‘That’s true.’
‘The man who should have done that was Edmund Haines.’
‘Why?’
‘To begin with, he was still a member of staff. When Rafter left, Haines would have taken charge. The task of helping to clear the house should surely have fallen to him.’
‘Then why didn’t it?’
‘I suppose that Mr Parry no longer trusted him for some reason.’ Peter sat up in bed. ‘I’m worried that I’ve been looking at the wrong servant. Joseph Rafter may have no part in Mr Parry’s disappearance at all. It might have been someone else entirely.’
‘Edmund Haines?’
‘It’s possible, though we mustn’t jump to conclusions. Remember what Abigail Saunders told me. All the servants were kind to her. That includes both Rafter and Haines. Ideally, I’d like to find them both.’
‘Have you any idea where they might be?’
Peter brooded for a moment. ‘Oddly enough,’ he said at length, ‘I think I can guess where one of them will be.’
‘And where’s that?’
‘He’s with Mr Parry.’
Night had failed to cool Hannah’s temper. It was as fiery as ever next morning. When she’d first understood the implications of the letter from her friend, she’d wanted to storm straight off to Vernon Teale’s house to tell him that his claim had been exposed as false and that she wanted Elinor Ingram dismissed from the company at once. Paul had managed to dissuade her against such a course of action, arguing that any decision should not be taken until she was in a calmer frame of mind. Though she did her best to suppress her rage, he could see that she was still bent on revenge.
‘Why not leave this to me?’ he asked.
‘This is my fight, Paul.’
‘But it isn’t, my love, that’s the problem. It’s not simply a tussle between you and the manager. It affects the whole company. If you cause disruption, it will leave a nasty taste in everyone’s mouth.’
She was resolute. ‘That woman is not going to play Celia.’
‘I agree. Mr Teale and I will send her on her way today.’
‘She should never have been engaged in the first place,’ said Hannah. ‘Teale told me that Henrietta Doyle was to play the part, yet it’s quite clear from her letter that Henrietta was never offered it.’
‘She’ll be offered it now,’ he said.
‘What do you mean?’
‘You’ll insist on it.’
She bristled with anger. ‘I most certainly will.’
‘You sent me to do battle with Teale once before,’ he said.
‘Yes, and you failed to make him agree to my demands.’
‘I have a stronger weapon to wield this time – that letter.’
‘It was sent to me,’ she said, ‘and is therefore mine to wield against him. Henrietta has unwittingly explained how Elinor Ingram managed to secure a role in the play.’
‘Evidently, she’s the manager’s mistress.’
‘And there was that two-faced liar, inviting us to dine with his wife and passing himself off as a doting husband.’
‘That’s none of our business,’ he said. ‘From what I’ve seen, most theatre managers have mistresses as a matter of course. In a profession with so many desirable ladies, it’s inevitable.’
‘Since when has Elinor Ingram been desirable?’
‘I won’t answer that question.’
‘Are you saying that you find her attractive?’ she demanded.
‘My opinion of her is immaterial. What I see is that one actress gets an important role because she sleeps with the manager and that the name of a rival actress – far superior in talent, you tell me – has been used to justify a deception.’
‘When I speak to Mr Teale, I won’t put it so politely.’
‘I can’t let you do it, Hannah.’
‘It’s my right.’
‘You’ll only inflict damage on yourself and on the company,’ he argued. ‘The simple fact is that you signed a contract and can be held to it. That doesn’t mean Teale will go unpunished. Our first objective is to deprive him of his mistress and send her packing. That will hurt him and infuriate her.’ He grinned. ‘I’d love to be there when he tells her to leave the company.’
Hannah laughed aloud. ‘Elinor will turn into a wildcat.’
‘While I’m at it, I’ll exact other concessions from him.’
‘You’ll ask for a financial inducement for me to stay?’
‘I won’t need to ask, Hannah. He’ll offer it at once. There are lots of things I can demand, the first of which is that Henrietta Doyle is invited to replace Miss Ingram. My second demand is the name of the actress who told you that she’d been desperately ill. The woman was clearly part of the conspiracy to win you over. She must go as well.’
