The Affinity Bridge

by George Mann

Nearby, the other patients continued to circle the airing courts, indifferent to the fact that their newest arrival would, in just a matter of hours, finally be reunited with his loved ones.

  —— Chapter Thirty ——

  Newbury leaned heavily on the mantelpiece and took a long draw on his pipe, watching the smoke curl in lazy circles in the still air of his Chelsea living room. He was wearing a long blue dressing gown and slippers, and was warming himself by the raging fire that Mrs. Bradshaw had built up for him earlier that evening. Across the room, Bainbridge sat easily in one of the Chesterfields, his cane propped by the door, a brandy clutched firmly in one hand, a cigar in the other. He observed Newbury through a pungent wreath of smoke.

  Newbury was tapping his foot impatiently, unable to allow himself to relax. He clearly wasn't taking well to his period of convalescence.

  Bainbridge sucked on the end of his cigar. "So, truthfully, how are you man? You seem irritable."

  Newbury laughed. "No, not irritable, Charles. Just anxious to get out of these rooms! I feel like I've been trapped in here for weeks, pacing backwards and forwards, waiting for something new to come along that I can sink my teeth into. My wounds are healing in a satisfactory fashion, and with any luck I'll be fighting fit again in no time. I need something new to engage my mind. I fear I'll be climbing the walls before long if something doesn't come along soon."

  Bainbridge shook his head. "Newbury, you astound me! I'd have thought after your experiences this last week you'd be anxious to get some rest. I know I am!"

  Newbury chuckled. "You know me, Charles. I never have been able to stand still for long." He glanced at the end of his pipe, a frustrated look on his face, and then tapped out the spent tobacco on the mantelpiece, banging the vessel repeatedly against the palm of his left hand. He moved stiffly across the room, still wincing with the movement, and lowered himself into the armchair opposite Bainbridge. He searched out his leather tobacco pouch from amongst the debris on the coffee table, and began the process of refilling his bowl. "So tell me, Charles, what of Joseph Chapman?"

  Bainbridge took a swig of his brandy, shuddering as the alcohol sent tickling fingers of warmth into his belly. He looked grave. "Chapman's for the noose, and he knows it. His crimes were some of the most severe and inhumane I've yet encountered in my career, and in this city, that's certainly saying something. What galls me, though, is the man's consistently pompous attitude. He sits there during his interviews gloating about his crimes, about how clever he was to outwit us for so long. The man is a monster."

  Newbury struck a match, lit the bowl of his pipe and tossed the dead match into the fire with a brief glance over his shoulder. He puffed to kindle the flames before replying. "They often are, Charles. They often are. Shame about Villiers, though. He was an entirely singular man."

  Bainbridge pulled a face. "For the life of me, Newbury, I cannot understand where you developed such profound respect for the man."

  Newbury closed his eyes. When he opened them again he was studying the floor. "It's complicated, Charles. Villiers was an evil man, but he was also incredibly accomplished. In fact, I'd go as far as saying he was a genius, in his own way. And with genius comes a certain amorality that is sometimes difficult to judge. Genius is, in many ways, akin to madness. Both states of mind demand a disconnection from reality, from the real, physical world, an ability to lose oneself in thought." He shrugged. "There is no contesting the fact that Villiers's crimes were of the most appalling variety, but I only wonder what may have come of it if his genius could have been harnessed for the good of the Empire, instead of being misapplied in such a terrible way...." He trailed off, lost in thought.

  Bainbridge chewed on the end of his cigar. "Good riddance to him, is what I say. Chapman did us a favour when he removed the man from proceedings, and that's all I have to say on the subject." He paused. "Still, it's good to see another case through to its resolution, isn't it?"

  "Hmmm?" Newbury returned from his reverie, his eyes darting to meet Bainbridge's expectant face. "Oh, yes indeed. Although I hasten to add that there is still one small part of the mystery that perplexes me. I've yet to discover the reason why a Dutch nobleman was to be found onboard the wreckage of a passenger-class airship bound for Dublin."

