Andrew Pepper - Kill-Devil and Water

‘Aye, they told you right.’ McQuillan put his hands up to his eyes to protect them from the sun. He was a disconcertingly short man with a wobbling chin that disappeared into the folds of fat under his neck.

‘Belfast,’ Pyke said.

‘Sorry?’

‘You’re originally from Belfast, aren’t you?’

‘So I am.’ McQuillan stopped what he was doing and looked at Pyke. ‘How in God’s name did ye know that?’

‘I was there about ten years ago. It’s not a brogue you can easily forget.’

‘People here in London often mistake me for a Scotsman. No one’s ever guessed I’m from Belfast.’

‘Am I right in thinking you docked here on about the twenty-third of last month?’

‘The twenty-fourth.’ McQuillan glanced up at the sky. ‘And if this breeze holds, we’ll be sailing tomorrow or the day after.’

‘Back to the West Indies?’

‘Jamaica.’ Lines appeared on his forehead. ‘Mind if I ask why you’re so interested in my ship?’

‘I’m interested in one or possibly two passengers you brought with you from Jamaica. Mary Edgar and Arthur Sobers.’ He noted the lines in the captain’s forehead deepen. ‘I can tell from your reaction you know who I’m talking about.’

‘I’m sorry?’ McQuillan said, squinting.

‘Mary Edgar and Arthur Sobers. She’s a mulatto, he’s black.’

‘Am I supposed to know them?’

‘I suspect you’ve been warned about speaking about them.’ When McQuillan didn’t say anything, Pyke added, ‘Was it Rowbottom who approached you, by any chance? You see, he’s already told me everything he knows so I don’t think he’d mind if you talked to me.’

‘And why would he do that?’ McQuillan asked cautiously.

‘Because I held a knife to his throat and told him that unless he did, I’d slit it.’ It was gamble, telling him this, but Pyke didn’t think that a seafaring man like McQuillan would have much time for Rowbottom.

For a while, McQuillan stared at him, as if trying to make sense of what he’d said, but then, all of a sudden, he broke into a loud laugh. ‘I’d like to have seen that, surely I would.’ Then he seemed to remember his instructions and his eyes glazed over. ‘So what is it you want to know?’

‘Did Rowbottom ever tell you why you weren’t supposed to talk to anyone about Mary Edgar or Arthur Sobers?’

The captain shook his head.

‘Mary Edgar’s dead. She was murdered, strangled. Her body was found a few days ago near the Ratcliff Highway.’

From his reaction, Pyke could tell this was news to McQuillan. It was as though the wind had been kicked from his stomach.

‘Aye, she came with us from Falmouth,’ he said eventually. ‘Her and the other fellow, Sobers.’

‘Why? I mean, what reason did they have for wanting to come to London?’

McQuillan shrugged. ‘She didn’t say and I didn’t ask her.’ He waited for a moment and added, ‘I was told by an attorney in Falmouth, Michael Pemberton, to look after her and keep my crew away from her. I got the impression from him that she was spoken for, if you know what I mean.’

‘But not by Pemberton?’

McQuillan just shrugged. ‘I don’t know.’

‘And Sobers?’

‘What about him?’

‘How well did they seem to know each other?’

McQuillan considered this. ‘They knew one another, that’s for sure, but I wouldn’t say they were lovers. They didn’t share a cabin. In spite of his size, he seemed in awe of her. He deferred to her, rather than the other way around.’

‘What else can you tell me?’

The captain sighed. ‘Not a great deal. Like I said, they didn’t reveal too much. I didn’t ask. I was glad to have him onboard, though. He was strong and willing to work.’

‘And her?’

McQuillan didn’t answer him immediately. ‘Mind if I speak bluntly?’

‘Be my guest.’

‘To be honest, I couldn’t work her out. Most of the time, she’d keep herself to herself. No trouble at all. But with a little rum in her, she was a different person.’

‘What kind of person?’

‘Devious, I’d say. Reckoned she had special powers.’ He paused. ‘There’s an old slave religion…’

‘Obeah,’ Pyke said, interrupting.

‘You’ve heard of it?’ McQuillan seemed surprised.

‘It’s a kind of witchcraft.’

The captain nodded. ‘She reckoned she could commune with spirits. I didn’t believe her for a second but this fellow, Sobers, he was terrified of her.’ He licked his lips. ‘I didn’t mind it, just the two of them chanting away. But then some of the crew started to consult her, about old lovers they wanted her to curse, that kind of thing, so I had to put my foot down.’

‘And how did she respond?’

‘She’d just mimic my voice and laugh in my face. She was a good mimic, I’ll say that for her.’ McQuillan waited for a moment. ‘She was educated, all right, and a lot of the time she was perfectly fine. But she was a tough one, that’s for sure. I’d say she knew what she wanted and she knew how to get it, too.’

‘Was there anyone on the ship apart from Sobers she became friendly with?’ If one of the crew had developed an unhealthy interest in her, it was possible they might have followed her into the city.

McQuillan must have sensed Pyke’s line of thinking. ‘Look,’ he said, quickly, ‘I know what you’re thinking and the answer’s no. Sobers wouldn’t let any of the crew near her and I told my lads if I caught any of ’em within ten feet of her, they’d be flogged and thrown into the brig for the rest of the journey.’

‘Ten weeks at sea, perhaps longer, a beautiful woman on the ship. You can see how it might affect someone.’ Pyke waited. ‘For all I know, perhaps even you might have been tempted.’

McQuillan gave him a wary stare. ‘Perhaps you’re misunderstanding me. She might’ve liked the attention but she was educated, and in spite of her colour, she looked down on us, like we weren’t good enough for her. Any of the men tried to do anything more ’n look at her, she would’ve come screaming to me in a second.’

‘And perhaps you let her cry on your shoulder?’ Pyke said it but somehow he couldn’t see it.

McQuillan just laughed. ‘Have you seen the state of me? You think she’d have given me a second look?’ But this time, there was something in his eyes that made Pyke think otherwise.

Still, he nodded, deciding to let it go for the time being. ‘Did she say anything about her plans when she got to London?’

‘Not that I can recall.’

‘But she must have said something. Ten weeks at sea is a long time.’

‘She did ask a lot of questions about London; whether it was as cold and dangerous as she’d been told,’ McQuillan said, frowning. ‘I got the impression she was planning to settle here.’

‘I understand,’ Pyke said, frustrated. ‘But I suppose what I’m asking is whether she had any specific questions about particular parts of the city.’

McQuillan scratched his chin. ‘Not exactly, but she did mention Mayfair a few times, wanted to know what kind of a place it was.’

Mayfair? Why had she asked about Mayfair and then taken a room on the Ratcliff Highway?

‘Did she say why she was interested in Mayfair or whether she knew anyone who lived there?’

‘I don’t know.’ McQuillan thought about it for a moment. ‘But what I do remember was what happened when we docked. There was a carriage waiting for her by the quayside. I thought she’d be pleased that someone had come to meet her but this fellow and her had a right to-do in front of the carriage. She didn’t want to go with him and told him that in so many words. She had a tongue on her, that’s for sure. But he was insistent and in the end she agreed to go with him.’