“Best leave first thing in the morning,” Muc said, “Because if I see you again I’ll take the Alderman up on his generous offer and I will break your neck!”
“I’ll be gone, don’t worry,” John said, and now it was his turn it seemed to sound forlorn. Mary turned to look at him and their eyes met a moment. Anyone could see her heart was broken, and that his eyes still held hatred and anger in them for her.
“Best you do,” James said.
Muc dropped John to the ground and he clearly hadn't been expecting it as his face banged hard on the stones and he came up with a cut and bloodied chin. He scrambled to his feet and stormed away without another word. Mary gave Muc a sharp look and then rushed back in, her tears in full flow again. Kate and Sarah followed her inside. Muc shrugged,
“There’s no pleasing some women,” he said perplexed.
Chapter 86
Some days later, Mary Sommers was still in deep sorrow. The man who only last year she had thought she would spend the rest of her life with was certainly gone for good now. It had been a huge shock to her to find out that John was still alive, but an even bigger one to find that he was the person responsible for her terror these last months. Lying awake at night, she scolded herself for not seeing who he really was. This scolding would then turn inwards onto herself for not being a better judge of people. She felt ashamed for what she saw in dark moments as the suffering the others had endured on her part. Even Lord Muc had gone out of his way to help her and what had she given him but only a look of contempt when he dropped John to the ground.
Perhaps it was time she moved on, she thought. Like John had said, Dublin had never been kind to her either. Save the people who cared about her now, this city had only ever taken from her. It took her aunt, her looks, her confidence, her boyfriend and more than one home. What did she have left to give but her life and the city didn’t have that for want of trying. It was amazing that she was still alive at all. Where would she go, that was the question. There was no answer that wasn’t terrifying. How could she possibly do it, and yet in one way she almost felt she needed to do it.
This morning Mary had asked Sarah if they would swap roles for a while. Her idea was that she would have less time to think on the busy market stall than she would walking the streets with her basket. Sarah agreed; probably glad to be away from the stall for a little herself. It was to be a fateful decision for Mary.
The morning started as any other, a brisk trade followed by short lulls and then rushes again. It was doing the trick and Mary barely had a minute to think her own thoughts. During one of the lulls, however a man approached her looking like he’d spent many nights sleeping on the streets or perhaps in the gaol. She was nervous of him, thinking he was taking a quiet opportunity to come over and steal something. She had no intention of trying to stop him. It wasn’t worth the danger to herself for the loss of a carrot or two.
The man stood in front of her now, his head down and his face covered by his hood.
“Mary, it’s me!” he said and she knew the whispered voice at once, “Don’t let on you know me,” a warning tone to this part.
“What can I do for you, Sir?” Mary asked as she would with any customer.
“I wrote to the Alderman,” he said.
“I know.”
“I haven’t been able to prove anything else yet,” he said and then paused. She could feel his sadness at this. “I went to see Edwards, a member of the Hellfire Club. He laughed me out of his house and ever since then I’ve felt like the face painter has been on my tail.” Mary looked around before she could stop herself but thankfully, no eyes seemed to be looking at them with any interest.
“Do you think it is really him?” she asked, worried that he was slipping back into madness.
“I think so, I think I was getting too close and now he aims to silence me for good.”
“You have to go to the Alderman!” she urged.
“If I do that he will send me to the gallows.”
“I don’t think he will,” she said, “I’ve spoken to him. He’s a good man, he will help you.” Spencer seemed to think on this a moment and then nodded,
“Perhaps you’re right,” he said.
Just then, a fight broke out as someone punched one of the traders hard in the face and knocked him over his stall. His fellow traders rushed to his aid and a melee started. Mary and Spencer both turned to look at the commotion as people rushed from all around to look and in what seemed like only a second Spencer slumped down on her vegetables.
“What is it?” Mary asked looking at him in surprise. She saw his face grimaced in pain and then saw the handle of the knife stuck deep into his ribs from the side, blood spilling from the wound. She looked up, saw a man in a black cloak moving away through the crowd, and knew at once this had all been part of a distraction to get at Spencer.
“Take this, Mary,” Spencer said reaching feebly into his cloak. He took out his diary and some blood had gotten on it. Mary took it,
“Don’t worry, you’ll be fine,” she said wanting to believe it herself. He smiled at her innocence,
“I was in the army,” he said, “I know what this means for me.” He seemed to grow weaker with every word of that sentence and Mary grabbed his hand as though she could somehow physically hold him back from death. Their eyes met and he shoved the diary into her hands,
“I’m innocent Mary, and I die knowing it.” There was no smile on his face as he passed away there before her, but she would later think it was the closest he could have managed in his dying state.
Putting the diary in the pocket of her coat, she screamed, pointing at the back of the man responsible. He was moving away fast and she knew no one would catch him here this morning.
By that evening, all knew that the man everyone feared at night in Dublin had murdered the escaped killer Spencer in broad daylight in a crowded market. Spencer had been given the blame for these murders but now that he was gone people seemed finally able to believe that someone entirely new and as yet unfound was responsible for what had been happening all along.
