The London Affair: A Venables & Luther Adventure

==Overview==
The London Affair is the third book in the V&L Trilogy, it tells the tale of Richard Venables and Richard Luther in London telling the tale of the murder of Colonal Johnathan Ross of the 47ths Second Battalion and Venables & Luthers parts they played in the Investigation.
==Chapter I - The Wright Tavern==
London is a cold place, damp and murky in the poor districts and only slightly better in the Richer Districts, The air of London is thick with choking, dense smoke from factories and the streets are constantly stinking from the human refuse left to rot on the streets, this particular day in August was no better as Colonal Johnathan Ross of the 47th walked through the dark, crowded streets of Westminister late in the afternoon.
He was returning from having dinner with the other officers of the 47th Regiment which had been posted in London on barracks duty for six months, the regiments commanding officer Richard Venables had his residence in a far nicer area of London, and so Ross had to walk through crowded streets and have the worry of being mugged by thugs who would gladly take the risk of the watch to get an army officers few gold coins to feed themselves, Ross finally reached the door of his small apartment in a back alley behind the Wright Tavern, when he noticed a dark figure in the shadows of the alley, he didnt take a second thought to this silent figure until after the figure began to approach him, he began to fiddle violently with the lock to try to get inside the safety of his apartment, suddenly he felt a sharp twang of pain as the assailent smashed a knife into his side and then Ross fell to the ground violently, Ross could feel the blood pour into his lungs and he began to cry for help, choking on the blood in his throat,
As Ross slowly choked on his own blood, he wondered why? 
Then the life passed out of his body and the alley's cobbles were filled with the blood of the dead highlander.
==Chapter II - Art, Love and Murder==
In another part of London, where the air is slightly fresher and the sky a lesser shade of grey, Richard Venables & Richard Luther sat quietly in front of the London Opera, Venables Enjoyed attending such events when he was at home as it allowed him to enjoy the latest news and gossip, whilst Luther sat there miserably whilst Madam' De' Jewel sang the Beggers Opera, for the third time in a row.
Lady Sarah Venables sat at Richards side whilst Ishamel and Caterina sat to Lady Sarahs left, Venables himself was applauding Madam Jewels proformance as were a startling number of gentlemen, Luther noticed with a smirk.
"Well Luther how'd you enjoy that?" Venables asked merrily, his face beaming with delight, "Appaling sir, i fear i may never take to the finer side of social life" Luther said glumly, slowly drinking the remainders of his Champaign.
"Chin up, Luther its not about the singing or the damn music, its about getting you amongst the upper class!" Venables said grandly as they slowly walked down into the grand hall, where the after proformance chatter was already going full tilt, Venables had absconded over to talk with Lord McRoberts and Commander Michel Jameson, whilst Ishamel and Caterina had disappeared altogether, suddenly Lady Sarah came up to him, "My dear Mr Luther, why do you stand around looking like an idiot? Enjoy yourself!" She said warmly to him, He Smiled and replied "I fear the only poeple i know here are you and your family ma'am, and i truely do not know what to say to strangers!" Luther smiled weakly and then noticed that Lady Sarah was not alone, "This is my niece Constance, prehaps you could find a subject to talk of with her!" Sarah said before flowing away to attend to several other ladies, he was left alone with this ravishing girl, "So Colonel, i have heard you saved my dear uncle Richards life over in the Caribbean, I must thank you for that!" she said smiling, Luther was struck dumb, her smile had enchanted him greatly and now she looked at him quizingly, he struggled to come up with something intelligible, "Ahh yes, eh thank ye kindly miss, I merely did what i did for a friend... eh yes" he said awkwardly, to which Constance merely giggled in the most infatuating way possible for a young lady, Suddenly though his thoughts were turned to Venables to whom a courier had just brought a note, he looked at the dark frown on Venables face and knew something was up then watched as Venables strode up to him "Constance my dear! I trust you'll forgive me for tearing the good Colonal from your attention?" Venables said warmly to his niece, "Of course uncle, it was a pleasure to meet you Richard" She said as she slyly winked at him with a grin on her face, "Come Luther, get your cloak i'll explain on the way" Venables said coldly, "Whats wrong sir?" He asked, Venables eyed him and said "Just over an hour ago, a young girl found Colonal Ross dead on his doorstep, he'd been murdered" Venables said bluntly and lead him out into the cold air of London as Venables carriage arrived to take them to the scene of the crime.
