There were many women down here and a number were gathered around a bunk that occupied a dark corner.
‘Get some light over here!’
The captain’s order was immediately obeyed by one of the two seamen who had followed the party down the companionway. He reached down a lamp that hung from an iron hook in a crossbeam. Fumbling clumsily, he eventually succeeded in lighting it and the impatient captain called, ‘Bring it over here, I want to see what’s going on.’ Pushing his way between the crowding women, he advanced upon a bunk where a figure lay hidden beneath a blanket.
‘She’s had a bad time,’ called a voice from the group of women,’ We’ve left her there to get some rest.’
Wasting no time with a reply the irate captain seized the blanket and, pulling it off sharply paused for a second before exclaiming, ‘Oh! So it’s the bearded lady from some circus who’s giving birth, is it . . . ?’
Before he could say any more, the fully clothed "lady" in question leaped free of the bunk on the side farthest from the captain and sprinted in the direction of the companionway, only to have his path blocked by one of the constables.
Veering to his left, the "bearded lady" pounced upon a young girl of about nine or ten years of age. She screamed with alarm but the sound was cut off by her captor who, holding her about the neck, forced her head back - and suddenly there was a knife in his other hand and the point of it was pressing against the girl’s throat.
‘Stay back . . . all of you, or I’ll slit her throat.’
The voice was certainly not that of a woman and Tom Churchyard said, ‘Don’t make things any worse for yourself than they are right now, Alfie.’
Without lessening his grip on the girl, her captor peered into the gloom beyond the light thrown from the lamp held aloft by the seaman. ‘Who’s that . . . do I know you?’
‘You know me very well, Alfie . . . and I know you. It’s Tom Churchyard of Hackney police station, on "K" division. The last time we met you stamped on my arm and broke my wrist remember?’
Tom was doing his best to distract the wanted man’s attention, hoping someone would creep up behind him and secure him before he did any harm to the girl. Unfortunately, the only man who might have been able to do this was Harvey and he had remained on deck.
‘I remember you . . . and since you know me you’ll know I mean what I say. Come anywhere near - any of you - and I’ll cut her throat from ear to ear . . . .’ In order to emphasise his threat he forced the girl’s chin higher and she began choking.
‘Let the girl go, Alfie, you’re not going anywhere so it’s a choice between prison and the hangman.’
‘I’d rather meet the hangman than spend the rest of my life banged-up.’ came the reply, ‘So that’s no deal at all. If you want her to live you’ll let me take her up on deck and we’ll go ashore in a boat while all of you stay on board. Once we’re ashore and I can see none of you following me I’ll let her go, all safe and sound. If you don’t do as I want . . . .’
He pricked the point of the knife into the girl’s throat and she let out a strangled cry as blood escaped from the small wound and trickled down the pale skin of her neck.
The girl’s mother screamed and would have rushed at Alfie but Amos caught her and, despite her struggles held on to her until she went limp and began sobbing in his arms. Meanwhile, Alfie had inspected his handiwork and, looking up, said, ‘She’s a right little bleeder, ain’t she . . . ? But there’s plenty more where that came from, so if you don’t want to see it you’d better do exactly what I tell you. Get everyone away from those steps up to the deck. I’ll go up backwards very, very slowly and be holding the girl and watching you every inch of the way. You seem to be the man everyone takes notice of, Captain, so you shout out for everyone on deck to keep well clear of the hatch. Once I’m up there you’ll all stay down here until someone from up top tells you we’re in a boat and on our way to the shore.’
On Amos’s prompting the captain did as he was instructed and Alfie began going up the companionway in the manner he had described while those in the hold could only look on helplessly.
When he reached the deck Alfie turned slowly, then glanced back into the hold to make certain no one had tried to follow him up the companionway. Still sheltered by the canvas arch which was placed over the hatchway to deflect any water coming over the bow when the ship dipped into a wave, Alfie could see a number of policemen in front of him, standing well back in order not to alarm him, but the Hoxton man was aware others could be using the canvas hood to hide from his view so he took a quick glance around it in order to check no one was here.