  Bainbridge placed his glass on the table and leaned forward. "I may have something to help you with that, old man. The one good thing about Chapman's boastful tirade is that we've been able to glean a few facts from his testimony. He claims The Lady Armitage had been engaged by a coterie of local noblemen, men who were keen to see as many revenants removed from the streets as possible, for use as a plague ship. Chapman had been using the automatons to round up the revenants like animals, forcing them onto the airships and shipping them off to Ireland, where his men were setting them loose in the countryside—if they didn't dump them at sea during the course of the voyage. Not sure that explains how your Dutchman found himself involved in the matter, but it may help you get to the bottom of the mystery, eh?"

  Newbury looked animated. "Indeed it does, Charles. Indeed it does!" He sprang out of his chair, clamped his pipe between his teeth and began pacing back and forth before the fire, all sense of his stiffness gone. The silence stretched. After a moment, he turned to Bainbridge, gesturing frantically with his hands. "Charles, allow me to ask you a question. Why should a visiting nobleman take to the streets of Whitechapel by evening, choosing to travel alone, without the protection of a Royal escort?"

  Bainbridge frowned. "No reason at all, unless he had a taste for the wicked side of life, if you catch my meaning." He coughed into his hand, embarrassed at the implication.

  "Precisely! If the man had harboured a longing for visiting cheap whores whilst staying in the city, he would surely have slipped out of his lodgings unaccompanied, in an effort to keep his inappropriate activities under wraps. If the newspapers were to discover his secret, it would cause the palace a terrific scandal, and if any unscrupulous aides were made aware of it, they might have chosen to use the information against him at some point."

  "Blackmail, you mean."

  Newbury nodded. "Indeed. So we've established that if the man did engage in such carnal pursuits, he would be sure to hide the fact from his aides, stepping out alone only at the most opportune moments, such as late in the evening after his men had retired." He smiled to himself, pleased with his deduction. "Could it be, then, that the man inadvertently contracted the revenant plague during one of these nightly sojourns to the slums, so that when the automatons came to round up the miserable fellows a week or so later, he was wandering the streets, transformed into one of the detestable creatures?"

  "You could be right, Newbury! Certainly no one would recognise the man in that state."

  "Until, that is, they removed his charred corpse from the wreckage, which would show no signs of the viral infection that had thus far been ravaging his body. An identifying item of jewellery would be all that it would take for the coroner to proclaim that Her Majesty's missing cousin had been found."

  Bainbridge retrieved his brandy from the table. "My God, Newbury. I think you're on to something. But how the devil do you prove the man had such inappropriate desires in the first place? That's quite an accusation to level at a member of the Royal Family without any real shred of evidence. I can't imagine Her Majesty will accept your story on supposition alone."

  Newbury chuckled. "That's just it, Charles. I believe I have all the evidence I need. I've spent the last couple of days scouring my records for background on the Dutch Royal Family, identifying potential victims. Her Majesty had been less than forthcoming about which particular cousin had been involved in the incident, but her words provided me with a number of important clues. I knew we were dealing with a young man, a minor royal, but someone who would be sent to London on diplomatic duties all the same, probably due to the importance of their mother. After taking all of that into consideration there was only one likely candidate, a man whose name—I'm sure you will forg
ive me—I will refrain from repeating here." Newbury paused for breath, although it was clear he was anxious to proceed with his tale. "But during the course of my reading I turned out a number of newspaper reports regarding a 'misunderstanding' between one of the Queen's cousins and a mysterious 'lady', who claimed to be the bearer of an illegitimate child. The newspapers had reported the story as a minor item, alluding to the fact that the woman was a prostitute and had probably invented the entire story as a means of extorting money from the unfortunate young man. However, in light of current events I'll wager there's truth behind the tale. And what's more, I imagine it was this very same man whose corpse was extracted from the crash site of The Lady Armitage just a few days ago in Finsbury Park."

  Bainbridge nodded, a smile curling his lips. "I should say that will do the job."

  "Indeed." Newbury returned to his seat with a satisfied sigh. He raised an empty glass. "Well, that's the end of it then." He sucked on his pipe, resting his head against the tall back of the Chesterfield.

