“I’m no longer quite so young as you are, my boy,” March said. “And Inspector Day can’t go because he’s in charge of this investigation. It would be a waste of his time.”
Hammersmith looked at Day and an entire conversation occurred without either of them saying a word. Hammersmith pursed his lips, raised his left eyebrow. Day shrugged at him. He didn’t want Hammersmith to go, but March’s logic was sound. Hammersmith sniffed and kicked at a stone in the street.
“Fine,” he said at last. “I’ll be back with you in an hour. Where will I find you?”
“Inspector March and I are going underground.”
“Do you know how many miles of tunnels are down there? It would take us days to get through it all,” March said. “And just on the word of this bloody convict?”
“I told you what’s true,” Napper said.
“Wasn’t talking to you.”
“I can’t very well expect to find you underground,” Hammersmith said.
A large crowd of passersby had gathered at a respectful distance, watching the police and the filthy little man trussed in bloody canvas. Napper clearly enjoyed the attention and was performing some sort of jig. The tea shop proprietor was still hanging halfway out his window, listening to their conversation, perhaps hoping one of them would come back inside and help him tidy the place up. Day waved at him.
“Where’s the nearest entry to the tunnels under us?”
“I’m supposed to know that?”
“I can tell you,” a heavyset man said. He was wearing a hat two sizes too small for him and carrying a broken umbrella. “There’s a church right across there.” He pointed vaguely at some spot in the distance. “Under it’s a catacombs.”
“How do you know that?”
“I work there. Play the organ at mass.”
“What’s the name of the church?”
“St John of God, sir.”
Day turned back to Hammersmith. “Meet us at St John of God. We’ll nose about and then come back to the door in an hour. If there’s any sign that someone is down there, we’ll all go down together.”
“Don’t deal with anything on your own,” Hammersmith said. He held up a warning finger. “Wait for me if there’s anything suspicious. Promise.”
“I’ll wait for you, Nevil.”
Hammersmith nodded once and pushed Napper into the back of the van. The prisoner was still hopping about, amusing the crowd, and he tripped, sprawled facedown on the floor of the wagon. Hammersmith lifted Napper’s legs and shoved forward, propelling him all the way in on his belly.
“Here,” Day said. He held out his lantern. “You’ll need this.”
“Further insurance that you’ll stay aboveground,” Hammersmith said.
“I’ll stay away from the dark until you find me again.”
Hammersmith took the lantern. He jumped up into the wagon and closed the doors behind him. The boy shouted “haw” and cracked the reins and the wagon lurched away from the curb. It rolled down the street, the horse straining against the immense weight of its load, turned the corner, and was gone.
Day turned to the fat man with the little hat. “Will you show us the way to St John of God?”
The man nodded, his face bright and eager. He waved the broken umbrella over his head and led the way down the street as if he were at the head of a parade. Day smiled at the tea shop proprietor, motioned to Adrian March, and followed the fat organ player as the crowd began to break up behind them.
28
There were fugitives loose in the city, but Constable Rupert Winthrop was not out there chasing them down. He was stuck in the foyer of a private home on Regent’s Park Road, sitting on an uncomfortable chair and sipping tea. His stomach was growling and he wanted a pastry, but there was no one else in the house except a very pregnant lady, and Rupert didn’t want to bother her.
He had tried watching the door like a hawk, just staring at it. It made him feel diligent and in charge of the situation, but that feeling had passed quickly. There was no situation. Everybody else was out there running down villains, and Rupert had apparently done something wrong because he was doing nothing. He couldn’t figure out why Sergeant Kett should be unhappy with him. He’d spent the last hour thinking over every exchange he’d ever had with the sergeant, but there was nothing. It must have been something personal, something he’d had no idea would offend. The only thing to do was try to get back in Kett’s good graces as soon as he possibly could.
He was puzzling over just how to accomplish that when he heard a woman scream upstairs. He dropped his cup of tea, which broke on the floor. Tea spattered everywhere, and Rupert wasted several seconds by dropping to his knees and trying to gather the shards of china into his palm. A second scream made him drop the shards, some of which split into even tinier sharp bits, and jump back to his feet. He rushed to the steps and stared up into the darkness. He looked back at the door again, the door he was supposed to be guarding, then took a cautious step up. He heard whimpering somewhere above and abandoned caution, taking the stairs three at a time. He didn’t wait at the top of the stairs for his eyes to adjust, and so he ran into a wall and caromed off of it, then oriented himself and walked down the hallway, stopping outside the lady’s bedroom. He rapped on the door, already embarrassed and unsure.
“Ma’am?”
A moment’s silence. Then: “I’m fine.”
Rupert tugged at his earlobe and sniffed. What if someone else was in the bedroom? What if someone had climbed up from the outside and through the window and had a knife to Claire Day’s throat and was whispering in her ear, telling her to say that she was all right?
“Ma’am,” he said, “can I open the door?”
“I’d rather you didn’t.”
“But are you really all right?”
“Yes.” Her voice was small and far away, muffled by the thick door. She sounded like a little girl. “I mean, no. I don’t know. Where’s Fiona? I want Fiona.”
Rupert stepped closer to the door and put his lips almost against it. He wanted to push himself through the grain of the wood and be able to see whether Mrs Day needed his help.
“She went to get the doctor for you,” he said.
“She left me?”
“Only for a bit. I’m here, ma’am. Really, anything I can do…”
“Just leave me alone.”
“Are you sure? I could—”
“I said leave me alone!”
Rupert pulled his head back away from the door as if he’d been struck. “I’m sorry, ma’am.” He spoke quietly and wasn’t sure she could hear him, but then she answered.
“I’m sorry, too, Constable.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Rupert?”
“Yes, ma’am?”
“I don’t wish to offend you, but would you please leave me alone?”
“Of course.”
“And please send Fiona to me as soon as she returns?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“She is going to return?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Thank you, Rupert. And I’m terribly sorry. You seem like a nice person.”
“Yes, ma’am. I try. Please don’t hesitate… I mean, if you need anything…”
“Thank you, Rupert.”
He nodded, though of course she couldn’t see him. He retreated to the stairs and down and went to his chair in the foyer, but he didn’t sit. He looked back up at the top of the stairs where they disappeared into shadow and then he looked at the dangerous puddle of tea and china that he had made on the floor. He clucked his tongue and went in search of a broom and dustpan.
There was something useful to do at last.
29
By the time they reached the church, the fat man with the tiny hat had grown nervous. They stopped at the edge of the church grounds and the man pointed across to a rear door.