==Chapter III - The Plot Evolves==
Venables and Luthers carraige arrived at the scene of the crime about an hour later, Venables unused to the smell of the poorers areas of London put a hankerchief up to his nose to muffle the smell, a small, squat figure approached them. "General sir, I'm Constable Morris, I'm in charge of the investigation" the man said to him smiling, Venables frowned at the mans obvious joy at having a case, whilst Luther smiled at Venables distain for the little man. "Where's the body?" Venables asked, looking around distainly at the crowds who had come to see what the all the noise was about! "This way sir, we left the body where it was so you could examine it sir!" Morris said chirply to which Venables gave a mild snarl, Morris led them into the alleyway where Colonal Ross' body lay slumped against the door of his home, the cruel looking dagger protruding out of his back, Venables stooped over the corpse and slowly drew the dagger out, looking intently at its blade, "Dear God, i saw one of these in a Mayan temple once!" Venables said in suprise, "Aye sir' I remember sir!" Luther said in suprise, the blade shone brightly in the light of the street lamp, which now glowed faintly to cast a morbid light on the corpse, "Mr. Morris, i want this body taken to the depot immediately!" Venables ordered the Watchman, "B...But...Sir, this is the watches case!" Morris Stuttered weakily, "Mr. Morris, this man is an officer of the Kings 47th Regiment, in other words this case belongs to the Army!" Venables said dismissively as Morris back away slowly, "Colonal have McGrucken and Livingstone take Ross' body to the surgeon's office at the depot!" Venables said to Luther as he strode off to his carraige, Luther looked on with sadness, Venables had been fond of Ross and now the poor bastard was dead....
A few days later Venables was sitting in his parlour with The London Times whilst his servant cleaned his riding boots in the courtyard, suddenly the door bell rang! Ashley McFarris, Venables Scottish housekeeper answered the door, Venables grabbed a pair of buckled loafers from the side of his chair and slipped them on, Mrs McFarris came in "Ma' Lord Mr & Mrs Blademonk to see ye" She told him, "Bring them in, Bring them in!" Venables cried happily, "Mr. Blademonk what a pleasent suprise! and the Radiant Mrs. Blademonk as well this is indeed a delight!" Venables greeted them with pleasure, "Sir Richard, how is your wife?" Hannah asked, "She is well Ma'am, i believe she'll be home soon, she was visiting my son, you see" Venables explained as he poured tea for his guests, "So Richard, whats the latest on Ross?" Ryan asked grimly, Venables looked at him and grimaced, "You know, i can't shake this feeling like Ross was not the last to be targeted!" Venables explained seriously to Ryan and Hannah, "Why is that Richard?" Hannah asked alarmed, Venables smiled to reassure her and explained, "Back when i was young, I was a Marine Private aboard HMS Godfrey and we sailed for an Aztec city which had been used by the Spanish to supply goods from Panama to the French in the North, anyway when we landed the marines and myself marched in to the city but all we found was natives, and one young English Missionary, we hung them all on the orders of our Captain, Sir Edward McCoy, the uncle of Colonal Ross but thats not all, Myself, Luther and Sergeant Grey of the Grenadier Company where there and i have a feeling that some one wants revenge for it!" Venables said puffed, "Aye, I remember that story, I had know idea you were there Richard!" Ryan said suprised, "Aye well, the dagger is what makes me think so!" Venables said as he walked over to his desk and pulled out of the draw an item wraped in cloth, when he unwraped it, it showed its wicked crooked steel blade, Hannah gasped at the sight of it and Ryan shivered intently, Venables wraped it back up and placed in the desk, "That my friends is a Aztec Ceremonial Dagger, which the priests used to cut their victims throats with!" Venables said grimly, "It's horrid!" Hannah exclaimed, she had gone rather pale and slowly sipped her tea, whilst Ryan smiled weakly, Venables smiled and changed the subject, and so they talked well into the afternoon and the Blademonks stayed for supper and then left Venables with farewells and best wishes for his investigation.
