The Body at the Tower (20 page)

“Now you,” said Reid, leaning across the table and fixing her with an intent, if slightly glazed, look. “You knows all about the new gent. Posh fella, ain’t he?”

Mary’s most recent pint of ale churned slowly in her stomach. “Not so posh,” she said slowly, her beer-fuddled brain scrambling to chart the conversation ahead. “Only like Harky, I’ll bet.”

Reid shook his head with slow conviction. “Swanker than old Harky, that one.
I
know.”

“What do you know?” demanded the man next to Mary.

“He called to Wick’s house one night after work. Gave Janey Wick a right fright – she thought Wick was in trouble again, for all he’s well dead.”

“If a bloke could get into trouble when dead, John Wick’s the one!” snorted a third. A few men rumbled with polite amusement, but most were intent on Reid’s tale.

“Anyways, this gent calls round to Wick’s, says to Janey as he’d like to see the body, polite like. And Janey says, ‘Well, it ain’t here, that there coroner’s still got it and he won’t say as when he’ll give it back,’ and Janey, right, she’s that upset about it, ’cause of the funeral being the next day and she’s got to wash it and dress it and all, and this here chappie – this Easton – tells her not to worry and he’ll see what he can do.

“And Janey’s thinking, ‘My eye you will, all you lot say that but you don’t do nothing, and whyn’t you get home and leave me alone, anyways.’ And blimey, if the next morning a blasted great carriage don’t turn up – nine o’clock of the morning remember – and these two coves bring in Wick’s body, all polite like, saying ‘Yes, Missus Wick,’ and ‘No, Missus Wick,’ and all!”

There was a general ripple of surprise. “Did he say how he done it? Easton, I mean.” This was the man beside Mary, again.

Reid shook his head and took a long pull of beer. “Didn’t say nothing, just left his card and said if she needed aught else to ask him.”

Someone else gave a sly, knowing chuckle. “Got his eye on the widow, hey? Bet she’s paying him back for his trouble right this minute.”

Reid looked round indignantly. “She ain’t doing nothing like that; she’s a good girl, is Janey Wick.” From the looks of suppressed mirth around the table, it was obvious that Reid’s passion for Mrs Wick was an open secret. “That’s why I’m telling you,” he persisted; “that Easton’s a right posh cove. Fancy Harky doing anything like that for a poor little widow, with all his hymn-singing and tea-drinking!”

The conversation moved on, the characters of James Easton and Mrs Wick being of only passing interest to the other men.

But Reid wanted to keep talking and he buttonholed Mary across the table. “You ain’t done building work before.” It wasn’t a question.

“No,” said Mary. She offered him the same explanation she’d given Harkness: orphaned, no money for an apprenticeship, living in lodgings.

“But you been to school,” said Reid, his brow creasing.

She nodded reluctantly. “For a little.”

He ignored this. “’Cause after I seen you yesterday, looking in the window, that Mr Jones – Octavius Jones” – he sounded out the given name with care – “said you’s a right clever little fart, and for to watch myself around you.”

Beer made her bold. Rather than cringing and trying to minimize herself and her story, Mary grinned broadly. “You got so much to watch?” A flash of panic crossed Reid’s face and she added, hastily, “You, like, the ghost of the clock tower, or something?”

He relaxed. “Not me, laddie. But that Mr Jones – I reckon he knows what’s what.”

So he was sounding her out. Trying to work out what she knew. “Suppose he must, writing for the newspaper and all.”

Reid nodded, his eyes never leaving her face. “Keeps a sharp eye on that site.”

“I don’t see him round that much.”

“He’s got his ways.”

It was like a game of cards with high stakes. Each trying to push the other closer to a confession, while both tried to keep their own secrets. “You mean, like paying people to tell him stuff?”

Reid exhaled slightly. “Yeah. Like that.”

“I ain’t told him nothing, yet,” she said candidly. “Does he pay as good as he says?”

“Oh – naw. I dunno. I ain’t got nothing to tell.” But he flushed at this, and unconsciously pushed a hand into his trouser pocket. Presumably, that’s where Jones’s little bonus was tucked. “I got no secrets.” It was the most unconvincing denial Mary had heard in some time – so incompetent it made her wonder anew at Reid’s involvement with crooks like Wick and Keenan. Or whether she was meant to enquire further.