‘You’re right,’ she said, after thinking it over. ‘It’s far better if you deal with the manager.’
‘I’ll have the upper hand this time. Besides,’ he went on, ‘I’ll value the opportunity to touch on another matter altogether.’
‘What’s that, Paul?’
‘I’ll ask him about Cosgrove.’
They had never approached Bow Street with such jubilation. Having good news to report, they felt certain that the chief magistrate would overlook their past failings and acknowledge their extraordinary success. They entered Kirkwood’s office without any of their usual disquiet.
‘We have something to report, sir,’ announced Yeomans, grandly.
‘Then get on with it, man,’ said the chief magistrate.
‘As a result of measures that we took, two bodysnatchers were apprehended last night and are now in custody.’
Kirkwood was impressed. ‘Did you arrest them yourselves?’
‘No,’ said Hale, ‘they were caught by Ruddock and Filbert.’
‘So it’s Ruddock we have to applaud yet again, is it?’ said the other. ‘I must congratulate him in person.’
‘He was acting under my orders, sir,’ asserted Yeomans.
‘But you weren’t there when the villains were confronted, were you? Ruddock and his partner were. They deserve the kudos.’
‘You haven’t heard the rest of it yet, sir,’ said Hale. ‘When we learnt what had happened, we questioned the two prisoners. Micah got confessions out of both of them.’
‘Yes,’ added Yeomans, ‘they both admitted to being party to raids on other churchyards and one of them – with a little persuasion – told me the name of the professor of anatomy to whom they sold the bodies.’
‘That’s the best news yet,’ said Kirkwood. ‘He incited a series of foul crimes. I’m the first to recognise the importance of medical science, but its progress should not rest on the violation of Christian burials.’
‘When the word spreads of what happened last night, bodysnatchers everywhere will start to tremble. One of their paymasters has just been taken and been forced to retire from his grisly trade. His arrest will act as a warning to others who flout the law.’
‘You both deserve plaudits, Yeomans.’
‘Thank you, sir.’
‘And so do Ruddock and Filbert.’
‘Chevy Ruddock led the way,’ said Hale, ‘and setting the trap was really his idea.’ Aware that he’d just admitted the truth, he was too frightened to look at Yeomans. ‘What he couldn’t do, of course, was to get a confession out of the prisoners. Nobody can do that as well as Micah Yeomans. Once he has a criminal in his grasp, he can make them sing like a bird.’
‘Then why didn’t he make Harry Scattergood tweet?’ asked Kirkwood, sarcastically. ‘Yeomans didn’t even have to take the trouble of catching that infernal thief. The Skillen brothers did that for him. Why didn’t you interrogate Scattergood the moment you heard of his arrest?’ he asked, looking at him. ‘You could probably have got him to confess to hundreds of crimes.’
‘And I will, sir,’ promised Yeomans.
‘If you ever find him …’
Scattergood had learnt his lesson. I
nstead of going straight to the brothel where Welsh Mary lived, he took a room in a tavern and spent the night nursing his wounds. In the morning, he’d felt well enough to send for her. He was now lying naked on the bed while she applied a soothing balm to his bruises and sang a lilting ballad in her native language.
‘What was it like in St Albans?’ she asked.
He jerked convulsively as if her fingers were iron spikes.
Peter and Charlotte went off to the gallery together that morning. Ackford was instructing a client, but Huckvale was free. He was amazed that Jan van Emden had turned up without warning and hoped for the opportunity to meet him. What Huckvale really wanted to hear about, however, was Peter’s second visit to Geoffrey Taylor. He listened intently to his friend’s report. When it was over, he snapped his fingers.
‘Mr Taylor’s son hinted that there was something in the wind,’ he said. ‘Mr Parry had been close to a discovery of some kind.’
‘We now know what it was, Jem.’
‘Why did he abandon it?’
‘I don’t know, but he did so with great reluctance.’
