‘I… I…’ She bowed her head, defeated. ‘I’ll see myself out.’
Mark listened to her steps descending the stairs. Slowly, nothing like her usual anxious run. He carried on listening as they faded into the distance.
Awkwardly, he shuffled in his chair. He had never seen a look of such despair before. She really did need that stuff.
He heard the door below open again, but this time he heard no footsteps. That could only be one person.
‘Snutworth, about time,’ Mark grunted as his servant glided up the stairs.
‘My apologies, sir,’ Snutworth said smoothly. ‘I was fetching you today’s reports when I bumped into Miss Gloria…’ He paused tactfully. ‘She seemed in some distress.’
‘She was being annoying,’ Mark muttered, but already the sting of his earlier frustration was draining away. ‘I’ll apologize tomorrow.’
‘Very good, sir,’ Snutworth replied. ‘Now, if we could see to these reports.’
Mark listened distractedly. He got up and wandered around the Observatory as Snutworth read the reports aloud, staring at his distorted reflection in the brass telescope. He looked disappointed somehow. The gold on his buttons didn’t seem to shine as brightly as usual.
He moved to the window and gazed down at the streets below the tower, in a way the Count never had, watching the scurrying people below.
He thought he caught a glimpse of Gloria as she moved slowly away, walking towards the growing shadows. But in the evening light it could have been anyone, their hair catching the setting sun and turning blood red.
Chapter Sixteen
THE THEFT
It was noon before they heard.
It had been an ordinary morning. Theo did his rounds among the weaker debtors, checking for signs of illness. For a moment, he lingered by his grandfather, sleeping on the makeshift bed in the corner as he had every morning for the last week since Theo brought him in. Lily knew that the doctor was hoping the old man would speak. The Count hadn’t uttered a word since Theo had found him, huddled and filthy, in the corner of an abandoned warehouse in the Aquarian docks.
Benedicta boiled up a broth and took it round. No one knew what she found to put in it. Laud had once said, out of her earshot, that he hoped the debtors understood that it was the thought that counted, because there was often little more than thoughts added to her boiling water.
Lily was at the old altar, grinding up medicines. The Almshouse could run itself for now; she never forgot that she was Theo’s apprentice still.
Everything was normal – as settled as it ever got in a building devoted to those who had nothing.
Until Laud arrived.
Lily knew immediately that something had happened. Laud was a good actor, so he walked in without drama. But his eyes were fixed and his manner too quiet.
‘Lily, could you get Benedicta for me?’ he said hollowly.
‘Of course,’ Lily said, frowning. ‘Laud, what’s wrong?’
‘Please, just… just get Benedicta.’ Laud leaned on the altar. ‘I’m sorry, Lily. I think… she should know first… before they arrive… They’ll be here soon…’
‘Before –’ Lily began, but closed her mouth. Laud didn’t want to say, so she just beckoned Benedicta without a word.
The girl came over, smiling to see her brother. He took her by the hand and held it wordlessly. And for the first time ever, Lily saw Benedicta’s smile die.
The two walked out of the Almshouse in silence. Lily caught Theo’s eye. Even some of the debtors looked curious.
Lily left the brother and sister as long as she felt she could, then she wiped her hands on her apron and made for the front door.
Inspector Greaves was framed in the doorway. Behind him stood a squad of receivers, including Sergeant Pauldron. All of them wore grim expressions, except for the inspector. His was sadder, graver, but utterly determined.
‘I’m afraid, Miss Lilith, Dr Theophilus, we shall need to investigate your premises and conduct some interviews. I would ask you not to let anyone leave or there could be dire consequences.’
Lily stepped back, confused. Something wasn’t right: they didn’t look angry and they weren’t trying to close her down.
‘Inspector, if this is about the receipts I –’
‘I regret to inform you that it is a far more serious matter,’ the inspector said, walking forward. ‘A theft, Miss Lilith, of the most serious nature.’
