The Hollow of Fear (Lady Sherlock, #3)

by Sherry Thomas

On her way to the front door she passed him and nodded. “Good day, Inspector.” “Mr. Holmes,” he said. “A moment, please. I have a question for you.” “Yes, Inspector?” He didn’t know why he had stopped her. And now that he had, he had no idea whether he could condense all the whirling thoughts in his head into a single question. “I have, or so it would appear, offended Miss Olivia Holmes greatly.” She waited for him to continue. “I seem to have a knack for giving such offenses. Not to ladies like Miss Holmes usually, but to . . .” He paused, unsure how to phrase what he was about to say. “But to women who are thoroughly lacking in respectability, with the very respectable Miss Holmes affronted on behalf of her disgraced sister.” He thought of Mrs. Farr, with the possibly dead missing sister. He thought of Mrs. Bamber, the publican he had encountered a few months ago. He preferred to believe that they were exceptions, and perhaps they were. The problem was, he could too easily think of others, scattered throughout his career, like sand in a bowl of grain. “I am a police inspector. I will need to speak to many more women in the course of my work. A tendency to provoke is . . . not a personal asset.” She waited again. When it became apparent he had confessed as much as he could bring himself to, she said, “Should I assume that you do not entirely understand how—or why—your words give rise to such unfavorable responses?” He nodded stiffly, already regretting the conversation. “...