Andrew Pepper - The Detective Branch

‘He’s been angry at me for a long time because my pigs keep escaping from their sty and ruining his garden.’

‘Good, so he can be discredited on the stand.’ Wells had moved seamlessly from being Pyke’s accuser to his advocate. ‘Perhaps we can talk about this fellow Sharp, then. You fought and arrested him earlier this year, apparently on suspicion of him having stolen the cross in the first place.’

Pyke looked across the table at Wells and nodded.

‘The Crown is going to try to claim that you and he were partners-in-crime. That the two of you arranged the theft from the archdeacon’s home together and planned to split the proceeds.’

Pyke knew Wells was taking a risk by telling him this. ‘But if that was true, why would I go to the effort of trying to arrest him? By doing so, I’d be laying myself open to his accusations.’

‘The Crown’s case is essentially that you decided to claim all of the spoils for yourself while putting the blame on Sharp. They will argue that you intended to kill Sharp before he got anywhere near a prison cell. They’ll call on the testimony of witnesses who saw you chase and fight with Sharp in an alleyway behind Field Lane. I’ve seen some of the statements: you’re variously described as an animal and a man hell-bent on murder. You get the idea.’

Pyke turned his mind back to the struggle. ‘He punched, kicked and stabbed me; I was fighting for my life.’

Wells smiled. ‘I know that. I’m just trying to tell you how the Crown’s lawyer is going to come at you.’

‘And I appreciate it, Walter. So what else have they got?’ He knew this couldn’t be the sum of their case against him.

‘After you failed to kill Sharp, the Crown is going to claim that you returned to the cells that night and finished him off; that you drugged and strangled him and then made it look like he’d hanged himself.’

Pyke nodded; he could see where this was going, and the potential danger he was in. ‘Even though I was two miles away at the time, injured, in St Bartholomew’s?’

‘They’ll claim that since you were well enough to leave your hospital bed the next day, you would have been well enough to have taken a cab from the hospital to Scotland Yard on the night that Sharp died.’

‘They have a witness, do they?’

Wells leaned forward over the desk, and whispered, ‘The gaoler, for a start. Apparently he’ll testify that he saw you go down into the cells on the night in question.’

‘So why did he wait this long to come forward; especially as he was dismissed from his position in the aftermath of Sharp’s death?’

‘I’m told he’ll claim he was too afraid of you to want to risk testifying against you.’

‘Is that it?’ Pyke suddenly felt a lot better about his prospects. The gaoler was a drunk and his testimony would be riddled with inconsistencies, and therefore be demolished in court.

But Wells’s expression hadn’t brightened. ‘I’m reliably told we have a man called Alfred Egan, too.’

An image of the slight, hatchet-faced fence he’d seen that night in the Red Lion flashed through his mind. Pyke knew immediately this was bad news: not only had Egan been in the cells at the time Sharp died; he would also be able to insinuate, from an insider’s perspective, that Pyke and Sharp were partners and that Pyke had done what the Crown were accusing him of. In effect, he could make their whole case. But like the gaoler, Egan hadn’t come forward with any of this at the time. More to the point, as a receiver of stolen goods with a criminal record, his testimony could not be treated as vouchsafe. A good lawyer would tear him apart on the stand.

‘Egan’s a fence. A common criminal.’

‘But he was there in the cells that night and he’s willing to testify that he saw you and that he heard you kill Sharp. He’s also going to confirm that you and Sharp were partners from the beginning.’

So there it was. Pyke had to admit that Pierce had done a good job. But the situation wasn’t devoid of hope. Admittedly, it did look bad for him, but the evidence against him wasn’t as strong as it first appeared. The credibility of the witnesses left a lot to be desired; the length of time since the summer played in his favour; and there was no proof that Sharp had, in fact, been killed. The coroner’s inquest had returned a verdict of suicide. The fact that the cross had been found in his garden was a mark against him, of course, but his neighbour’s testimony could be discounted because of their long history of animosity.

‘So what happens next?’

Wells took another pinch of snuff. ‘Well, the Crown’s lawyers feel they have sufficient evidence to move directly to trial. Of course, you have the right to a hearing and if you do decide to exercise this right, the various bits of evidence against you will be laid out. You can waive this right on condition that the Crown comes clean and tells you what they’ve got in their arsenal. In which case, they’ll tell you pretty much what I’ve just told you.’

Pyke tried to make sense of what Wells had just said. ‘You’re implying I’d be better off going straight to trial?’

‘Look, old man, it’s my guess that the trial will go ahead anyway. As I’ve just said, they have enough evidence to convince a magistrate. If you agree to waive your right to a pre-trial hearing, I can arrange for you to stay here. As we speak, I’m having someone prepare the old felons’ room, a coal fire, a proper mattress, food, drink — whatever you want, within reason, of course. I can also arrange for you to see visitors here, again within reason. If you have a pre-trial hearing, it’s very likely the magistrate will send you to Coldbath Fields and I won’t be able to do anything for you there. And the greeting that awaits you, as a policeman, won’t be the warmest.’

Pyke could certainly see the logic of what Wells was suggesting; how it would benefit him to remain where he was at Bow Street.

‘I’ll think about it, Walter,’ he said. ‘And thanks for everything you’ve done for me already.’

Wells gathered up the papers on the desk. ‘Hang in there, old man. We’ll find a way of beating Pierce yet.’

Pyke pondered what he should do next. Egan was the ace in their hand. All Pyke had to do was find a way of getting to him before the trial began.

True to Wells’s word, Pyke was transferred to the felons’ room later that afternoon and the space had been prepared just as Wells had promised. A coal fire was burning in the grate, a flock mattress, with bedlinen and blankets, had been pushed up against one of the walls, and a tray of food and drink — cold meats, cheese, fresh bread and a tankard of beer — had been left for him. With its barred window and metal-plated door, the felons’ room was still as impregnable as any of the cells, but, presumably at Wells’s insistence, Pyke’s leg-irons were removed, meaning he was free to move around.

Pyke’s first visitor was Felix. Pyke offered him the mattress but Felix said he’d prefer to stand. Proudly, he offered Pyke a hip-flask filled with gin which he’d smuggled past the guards.

‘Obviously I can’t ask him myself but I’d like you to go and stay with the Reverend Jakes, at least until the trial.’ Pyke paused. ‘Do you know if he has the room?’

‘I think so.’ Felix bowed his head, perhaps contemplating his future if Pyke didn’t earn his freedom.

‘Good. I’ll write to him and send a note to Mrs Booth. I’ll get her to look after Copper.’

‘Can’t I stay at the house, too?’

‘I think you’d be better off at the vicarage with Jakes and Kitty.’

Felix seemed torn and remained silent.

‘I also need you to do something very important for me,’ Pyke said a few moments later. He didn’t like the lad to see him in these circumstances, but there were practical things he needed Felix to do. In the past Pyke would have relied on his uncle for assistance but now he’d been forced to turn to his son. The gaping hole that Godfrey had left in his life, in both of their lives, was even more apparent than usual.