Andrew Pepper - The Detective Branch

‘Tell me something,’ Pyke said, staring straight ahead. ‘When you were living at number twenty-eight Broad Street, did you ever come across a man called Morris Keate?’

‘Keate?’

‘He was a night-soil man. He was also fascinated by the Devil, I believe. He might have gone to see Brendan Malloy, to be exorcised.’

‘No, I don’t think I ever met anyone by that name.’

‘And you don’t remember Malloy mentioning him?’

Sarah shook her head. Briefly Pyke told her about the two boys who’d been killed five years earlier. She told him she remembered the murders and asked why they were of concern to him now.

‘Morris Keate was tried and executed for killing those boys.’

‘And you don’t think he did it?’ Sarah asked.

‘One of the boys, Stephen Clough, was found nailed to the door of a stable that Malloy used as a venue for mass.’ Pyke hesitated and then told her that a City alderman had been crucified a couple of weeks earlier, on exactly the same date that Clough had died, and that Guppy had been murdered in the same manner, and on the same date, as the first boy.

‘I still don’t understand what any of this has to do with either Brendan or Druitt,’ Sarah said, when Pyke had finished.

‘Maybe nothing, but Malloy went to see the rector earlier this year, to warn him that Druitt had foreseen his death. And don’t forget that the surplice the rector was wearing on the night he was killed turned up at number twenty-eight Broad Street. When I questioned Druitt about all of this, he professed ignorance at first but then, as I was leaving, he told me I should pay attention to the date of the rector’s death.’

Sarah paused for a moment. ‘So you think Druitt knows who killed the rector?’

‘I’d say he wants me to believe there’s a connection between Guppy’s death and the murder of the boys.’

‘But why?’

‘I have no idea.’ Pyke shook his head. ‘Part of me thinks he’s just trying to cause mischief.’

‘That sounds like him.’ Sarah pulled her coat a little tighter around her shoulders. ‘And the other part?’

‘Like I said, I don’t really know what his interest is. But one thing is certain: if I’m to unravel any of this, I need to find and talk to Brendan Malloy.’

‘I thought you said you’d arrested him?’

‘They let him go while I was in Suffolk and now I can’t find him. He moved out of the room he was renting in Soho.’

A faint smile spread across Sarah’s lips. ‘So there is something I can do, then.’

‘Yes… I suppose so.’

A loose strand of hair fell down into Sarah’s face and she tucked it behind her ear. ‘I did live with him for more than a year. I might have a better chance of finding him than you, Detective Inspector.’

‘Call me Pyke. Please.’

When Pyke proposed they turn around and head back towards the house, Sarah Scott didn’t object. There was a gas-lamp outside Pyke’s house and they stopped under it. ‘Will you come in, for a hot drink or a bite to eat?’ He waited and added, ‘If you need a bed for the night, we have a spare room…’

In the gaslight, her soft skin was the colour of butter. ‘That’s very kind of you but I have a place to stay.’

‘Perhaps you’d like to meet my son,’ Pyke said, looking up at Felix’s bedroom window. A candle was burning behind the drawn curtains.

‘Another time, maybe,’ she said apologetically. ‘At the moment, I don’t think it’s such a good idea.’

‘How will I know where to contact you?’

Sarah pulled up her scarf and tied it around her head. ‘I’ll contact you when I’ve found Brendan.’

Pyke moved quickly to grab her hand and dragged her into an embrace. Her lips were cold and soft but she didn’t push him away. In fact they parted just a little and she gave him a short, breathy kiss that was both passionate and withheld, as though she hadn’t quite decided what to do. He slid his arm around her back and pulled her in tighter, but just when he felt her begin to yield, she pushed him away, a startled look on her face, her eyes unreadable.

‘Not yet,’ she mouthed. ‘Not like this.’ She pulled the scarf back over her head and hurried off down the street.

Felix was in the living room, curled up on the sofa, reading a book. Copper was asleep at his feet. This time, Felix did not attempt to conceal the book when Pyke entered the room. Instead he held it up and said, ‘ The Confessions of St Augustine. Martin gave it to me.’ It took Pyke a few moments to work out he was referring to Jakes.

‘Did you go to St Matthew’s after school again today?’

Felix didn’t bother looking up. ‘Martin said it would be all right. I helped out around the place. He said he was glad to have me.’ The way Felix said it made it seem like a barbed remark. ‘By the way, the pigs were out again. Mr Leech came here to report it. He was angry. One of them, Alice, I think, had turned his lawn into a quagmire.’

‘How could they get out? I’ve just fixed the sty.’

‘You know there’s not enough room for them all.’

Sighing, Pyke went over to the window and peered into the darkness. ‘I’ll go out there and rescue Alice, then…’

‘We already did,’ Felix said, gesturing down at Copper.

Pyke sat down at the other end of the sofa and patted Copper on the head. The ageing mastiff looked up and wagged his tail. His formerly black muzzle had turned white. It was a strange life, the one he had made for Felix, Pyke supposed: the fact that it was just the two of them now, that the boy didn’t have a mother, someone to nurture him, nor any brothers and sisters. It was one of Pyke’s many regrets, both for himself and for Felix, that he hadn’t had more children.

‘What kind of things does Jakes get you to do?’

‘This afternoon, I helped Kitty sweep the floor in the church and then we polished the brass.’

‘You seem to be getting on well with her.’

Felix looked up from his book. ‘She’s nice. Quiet. Doesn’t say too much.’

‘She’s attractive, too.’ Pyke noticed his son squirm. ‘In a quiet, bookish sort of way.’

‘She’s ten years old than me, Pyke.’

Pyke had often wondered whether Felix had lost his virginity. At fourteen he was certainly old enough to have lain with a woman, but Pyke suspected that he hadn’t. For a start, he hadn’t demonstrated much of an interest in the opposite sex. Often Pyke had wondered whether it was one of his responsibilities as a father to educate his son in matters of the heart. Still, no one, least of all Godfrey, had said anything to him. Pyke had just known, and while the first few times had been a disappointment, he had persevered and eventually learned how to enjoy it.

‘It’s the quiet ones you need to watch out for.’

Felix put down the book and gave him a hard stare. ‘ Pyke.’ He said it so loudly Copper looked up and barked. In the end they both started to laugh.

‘So what about the Confessions? Are you enjoying it?’

‘Enjoying wouldn’t be the right word.’ Felix thought about it.

‘He’s quite candid about his sins.’

‘Some wouldn’t consider lust to be a sin,’ Pyke replied. ‘St Augustine certainly seems to have enjoyed himself before his conversion.’

‘You’ve read the book?’

‘A while ago,’ Pyke said, nodding. ‘I have a copy of it in my study.’

‘He talks about his inability to remember all the sins he committed as a boy. I sometimes feel like that.’ Felix paused, as though he’d already admitted too much.

‘Have you…’ Pyke felt the words catch in his throat and swallowed a few times. ‘Have you ever…’

‘Have I ever what?’

Pyke inspected his son’s face for some sign that he knew what Pyke was talking about. ‘Been with a woman?’