James McGee - The Reckoning

“Because she’d be considered a woman without virtue? So this was what? Some kind of punishment?”

“Possibly, or a warning to those who would ply a similar trade. The killer is giving notice that this is the fate that will befall them if they do not change their immoral ways.”

“Well, if that’s his goal,” Hawkwood said, “he’ll have his work cut out, given the number of molls in this city.”

“So will you,” Locke observed. “Seeing as you’ll be the one trying to stop him.”

A faint, far-off scream made the apothecary cock his head. As he did so, a water droplet splashed on to his sleeve from the ceiling above. Cursing, he dabbed the offending spot with his handkerchief while a cacophony of hoarse cries began to spread through the building. It was as if the first scream had been a prompt. It sounded, Hawkwood thought, as though a pack of wolves had been loosed from a cage.

Taking the interruption as his cue, and struck by a sudden and overwhelming desire to escape the hospital’s oppressive atmosphere, Hawkwood got to his feet.

Locke rose with him. As he did so, the apothecary reached for the bell pull on the wall behind his desk and gave the cord a short tug. “I’m sorry I could not be of more help.”

Hawkwood shook his head. “On the contrary, you’ve confirmed what I’d already half suspected.”

Somewhere in the depths, he presumed a bell had rung and he wondered if the sound of it had been drowned by the noises that were beginning to echo through the corridors, among them the clatter of running feet.

At that moment, however, the door opened to admit the attendant who’d delivered him to Locke’s inner sanctum, causing Hawkwood to wonder if the man had been hovering outside throughout the entire course of his and Locke’s conversation.

“Second opinions are my speciality,” Locke said, smiling. “Should any further information come to light, my door will still be open.”

“If it hasn’t been consigned to the flames,” Hawkwood said.

Locke chuckled. “I’ll make sure it’s the last thing to go.” He held out his hand. “Mr O’Brien will show you out. It was a pleasure seeing you again … despite the circumstances.”

The smile was replaced suddenly by a more thoughtful expression. “I hope you catch him.” There was the merest pause then Locke said, “When you do run him down, it will be interesting to see if he also tries to resist arrest.”

Before Hawkwood could respond, the apothecary gave a quick, wry smile, nodded and turned for his desk, his hands clasped behind his back.

The attendant moved aside to allow Hawkwood to exit. It was as the door was closing behind him that the thought struck. Sticking out a hand to stop the door’s swing, he stepped back into the room. Locke was back behind his desk. He glanced up.

“There is one thing,” Hawkwood said.

Locke half rose.

“Something I forgot to ask.”

The apothecary nodded sombrely. “I know.”

“You know ?”

Locke lowered himself into his chair. “It’s just occurred to you that the question you should have asked is not: will he kill again? The question is: has he killed before?”

“Yes.”

“Because if you are to prevent him from committing a similar crime, it is not the future you should concentrate upon, but the past. If you can establish a truth using that method, then you will have your point of reference from which everything else will stem.”

“So?” Hawkwood said. “In your opinion, could he have done this before?”

Gazing back at him, Locke removed his spectacles and the handkerchief from his sleeve and began to clean each lens with slow, circular motions. After several seconds of concentrated thought, he put away the handkerchief, placed the spectacles back on the bridge of his nose, and stared at Hawkwood.

“Oh, yes,” he said. “Almost certainly.”

“That’s it?” Jago said, unable to hide his disbelief. “You want to know if any working girls have gone missing? You’re bloody joking, right? Know how many there are in this city? Bloody ’undreds – hell, thousands, more like. And you want to track down one of them?”

“I don’t need to track her down. I know where she is. She’s on a slab in a dead house; what’s left of her. What I don’t know is her name. I’m hoping it’s Rose.”

“Because of a tattoo? Jesus, that’s a bloody long shot.”

“You may be right. Most likely you are right, but that doesn’t mean I have to send her to Cross Bones to be tipped into another bloody ditch.”

Jago frowned. “So, what the hell makes this one so special? Bawds and pimps beat their molls all the time. Kill ’em too, when they’re in the mood.”

“Not like this,” Hawkwood said.

Jago sat back. “That bad?”

“Worse.”

Hawkwood described the scene in Quill’s dead house.

Jago remained silent throughout the telling. He winced at the mention of the carved wounds. “Jesus,” he muttered finally.

“Quill asked me the same question,” Hawkwood said.

“What? Oh, you mean, why this one?”

Hawkwood nodded. “I told him it was because one of John Moore’s veterans didn’t think it right that someone tossed her into a hole without due ceremony and I didn’t want the bloody resurrection men getting to her.”

“Sounds good enough to me,” Jago said.

“There is another reason,” Hawkwood said.

“Which is?”

“The bastards who put her there thought they could get away with it. They’re mistaken.”

Jago sighed and sat back. He stared into his drink and then looked up. “You want me to ask Connie if she’s heard anything.”

Hawkwood nodded.

“You do know the old one about needles and haystacks, right?”

“You’re all I’ve got,” Hawkwood said.

Jago gave a wry smile. “Now, where’ve I heard that before? All right, I’ll ’ave a word. But I wouldn’t get your hopes up. It’s likely you’ll never know who she was. She’ll be just another nameless lass set for a pauper’s grave.”

“She’s somebody’s daughter.”

“Who you think might be a moll, which means there’s a good chance she’s either been disowned or discarded.”

“Even so,” Hawkwood said.

After a second’s lapse, Jago acknowledged Hawkwood’s response with an understanding nod. “Aye, even so.”

Jago lay with his arm around Connie Fletcher’s shoulder. Her head rested on his chest, her ash-blonde hair loose about her face.

“Need to ask you something,” Jago said.

“You want to go around again?” Connie chuckled throatily as she ran her lips across the still raw wounds in his shoulder. “I’ll be gentle.”

Jago gasped as her hand began to slide south beneath the bedcover. “Bloody hell, woman, give us a chance. I ain’t caught my breath from last time.”

Connie removed her hand with an exaggerated sigh and snuggled closer. “All right, what then?”

At the angle they were lying, Jago couldn’t see Connie’s face, but he sensed she was still smiling. It made him wonder if she was expecting the question, the one that tended to end up with a ring and the services of a vicar. He felt a twinge of guilt. He’d been with Connie longer than he’d been with any woman, but marriage? Not that the thought hadn’t crossed his mind. Connie’s too, he suspected, even though they’d never discussed the possibility. He waited until his pulse had settled down and then said, “There’s been a killing. Captain’s investigating. He reckons she might have been a workin’ girl.”

Connie lifted her head. “Why’s that?”

“She was young, she weren’t dressed in rags and she has – had – a tattoo.”