  Bainbridge shuffled awkwardly in his seat. "There is just one other thing I should mention, if you're not too opposed to hearing me out on something rather peculiar?"

  Newbury peeled open his eyes, his interest piqued. "Go on.

  "I'm sure you recall our conversations from a few days ago, regarding the potential origins of the glowing policeman?"

  "Of course."

  "At the time, before Morgan's death and the realisation that we were on the trail of a purely corporeal killer, you mentioned Miss Hobbes's supposition that the perpetrator could in fact have been a phantom killer akin to the one reported all those years ago. Another example of the same phenomena, you said, involving entirely different people."

  Newbury sat forward in his chair and poured himself a brandy, listening intently to Bainbridge's account. "Quite so." He considered his friend, concern evident in his eyes. "What's troubling you, Charles?"

  Bainbridge shook his head. "It's all rather embarrassing, really. I mean, I don't know what to think. You know I'm not a superstitious man."

  "For Heaven's sake, Charles. Get to the point."

  "You asked me if there had been any recent murders of police constables in the Whitechapel area, and at the time I couldn't say for certain. But I had the clerks check the records and it turns out there was a man, a Mister John Harris, who was done in with his own truncheon by a gang of youths, after he happened upon the miscreants roughing up a girl in an alleyway earlier that night. They got away with it, too, since a local shopkeeper provided an alibi. The word amongst the rest of the men was that the gang had applied a liberal amount of pressure to the shopkeeper and, fearing for the safety of his wife and daughter, he had willingly perjured himself to protect them."

  Newbury took a swig of his brandy. "Let me guess. It turns out a number of these youths were amongst the victims of the glowing policeman, found strangled in the Whitechapel area, their personal effects still in situ on the bodies?"

  Bainbridge smiled. "Close, Newbury. All of the youths were amongst the reported victims of the glowing policeman. I don't know what to make of it. It seems like too much of a coincidence to ignore."

  Newbury laughed. "Ha! I'll wager coincidence has nothing to do with it!" He sank back in his chair. "Of course, there's no way of telling, now. It could have been coincidence, or it could have been the murdered man's colleagues taking the opportunity to seek revenge. But it would certainly explain why we didn't identify the residue of the blue powder on all of the victims. Revenge can drive people to do terrible things, Charles, terrible things indeed. Even, perhaps, to rise from the grave itself. Did I ever tell you of the Hambleton affair?"

  "I don't believe so, no."

  "Ah, well. I suspect that's a story for another occasion. Nevertheless, it serves to prove the point. There are things in this world—and beyond—for which the combined efforts of science and religion have yet to divine a suitable explanation. I have no doubt that, given time, they will." He heaved himself out of his chair, stretching his sore muscles. "But now, my friend, I must prevail upon you to forgive me. I feel the need to retire for the evening, to rest these damnable wounds in an effort to hasten my recovery and put an end to my captive misery." He sniffed.

  "The guest room is yours if you want it."

  Bainbridge rose to his feet and clasped a hand on his friend's shoulder. "No, I'll take my leave, dear boy." He smiled warmly. "Look after yourself, and keep an eye on that wayward assistant of yours. She'll be causing a scandal or two of her own if she doesn't check herself from time to time."

  Newbury laughed heartily. "Indeed. She might at that."

  Bainbridge downed the remainder of his brandy and crossed the room, collecting his coat and cane. "Well, Newbury. Until next time."

  "Goodbye, Charles."

  The Chief Inspector took his leave. Newbury waited until the sound of his footsteps had receded down the street. He banked the fire, making sure the embers were burning low, and turned out his pipe in the grate. Then, leaving the living room behind him, he climbed the stairs and passed along the hallway towards his bedchamber. He stopped outside the room and placed his hand on the doorknob. A little further along the landing, the door to his study was propped shut, still loose on its hinges following Veronica's dramatic entry a day or two earlier. He'd have to have it fixed in the next couple of days, once he'd regained the rest of his health.

