With a given name as aspirational as “Sterling,” maybe it is no surprise that Kildare clawed his way from his working-class childhood into editor’s chair of a known, if struggling, London weekly. He navigates the Review with a keen mind and sharp eye, and is ruthless about what belongs in the paper and what doesn’t. The owner has insisted upon only truthful reporting, but Sterling knows, too, that the truth isn’t always what sells papers.
Giovanni has always been hungry. Poverty and starvation were his reality for most of his life. Now, with the taste of fame and comfort in London, they are still what fuel him. His main motivation is to never go back to those hungry days. The pursuit of excellence in his craft is obsessive. His desire to cement himself in high society is unshakeable. His love of being loved is insatiable. His ability to balance all these things; questionable.
Only the best of the best survive the harsh streets of Whitechapel, and Joseph Warrens has long since proven himself among those ranks. Born and raised in the poverty-stricken and dangerous streets he would later police, Joseph has a keen understanding of the woes and challenges that the people of his jurisdiction face. He spent his entire career in Whitechapel, and now has risen to the rather unenviable position of superintendent over Division H of the London Metropolitan Police. He is responsible for every success and failure of his men, and with the unique challenges Whitechapel offers, it’s often more failures than successes. While he is fiercely loyal to his men and fiercely protective of the streets that are his to protect, he has long since learned to play the bureaucratic games that his position requires. While his integrity (such as it is) has mostly remained intact, it has not made him the most popular of the Met’s superintendents, and the political aspects of his position also mean that he isn’t the most popular with his own constables, either. Still, Joseph puts the work and the people of his jurisdiction first, and will continue to do so until death takes him or he is relieved of his position.
Sir Angus has been the chief of the Special Irish Branch since its inauguration almost five years ago. Hand-picked for his unique skill set and dedication to the Metropolitan Police, he has faced an uphill battle to ensure his men have the resources and respect they need to do their jobs. Credited for the successful foiling of a Fenian plot during Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee in the summer of 1887 (for which he was knighted), he has since had both more resources and more attention on him, and his men. Sharp of mind, wit, and tongue, Sir Angus leads by example, never asking his men to do anything that he isn’t equally willing to do.