‘Inspector,’ Lily said, nervously, ‘I’m sure that no one here would steal anything. There’s nothing worth stealing. You can search them if you…’
She trailed off as she realized that something didn’t make sense here. There was a question that needed to be asked and suddenly she would have given anything in the world not to have to ask it. Luckily, the doctor spoke first.
‘If I may ask, Inspector,’ he enquired gravely, ‘what kind of theft?’
‘A life theft, sir.’
The doctor frowned in pain. Lily stared dumbly.
‘And the victim, Inspector?’ the doctor asked quietly.
‘A young woman by the name of Gloria, Doctor. We believe that she worked here on occasion.’
In the distance, Lily heard the sound of Benedicta crying.
The process was long and slow. At least Sergeant Pauldron, who was watching the Almshouse being searched with an uncomfortable expression of triumph, did not want to interview her, but he seemed to be the only receiver who did not. Lily found herself repeating the same words over and over again. Yes, the last she had seen of Gloria was a few days previously, when she had visited her sister. No, she had not seemed more agitated than usual. Lily was very careful with those words. No, she could not think of anyone who would want to kill her. Lily insisted on using that word, even if every receiver corrected it to ‘steal her life’. No, she couldn’t think of a reason why Gloria would have gone to the Piscean slums, where she had been found. No, no one suspicious had been loitering around the Almshouse. That never failed to spark off a hollow laugh from the receivers, as they glanced around at the hordes of debtors lining the room, trembling as they mumbled their statements. Even the inspector, who of all of them seemed to listen most attentively, shook his head when she said this.
‘Miss Lilith,’ he said firmly, ‘you must accept that this Almshouse was a dangerous place for Miss Gloria to visit.’
‘These are just normal people, Inspector. Normal people who were unlucky or foolish or ruined by the greed of others.’
The inspector looked up from his notes, a sympathetic look on his face.
‘In my experience, Miss Lilith, most life thieves are normal people. And you must accept that this institution attracts the most desperate, those ready to slip from the touch of civilization.’ Greaves looked across the room, to where one debtor, one of those that always came in stinking of spirits, was being restrained by two receivers and launching a filthy torrent of abuse at another. He gave a thin, sad smile. ‘Is it beyond the bounds of possibility that one of these wretches might have looked at Miss Gloria – young, attractive by all accounts, rising in success – and been taken over by some horrible jealousy?’
Lily turned her face away. She wanted him to gloat, to take pleasure in proving her wrong. She had no defence against reasonableness.
Between interviews, she wandered about, giving those who were ill their medicine and trying to stay away from the accusing stares of the receivers. She kept hoping that Ben or Laud would return, but Theo told her that they had gone to identify the body. Lily sat down beside him, her shoulders hunched. Despite the hordes of receivers, the Almshouse suddenly felt very lonely.
Theo was probing the sores on an old woman’s arm, his attention apparently entirely absorbed. As Lily got up to leave, however, he spoke.
‘They will come back, Lily, but you must give them time. They have only each other at the moment.’
Lily suddenly felt guilty as she realized she had never thought to ask about their family. It ca
me from living at the orphanage: you never asked, in case someone still had parents who had sold them on.
‘Is there nothing we can do?’ Lily said.
Theo looked up at her then, surprised.
‘You haven’t needed me to instruct you for a long time now, Lily.’ He wiped his hands and attempted a smile. ‘We carry on doing all we can. Our work doesn’t stop for this.’
Lily nodded, feeling very young. She should have been the one to say that. The Almshouse had all been her idea and Theo had put up with it, even when she filled his practice with those who had an illness that no medicine could cure.
‘If only there was a clue,’ she said. ‘If I could just do something and feel that I was helping…’
‘Sometimes the best thing to do is let the receivers continue with their work,’ Theo said, although Lily could tell that it left a bad taste in his mouth. ‘If it helps, Laud mentioned before he left that they didn’t find any bottles of emotion on her. He found that some comfort.’
‘None at all?’ Lily asked, surprised.
Gloria had tried to hide it, but they all knew how serious her problem was. She used to clink as she moved.
