The Deeds of the Disturber by Elizabeth Peters

York Street debouched into the square, he stopped and announced his intention of leaving me. "You will be all right now, Mrs. E."
    "I have never been anything other than all right, Mr. O. Thank youfor entertaining me at the public house; it was a most interesting experience. But don't forget what I told you."
    "No, ma'am."
    "You will not use my name again."
    "Certainly not, Mrs. E. Unless," Kevin added, "some incident of unusual interest occurs, and the other newspapers learn of it, and report it. You surely would not expect me to be the only journalist in London who refrained from printing the story, would you?"
    "Good Gad, O'Connell, you sound just like Ramses," I said in exasperation. "No such incident will occur. I have no intention of becoming involved with the nonsensical doings at the British Museum."
    "Oh, indeed?" His rather wide mouth opened, not in a smile but in a snarl of rage. "Sure an' begorra, but I might have known . . . The spalpeen! The treacherous little serpent—"
    "Who? Where?"
    "There." Kevin pointed. "D'ye see that big yellow umbrella?"
    "The weather being inclement, a number of parasols are to be seen," I replied. "But in this dreadful fog it is impossible to make out colors with any degree of—"
    "There, just there—in front of Chalfont House." Kevin growled deep in his throat. "Lying in wait, lurking like a ghoul . . . Och, the shame of the creature then!"
    The umbrella he had mentioned was not difficult to distinguish after all, for unlike the others on the pavements it remained stationary, just outside the high iron fence enclosing the grounds of Chalfont House. Though there was a lamppost not far away, I could see very little more than the umbrella itself. It was a very large umbrella.
    "Who is it?" I asked, squinting in an effort to see better.
    "Who else but that creeping snake Minton? You had better go round to the back, Mrs. E."
    "Nonsense. I will not skulk into a house as if I had no right to be there. Run along, Mr. O'Connell (and make sure you change your boots and your socks as soon as you get home). A confrontation between you and Minton could only lead to acrimony and to delay."
    "But, Mrs. E.—"
    "I am quite capable of dealing with impertinent journalists. As you ought to know."
    "But—"
    The heavy doors of Chalfont House burst open. Light spilled out onto the steps; from the form silhouetted against it came a voice weirdlydistorted by the damp and the fog. "Peabody! Where are yooooooou, Peabody? Curse it!"
    I could see the butler plucking at Emerson's coattails, trying to calm him; but 'twas of no avail. Sans hat, coat, scarf, or umbrella, Emerson plunged down the stairs and ran to the gate. In his passion he was unable to deal with the latch; he clung there, bellowing and banging on the railings. "Peeeeeea-body! Devil take it, where are yooooooou?"
    "I must go," I said. But I spoke to empty air; a rapidly fading shadow was the only sign of Kevin O'Connell.
    I called to my agitated spouse, but his irritable iterations drowned out my voice. By the time I reached him, the yellow umbrella had pounced. Emerson confronted it head-on, with only the gate between them. He had fallen silent; I heard another voice, high-pitched and rapid. "And what is your opinion, Professor . . ."it was asking.
    "Emerson, what the—what are you doing out in this fog without a hat?" I demanded.
    Emerson glanced at me. "Oh, there you are, Peabody. The most extraordinary thing . . . Only have a look."
    Whereupon he seized the umbrella and spun it like a wheel. The person under it, who seemed to be attached to it in some fashion I could not make out, spun with it, and the lamplight fell full upon her face. Yes, dear Reader— her face! The journalist—was a woman!
    "Good Gad," I exclaimed. "I was under the impression that you were a man."
    "I am as capable as any man," was the fierce reply, as a notebook was brandished in my face. She had attached her umbrella to her belt in order to leave her hands free for