Paul Doherty: The Gallows Murders

The chief hangman stirred. Where is the proof for all this, Master Daunbey? Some of it is true but-'

'Oh, the proof will come,' Benjamin whispered. 'Suffice it to say that eventually you knew we had discovered Sakker's involvement. You became fearful about your old acquaintance, Greene, now calling himself Dr Quicksilver. Sakker is warned. He visits him in disguise and cuts his throat. He then returns to the Tower. But by now you have decided that Sakker's usefulness is finished. The game is becoming too dangerous and, with the crossbow you keep in your room, you put a bolt through his neck.' Benjamin pushed back his chair. 'John Mallow, the King's torturers will elicit the full truth. I am finished with you. Master Vetch, call the guard! Have him taken away! These matters are finished!'

‘You are wrong!' Mallow cried. ‘Yes, my name is Dighton, but Sakker was no friend of mine. I found no seals.' He swallowed hard. 'All I wanted was to hide from the past.'

'Enough!' Benjamin retorted. The King wanted the villain found and I have done it! Take him away!'

For a while there was confusion and chaos. Vetch grabbed Mallow and hustled him to the door. The chief hangman protested his innocence even as he was bundled down the corridor. Benjamin went to the doorway.

'In the closest dungeon, Master Vetch!' he called out. 'You are to stay on guard personally and not leave him. Do you understand? He is to be fed and well looked after, and not hurt until the King's pleasure is known.'

The rest of the hangmen, Ragusa trailing behind, also left: the revelations about their master had clearly shaken them.

'Sir Edward, may I borrow some writing implements?' my master asked.

Kemble nodded. Benjamin went across to the desk and wrote two notes which he quickly sealed. 'Master Spurge!'

The surveyor, now eager to please, trotted across. ‘You are to take this to the King at Windsor. Commandeer any barge or boat you wish!'

Spurge quickly agreed and, puffed up with his newly conferred importance, hurried from the room. Benjamin turned to the constable.

"Now, Sir Edward, please take this letter to the under-sheriff, Master Pelleter, in Catte Street. Tell him Sakker is dead and the murderer unmasked. I will meet him and his daughter Miranda for supper within the hour.'

‘Kemble took it without demur and, clasping Benjamin's hand, shook it firmly. 'Master Daunbey, the King will be pleased. You will mention my name?’ 'Of course!' Once Kemble had gone, Benjamin crossed the room and slammed the door behind him. 'Master, is it finished?' I asked.

Benjamin went across and filled two goblets of wine. 'No, Roger, it's only just beginning. Come with me!'

We went out into the deserted gallery. From below we could hear shouts and cries as the news began to spread. Benjamin took me further down the long gallery: we stopped half-way. 'Look at the wall!' my master ordered.

I did so: it was covered by wooden wainscoting or panelling, each square neatly carved in the linen fashion. 'I see a wall covered by wooden panelling,' I exclaimed.

'Now step back, Roger. The light is poor, but study the centre panels.'

I did so, recalling that secret room I had found at Windsor. I kept walking back. 'Do you see anything amiss?' Benjamin asked.

At first I didn't, but then I noticed how some of the panelling was more darkly stained. As I squinted through the gloom, Benjamin moved a torch up against the woodwork.

'Undershaft!' I exclaimed. 'The drawing his wife gave us.' I pointed. 'Look, Master, some of the panels are painted darker than the rest and form the letter "‘T’, What's behind there?' I asked.

‘I don't know,' Benjamin replied. 'But I have been outside, and there's a good stretch of masonry between that panelling and the end of the building.' 'A secret chamber?' I asked.

'Perhaps,' Benjamin replied. 'But, before you ask, why we don't break in? There's someone we have to meet.' We went and sat on a window-seat.

Benjamin pointed to the panelling. That's what Undershaft saw,' he explained. 'Somewhere in there is a secret lever which releases a hidden door. On the night of the King's birthday party, I suspect Undershaft saw that door being opened. The perpetrator behind all this villainy realised his mistake, but in the gloom he couldn't decide which hangman it was.'

I stared back along the gallery. Benjamin was right. Daylight had faded, only a few torches were lit. It would be difficult to distinguish anyone's features if they were standing at the top of the stairs. At night, it would be nigh impossible, particularly if Undershaft had been dressed in his mask and hood. 'Now Undershaft,' Benjamin continued ‘was probably intrigued.' He lowered his voice to a whisper. 'A carpenter by trade, he drew that picture and wondered where the secret lever was concealed. Of course, Undershaft himself had a great deal to hide. He did not want to be caught prying in other men's affairs, so he let the matter be.'

'But the story you told in there, about Sakker being Allardyce and then later disguised as a labourer?'

'Oh, that's true enough,' Benjamin replied. 'Don't forget, Roger, troops from the Tower were used by Pelleter to seize the Sakker gang. I suspect someone sent a warning to Robert and he escaped.' Benjamin rubbed his lips. 'And I wonder what happened to Allardyce's predecessor as clerk of stores? Did he meet with some unfortunate accident? I am sure that if we made inquiries, we would find Allardyce was a bachelor with few friends and no family.' He paused to collect his thoughts. ‘Mind you, Allardyce was merely coincidental to the plot. Sooner or later, Sakker would have arrived at the Tower in some guise or other.' Benjamin glanced down the gallery. 'The rest was as I said. Sakker came here as Allardyce. A small mistake was made on the King's birthday, but Sakker didn't mind: he'd already sworn vengeance against the hangmen. Undershaft and the rest were going to die anyway.' 'And did Sakker fake his own death?'

'Oh yes, Ragusa is old, infirm and drunk as a sot. She wouldn't know if a man was alive or dead. Once the body was covered in a sheet, she'd trot off and the exchange was made. Sakker was now free to publish his letters at St Paul's Westminster or Cheapside. He also laid that trail of gunpowder in St Paul's when he seized the gold. He used that secret entrance into the Tower, and his disguise as a labourer, to slip back in to confer with his accomplice, as well as to launch that murderous attack on you, Hellbane and Wormwood. A man of shadows, Master Sakker. A good archer, he would know from his accomplice in the Tower where the real danger lay: that's why he pursued and tried to kill us.' 'But who,' I cried, ‘was Sakker's real accomplice?'

'Well, Master Mallow lies under arrest.' Benjamin replied.

'But, we have no real proof against him! Not a shred of evidence. We haven't found the seals or the King's gold!'

‘Precisely,' Benjamin replied. 'And that's why we are waiting here.' He heard a sound and tugged at my sleeve. 'And the real villain approaches.'

We tiptoed round a corner, past the panelling and down a passageway. We stood in the shadows, watching that piece of panelling still illuminated by a torch fixed above it. We, of course, were cloaked in darkness. I just prayed the person coming soft-footed along the gallery we'd just left was not some guard or servant. I saw a dark figure enter the pool of light thrown by the torch. The man turned, looking over his shoulder, and then quickly pressed a small button concealed in the woodwork. A panel opened like a small window. The figure put his hand inside and part of the wainscoting came away, swinging back quietly on oiled hinges. The man then took a key out of his pocket, inserted it into the lock, and was pushing the secret door open when Benjamin raced quietly towards him. The man, however, stepped back and looked towards us. I glimpsed a podgy face, a hand going towards his belt, but Benjamin was already on to him, sending him crashing back to the floor. 'Roger, for the love of God help!' he called.