‘She must have run out.’ Theo frowned. ‘It probably made her more nervous, less able to notice things…’ He sighed, his face pained. ‘I have seen death so many times, Lily, but rarely anyone I have known. They always vanish from sight.’
Lily gave the doctor’s hand a reassuring pat, but already her mind was starting to buzz. Something was wrong here, something she couldn’t quite put into words.
A triumphant shout broke into her thoughts. Lily turned in alarm to see Sergeant Pauldron in the doorway, framed by two other receivers. And between them, struggling, was Pete, the old fisherman. Inspector Greaves swiftly joined them and, after a hurried exchange of whispers, the receivers withdrew to the cellar, which they had requisitioned as an interview room, taking their prisoner with them.
Lily darted a look in Theo’s direction. He nodded.
‘I’ll look after things here,’ he said softly. ‘Go and see.’
Lily rushed down the stairs, just in time to see Pete being pushed on to an old barrel that served as a chair. Pauldron had picked up a lantern and was shining it in his face, while the inspector sat sternly before him, his customary geniality no longer in evidence.
In the crazy shadows cast by the lantern, Lily was all but invisible halfway down the stairs. Silently, she listened as Greaves cleared his throat, gesturing to another receiver, a young woman, to take notes.
‘Your name is Peter, is that correct?’
‘Yes, sir.’ Pete’s voice was rough but quiet. His whole frame was tense.
‘And your age?’
‘I have seen thirty-nine summers.’
Pauldron leaned in, pushing the light from the lantern into Pete’s eyes, illuminating the lines on the fisherman’s face and the grey streaks in his hair.
‘Strange. You look older than that,’ he said with a satisfied smile, ‘or could it be that you are such a liar you can’t even be truthful about your age?’
‘My life has been a hard one, Sergeant,’ Pete replied, with a defiant stare, ‘and the years have struck me harder than many.’
Now Lily looked at him clearly, she could see what he meant. He was not as old as she had thought at all, but his bearing was of a man weighed down by twice his age.
‘We have no need to accuse Mr Peter of anything so trivial, Pauldron,’ the inspector remarked, adding, with greater emphasis, ‘The evidence we have is more than enough.’
‘Evidence?’ Pete seemed uncomfortable now, shifting his weight as he sat. ‘What do you –’
‘All in good time,’ the inspector crisply retorted, then returned to his notes. ‘Mr Peter, we have several statements from your fellow –’ he hunted for a word – ‘clients here that mention you having regular conversations with Miss Gloria on her visits. Do you deny this?’
‘No need to,’ Pete grunted. ‘Sweet girl, always willing to talk. They’re good here but they’re busy. Sometimes I just needed someone to lend an ear. Are you saying we need to seal a contract to talk now?’
‘Indeed not, but these conversations were not limited to this building, were they? Miss Gloria came to find you in the Pisces District on several occasions, did she not?’
Now Pete was beginning to sweat. Lily could see him running a finger round the back of his grubby collar. She felt a chill, remembering the night of Mark’s ball, only a week ago, where she had bumped into them herself.
‘I… I…’ Pete grasped for words, but Pauldron leaned in close to him again, his distaste palpable.
‘There is no use lying, Pete. Remember, I met you there myself, in Miss Gloria’s company. Miss Lilith will swear to it as well.’
Pete looked down at his hands, clenched before him. He mumbled something into the ground.
‘What was that?’ the inspector asked, icily patient.
‘It… it wasn’t what you think… She… Miss Gloria… she had a problem. I used to help her out sometimes. It was… Glitter… you know, bottled emotions…’
‘We have already noted from her receipts that Miss Gloria purchased an unusually large supply of these substances,’ the inspector conceded.
Pete gave a humourless laugh.
‘She couldn’t get enough. “Obsession”, that was her favourite. She said it made the world seem so much brighter, more interesting. Even her worst clients were easier to praise when she was Glittering.’ Pete lowered his voice, shame in every syllable. ‘I know some people, in the slums. I did a few jobs for a cheap Glitter merchant and he used to trade it to me. I think he thought he could get me hooked. So it wasn’t hard to get some for her. Not a lot, but when she needed a little more… It’s not illegal!’ He looked up fiercely. ‘I checked. There’s nothing wrong with me selling it to her.’
