Justin Richards - The Death Collector

The first Eddie knew of anything amiss was when a pair of enormous arms wrapped themselves round him from behind and pulled him backwards. He kicked out at once, shouting and struggling. But one of the arms was positioned so that a huge, sweaty hand clamped over his mouth. Someone else was approaching him, and Eddie’s eyes widened. He hoped they would realise he was in trouble — help him or raise the alarm.

The street was in shadow, the sun already below the level of the buildings. The lamps had been lit, and as he approached Eddie, his potential rescuer’s face caught the light. The man was smiling horribly, and Eddie could clearly see the thin, raised scar that ran down the whole side of his face. Scarface — the man who had been shadowing the old man Eddie had tried to help.

‘I thought it might be you, from the description we were given,’ Scarface said, grabbing Eddie’s thrashing legs and lifting him up. The two men carried Eddie off into a narrow alleyway. ‘So nice to meet you again. Eddie, isn’t it?’ His voice was rough as gravel.

Scarface set Eddie’s feet down on the ground again, and the man holding Eddie from behind relaxed his grip slightly. Not enough for Eddie to have any hope of pulling free, but he could stretch round and see that it was ‘Sidekick’ — the man who had been with Scarface.

‘I’m sorry I got in your way,’ Eddie gasped as soon as the hand was removed from his mouth. ‘I can give you me day’s takings. To make amends.’

‘You hear that, Davey?’ Scarface ground out. ‘Very generous I’m sure.’ His face thrust close to Eddie’s, the scar gleaming. ‘But we don’t want money off you, oh no. You’ve got something far more valuable than money, haven’t you, Eddie the Dipper.’

Eddie swallowed. ‘Have I?’

‘Oh yes,’ Davey — the man holding him — said with a high-pitched chuckle. ‘Much more valuable, that’s right Mr Blade.’

Something caught the light as Scarface drew it out of his jacket. A knife. He angled it so that the reflected light shone in Eddie’s eyes. ‘Bet you’re wondering why I’m called Blade,’ he said. The knife moved slowly closer to Eddie’s eyes. ‘Maybe you think it’s on account of the scar?’ And closer. ‘Or perhaps you think it’s because I’m so good with the knife.’ Closer still.

The knife stopped just shy of Eddie’s left eye. It was so close he could see the tiny flat dot of its point.

‘But you’d be wrong,’ Blade said. ‘It just happens to be my name.’ The knife drew back, accompanied by Blade and Davey’s laughter. ‘Like Draper or Smith, it seems I’m named after my trade.’

‘What do you want?’ Eddie asked. His voice was husky and his mouth dry.

‘Trade is a good word. ’Cos that’s what we want. In return for your life, or at least your good looks such as they are, you give us something. How’s that?’

‘Anything.’ He tried to pull away but the arms still held him tight. ‘Whatever you want.’

‘See?’ Blade snapped at Davey. ‘I told you he was a smart boy.’ He reached out suddenly for Eddie, and Eddie squeezed his eyes shut, expecting to feel the prick of the knife on his face at any moment. But instead, Blade put his hand on Eddie’s cap and rubbed it round his head, ruffling his hair. Then he slapped Eddie on the cheek. ‘Good boy.’

‘What do you want?’

‘You lifted a wallet from a Mr Archer yesterday.’

‘Maybe,’ Eddie conceded. ‘I lift lots of wallets.’

‘Well this one, we want. Or rather, something that’s in it.’

‘What?’ Eddie asked. He could read well enough to know which wallet had been Archer’s. But why did they want the man’s wallet — there hadn’t even been much money in it. Just some loose change, a business card and a burnt scrap of paper. Hardly worth the effort, in fact.

‘Well, that’s for us to know and for you to mind your own business about.’

Eddie nodded slowly. ‘Yeah,’ he said. ‘I got his wallet — Mr Archer — I lifted it yesterday. Still got it in fact. Nice leather one. Got nothing but a few coins and a pocket watch today, so I kept his wallet till I find something better.’

Davey let him struggle free enough to pull the wallet from his trouser pocket. He held it out to Blade, who snatched it at once.

With Davey leaning over Eddie’s shoulder to watch, Blade opened the wallet and checked inside. ‘It’s empty,’ he snarled, throwing it to the ground in anger and reaching for Eddie’s throat with both hands.

‘No,’ Eddie insisted. ‘No, it ain’t. There’s a scrap of burned paper inside, I saw it. Tucked away in the lining.’

Blade halted. ‘Where?’

‘I’ll show you. Here let me show you.’ So it was the burned paper they wanted, was it? But why? Eddie made to pick up the wallet, and Davey let go of him, watching closely. Eddie held up the wallet — the wallet he had taken from the old clergymen on the Gloucester Road and swapped for Archer’s. He felt inside. ‘Here it is, you see?’ He pulled out his hand, then gave a gasp of annoyance. ‘Oops,’ he said loudly, ‘dropped it. There — quick, before it blows away.’

Both men looked. They were not fooled for long, but it was long enough for Eddie. He was already running, the wallet jammed back into his pocket and his lungs bursting with the effort as he ran for his life. He could hear the sound of the men behind him — feet on cobbles, shouts of anger, threats …

As he ran, Eddie’s mind too was racing. What could he do? Where could he go? They were desperate to find the scrap of paper, that was clear. So desperate that they would be after him again, they wouldn’t easily give up. But what sort of scrap of paper was that important to anyone? Next time he might not escape so easily. Next time, Blade might bring the knife that bit closer to his face. Next time …

Half an hour later, Mr Blade’s employer listened to his report without comment.

‘But we’ll find him, sir,’ Blade concluded. ‘He can’t stay hidden for long, not with all the contacts and sources we have. We’ll find him.’

His employer nodded. ‘See that you do. With this and the mess at the British Museum I am not in the mood for any more mistakes.’ He was angry and disappointed, but it would do no good to get upset with Blade. The man had at least established who the boy was and that he knew about the fragment of Glick’s diary. If he did not still have it he would know where it was. In any case, Blade knew better than anyone the fate that awaited those who failed his master — and that was the best incentive that there could be.

The full moon shone in through the glass roof of the laboratory, augmenting the artificial light that illuminated the huge wooden work bench and the gears and cogs and components that were set out meticulously across it. The bare, pale flesh of a detached human arm seemed almost luminescent in the moonlight. The bottles of blood and jars of tissue reflected the glow.

The man rolled up the sleeve of his shirt and reached his bony hand deep into a tank of viscous liquid, feeling round inside. ‘Mrs Wilkes, I gather, is telling some rather improbable stories,’ he said to Blade.

‘Indeed sir, so I gather. They’re saying in the local pub that her dead husband went home and demanded tea and fruitcake. A somewhat fanciful account.’

‘But nonetheless disturbing.’

‘Indeed, sir. There is an old white-haired gentleman that has apparently been asking questions.’

‘Just so long as he gets no answers,’ the man replied sharply. ‘Ah!’ His hand closed on the thing he was hunting for, felt it give under the slight pressure of his fingers. He reached in with his other arm and cradled the grey mass of tissue carefully as he lifted it clear of the tank. ‘This man might believe the stories, however improbable. He might think to investigate further if only to disprove them.’