==Chapter VI - Venables Past Returns==
The Visit from the Blademonks had somewhat cheered Venables up, so when they left he felt rather lonely and poured himself a large drought of Whiskey, after he had dismissed his servants, he retired to his study, where he slowly fell into a slumber, from which he was awoken two hours later by a startiling noise, Venables grabed his pistol and reached for the door handle, when a voice sounded behind him, "Hello Sir" Venables spun around, the pistol went off and the figure emerged from the shadows, the man was tall, slightly stooped, and his hair was thining out slightly, "Sharkhayes!" Venables exclaimed, as he slowly dropped the pistol, and reached for a chair, Sharkhayes smiled, "You miss me sir?" He said, Venables looked at him, "how... how are you here?" Venables said stirring slowly from his chair, "Well when you lads, left me for dead in Africa, it turned out i wasn't, so i made my way back to England, guessing i'd been discharged, lets say, but you sir, i'm suprised in, you haven't realised who the murderer is yet have you? Sharkhayes said, Venables nodded slowly and reached for a bottle of scotch, putting the bottle to his lips and taking a large swill of the whiskey. "Why are you here Sharkhayes?" Venables drawled out, the evidence of him drinking obvious, "You could have been free from the army! and yet you return!?" Venables said confused, Sharkhayes smiled and poured him self a drought of whiskey, "Sir, you remember Colonal Iglasisa?" Sharkhayes asked him, Venables darted a glance at him, "Oh Aye, that fat bastard, of a Spanish Colonal, in Africa!" Venables said, his voice rising slightly, Sharkhayes raised a hand and continued, "He was on the same ship, what brought me back home! and whats more, he was with Alexander Du'longe!" Sharkhayes said, Venables jumped out of his chair and knocked his glass, sending it crashing into a bookshelf, "What are they doing in England!" he roared, his face going blue with rage and drink, Sharkhayes suppressed a grin, and then explained to Venables, "Well Sir, i was rather suspicious of them, so i followed them after we arrived in Portsmouth, which was a few months back mind, and they travelled to London and began asking about for a Colonal Richard Venables, saying they had a score to settle with him, and so i followed them to the Wright Tavern!" Sharkhayes concluded, He smiled and looked on as Venables passed around the room, "How the Bloody hell do we catch them?" Venables exclaimed, "And why the bloody hell did they murder Ross, and with that Aztec dagger?" Venables exclaimed, "Because Iglasisa, studied up on you sir, and he found out that you hung his brother, in Mexico i believe" Sharkhayes said wearily, "What? The missionary, why he was bloody English!" Venables exclaimed, "No Sir, see i did a wee bit of digging into it like, and yon missionary was in fact brought up in England sure enough, but he was Charle De' Iglasisa by name and Spanish by origin too" Sharkhayes said with satisfaction, Venables looked at him and broke into a laugh, "So how the bloody hell did you survive?" Venables asked, Sharkhayes smiled a grin, which was missing some teeth. "Well Sir, the lads didn't put me in a grave sir, just threw my body on a pile with the others and walzted off, then some natives found me and took me in, nursed me back to health like, and then gave me a bit of money for passage to England!" Sharkhayes Explained seriously, Venables smiled and exclaimed "Well my good man, I'm glad to have you back and by God, we'll get those bastards, oh yes by God!" And so Venables and Sharkhayes plotted the downfall of Iglasisa and Du'longe.
