Andrew Pepper - The Detective Branch

Pyke shrugged. Whicher was right. It was probably just a coincidence, but in his years as an investigator Pyke had learned not to trust coincidences. Still, rather than pursue it, he asked, ‘So what did you make of all that, then?’

‘The widow, or the two policemen turning up when they did?’

‘Both.’

Whicher shut his eyes briefly. ‘I don’t know. The widow certainly didn’t want to answer any of your questions.’

‘An apparently great man dies; a man perhaps even destined to be the Lord Mayor. One might have expected the funeral to be an occasion befitting his office.’

‘And in spite of what the coroner told me, it isn’t usual for him to rule on the cause of death himself.’

‘But is it something we should be concerned about?’

‘It’s unusual. You were quite right about that. But maybe the old girl was telling the truth. Maybe the family saw no reason to wait.’

They had made a little progress along the King’s Road when Pyke made his decision. He didn’t tell Whicher about it but slid down the glass, banged on the roof and told the driver to turn around and take them to the London and Westminster cemetery.

Whicher looked at him and shook his head. ‘If you’re thinking of doing what I suspect you might be…’

‘What? You’re telling me you’re not the slightest bit intrigued?’

‘Go to a magistrate, get an order of court, and I’ll be right there behind you.’

‘Really? Even in these circumstances, how likely do you think it is that such an order will be granted?’

‘What you’re proposing is a crime. It’s grave-robbing and it carries a sentence of up to fifteen years’ imprisonment.’

‘I’m going to the cemetery; you can do as your conscience dictates.’ Pyke settled into the cushioned seat.

Whicher folded his arms and looked out of the window.

As the wind changed direction, the temperature rose a little and turned the snow into slush. The ground itself was still hard but the air was damp rather than cold and the sleet now fell as rain. In the dark and with no moonlight to guide them, it took almost an hour to find the family’s mausoleum. The mist swirled around them, gravestones drifting in and out of sight. Even though Whicher remained silent throughout their search, Pyke could tell he was agitated. Apart from the sound of the wind and the rustling of the branches, the graveyard was silent and Pyke was glad of Whicher’s company, even if the man had no desire to be there. It wasn’t that Pyke believed in spirits or ghosts, but he knew the tricks that the mind could play in these situations. Unsurprisingly, given the size of the Hogarth residence, the mausoleum was one of the largest and most elaborate in the cemetery, but it was also one of the most fortified. Pyke rattled the steel chain, which was fed through the door handles and secured with a shiny, brass padlock.

Whicher backed away and held up his hands. ‘I’m sorry, Pyke, but I can’t be party to this. I didn’t think I was a superstitious man but I do believe the dead should be left to rest in peace.’

Pyke already had the picklocks in his hand. He noticed his fingers were shaking, more from the cold than because he was frightened.

‘I’m not going to stand here while you openly break the law. If you’re really going to do it, I’d prefer not to be a witness.’

‘Jack, just stay for a while. Please. I might need you.’

Whicher dug his hands into his pockets and shook his head. ‘I’m sorry, Pyke. I just can’t do it.’

‘Then go.’

With a mixture of frustration and admiration, Pyke watched Whicher trudge off into the night until he was alone in the cemetery. For a few moments, he stood there and watched the inky darkness, sensing that perhaps Whicher had changed his mind. Something caught his eye and he turned around suddenly. Was there someone out there? In the long grass away to his left Pyke thought he heard something move, a rat or a rabbit perhaps. That seemed to relax him and he told himself again that he wasn’t a superstitious man. What was it that Godfrey had said? When you go, you’re gone. Pyke repeated this to himself a few times.

Holding his hands steady, he set to work on the padlock, his skin exposed to the cold. It took him ten minutes, and by the time the lock sprung open he felt much calmer and was breathing normally. Unravelling the length of chain from around the handles, he opened the oak door and stepped into the cool chamber, which was barely high enough for him to stand up straight. His heart started to beat a little more quickly. As much as it was true that he wasn’t superstitious, he didn’t relish the prospect of coming face to face with an embalmed corpse. Hesitating, he lit a match and held it up; there were two coffins visible but it was clear which one was newer. The polished walnut glistened in the flare of the match-light. Pyke waited for the light to die out, put down the box and tried to prise the lid from the top of the coffin, only to discover it had been nailed shut. In the end, he had to use a stone to bash it open. The air suddenly smelled of embalming fluid. Now his eyes had adjusted to the near darkness, he could see that the corpse was fully clothed; for some reason he had expected Hogarth to be naked. He took one of the limp arms, undid the cuffs and rolled back the sleeves. With his other hand, he struck a match and waited. Pyke saw it immediately; the blue-black hole in the centre of the dead man’s hand. His stomach lurched. Quickly he inspected the other hand and saw the same mark. When Pyke unlaced the dead man’s shoes and pulled down his socks, he found similar holes at the top of his feet. But the most visceral proof that Charles Hogarth had been murdered still awaited him. When Pyke tore open the man’s pristine white shirt, there was a gaping hole in the middle of the stomach, as though someone had tried to disembowel him.

Heart thumping, Pyke was fitting the lid back on to the coffin when he heard someone or something moving outside. ‘Jack? Is that you?’

When no one answered, Pyke remained perfectly still and listened. The only sound was the wind whispering through the trees. He emerged from the mausoleum and looked around him. Something moved in the bushes to his right. Pyke felt his stomach tighten. He moved towards the foliage, wishing he had his pistol or at least a knife. As he neared the spot, he heard another sound, and this time he shouted, his voice echoing around the deserted graveyard. It must have been some kind of animal because there was a rustling of wet leaves and then silence.

Back at the mausoleum, Pyke wrapped the chain around the door handles and snapped the padlock back into place, then retraced his path through the cemetery to the spot where the carriage was waiting. Whicher wasn’t there. Pyke told the driver to take him at once to Scotland Yard. He would return to the cemetery in the morning with a warrant signed by a magistrate.

As he relaxed, he thought about what he’d just seen and what it meant. Charles Hogarth had been killed in the same way as Stephen Clough, and yet someone had gone to quite extraordinary lengths to cover it up. Pyke would go to the coroner in the morning and force the truth out of him. The fact that he had lied would be easy enough to prove, once the body was produced; and then there was the porter at Hogarth’s place of work who had allegedly found the body. He would also have to be brought in and questioned.

Half an hour later, the carriage dropped Pyke off in Scotland Yard. He noticed that a candle was burning in one of the Detective Branch’s rooms. A porter let him into the building and told Pyke that there was a boy waiting for him in his office. He explained that his shift had just started and he didn’t know the boy’s name. Entering the office, Pyke saw Lockhart before he saw Felix. His son was sitting listlessly in one of the chairs. Lockhart looked up at Pyke, relief on his face. ‘Your son was already here when I arrived. I thought I’d better wait with him. We didn’t know where you were…’