The city was finally ready to believe a new threat hung over it.
Chapter 87
Lisa had proven to be more wily than Shandy had originally given her credit for. She had had the sense to stay in that first night while he waited to follow her and ever since she’d not spent a moment outside nearing dusk or dark and had always travelled busy streets and alleys. He was sure she hadn’t seen him, but she was being cautious enough that she must at least suspect he was still around. So far, Shandy hadn’t been able to establish if the aunt was real or not either. Lisa had gone to no house to visit save Edwards before she started to work at the Alderman’s house, but she had visited many shops and he had seen her speak to older women in the street. Any one of these could have been the aunt, or any woman working in any of those shops too. It would be just like Lisa to visit in a public place now that he’d had time to study what she was about.
Since her visit and subsequent staying at James’ house, however, the old urge for revenge had returned and replaced any real desire Shandy had to kill Lisa. If he was lucky, he would be able to kill her at the same time he got James in that house. For days now, Shandy had been watching the house and its comings and goings and he had formed a rough plan. He saw an opportunity to get into the house, but it was the fact that he didn’t know the layout inside that made the plan a rough one.
Still, once he was inside he felt sure he’d be able to conceal himself somewhere until the time came. These big houses had plenty of rooms and cupboards that were never visited at all for weeks on end. He would know one when he saw it and then it would only be a matter of listening out for James and hunting him down once he did.
Late the next morning Oliver Shandy put his plan into action.
As he knew it would be, the back door was open when a cook went to the end of the laneway to spend a few moments with the maid of one of the neighbouring houses. Shandy had
waited in the opposite direction and as soon as he saw the man leave, he slipped in behind him.
Listening at the door to the house proper there was nothing for a time. He took off his boots and crept inside. The last thing he wanted was dusty boot prints on the fine carpet giving him away. Once inside he moved silently, hearing the maids and butler talk from time to time, listening to the instructions so he could try piece together where everyone was and where they might be headed. It was slow going but his confidence was growing. There were not that many staff it seemed and none of them moved with a light foot, or particularly quiet manner.
It was late enough, that Shandy assumed James would have had his breakfast by now and would be perhaps in his study going through his post. He crept along looking for this room and was happy to find that although it was a chilly enough morning, most of the doors were left open as the staff moved about. Moving towards the front of the house, he came across two that were closed. The hairs on the back of his neck pricked up. ‘He’s behind one of those doors!’ he thought.
Ever listening to the house around him, Shandy went to the first door and pressed against it hoping to hear the rustle of papers. What he heard, however, was a fire crackling. He could be in there, but there was no way to be sure. He moved on to the next door and listened there. This time no noise at all greeted him from within. He decided it had to be the first door. Now he had to decide what to do next.
If he went barging in with his knife raised James might be far enough from the door to raise an alarm before Shandy got to him. It would be a terrible shame to have come this far only to be thwarted by something so trivial as that. How to get into the room, then, that was the problem. He was beginning to think sneaking into the house like this might not have been his best idea to date. If only Lisa hadn’t saved James from the gargoyle bust all this would have been over already. A twist of pain ran through his ankle at the thought of his jump from the roof into the marshy ground.
A distant bell rang and Shandy perked up at this. James would be the only person in the house with the right to ring the servant’s bell and that meant someone would soon come and open the door to the room. He looked around for a good spot to hide that would give him a good vantage into the room when this happened.
As it happened the maid who came, barely opened the door popped her head inside and Shandy saw nothing more that the wallpaper on the right. He heard, who he assumed was James, saying something but he couldn't make out what.
“Yes, Sir, right away, Sir,” the maid said as she went to leave. Then James’ voice was audible to Shandy as he called,
“You can leave that door open; it’s getting too hot in here.” Shandy could not believe his luck! The maid scurried away and Shandy lost no time in getting to the door and peering in from a low angle.
Inside, James was leaning over a table studying some document closely, like his eyes were starting to fail him. He didn’t have his back entirely to the door but it was almost that way. Shandy could move around and come up full behind him without being seen he thought. And he had to do it now. He didn’t know what the maid was going off for and she might only be a minute before she came back.
With his knife in hand, he crept inside, moving as quietly and as swiftly as he could. He was almost on him and was just raising the knife when a scream came from the doorway, “Alderman! Look out!”
In the moment it took Shandy to realise this was Lisa’s voice he brought the knife down hastily and James spun and managed to parry it off course for a moment. Shandy hadn’t been prepared to miss and in the time it took him to regain his balance and lift his hand again, Lisa came pounding into his body hard and sent him up against the mantelpiece. He could feel the hot fire near his legs and her strong hands on his throat and then a heavy crack shattered his vision as James' cane made contact with the side of his head. Shandy’s knees buckled and he dropped to the ground.
More and more people seemed to be filling the room and now many stronger hands held him down. His vision cleared a little and he found himself staring up at the wild eyes of Alderman James.