It was fortunate for the girl he was holding that Alfie chose to look first on the side farthest away from where Harvey was hiding. As he was in the act of turning to ensure the other side was clear, the wrist of the hand holding the knife was suddenly seized and held tight in a vice-like grip. He tried to fight against it but another powerful arm came around to take him into an identical grip to the one he had on the young girl.
At the same time a deep voice that he immediately recognized said, ‘Hello, Alfie, it’s been a long time but I’m sure you’ll remember me, Harvey Halloran . . . ?’
CHAPTER 32
Amos went to great lengths to ensure that Alfie Banks did not escape from custody on the journey from Falmouth to the headquarters police station at Bodmin. He was taken ashore from the James Macintyre handcuffed and wearing heavy leg irons, the latter provided by the ship’s captain from the stock kept on board for use in the event of a mutiny.
Alfie refused to say anything on the short boat trip from the ship and once on shore he was transferred to a closed police van with four constables riding on the outside of the van as guards. He was then subjected to a bone shaking forty-mile drive to the Bodmin police station where he would be held for questioning.
It was after dark when the party arrived and Alfie shuffled awkwardly from the van to be locked in a cell. Unused to remaining silent for such a long period of time, it was here he spoke for the first time since his arrest, directing a question at Tom.
‘I thought your days as a rozzer were over after you’d been taught a lesson in Hoxton but perhaps they aren’t as fussy in these parts who they take on. All the same, there can’t be too many one-handed rozzers here.’
‘You’re right, Alfie, I don’t think there are any.’ Stretching out the arm from which the plaster had only recently been removed, Tom wriggled his fingers, ‘See . . . ? It’s as good as new. You must be losing your touch, but we’ll no doubt be throwing in a charge against you of causing grevious bodily harm, just for the record - not that it really matters, you’ll hang anyway.’
Startled, despite his earlier assertion that he would rather hang than face the prospect of spending a lifetime in prison, Alfie said, ‘What d’you mean, I’ll hang? Even if I’m found guilty of . . . .’
Realizing he had almost admitted to carrying out the burglary at Laneglos, which had not yet been mentioned, Alfie caught himself in time,’ . . . whatever it is you think I’ve done - which I ain’t - it won’t be anything I’ll be given the drop for.’
Amos had been listening to the conversation and now he said, ‘I’m afraid you’re wrong there, Alfie. You didn’t give me an opportunity back on the ship to tell you exactly why you were being arrested, but let me enlighten you now. As well as the burglary at Laneglos and conspiracy with your Hoxton pals to commit various other burglaries, you’ll be charged with wounding the little girl on the James Macintyre and causing grevious bodily harm to Sergeant Churchyard. But all these crimes are just for the record, by far the most serious crime of all is the one you’re going to be hung for . . . the murder of Enid Merryn.’
‘Murder?’
Alfie’s bewilderment was either genuine, or very cleverly feigned - and Amos was quite aware the London criminal was cunning enough to put on a thoroughly convincing act, especially with his life at stake.
‘I don’t know no Enid . . . whateve
r her name is!’
‘Oh, you know her well enough, Alfie, you and young Jimmy met her only a couple of weeks before the robbery at Laneglos, remember? She met up with you in the grounds of the house, in fact you spoke to her and told her you and Jimmy had come back to explain how he was going to repay the money he’d borrowed from her. The trouble was, once she’d seen you she was sure to recognize you when next you met, especially if at the time you happened to be robbing the house where she worked! She was a simple little soul, wasn’t she? Certainly not bright enough to be relied upon to keep it to herself that she’d witnessed you and Jimmy robbing her employers. A villain like you would need to kill her in order to save your own worthless skin. I doubt if a jury will even need to leave the courtroom in order to find you guilty, Alfie, and even the most tender-hearted judge will delight in donning the black cap and sending you to the gallows.’
