Chris Nickson - Come the Fear

‘Mr Nottingham,’ he said, extending his hand. ‘Sit down, sit down. Do you want something to drink? A glass of wine? Small beer?’

‘No, thank you.’ The Constable settled in the chair and looked at the other man.

‘So what can I do for you?’ Buck asked. ‘Although I’ve a feeling I know,’ he added with a small smile.

‘The thief taker.’

‘I thought so,’ he said with satisfaction. ‘Our friend Mr Walton.’

‘No friend of yours, I’d imagine,’ Nottingham said.

‘You’re right there,’ Buck admitted wryly. ‘If I were in business — which I’m not,’ he added cautiously, ‘he’d be taking trade away from me with his little scheme, and I wouldn’t care for that at all. You know about the robbery up by the Red House?’

The Constable nodded.

‘There are rumours there was another last night.’

‘I hadn’t heard that,’ the Constable admitted.

‘People talk,’ Buck said idly. ‘So nothing’s been reported to you?’

‘No.’

‘Which means they’re relying on Mr Walton to retrieve their goods.’ He frowned.

‘That would touch an honest business in the pocket,’ the Constable said, and Buck glanced up sharply.

‘And it could turn people away from the law.’

Nottingham knew that. If he didn’t hear that a crime had been committed he couldn’t find the people who’d done it. They could conduct things any way they wanted in London and elsewhere, but he wouldn’t stand for it in Leeds.

‘What are we going to do about it?’ he asked.

‘Our friend could just disappear,’ Buck suggested thoughtfully. ‘It could be arranged easily enough.’

‘No,’ the Constable told him firmly. ‘I can’t condone murder, Joe. If he’s going, he needs to be discredited. Caught with stolen goods or arranging a robbery. We’ll do it the right way. It’ll discourage anyone else from trying the same thing.’

Buck smiled and nodded in acknowledgement. ‘Whatever you wish, Mr Nottingham.’

‘You know the thieves in Leeds.’

Buck raised his eyebrows. ‘Me?’

‘I’m not going to play words with you, Joe,’ the Constable told him, shaking his head slowly. ‘I need your help. What I’m saying is we need to work together on this. When you hear what’s going on, that someone’s been in a house and taken things, you tell me, and I’ll go after Walton.’

Buck sat quietly, hands steepled under his chin as he weighed the idea. The house was so quiet he could hear the longclock ticking softly in the hall.

‘And you’ll not come after me?’ he asked eventually.

‘I won’t. You have my word on it.’ He paused. ‘Not until all this is over, anyway.’

Buck gave a slow smile. ‘Anything more would have been too much to ask, wouldn’t it?’

‘Far too much, Joe,’ Nottingham agreed with a grin. ‘Now you’d better tell me about last night’s break in.’

‘All I know is one happened. I can find out for you.’

‘Do that,’ the Constable said, ‘and send word to me.’

‘I don’t want you saying anything about this arrangement, Mr Nottingham,’ Buck warned him. ‘It wouldn’t look good for me if people heard.’

‘Nor for me,’ the Constable said as he rose. ‘Remember that, Joe. I need it quiet, too. The fewer people who know, the better.’

‘There’ll only be me and Henry.’

‘And I’ll tell Mr Sedgwick. You know you can trust him.’

‘Yes.’

‘Do we have an agreement?’

Buck stood and shook his hand. ‘We do, Mr Nottingham. For now, at least.’

He returned to the jail with a feeling of satisfaction only to find a note summoning him to the mayor’s office. It had happened before, and he knew it would occur often enough again, but this was the first demand since John Douglas had taken office. He brushed the worst of the dust off his coat, straightened his old, stained stock, took a swig of ale and strode up Briggate.

The Moot Hall seemed hushed after the roar of the street, clerks moving quickly and quietly, the only sounds voices from behind thick wooden doors and the scratch of a quill on paper. He knocked on the mayor’s door at the end of the corridor and entered.

Douglas stood at the window, his back to the room, staring at the people below. When he turned his face was drawn.

‘It’s a big responsibility looking after all of them,’ he said slowly. ‘I don’t think I realized it before I agreed to all this.’

‘I can believe it,’ Nottingham said.

‘You know those quilts the women sew from scraps of fabric?’ he asked and the Constable nodded. ‘Running a city’s like that. You make one law, then another and another and you try to fit them all into a pattern. Be glad you just have the crime, Richard.’ He settled into his chair, the seat padded with a thick cushion. ‘I’m expected to look after everything. For the poor as well as the rich.’

The Constable waited. By now he was used to the way Douglas liked to air his thoughts. He liked the man, he was a good, honest mayor, one of the few he’d known whose concerns went beyond the merchants and business.

‘A couple of the aldermen have talked to me about this thief taker.’ He searched the desk and brought out a copy of the Mercury , the advertisement circled in ink.

‘I already know all about Mr Walton. One of your aldermen is already using his services.’

‘Oh?’ Douglas jerked his head up. ‘Who?’

‘Mr Ridgely had several things stolen from his house. I went and looked, but before I could do much he told me he’d been contacted and his items were being returned. Without a complaint there’s nothing more I can do.’

‘And you think the thief taker’s returning the property.’

‘I’m sure of it,’ Nottingham told him. ‘For a fee, of course. The only problem is that it’s legal.’ He glanced at Douglas. ‘If the aldermen are complaining, you should advise them to tell their friends not to use his services.’

Douglas nodded. ‘They hadn’t told me that.’

‘I’ve heard there’s been another burglary, too. That one hasn’t even been reported.’

They mayor stroked his chin. ‘So what are you doing about it, Richard? Legal or not, it has to stop.’

‘It’s in hand,’ the Constable assured him. ‘It might take a little time, but I’ll have Walton.’

‘We don’t want others following him here.’

‘They won’t.’

‘Good. I won’t ask what you plan to do.’

‘That might be best, your Worship,’ Nottingham said with a dark smile.

‘Just get the bugger out of here as quick as you can.’ He sighed and rubbed his cheeks. ‘I love this city, I don’t want people coming in and trying to ruin it.’

‘I won’t let them.’

‘I know you have no love for the men in power, Richard. Sometimes I can’t blame you. But this is where I grew up, too. We all want Leeds to grow rich.’

‘With the riches for some.’

‘The wealthier the city becomes, the more it helps everyone,’ the mayor countered.

The Constable cocked his head. ‘Perhaps.’

‘I’m not really made for all the connivances of politics,’ Douglas admitted. ‘At least in trade there’s an honesty to all the venality. You get in this and half the time they’re so sly that you don’t even think they’re carrying daggers until they’re buried deep in your back.’

‘Your year as mayor will finish soon. September’s only five months away.’

‘It can’t be soon enough for me. Believe me, I’ll walk out of this office and never look back, and good luck to William Fenton when he takes over.’

‘He’ll be the next mayor?’ Nottingham asked.

‘He will, and may he have great joy from it.’