“I suppose you’ll have me killed now too, eh?” he snarled and then he lost consciousness.
Chapter 88
Sherriff Dunbar and two of his men stood in Alderman James’ study, his assailant in chains and sitting in a chair near the fire. Oliver Shandy, whom James has spoken to in Waterford, was not long awake, and a hulking lump and bruise had appeared near his temple. Some blood had flowed but had quickly dried up making the wound lump look a rusty red colour in places. Dunbar leaned over and slapped Shandy in the face, not a full force slap but enough that he felt it.
“So, who the hell are you?” he said.
“His name is Shandy,” James said quietly. In the time it had taken Dunbar and his men to arrive James had recalled the last time someone had tried to kill him in his home and the family resemblance was strong. “He was here seeking revenge on me, for the hanging of his brother, who also tried to kill me.”
“Is that so?” Dunbar said addressing Shandy.
“He’s a murdering coward,” Shandy spat, “and would have deserved what he got!” Dunbar hit him again, this time with a closed fist and much harder. Shandy’s head reeled and for a moment, James thought he would lose consciousness again.
“No more of that!” he shouted at the Sheriff who looked at him as if he had gone insane.
“You want me to let him talk to you like that?” he asked.
“What he says is of little importance now,” James answered calmly. He was already resigning himself to the fact that this man was going to go to the gallows just like his brother and there was nothing he could do about it. Shandy looked hard at him like he took insult at the statement. Then his eyes cast about the room and he saw Lisa in the far corner with a couple of the other maids.
“What are you going to do with her?” he asked nodding to her.
“Who?” Dunbar asked.
“Stapleton’s girl,” Shandy said, “She’s the one who let me in here!”
“You filthy liar!” Lisa shouted and the other staff grabbed hold of her to restrain her.
James could tell by her reaction, the blazing fire in her eyes that she was telling the truth. She had not played a part in this. Shandy was laughing at her and Dunbar looked to James to see what he would say about this.
“Lisa saved my life,” James said, “If not for her crying out and then tackling you the way she did I would be a dead man right now.”
Shandy said something else in retort to this but James didn’t hear it. Something in what he’d just said stirred him and he ran over his own words again in his head. Tackling Shandy in the way she had. That was it, but what about it? The scene of the attack ran through his mind once more and he saw it all in a flash.
His turning to knock Shandy’s hand away, and then his glance down for his cane as Lisa made contact with his assailant and... He saw Lisa’s feet planted in to the carpet and a new rush of scenes came to him.
The mess of footprints at the scene of Thompson’s death in Waterford, Lisa’s powerful moving of the furniture with her legs as she cleaned; the heavy odd weights beneath her bed- the use of which he could never have guessed until now. They were heavy iron shoe inserts, giving her the ability to walk in and make footprints in shoes much too big for her!
James’ eyes lifted from the carpet and he looked into those of Lisa who looked back at him in new fear. He looked now to Shandy.
“I know this will not make any difference for you, but I am sorry for what happened to your brother. I was a different man back then and not a day goes by when I don’t regret what happened.” Shandy scowled and scoffed at this apology but James ignored this and said to Dunbar,
“You will need to take Lisa into custody as well for the murder of a Mr Thompson at Wild Boar Hall.”
“What?” Lisa cried out and even Shandy looked up in surprise at this.
“I don’t know why you did it,” James said to Li
sa, “But I know that you did do it. The details will come out in your trial no doubt.”
“Where should I put her?” Dunbar asked.
“Take her to the Nunnery at Newgate until we can arrange a transport to Waterford. The trial will have to take place down there.” Dunbar nodded and one of his men went to Lisa and took hold of her upper arm. She started to cry and James felt for her. He knew there was some good reason for killing Thompson but for now, it didn’t matter what it was. She was a killer and she had to pay for her crime.
“You don’t know what he did to me!” Lisa said her pleading chiefly directed at James. He met her eye one last time and said,
“I don’t know what he did to you, but the local magistrate will have to decide on your fate,” and then to Dunbar said, “Take them all out of here.”
Soon James was alone in his study once more, just as he’d been earlier before all hell had broken loose. He was very tired all of a sudden and without warning, he found that he was weeping. It was about Lisa, he was sure of that, but he did not know if it was because of what she had done or because of how he felt about her.
He’d been another in what seemed like a long line of men who’d abused her lowly position for their own desires. From the way she had spoken, he imagined that Thompson had perhaps forced himself on her and he’d been unlucky enough to be the first man she could ever think of retaliating against. Perhaps Thompson had paid the price for all the hurt Lisa had been caused by Stapleton and who knew else in his powerful circle.
Whatever it was all about, it would end badly. The tears rolled from his cheeks and into his lap.
Chapter 89
On the same evening that Alderman James was attacked in his home, Edwards and Steven Olocher sat at dinner in Edwards' house. The meal had been served and the servants were gone and told not to return to the room until called for.
Hunting Down the Darkness Page 27