“Keenan does,” she said boldly, draining her tankard.

Reid looked sly – or perhaps that was just the effect of the cut under his eye, which made him appear quite raffish. “Maybe.”

“He talks to Harky like he’s the boss.”

“Mmm.”

“And him and you and Wick, you’re all up to something.”

Reid blushed, half-ashamed, half-defiant. “I don’t know what you’re on about.”

“’Course you do.” She paused and leaned forward slightly. The other men paid them no attention; this was a perfect opportunity. “Tidy lot of money it pays you, too.”

He gaped at her, his beer-pinked cheeks slack and quivering. Panic made his round blue eyes even rounder. “That bit ain’t me!” he yelped, drawing a lazy glance from his nearest neighbour. “I never meant it to go that far,” he muttered, leaning towards her.

“But you know,” she persisted, encouraged both by the expression on his sensible, naive face and by the booze. “You know, and you told Octavius Jones.”

“I got to piss,” he said, and stood abruptly. As he pulled his hand from his pocket, a twist of paper tumbled out, bouncing onto the bench and then to the floor. Reid’s anxiety was such that he didn’t notice: a moment later, he was through the back door into the alley, which served as a generalized chamber pot. Mary slipped the paper into her own pocket and, when Reid reappeared after a few minutes’ absence, accepted the offer of another pint.

As though mention of him had conjured his real presence, the pub door swung open and Keenan himself walked in. Reid, half-way to the bar, blanched and steadied himself against a table. He stood still, waiting.

Keenan looked to be in his usual foul mood. He’d been at work that morning, though uncharacteristically quiet, and Harkness had made rather a point of ignoring him. He’d not been reprimanded for his unexplained absence yesterday. Now, his gaze settled on Reid, and although the pub was dimly lit, he narrowed his eyes. The silence between them was rich with accumulated tension. Finally, Keenan said in a low tone, “Let’s take a walk.”

Reid gulped and stared at him. He’d been drinking swiftly, downing two pints to Mary’s one, and the beer seemed to have fuddled his brain. Or perhaps it was the expression on Keenan’s face.

Keenan twitched impatiently. “Have a heart, man – I ain’t like to kill you.” It was a poor choice of words and Reid’s face blanched. His fingers tightened around the tankard in his fist. Then, as if thus reminded of its presence, he lifted the drink to his lips and drained it in one swallow. His eyes were wide and wary, and the ruddy colour of his cheeks seemed to sit atop his skin like a painted mask. Then, setting the pot on the nearest table, he followed Keenan out of the pub like a man going to his death.

Mary gave them a full half-minute’s lead before standing to leave. Suddenly, the world tilted sideways, the faces of the men around her blurring and warping crazily. Her knees buckled. She clutched at the table for support. Something solid struck her hand, making her knuckles ring. What the devil…?

A large hand grasped her shoulder roughly and she flailed against it. He mustn’t feel her back. He mustn’t know. Something smacked her bottom, hard, and she struggled again, uncertain now which way was up. What was wrong with her eyes? Blood roared in her ears. She gasped for breath. It was like drowning on dry land. She was still on dry land, wasn’t she? At that, all the liquid sloshing around her stomach began to roll and churn. Oh, no. Not that.

The pressure continued against her bottom, flat and hard and impersonal. Not a man, then. Slowly, she became aware of a general sort of guffawing. Gradually, the world resolved into a blur of likely browns, yellows and skin tones, eventually coming into focus. She was in the pub, of course, sitting on the same bench, surrounded by the same labourers.

The pounding in her ears quieted.

Queasiness receded.

She found herself taking long, shaky breaths.

“You look fit to faint,” chortled one of the joiners.

The man next to her released his grip on her shoulder and grinned. “You ain’t much of a drinker, hey sonny?”

Sonny
. She was relieved to hear that.

“It’s the sitting down what does it,” said another sagely.

“Aye,” agreed another. Then began a chorus of advice, all just a few pints too late. It seemed that she’d committed two beginner’s errors: she’d not eaten before coming to the pub, and hadn’t known that suddenly standing up could transform the sensation of merry ease to that of fall-down drunkenness.

