The Grey Tabby: Five

The Girl in Grey was sat at home in her London flat, while the Outsider was practising her aim with her crossbow. Scruff was asleep on the sofa, her face buried in a cushion. With the sun sinking below the horizon, the street-lights going on slowly around the park. Her feet up, in costume and ready for the night ahead, the Girl in Grey did not want to get up. When the 'phone rang, it took her a little while to get up. The Outsider picked it up for her.

"Hullo," she spoke softly, voice carrying an air of menace.

"Hi there, Emily," Ms. Madison laughed, "how's the Outsider this New Year?"

"Bored," the Outsider complained. "It's dark and cold. The streets are empty, and the crooks are in their holes. Does the Green Man want someone killed?"

"I don't know," Ms. Madison confessed. "Right now, I'm round Mike Rake's. I've just heard about the threat to London."

"What threat?" the Outsider started. "Hey!"

"What is it?" the Girl in Grey's voice came on the line, urgent.

"A character calling themself the Grey Tabby has demanded that the Met stand down in two Divisions," Ms. Madison told the costumed crime-fighter." If they don't, then he says he'll strip London of its treasures."

"I'm coming over to the Savoy," the Girl in Grey spoke with determination. "See you there."

"And I'm coming too!" the Outsider came back on the line "- so no sticking around to canoodle with your boyfriend. And if you do, I'm coming over and getting in through the keyhole."


"I'll be there," Ms. Madison ran for the door.

"What is it?" Rake looked up.

"I have to get to the Savoy," Ms. Madison told him. "Important meeting with the girls."

"Come on," Rake put on his coat. "I'll run you back. After all, this is for London."