‘If there was nothing wrong, Mr Peter,’ the inspector said with quiet intensity, ‘why is she dead?’
Silence.
‘We have witnesses. They say the last time you met, yesterday afternoon, around the fifth hour, you were seen arguing with her. Some say you were shouting. That is the last report we have of Miss Gloria alive.’
Silence.
‘Tell me, Mr Peter, what did Miss Gloria give you in return?’
‘Food… blankets… I liked to earn them, not have to ask at the Almshouse…’
‘Then why could we find no receipts for these purchases at the Directory?’
‘You… you didn’t have the time…’
‘On the contrary, Mr Peter, Sergeant Pauldron mentioned your name as soon as the body was discovered, having seen you with the deceased only a week ago. We had all of your receipts brought up from the vaults. They made very interesting reading.’
Pete had gone pale now, all of the blood draining from his cheeks. In the midst of her horror, Lily was fascinated. After all that had been revealed, what could make him react like that?
‘We found some records dated nearly two years ago now. A contract with none other than the good doctor who owns this establishment.’ The inspector paused, watching Pete’s reaction. ‘It was for the sale of a child, in exchange for medical treatment.’
Peter groaned then, a sound of agony wrenched up from somewhere deep and dark.
‘I told myself I was saving him,’ he whispered, ‘that if anyone could cure him, the doctor could. I never thought I would get through it too. I thought I’d go the way of my wife, my other little ones…’ He stopped, sighing. ‘When he never came back, I thought he’d died as well, until I started to hear about him, hear about his rise.’ Pete gave a tiny smile then, one filled with sadness and pain. ‘My Mark…’
‘Your son, Mr Peter,’ the inspector said softly.
Lily felt her breath catch in her throat. After all this time thinking that Mark’s father must be a monster, he had been under her roof. And now she felt sorry for him. In a way, selling his son had been the best thing he had ever d
one for Mark.
She heard Pete take a shuddering breath, and saw him wipe at his eyes with the back of his hand. When he spoke again, it was as if something had broken within him – a door that he had kept locked for years had burst open. He almost sounded relieved.
‘All right,’ Pete admitted. ‘It was nothing to do with food. I gave her what she wanted and she told me how he was, how he was doing…’
‘You hired her to spy on him,’ Pauldron said, his voice calm and deadly.
‘No,’ Pete said, leaning forward, ‘not to spy. I just… I wanted to know. He probably hates me. I couldn’t show myself to him… She was working there anyway… It all seemed so perfect…’
‘Until she told you about the Pescator deal,’ the inspector said quietly. ‘There is no use denying it, Mr Peter. It is registered that you, along with the entire Piscean Fishing Guild, were taken over by the Pescator consortium. It is also a matter of fact that when they introduced their new “quality control” two months ago, you began to run up debts.’
‘It… it wasn’t just me,’ Pete protested weakly. ‘None of us could live on what they wanted to trade for… not with any self-respect…’
‘You lost your boat, your home and finally your work. You became a debtor, thanks to your son.’ The inspector shook his head. ‘The Directory provides all records, Mr Peter.’
Pete sat for a moment, his shoulders sagging.
‘I couldn’t believe it when she told me. Poor girl, she just mentioned it in passing. She didn’t know I used to work for them. I shouted at her, but afterwards, when I’d thought, I reckoned it must be the stars, paying me back for what I did to my boy.’ He clenched his fists. ‘But Miss Gloria… she just ran away when I shouted. I didn’t do anything else… I swear…’
‘And then you came straight back to the Almshouse?’ Pauldron asked softly.
‘I… walked about, to calm down. But I was back here long before sunset, anyone here will tell you.’
‘You didn’t threaten her?’
‘No…’
‘You didn’t tell her she was a filthy liar?’
The Midnight Charter Page 19