Dance of Discord 9: A Toss

Posted on by Teagan Riordain Geneviene

Saturday, June 14, 2025

1903 Boston Americans and Pittsburgh Pirates
Boston Americans and Pittsburgh Pirates at 1903 World Series, Wikipedia

Welcome back to our little spy serial story, The Dance of Discord.  We’ve arrived at episode-9.  Where does the time go?  But first, I’m wishing a happy Father’s Day to all the dads. I hope you have good relaxation and recreation.  That’s a subject that gets mentioned in this episode — along with one of the “things.”

Who suggested the things for this episode? Today I’m spotlighting a blogger with multiple creative talents — Kerfe of the Method Two Madness blog.  One of her things was a person, Honus Wagner.  Kerfe‘s other two random reader things are streetcar, and silver dollar.  If you missed the previous installment, it’s at this link.   With the holiday in mind, Episode 9 is short.  It also contains a little bit of a recap regarding some details of early episodes. So, let’s get to it.

Previously

The maid explained that she had been in a room, farther down the hall when she heard the shot.  Then she saw a woman run down the hallway to the rear of the house. 

“Is that everything?” Milo asked looking intently at her face, and she nodded vigorously.

“Yes, that’s all.  Well, except the lady had a pistol in her hand, sir—” she added, causing Milo to roll his eyes in exaggerated impatience.  “It was the lady with the strange eyes.  The one who fainted in the ballroom, just a few minutes ago,” she replied.  “Umm, Miss Jouret.”

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Dance of Discord 10

1904 Car at night

A Toss

Beyond the damask drapes covering the window, rain clouds encroached on the last colors of sunset.   Slight and distant, the clang of a streetcar could be heard.  The odor of blood from Argentinean diplomat’s wound clung to my nostrils. 

Stuart Drummond stared at the door that Milo Quick had abruptly exited.  The Secret Service chief looked almost serene.  The man’s composure was never ruffled.

My keen ears followed the sound of Milo’s footfalls to the hallway and down the servant’s stairs.  I heard him go out the back door into the drive. 

I bounded to the window.  Chief Drummond cast a quizzical glance at my behavior.  However, I had spotted Milo right away.  He ran to the street and detained a man who was walking past.  They spoke, the man gesturing up the street.  In the distance I faintly heard the sound of an automobile engine.

Shaking his head, Milo turned back toward the house.  In the gloom of encroaching clouds, something pale lay on the ground in his path.  When he picked it up, I saw it was a fancy handkerchief.  He held it to his nose in a way that made me sure it had been perfumed.

1904 Car at night with man handkerchief, Teagan, Night Cafe

♣

Stuart Drummond stood flipping a bright coin when I followed Milo into the makeshift command post.  He caught the silver dollar, and slapped it onto the back of his hand, but returned it to his pocket without checking whether it had landed on heads or tails.

“The exhibition baseball game?” Milo asked, clearly knowing more about the toss of that coin.  “You could go regardless of how the coin landed.”

He chuckled at me watching the coin and then tilting my head curiously at his question to the chief.

“I believe your doctor recommended you get some rest and recreation.  I know you’ve been wanting to see Honus Wagner play ever since he was in the 1903 World Series,” Milo added, causing the chief to sputter.

“How did you—  Well, you are my best agent.  I guess you would know about all that.  But this isn’t the time for me to galivant off to a baseball game,” he started.  “Mr. Quick, need I remind you that the president is very anxious that we get the facts in this reported alliance as soon as possible?” Drummond calmly stated.  “He mentioned the matter last night.  He has been keeping in constant communication with Espert, in Belgium.  Although, Espert has not been able to add materially to the original message that a secret pact has formed against the English-speaking nations,” the chief added, and his thick white moustache twitched with his droll shift in tone.

1908 Man white moustache with machine by Teagan via Night Cafe

“Under all the circumstances—” Drummond was about to continue, but Milo cut him off.

“Those circumstances being that our prime suspect got out of the mansion and into a waiting automobile before I ever even saw her?” Milo asked in a flat voice that I knew meant he was blaming himself for events that were beyond his control.

“Under the circumstances,” the handlebar moustache drooped with the chief’s frown when he sternly continued.  “Don’t you think it would be best for me to relieve you of the investigation of the shooting so you can give your full attention to the more important thing — the secret pact AA?”

“Will Mr. Gómez die?” asked Milo.

“Ah, Señor Alejandro Gómez…  The ambassador’s condition is serious, but the doctor doesn’t believe the wound is fatal,” Drummond replied and Milo nodded.

Stretching his long legs, Milo stood and moved across the room to gaze out the window.  Finally, he turned to his chief.