‘Yes,’ said Charlotte, ‘Clemency told me that, while her father worked for other people, he was always developing ideas on his own as well. He was wealthy enough to buy the time needed for research.’
‘But this latest invention of his put enormous strain on his finances. Parry had to find money from elsewhere,’ said Peter. ‘When he couldn’t do that, he probably became more and more desperate. Geoffrey Taylor blamed Clemency for what happened to her father, but she couldn’t be held responsible for his obsession. In my view, he was so determined to continue with his experiments that he eventually turned to gambling as the only solution.’
‘I feel so sorry for him,’ said Huckvale.
‘We all do, Jem,’ said Charlotte. ‘It would have been so helpful to us if his daughter had been able to tell us much more about his work. Unfortunately, he was very secretive and Clemency showed no interest.’
‘That’s not her fault. What woman is interested in engineering?’
‘Given what we’ve learnt about Mr Parry, I certainly am.’
Peter smiled fondly. ‘That’s because you’re unique.’
When the discussion ended, Huckvale had news of his own.
‘Harry Scattergood is back.’
‘How do you know?’ asked Peter.
‘One of our informers sent a message. He saw Harry getting out of a coach and limping off into the shadows.’
‘But he never uses coaches. Harry always rides on a stolen horse so that he has a means of escape. He’d feel trapped in a coach.’
‘I’m only passing on what I was told.’
‘It’s useful intelligence. When we’ve time, we’ll act on it.’
‘You’ve already arrested Scattergood once,’ said Charlotte. ‘Does that mean you collected the reward for his capture?’
‘Alas, we didn’t, my love. The reward was contingent upon his arrest and conviction, and he managed to escape.’
‘Do you have to catch him again, then?’
‘I fear that we do.’
Before he could go on, a knock on the door silenced him. Huckvale went to see who the visitor was. When he came back, he had Abigail Saunders with him. She was carrying two large leather bags.
‘I’m sorry to disturb you, Mr Skillen,’ she said, nervously, ‘but you told me to come here if I had any news for you.’
Knowing that the manager would get to the rehearsal room well before anyone else, Paul was waiting to intercept him. Teale told him that he didn’t have time to speak to him, but Paul insisted.
‘If you don’t speak to me now,’ he warned, ‘you’ll have to talk to Miss Granville in front of the whole company. You wouldn’t enjoy that, Mr Teale, because she will be waving a letter she had from Henrietta Doyle at you.’
‘What sort of letter?’
‘It’s a truthful one.’
Paul gave him such a meaningful look that Teale gasped and the colour drained from his face. He hustled Paul quickly into his office. After collecting himself, he first tried appeasement.
‘I’m eternally grateful to you, Mr Skillen,’ he said, rubbing his hands together. ‘Having you at her side has not only reassured Miss Granville that she is safe, but you’ve also spoken up eloquently on her behalf.’
‘I was shielding you from a more sustained assault. Unless you agree to her demands this time, I’ll have to unleash Miss Granville herself on you.’
‘I’m sure this matter can be sorted out easily. We are, after all, good friends, are we not? The four of us had such a delightful time the other night. My wife remarked on it only this morning.’
‘What sort of remarks would she have made had she known of your relationship with Miss Ingram?’
‘I have no relationship with her.’
‘The lady may be more honest if I confront her in person and tell her that we know how she came to secure a role in the play.’
‘No, no,’ begged Teale, ‘don’t do that, I pray. We must keep Miss Ingram out of this altogether.’
‘But she is responsible for this dilemma. Miss Granville accepted your invitation to come to the theatre only after she’d seen the cast that you’d engaged. Henrietta Doyle’s name was on the list, but the letter she sent to Miss Granville makes it clear that she was never even considered for the role of Celia.’ Paul took a step closer and fixed him with a stare. ‘It had already been promised to Miss Ingram, hadn’t it?’
‘You don’t understand, Mr Skillen.’
‘Then please enlighten me.’
