‘So are you looking after things at the moment?’
‘I am.’
‘And getting the same gossip as her?’
The woman sniffed and stood straighter. ‘I’d better be or I’ll want to know why.’
‘What’s happening between Amos Worthy and Edward Hughes?’
‘You mean you don’t know?’ she asked in astonishment. ‘I thought it was all over everywhere by now.’
‘If I knew I wouldn’t be asking, would I?’ the deputy asked patiently. ‘They’ve been at it a bit, but I mean in the last couple of days.’
‘Well,’ she began slowly, ‘yesterday evening someone told me that Hughes has threatened to kill old Amos.’
‘You think it’s true?’
She nodded. ‘The man who told me has always been right before. Why are you asking?’
‘Just that Worthy’s hired someone new and he’s keeping his men very close.’
‘That’s not like him. Amos has never been the worrying sort.’
‘Aye, I know,’ Sedgwick agreed. ‘He must be taking it seriously.’
‘It’s going to come to a head soon, that’s what I heard.’ She looked at the deputy. ‘What are you going to do about it?’
‘We’ll make sure it doesn’t happen,’ he told her and she raised her eyebrows in disbelief.
‘You’re going to keep Amos Worthy from a fight?’
‘If it comes to that, yes.’
‘I’ll believe it when I see it,’ she said. ‘Now, gentlemen, if there’s nothing more. .?’
‘Give my best to your mam. I hope she’s well soon.’
Back out on Vicar Lane the deputy led them to the White Swan and they sat with mugs of ale.
‘Are we going to stop them?’ Lister asked.
‘I’m trying to work that out,’ Sedgwick said with a deep sigh. ‘The problem is Fanny’s right. If the pair of them are really set on a scrap we’ll be hard pressed to keep them apart.’
‘Worthy’s been a pimp for a long time?’
‘Yes.’ The deputy took a long drink.
‘But Hughes is new here? He could be the weak link,’ Rob said thoughtfully.
Sedgwick looked at him. ‘How do you mean?’
‘He won’t be sure of his ground here yet.’
‘He’s cocky enough to challenge Worthy.’
‘Yes, but what if the city pushed back hard at him?’
‘It won’t work. The boss and I were already there. It didn’t seem to do much good.’
‘That was talk. What if it was more than just a word?’ Lister suggested. ‘Make sure he knows exactly where he stands.’
Sedgwick gazed down into his mug, swirling the dregs.
‘I suppose it’s worth a try,’ he decided finally. He drained the ale and stood up. ‘Well, are you coming?’
They strode down to the Calls, stepping between puddles of waste in the street as the deputy glanced among the broken, dilapidated houses.
Finally he banged on a door that looked the same as all the others on the street. The girl who opened it looked barely fourteen, her face still young and unlined but eyes deep and full of sad experience.
‘Hello, love,’ the deputy said kindly. ‘How are you?’
‘Fine, thank you, sir,’ she replied, confused by the question, and tried to sketch a brief curtsey.
‘Is Mr Hughes around?’
‘Yes, sir.’
‘Tell him the deputy constable wants a word, will you? There’s a good lass.’ He gave her a warm smile.
‘Yes, sir.’
She closed the door again and they heard her footsteps. Sedgwick shook his head sadly. ‘Poor girl has probably never had a kind word spoken to her in her life.’
‘Was that why you did it?’
The deputy laughed. ‘Always be nice to people until they give you a reason not to be. That’s what my father told me. He was right, too. She’s done nowt, there’s no need to treat her anything but politely.’
Lister looked at him with curiosity and respect. ‘And her pimp?’
Sedgwick grinned. ‘Wait and see.’
When the door opened again, Hughes was standing there, drinking from a chipped mug, dressed in an old, darned shirt, his stock loose, breeches and stockings stained. The deputy watched him carefully, seeing the way he tried to mask the anger in his eyes.
‘It’s early,’ Hughes complained, running a hand over his shaved scalp. ‘What do you want?’
‘Just another word,’ Sedgwick told him. ‘Here or inside?’
The man shrugged and led them into the house and through to the kitchen, as slatternly kept as the parlour. Dishes sat on the table caked in dried food, hosts of flies buzzing as they fed on them. Scraps littered the floor, rotting and slimy underfoot, and runnels of damp bloomed mould on the walls. God help the coroner if there was ever a dead body here, the deputy thought. The poor bugger would choke.
‘You like your luxury, don’t you?’ he asked, gazing around. Hughes looked blankly, missing the irony. ‘Planning a run in with Amos Worthy, are you, Edward?’
The man spat on the floor. ‘You can call me Mr Hughes if you want to ask me any questions.’
‘Can I?’ Sedgwick said. ‘That’s very generous of you, Edward.’
The two men stared at each other for a long moment.
‘Aye, we’ve had some words,’ Hughes admitted finally.
‘People are saying you’ve threatened to kill him.’
Hughes laughed, showing discoloured teeth. ‘That’s what they’re saying, is it?’
‘It is.’ The deputy’s voice was hard and dangerous. ‘And the people who told me don’t lie.’
‘So what if I did say that?’
Sedgwick shook his head slowly. ‘Threatening murder. That’s a serious business.’
Hughes snorted. ‘He’s been warned, that’s all.’ He began to raise the mug to his mouth. The deputy reached out calmly and in a single, flowing move snatched it from his hand and threw it against the wall.
‘So have you. You’ve been warned twice now. Edward.’
Hughes crossed his arms over his chest. ‘So he’s paying you off as well as your master, is he?’
In a swift moment Sedgwick had him pinned against the wall, a forearm tight across the man’s throat.
‘Don’t you ever suggest that,’ he said coldly. ‘Ever. You got that?’
Slowly he applied more pressure, staring at Hughes as the man’s face reddened, increasing the force until the man nodded his understanding. Sedgwick moved back, leaving Hughes to rub his throat. ‘I don’t care what you were thinking, Edward,’ he told him. ‘It’s over. Do you finally get that?’
‘Yes,’ he answered in a croak.
‘Run your whores like a good boy, no one’s going to quibble about that. We already told you, didn’t we?’
Glaring, humiliated, Hughes croaked agreement.
‘If you want to go beyond that, find somewhere else to do it. Next time I come back here it won’t just be for a friendly word. You’ve had your second warning now and it’s your last.’
The deputy turned on his heel, gesturing at Lister to follow him. He slammed the door loudly, pushed a hand through his thick, wiry hair and said, ‘I need another drink after that. Christ, that place smelled foul.’
‘Do you think it’ll work?’ Rob asked.
‘I don’t know.’ Sedgwick sighed loudly as they walked up Call Lane, back towards Kirkgate. ‘Maybe for a day or two. He thinks he’s a tough one, does that lad. He reckons Worthy might be weak so he’s going after him. But he’ll get a shock it if really comes down to it.’
‘Worthy’s still strong, then?’
‘Oh, aye. Have you ever met him?’
Lister shook his head.
‘He must be well over sixty by now, but he’s still big. I wouldn’t want to go up against him. Got a temper on him, too. Hughes wouldn’t stand a chance. The boss hates him, but he seems to like him, too. It’s strange; doesn’t make any sense to me.’ He pushed open the door of the White Swan once more and sat on an empty bench in the corner. ‘You can get them,’ he told Rob.
Twenty
The Constable nudged the horse into a canter, holding tight on the reins as he jounced up and down in the saddle. He wondered grimly what the deputy had found and hoped against hope that Hughes and Worthy wouldn’t collide. He needed to be out here, on his way to Horsforth, but he needed to be back in the city, too, taking care of his business there.