==Chapter VII - The End Game==
Master Robert O'Rielly was a reliable sort of boy, decent and honest, when he wasnt hungry but could be trusted to deliver a letter for a couple of guineas, it was so that Venables sent a letter to Iglasisa, who was still taking shelter at the Wright Tavern, meanwhile Venables had assembled his men, Luther, Ishamel, McCoy and Douglas along with himself and Sharkhayes, out of uniform Venables and the lads travelled to and set their trap inside and old EITC storehouse which had an second floor that was packed with cargo and merchandise ready to be ship off to America, this was the place that Venables had organised to meet Iglasisa and Du'longe, and so out of uniform and with nothing but a sword slung at his side, Venables and his men waited, and then exactly at 7:00pm Iglasisa arrived, "Colonal Iglasisa, Mr Du'longe, what a suprise to find you in London!" Venables began then drew his sword, "Mr Venables, when I first arrived in London this was merely revenge for destroying my career, now though, now this is revenge for Murder!" Iglasisa roared and drew his sword, thrusting it at Venables who parried and called out to his men! "You think i'm fool enough to come alone, Iglasisa" Venables taunted, the Spaniard smiled evily and nodded, "Nither did I General!" He declared as the British Soldiers where set upon by a band of thugs, whilst Venables and Iglasisa, duelled around the storeroom, Venables pushing Iglasisa hard, but Iglasisa had the upper hand and parried one of Venables blow and sent Venables sword flying, "So Venables, Revenge is mine!" Iglasisa roared, and thrust with his sword skewering Venables in the gut, Venables gasped as the sword struck home and Iglasisa went to whisper into his ear, but they were standing near the loading doors on the side of the building, which were standing wide open, Venables siezing all his remain strength grabbed Iglasisa and pulled them both through the door and both of them hurtled down to the ground, Iglasisa, hit the dock with a crash snaping his neck, whilst Venables hit the edge of the dock and plunged into the icy depths of the Themes, Luther meanwhile had subdued the Spanish thugs and rushed to find Venables who was slowly drowning in the river, Luther removed his jacket and dived in, grabing Venables and pulling him up, recieving a slash across his back from the sword, Venables was bleeding terrible and was choking on blood and river water, before he slowly passed out into a deep coma, Luther and McCoy took his body and carried it away to the surgeon whilst Sharkhayes kicked the body of Iglasisa into the River Themes, where he hoped it would rot in hell! 
==Epiloge - St James Military Hospital, London==
Venables slowly recover from his wounds but his pain was very great, and Surgeon Captain McGregor told him he was going to suffer from terribel stomach aches from now on, Luther hardly ever left Venables side, and when Venables came to explained everything, "So Luther, I think I have had enough of the Army, I'm getting to old for scraps like that, and i want to settle in to a more quiet lifestyle!" Venables declared softly, "But Sir, What would the Cauliflowers (1) do with out you?" Luther exclaimed, Venables smiled and sat up slowly grimacing in pain, "Your a competant fellow Luther, and they damn well need a competant man to lead them, do me proud Luther!" Venables said to Luther and Luther leaned over a kissed Venables on the hand, "It has been an honour to serve with you sir!" Luther declared and began to tear up, "And it has been an honour to serve with you my lad!" Venables replied happily, then declared "I could do with a good glass of Scotch!" and so Venables & Luther toasted the Army, King George, Tyler Wellington and Nick Shakrhayes, and so this seems like the end but knowing Venables and Luther they'll meet again and find another enemy to do battle with! because once a soldier, always a soldier!
==THE END==
Sadly, this brings us to the end of the Venables & Luther Triolgy. It has been a great series, and started the whole thing. We thank you for reading the V&L Trilogy, and keep reading, this is only the beginning. 
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