  Hesitantly, he withdrew his hand from the handle of his bedroom door and edged his way along the landing, his wounds itching where scabs had formed over the open cuts. He pushed his way through the unwieldy study door and propped it shut again behind him. He turned up the gas jet on the wall, causing a dim, radial glow to light the room. The room was just as he'd left it.

  He crossed to the daybed and took a seat, eyeing the little brown bottle on the table in the corner. In the dim light he could just see the peeling label, the familiar liquid inside. There was also a half-drunk bottle of red wine on the table beside it, stoppered with a used cork. It had probably spoiled during the intervening days. He rubbed a hand over his face and glanced at the door sheepishly, knowing he should head for his bedchamber, and stood, edging towards the landing. Then, succumbing to his cravings instead, he crossed the room, collected the two bottles, and settled himself on the daybed, preparing for a night of cosy oblivion.

  —— Chapter Thirty-One ——

  Veronica glared at the pile of unsorted papers on her desk and sighed. The office was deathly quiet, lacking the banter she had become accustomed to, with only the constant tick-tock of the grandfather clock and the occasional sound of Miss Coulthard shuffling papers in the adjoining room punctuating the monotony.

  She leaned back in her chair and glanced over at Newbury's empty desk, which had lain undisturbed since they were last in the office together the previous week. Correspondence had temporarily been forwarded to his Chelsea home whilst he spent time convalescing away from the museum, and the lack of his usual cheer lent the place a mournful air, as if it were missing something fundamental, the heart of it temporarily removed. The office itself had been restored to something approximating order, following Miss Coulthard's return to work and the removal of the automaton remains by Scotland Yard, who were keen to gather evidence for the case against Chapman. Not that they needed to worry, Veronica considered; she was certain that they would be able to uncover enough at the manufactory to send him to the gallows ten times over, especially when one took into consideration the testimonies of Sir Maurice and Sir Charles, both respected members of society and gentlemen to boot.

  Veronica leaned back in her chair, drumming her fingers idly on the desk. The days following her visit to the asylum had passed in a sedentary fashion, and whilst she had enjoyed hearing tales from an effervescent Miss Coulthard about the return of her brother, Jack, in truth she was finding it difficult to give her administrative tasks their due attention. It had only been a handful of days since the apprehension of Joseph Chapman and the resoluti
on of the case of The Lady Armitage, and she already found herself speculating on what the future may hold. She longed to see Newbury again, to lose herself in another mystery. She knew it was idle speculation, but it helped fuel her motivation for the laborious research work she was obliged to carry out whilst she waited for Newbury himself to return to work.

  Deciding that she shouldn't put it off any longer, she set to work, skimming a stack of manuscript pages from the top of the nearest pile and leafing through the content in an effort to identify any references that Newbury might find useful in the writing of his most recent essay, regarding the ritualistic practices of the druidic tribes of Bronze Age Europe.

  There was a polite rap on the inner door. Veronica looked up to see Miss Coulthard hovering in the doorway, a large sheaf of papers clutched tightly in her arms.

  "Miss Hobbes, I'm just running these along to the museum archive. I'll be back shortly if you find you have need of me."

  Veronica smiled. "Of course. Thank you, Miss Coulthard." She indicated the large stack of papers on her desk. "I won't be going anywhere for a while."

  Miss Coulthard gave her a knowing sigh and then left, her heels clicking loudly on the tiled floor. Veronica returned distractedly to her reading.

  A few minutes later she heard the door open and shut in the adjoining room, followed by the sound of footsteps on the threshold of the office. She continued reading, her eyes flicking over the carefully crafted copperplate on the page before her. "You were far quicker than I'd imagined, Miss Coulthard. Now, if you could find it in your heart to put the kettle on the stove..." She looked up at the sound of a man clearing his throat, her voice trailing off. "Sir Maurice! I—we weren't expecting you back so soon!"

  Newbury smiled. "My dear Miss Hobbes. There is only so long a gentleman can sit in his rooms, staring at the walls, before the experience becomes entirely unbearable." He removed his hat and indicated his desk with a wave of his hand. "Besides, that essay isn't going to write itself." He beamed at her, his eyes twinkling.