As Amos’s words struck home much of the bravado and aggression left Alfie, ‘Now, that ain’t right, Mr Hawke . . . none of it. All right, so I met up with this girl when I came down to Cornwall with young Jimmy, but it was like you said, he owed her money and I told him he was to see her right and pay it back to her. On my oath, I wouldn’t have hurt a hair on her head, Mr Hawke. You don’t do harm to those who help you and your family. She was one of us - looked down on by them as lives in houses like the one where she was working. No, I never so much as said a harsh word to her, you ask our Jimmy. No doubt you’ve nicked him as well?’
‘No, Alfie, we don’t have Jimmy in custody, by now he’ll have been tried by a much higher court than any we have here on earth - but his last thoughts before he died were of Enid. He said he was sorry - no doubt you know exactly what he was sorry about.’
This time there could be no doubting Alfie’s look of bewilderment, ‘Jimmy’s dead . . . ? What happened to him?’
‘You tell us, Alfie, after all, you were the one who went off and left him alone in the woods, badly hurt.’
It was no more than a guess based on the pathologist’s report, but it worked.
‘I didn’t know he was hurt that badly or I would never have gone and left him there by himself, but he was always a bit of a namby-pamby. If he so much as scratched himself he was convinced he was going to bleed to death. All the same, he was my brother’s boy and I wouldn’t have just gone off and left him to die on his own in a place like that.’
Suddenly aware of what he was admitting, he looked at Amos suspiciously, ‘Is Jimmy really dead, or are you just saying he is to trick me into admitting I burgled that big house? If you are I shall deny I ever said anything about it.’
‘I am not particularly concerned about the burglary right at this moment, Alfie, although I’ll want to speak to you about that and the other charges at some time in the future. As for Jimmy, his mother came down to Cornwall overnight only last night, expecting to find her son in police custody . . . an idea I think she got from you. She was grief-stricken to learn he was dead and already buried. Harvey took her along to see Jimmy’s grave and I think he’s fixed up for her to stay at the Town Arms tonight, here in Bodmin. If she’s still there in the morning we can arrange for her to come along and see you. It would probably be the last time you will ever see each other, but I’ll leave you for now. You can spend the night thinking about it - and about poor Enid’s murder, of course. I think that’s quite enough to tax your brain for now.’
‘I don’t want to see Mary.’ Alfie declared, ‘We’ve never had much to say to one another in the past and no amount of talking now is going to bring Jimmy back to her.’
‘That’s true, Alfie, and I can quite see why you wouldn’t want to meet with her face-to-face. I just thought that if you two were to meet again, now she’s been told how her son died she might just be inclined to tell us a few things about you we’d be interested in knowing . . . and that she probably wouldn’t have mentioned before today. It’s something else to think about while you’re lying in your cell tonight, trying to sleep.’
CHAPTER 33
The morning after Alfie’s capture, Amos arrived at the Bodmin police headquarters to find he was in great demand. Doctor Sullivan had called in the previous day wanting to speak to him on what he had said was ‘A matter of considerable urgency.’ He had left a message with the station sergeant to say he would call again this morning.
There was also a message from Conrad Shannon, the forger and fraudsman awaiting trial in Bodmin jail, expressing a wish to speak with Amos, this too was claimed to be ‘urgent’.
Shannon was due to appear at the Assize court which was in session the following week and Amos guessed he was worried about the result of his trial. Amos might have put off speaking with him until he had more time to spare, but there was a possibility he might be able to throw some light on whoever was behind Alfie’s elaborate plan to plunder the guests at the Laneglos ball and, in so doing, reveal who had assisted Alfie and Jimmy by opening the kitchen door for them.
It was doubtful whether Shannon even knew of the murder of Enid Merryn yet, but Amos felt that by insinuating that both murder and robbery were probably connected he might be able to frighten him enough to reveal all he knew of the whole ambitious affair, so he decided he would go to see him and, hopefully be able to return to the headquarters before the chief constable put in an appearance at about nine o’clock.