Teale reeled off a whole battery of excuses, but they fell on deaf ears. Paul simply stood there impassively. When he realised that he could not wriggle out of it, the manager acceded to all of Paul’s demands, saying that he would write to Henrietta Doyle that very day. While he insisted that there was nothing improper in his dealings with Elinor Ingram, he pleaded with Paul to make no mention of the actress to Mrs Teale. He insisted that, by way of a heartfelt apology, there would be a generous increase in Hannah’s salary. Everything was settled to Paul’s satisfaction. He was even able to gather all the information he’d asked for about Cosgrove’s work at the theatre. It turned out to be more extensive than Paul had imagined. Pausing at the door, he had a last question.
‘Do you have a message for Miss Granville?’
‘Yes,’ said Teale, lower lip quivering. ‘Tell her that today’s rehearsal has been cancelled. I have to speak to Miss Ingram.’
Paul gave his broadest smile. ‘You’ll have much to discuss.’
Yeomans and Hale were back in their customary seats at the Peacock Inn, but they’d consumed far more than was normal for that time of day. Hale was drinking to celebrate their success, but Yeomans’ ale was helping to drown his disappointment.
‘We never get full credit for what we do,’ he protested. ‘We go there to tell him about two important arrests and he sends us off with a sneer about Harry Scattergood.’
‘All that Harry deserves is a sneer.’
‘I got valuable information out of those bodysnatchers.’
‘True, but that was only possible because Ruddock and Filbert had caught the pair of them in the first place.’
‘Mr Kirkwood should have shaken our hands.’
‘Yes, Micah.’
‘Instead of which, he tells us what a clever man Ruddock is.’
‘We knew that already.’
‘Don’t keep on about him,’ snarled Yeomans. ‘And why did you have to say that setting a trap was really Ruddock’s idea?’
The door opened and a bleary-eyed Ruddock tottered in. It took him a moment to locate them. Once he’d done so, he staggered over to their table and stood in front of it, swaying slightly.
‘You look exhausted, Chevy,’ said Hale.
‘I am, sir, but I wanted to know if you’d been to Bow Street.’
‘Yes, we have.’
‘Was Mr Kirkwood pleased with us?
’
‘Yes,’ replied Yeomans, ‘he was especially pleased by the way I’d shaken the truth out of those men. You stopped one crime in its tracks, but I got them to confess to several others. I even scared them into giving me the name of the man who hired them.’ He thrust his chin forward. ‘Could you have done that?’
‘No, I couldn’t, Mr Yeomans.’
‘What about Bill Filbert?’
‘Neither of us have your skills, sir.’
‘Remember that.’
‘One good thing,’ observed Hale, sniffing, ‘you don’t stink half as much as you did yesterday.’ Ruddock threatened to fall, but Hale steadied him with a hand. ‘You need your sleep, Chevy.’
‘Thank you, sir.’
‘When you wake up again,’ said Yeomans, ‘I have another assignment for you.’
‘It’s not in another churchyard, is it, sir?’
‘No, it’s a different sort of task altogether. Harry Scattergood is back in London.’
‘What am I supposed to do about it, sir?’
Yeomans had a sip of ale and gargled with it before swallowing.
‘Find him,’ he said.
Abigail Saunders was eager to know how Clemency was faring. When she heard that Jan van Emden had sailed to London, she felt that it was a touching romantic gesture on his part.
‘Any man in that situation would wish to support his wife,’ said Charlotte. ‘He was detained by business commitments. Otherwise, he’d have boarded the same vessel as his wife and we might never have heard about her problem.’
‘Yes,’ said Huckvale, ‘it was only because they were lost that I stopped to help them. From what I’ve been told about Mr van Emden, he’s the sort of person who never gets lost anywhere. His work takes him to a number of countries and he probably feels at home in all of them.’
‘He’s a true cosmopolitan,’ said Peter, before turning to Abigail. ‘You said that you had news for me.’
‘Well, first of all,’ she said, excitedly, ‘let me tell you about my new position. I’m to be in service to a Mr Endsleigh of Regent Street. I’m so pleased to be back in the city again. Wapping frightens me.’
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