“What do we know, here in the bureau, about Miss Jouret?”

Edwardian man with letter

“Our intelligence is of the usual perfunctory nature,” Mr. Drummond explained.  “She arrived in Washington two weeks ago.  She brought some letter of introduction to Baron Rogier Dessain, the Belgian ambassador.  Whatever the nature of the letter, Foley says it got the Baron’s full attention.  He obtained an invitation for her to attend the ball.  She was staying as a guest at the Belgian embassy until four days ago.”

“And at that point she became the guest of Señorita Olivia Silva at the Colombian ambassador’s residence,” Milo interjected the tidbit he learned from the talkative young woman and the chief nodded.

“Since Miss Jouret’s arrival in the United States, she has been prominently presented into society.  With the influence of the Baron and of Señorita Silva, she has been able to go everywhere in the diplomatic set.  We have no knowledge of her beyond this,” Drummond said but lifted his eyebrows expectantly, seeing a question in Milo’s seemingly listless eyes.

I was certain that the same line of thought was running in both their minds, born, perhaps, of the association of ideas.  Firstly, the various mostly Latin nations known to be in the secret compact… Prince Albert of Belgium, the secret emissary of three countries… the sudden appearance of Miss Jouret at the Belgian embassy.  Plus, in Milo’s mind there would be an extra item — the knowledge of a message Zola Jouret had cunningly transmitted to Mr. Adler, the lawyer to the German embassy, there in the ballroom through the use of her fan and a unique combination of coded tapping and gestures.

“Can you imagine a person who would be of more value to the governments in that pact, right here right now, at this stage of their negotiations than a brilliant woman agent?” Milo asked, and Drummond gave a sharp shake of his head, so the younger man continued.

Edwardian woman Washington DC Cherry blossoms Teagan via Night Cafe

“In that case I don’t believe it would be wise to transfer the investigation of the shooting to another agent,” Milo emphatically said.  “On the contrary, we need to find out more about Miss Jouret.”

“Precisely,” Drummond agreed with a smile that showed he was pleased with the way Milo’s mind had worked.  “Ask all the great capitals about Jouret.  Start with Rome, Madrid, Italy in particular.  Get Franks to check with Berlin, London, and St. Petersburg.  A woman like her could easily have associations across the globe,” Drummond added thoughtfully, and Milo scribbled the names of the cities on a slip of paper.

“Mr. Quick, do you intend to arrest Miss Jouret for the shooting?” the chief asked, while giving Milo the kind of gaze that could see almost to the soul.

“Mr. Drummond, I don’t know just yet.  I don’t know,” he repeated musingly.  “If I do arrest her, or if she finds out we seriously suspect her, it could cut off some clue that would connect the shooting to the intrigue surrounding the secret pact.  Bear in mind that a man, a man, pushed that maid into a room and shut the door when she saw Miss Jouret with the gun.  He is another player in that scene, and I want to know who he is.  So, I need to think about whether this is the right time to arrest her,” he concluded.

“Right now,” Milo added thoughtfully as he stood tugging on his gloves and walking to the door.  “I’m going over to talk to Baron Rogier Dessain for a while.”

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End Episode 9

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 Stay tuned for the tenth episode of Dance of Discord.  Have a wonderful weekend.  Friendly comments are welcome.  Hugs!

♣ ♣ ♣

Of course, here’s the obligatory shameless self-promotion.

A Peril in the Vines

Universal Purchase Links

A Peril in the Vines

e-book:  relinks.me/B0DS4G7RSD

Paperback:  relinks.me/B0DS69GJDV

A Medium’s Peril full series link: relinks.me/B0CG2SXX24

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This is a work of fiction.  Characters, names, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, locales, or events is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2025 by Teagan Ríordáin Geneviene

All rights reserved. 

No part of this work may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission.  Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights.

All images are either the property of the author or provided by free sources, unless stated otherwise.

 

40 thoughts on “Dance of Discord 9: A Toss”

  2. Pingback: Join me at Tim Price’s Blog for “Teagan’s Storm – Teagan's Books

    1. Thanks, Noelle. Kerfe sent great things. That one took me by surprise. I wondered how the heck I could get this story to the baseball field… Instead I used it to add to Chief Drummond’s character — baseball fan and Secret Service chief, too dedicated to his job for entertainment. LOL.
      Yes, that would be a valuable card. Wagner was a fun “thing” to research. Three of his brothers were also pro baseball players — and one of them was nicknamed Butts! Purrs from the Scoobies to you and the kitties. Hugs.

