Nightfall in New York


 
 
 
 
 Also by Katherine Woodfine
 
 
 
 
 
 Peril in Paris
 
 Spies in St Petersburg
 
 Secrets on the Shore (ebook)
 
 Villains in Venice
 
 ‘Woodfine’s crisp prose is instantly evocative, and her quick-moving plots will appeal both to newcomers and long-time devotees.’
 
 Guardian
 
 
 
 
 
 The Clockwork Sparrow
 
 The Jewelled Moth
 
 The Painted Dragon
 
 The Midnight Peacock
 
 ‘Utterly enthralling’
 
 Abi Elphinstone
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 First published in Great Britain in 2021 by Farshore
 An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers
 1 London Bridge Street
 London SE1 9GF
 
 
 farshore.co.uk
 
 
 HarperCollinsPublishers
 1st Floor, Watermarque Building, Ringsend Road
 Dublin 4, Ireland
 
 Text copyright © 2021 Katherine Woodfine
 Illustrations copyright © 2021 Karl James Mountford
 
 The moral rights of the author and illustrator have been asserted
 
 E-Book ISBN 978 0 7555 0127 4
 Printed and bound in the UK using 100% renewable electricity at CPI Group (UK) Ltd
 1
 
 Typeset by Avon DataSet Ltd, Alcester, Warwickshire
 
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 For the next generation:
 Rose
 Frank & Lil
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 PART I
 
 
 
 
 
 CHAPTER ONE
 
 10 Downing Street
 London, England
 
 It was midnight in London. Lights were being extinguished; the theatres and restaurants were closing their doors. Street lamps glowed and on Piccadilly Circus, illuminated advertisements glittered. The windows of Sinclair’s, London’s most elegant department store, shimmered gold in the dark.
 
 In Covent Garden, people slept huddled on the doorstep of an old church, under the yellowing sheets of yesterday’s newspaper. In Soho, a lone policeman strode down a narrow, cobbled passage. At the Inns of Court, all was silent – but on Fleet Street, the printing presses clattered through the night, churning out the papers that tomorrow the newsboys would be hawking on every corner.
 
 In Westminster, Big Ben chimed midnight, slowly and solemnly. The policeman on duty outside 10 Downing Street heard it, and was glad. CHAPTER TWO
 
 Taylor & Rose Detectives
 Sinclair’s Department Store
 Piccadilly, London
 
 The clock was striking eight, as Sophie opened the door with the gold letters reading Taylor & Rose Detectives. It was early, but she’d already been awake for hours. At last, she’d given up tossing and turning, got out of bed, and come to the office. If she couldn’t sleep, she might as well work.
 
 The office of Taylor & Rose Detectives looked just as usual. There was the desk where Mei Lim, who worked as their receptionist, welcomed clients. There was the waiting area, with its comfortable chairs and illustrated fashion-papers. Beyond was the office that belonged to Billy Parker, the office manager, and then the little room — not much more than a cupboard really — where their technical expert Tilly Black spent