul in the body of a poor girl, leaving her to succumb to fate and wait for her Prince Charming to come to her rescue -- obviously not!Like a phoenix rising out of the ashes, Sheng Jiaoyang forges her own way back up to the upper echelons of society, clearing obstacles, taking revenges, and bagging her handsome and rich childhood friend on the way.If you are tired of reading about poor damsel in distress waiting for a man to rescue her, and wants a female lead that can carry herself to the top, Rebirth of A Fashionista is the novel for you!
8 274The Attack of the Wastrel
Her rebirth gave her a second chance at life. She was back with a vengeance and wanted to make those that had harmed her pay. But to those that helped her, she wanted to repay them. Her evil stepmother? She would slowly pull out her claws, one by one. Her evil stepsister? She would crush her pride. She thought that by getting her revenge for her past life, she would be happy in this life. However, she never would have thought that danger would chance upon her time and time again. The hatred from her clan and whether their bloodline would continue to exist, lay solely on her shoulders. Luckily, on this thorny path, someone had always been protecting her. "Third Prince, have you ever regretted being with me?" That person laughed lightly and peered at her with a loving yet weary look, "As long as I am together with you, I have no regrets."
8 1461Demoness's Art of Vengeance
Jun Xiaomo, notoriously known as “Lady Demoness”, finds herself chained and bound in a dungeon. Her hard-earned cultivation has been completely crippled, and she has no means of escape. Qin Shanshan, a lady she used to called her “close friend”, mocks Jun Xiaomo, revealing that Jun Xiaomo had been used by the people around her. Even her lover, Qin Lingyu was one of the masterminds scheming against her. Jun Xiaomo watches her life flash before her eyes and realizes that she had indeed blindly placed her trust in people. Her naivety had led to her current predicament. Jun Xiaomo wanted to end it all. However, she is determined to deliver a swan song. Over the hundreds of days tormented in that very dungeon, Jun Xiaomo had painstakingly painted a complicated formation array with her own blood. With a determined look, Jun Xiaomo burns her life force to activate the array. Her sole intent? To bring with her as many schemers to the gates of hell as she could. The bright red light from thearray intensified, and the end was nigh.…or was it? Jun Xiaomo opens her eyes and finds herself alive again; time had rewound right back to when she was sixteen years of age, albeit only at the eighth level of Qi Cultivation. Armed with the knowledge and memories of her previous lifetime, Jun Xiaomo is determined to learn from her mistakes and bring retribution to those who so deserve…
8 368