Amos’s belief that Shannon was concerned about his pending appearance before the Assize court judge proved correct. Incarceration in a Bodmin jail cell awaiting trial had done nothing for Shannon’s former debonair appearance. His clothing was creased and the linen grubby, he had not shaved for several days and his hair was lank and greasy.
Remembering how he had appeared upon his arrival at Bodmin road railway station posing as Sir Richard Donahue, Amos felt almost sorry for him.
‘I understand you wish to speak to me, Shannon?’ Amos said, by way of greeting.
‘That’s right, sir, I want to have a word with you about the charges you’ve brought against me, and what’s likely to happen if I’m found guilty.’ Shannon’s manner was almost humble.
‘There is no "if" about it, Shannon. You came to Cornwall using a forged railway ticket, had a forged invitation to the county ball in your pocket and a number of forged share certificates in your luggage. I might also have thrown in a charge of conspiracy to defraud and one or two other charges I could think of - such as forging a false reference for Jimmy Banks, for instance - but I don’t think that is really necessary. With the charges you are already facing in court, coupled with your past record, you are facing a life sentence anyway. Any more charges would only make extra work for us without making any difference to the time you’ll spend inside prison.’
Shannon winced at Amos’s bald statement before saying ‘Can’t we talk about this, Mr Hawke? At the end of the day the only one who has been a loser is Alfie Banks! After what’s happened to his grand scheme of making a fortune for everyone taking part in it he’ll be the laughing stock of Hoxton and have lost all the authority he once had there.’
‘He’s lost more than authority,’ Amos said, ‘We arrested hint yesterday so you might well meet up with him here, in prisons before he keeps an appointment with the hangman.’
Startled, Shannon said, ‘You’ve got Alfie? Well, that goes to show that what I’ve said is true. It’s always been his boast that he’d be able to live out his time in Hoxton because everyone there would protect him with their lives if it ever became necessary . . . but what’s this about meeting up with the hangman? Alfie’s a hard man and more dishonest than anyone I’ve ever met with, but I’ve never heard it said that he’s killed anyone.’
‘You tell that to the mother of Jimmy Banks. She’s in Bodmin right now and came here to see Jimmy, believing he’d been arrested, only to learn that he’d been badly hurt when he and Alfie burgled Laneglos House and then left alone to die while Alfie rode off and made his way back to London. He was concerned for his own life because, in spite of what yo
u say, it’s highly likely he was involved in a murder. A young scullery maid was found dead soon after the burglary at Laneglos . . . but I haven’t come here to fill you in on all the latest news of what’s been happening in the criminal world while you’ve been locked away. I thought you had something you wanted to tell me . . . something important.’
‘And so I have.’ Shannon said, hurriedly, ‘But if I’m going to be locked away for the rest of my life I might just as well keep it to myself and persuade a certain gentleman to contribute a little something to make life inside a bit more comfortable if I keep quiet about what I know about him.’
‘You’re talking in riddles, Shannon, what is it that’s so important to this "gentleman" that he’ll pay you to keep quiet about it . . . and who is he?’
‘As I said, Mr Hawke, if I’m going to have to spend the rest of my life in jail I’ll need someone on the outside to pay for those little extras that are important to anyone doing time. On the other hand, if you were to drop some of the charges against me and have a word in the judge’s ear, I could look forward to a time when I’d be out of jail and you’d be in possession of information that a London detective would give his right arm for, especially if Alfie Banks had intended carrying out such a raid on his patch.’
‘You’ll pardon me if I seem cynical about this "important information" that’s in your possession, Shannon, it’s probably worth no more than those forged bonds we found in your possession when you were arrested.’
‘Oh no, Mr Hawke, I wouldn’t even think of wasting your time about something like this. It’s important to you . . . and even more important to me, because it’s the rest of my life we’re talking about. This information is real kosher, I promise you.’
Amos was aware that Conrad Shannon was a clever and experienced confidence trickster, someone quite capable of deceiving the most cynical of his victims. But Shannon was right, if he had some really useful information to impart then it could mean a lighter sentence for him and provide the breakthrough Amos was seeking. Besides, he had nothing to lose by listening to him.
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