This was all helpful. And when she tried again to stand, slowly this time, the room rocked only a little, although the floorboards were damned uneven. Funny. She’d not noticed that earlier. She took a cautious step, then another, and a third, before bidding her new mates a friendly goodbye. Next came the pub door, which swung open with hazardous ease; she stumbled into the street, but that was certainly the fault of the door, which banged loudly behind her. At least now she was outside, where the rich and complex smell of London’s streets could help to clear her brain.

What time was it? There were few street vendors about, so she was in the lull between the early ones closing down and the late ones opening up. Late afternoon or early evening. There was some passing traffic, too – carriages and whatnot – but they were moving at a smart trot. In fact, even the pedestrians seemed to be moving quickly: men in suits, still conducting business, and labourers, footsore and intent on getting home. Only a few of the poorer sort of prostitute idled along, half-heartedly angling for custom. One blew her a kiss and shrugged a not very come-hither shoulder, then laughed unkindly at her startled response.

The suggestion of movement: it stirred something in the back of her mind. There was something she had to do … but she couldn’t, for the life of her, recall what it might be. Never mind. She had a good walk ahead of her. Likely as not, she’d remember along the way.

Twenty

On the road from Palace yard to Bloomsbury

J
ames was deeply perturbed. His request to inspect the project’s financial records, which he’d thought a matter of form, had been met by Harkness with prevarication, procrastination and, finally, reluctant accommodation. Once he’d finally gained access, James expected to spend an hour; instead, it had consumed his entire day. Now, sprawled in the carriage on his way home to Bloomsbury, he stared sightlessly out of the window, considering the unpleasant suspicions he’d entertained all week. They were fast becoming certainties.

He was in no rush to return home. On a Saturday afternoon, George would be out, and the prospect of being alone in the large house was rather daunting. It would only mean more brooding about this damned situation of Harkness’s and what, if anything, he could do about it. Going home also brought him one step closer to the evening’s duty: a dinner party at the Harkness home. He’d accepted the invitation some days ago, more from duty than with pleasure. But given today’s events, neither he nor Harkness could possibly be looking forward to the meal. Indeed, the only thing that prevented his fabricating an excuse and cancelling at the last minute was his own ludicrous sense of hope. If he could dine with Harkness, if he could look his father’s old friend in the eye, things might not turn out as dire as they promised.

These were his thoughts as the carriage drove along the northern embankment, rocking gently on its springs. He stared moodily at the streetscape. The threat of rain still pressed down on the town, making the air thick and sticky, the skies a weary grey. His eyes focused on a figure trudging unsteadily up the street. It tacked a bizarre course from lamppost to pillar box, stepping with excessive caution, as though afraid of slipping and falling. The figure was instantly, subcutaneously familiar: the last person he’d expect to see in such a plight, but the first he’d recognize anywhere, in any circumstances. He rapped on the carriage roof, two solid thumps, and they slowed to a plod alongside the staggerer.

Slight. Rather grubby. Very rosy cheeks.

James smirked. He couldn’t have imagined a better diversion. “Lost your way?” he called through the open window.

Her head whipped round, causing her to stumble. It took her a moment to focus on his face. When she did, however, it was with a transparent delight that turned his heart to water. “You!”

He beamed like an idiot. Any sort of clever quip was now impossible. “You look as if you need a lift.” The carriage slowed very gradually and came to a halt. Barker carefully averted his face as he opened the door and let down the steps, but James could well imagine his carefully arranged expression of distaste.

Mary’s upturned face, framed by the carriage interior, looked small and slightly perplexed. “What are you doing here?”

“Going home. Climb in.”

She put one hand to her forehead, as though trying to remember something.

“Still worried about propriety?”

“No…”

“The authenticity of your disguise?”

She frowned. “I – well, I suppose…”

“Oh, stop dithering.” He leaned out, grabbed her by the upper arms and hauled her bodily into the carriage, steps and propriety and authenticity be damned. Tense with surprise, she was light, and yet his own weakness startled him. A year ago, he’d not have thought twice about the effort; today, he required all his diminished strength to lift her. Nevertheless, he managed to plop her beside him on the bench with only a small thump, and by the time she stopped sputtering and giggling, they were away. “Phew. You reek of ale.”

“I thought you liked ale.”