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  6. I love the way you use the narrator to report the actions and to infer impressions and thought processes. Her smelling the blood made the wounding continue to be present in the scene. Her seeing Milo sniff the handkerchief telling her it was scented even though she couldn’t smell it through the closed window. How she can read slight changes of expression that people would miss. Just love it!

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    1. Hi, Marian! Thanks so much for your specific feedback. LOL, I guess a writing exercise that I’ve been meaning to do was on my mind. It’s: write a whole paragraph describing the smell of something. Though I didn’t do it, the sense of smell was in the back of my mind.
      Writing this serial from the point of view of someone will her limitations is a great exercise in itself. Huge thanks for following along. Hugs!

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  7. Thank you for another episode, Teagan!

    I’m loving the story. The intrigue and my interest are continuously piqued.

    I found some pics I need to scan and… well, I’ll get it together and write this week!

    HUGS! (Mrrower, from Misha!)

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    1. Thank *you* Resa! Most of my past blog serials have been a release valve for my imagination (but still needed the propulsion of the reader things). This one is different — I’m writing it strictly for the readers, not for myself. I guess that’s why there is no fantasy element.

      I’m very much looking forward to whatever you write and the photos! Certainly write as much as you want, but don’t feel like it has to be a lot. Take your time. Here, trifecta of extreme heat, bad air quality, and asthma makes me not feel like doing anything. I’m trying to finish a post with what Olga sent me for this week.

      The Scoobies are trying to make me get out of bed. Time to feed them. They send you and Misha purrs. Hugs winging back to you.

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      1. Ahh, interesting about the non fantasy element in the story.
        Still, it feels like your writing, and I am really enjoying it.
        Heat! I was out in it today; no fun, tired, headachy.
        The summers have become too hot and long.

        Okay, I need to get my mojo running again. Let me see if scanning these pics works better than taking pics of the pics!
        HuGs!

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    1. Thanks, Jennie. Baron Dessain was the guy with the monocle. Never trust a diplomat with a monocle… at least not here. LOL.

      Hey, I’m low on “3 random things”. Can you give me 1) something with a distinctive smell, 2) an article of clothing that makes a sound, and 3) something you’d see in springtime? I know you can do this. I was going to say maybe the Aqua Room could help, but I guess they’re out of school now.

      Anyhow, I hope you’ve had a lovely weekend. Big hugs.

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        1. Thanks very much, Jennie! Not lame at all. Once the setting and general plot line of a serial gets set, reader things that are (how to describe it?) beyond the day-to-day, make the story go in tangents that really aren’t good writing. These are just right. I might substitute something for the bustle, since they weren’t worn any more. Then again, something might take us to an attic somewhere, LOL. Thanks again. Big hugs.

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  9. I would love to know what that message was…perhaps it will be revealed at the correct point in the story? I am also not so sure Miss Jouret was the actual murderer, but she is certainly tangled up in what ever is going on.
    And thanks for weaving my three things in so seamlessly! (K)

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    1. Hi, Kerfe. Which message?

      The “original intelligence” message

      only stated that a pact was being formed. Episode-3 might answer your questions.

      The letter of introduction is just that, but who wrote it? That answer might make the letter “imply” more than is said. Or not. We shall see.

      Thanks for being part of this story, and for three great things. Hugs.

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  10. I have a lot of confidence that Milo will get to the bottom of things. I liked the information about Miss Jouret’s entry into the social and political life here in the US. Makes me begin to doubt that she shot the ambassador but who am I to say. Looking forward to next week, Teagan. I hope your week is splendid.

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    1. It seems that Zola arrived with connections (the seal on an envelope she presented the baron in an early episode) and came out of the gate determined to make more. Is Milo following his gut — or is he mesmerized by her beautiful eyes? Perhaps we will see.
      I’m trying to keep cool. We’re looking at highs of at least 104 for the next several days… well as far out as they will forecast. LOL, I admit that gives me an excuse to not feel guilty about all the household things that I’m not able to do. Heck of a silver lining! Wishing you a lovely Father’s Day. Big hugs.

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  12. I’ve walked past a historic marker in Pittsburgh at the site of Exposition Park where that World Series was played (and lost by my team). And, Honus Wagner lived in the same town as my mom. These things drew me in quickly (no pun intended) but your story held my attention tight throughout, Teagan. The plot is thickening and you did a great job of stirring in some extra ingredients today. I am becoming impressed with Mr. Quick. He has a mind for his job. I can’t wait to see where this all leads.

    I hope you have a great weekend.

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  15. Well, the plot thickens! Plenty of investigating to do for our friends, although a bit of R&R is always good as well. Thanks, Teagan, for another great episode. Have a grand weekend! Big hugs and love to the Scoobies!

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