Rage of the Assassin Read online

  When he’d left Captain Golightly’s house, Paul made a detour so that he could call in at the shooting gallery to deliver an interim report. Charlotte and Ackford were struck by the amount of valuable work he’d already put in, but they differed on one point.

  ‘I think that you should forget that actor,’ said Ackford. ‘I don’t believe that he has any connection with the murder outside the stage door.’

  ‘I disagree,’ said Charlotte. ‘It’s far too great a coincidence that a dead body turns up so close to the place where Sir Roger Mellanby was killed.’

  ‘It’s a distraction.’

  ‘Why do you think that, Gully?’ asked Paul.

  ‘We’re dealing with a political crime. You should be concentrating all your efforts on a search for the politicians behind it.’

  ‘That doesn’t mean we ignore a vital piece of evidence when it falls into Paul’s lap,’ argued Charlotte.

  ‘I don’t see it as evidence.’

  ‘Well, you should do.’

  ‘It’s not convincing, Charlotte. All that we know is that someone was killed in that alleyway. A drunken old actor gave Paul a name. He could’ve invented it in order to get another free drink.’

  ‘Simeon wouldn’t lie to me,’ said Paul. ‘I trust him.’

  ‘But there’s no proof that the victim was linked to the earlier murder.’

  ‘Yes, there is, Gully,’ said Charlotte. ‘I feel it in my bones.’

  ‘Well, I don’t, I’m afraid. What about you, Paul?’

  ‘To be honest,’ said the other, ‘I’m in two minds. When I first heard his name, I felt elated. We finally had an important clue. Yes, it was a political crime but there was also a theatrical element to it. Orsino Price seemed to fit neatly into the picture, somehow. On reflection, however, I’ve scolded myself for getting too excited about what is – as Gully points out – rather flimsy evidence.’

  ‘But it isn’t,’ urged Charlotte.

  ‘It’s beginning to look that way.’

  ‘You found out something of real value. Believe in it.’

  ‘If I do that, I’ll allow myself to think that we’ve made real progress.’

  ‘You’re only deceiving yourselves,’ said Ackford.

  ‘We deserve a slice of luck.’

  ‘That’s not what this is, Paul.’

  ‘Why not?’

  ‘You’re trying to connect two murders that may have nothing whatsoever to do with each other. Covent Garden is a bear pit. Everyone knows that. People get assaulted there all the time. Unfortunately, some of them die. Orsino Price happens to be the latest in a long line. That’s his only significance.’

  ‘I wonder …’ said Paul, mulling it over.

  ‘Don’t listen to Gully,’ advised Charlotte. ‘Be optimistic.’

  ‘That’s what I’m trying to be, but my brain keeps issuing a warning.’

  ‘Ignore your brain and act from the heart.’

  ‘I did that once before,’ said Paul, chuckling.

  ‘Yes, and look what happened. You finished up with the most beautiful actress in London. I’ve never heard you complain about that.’

  ‘You never will,’ said Ackford, grinning. ‘Paul had outrageous good fortune.’

  ‘It’s happened again,’ she insisted. ‘Finding out about Orsino Price is a gift from God. We just need the courage to believe in it.’

  ‘Speak for yourself, Charlotte. In my view, it’s sheer folly.’

  ‘Then we must agree to differ with you, Gully,’ said Paul, making his decision. ‘I agree with my lovely sister-in-law. I’ve stumbled on pure gold.’

  Peter Skillen was becoming impatient, fuming because Oxley and Edmund Mellanby had already set off for London. He accepted that there would be a post-mortem and an inquest before the body was released and that the two men had the perfect right to make their way to the capital. Peter’s fear was that their presence there would only hinder the investigation that he and Paul were conducting. Oxley was bound to report to the Bow Street Runners that the Skillen brothers believed that only they could solve the heinous crime. As a result, Yeomans and Hale would be issuing threats against them once more and hampering them in every way.

  Peter also felt slightly embarrassed. His belief that Oxley would be cast aside by the Mellanby family was a misjudgement on his part. The lawyer was patently still in favour. To make matters worse, he’d been carried off in Edmund Mellanby’s private coach. It was vexing.

  As he sat there reviewing events, he eventually became aware that someone was standing directly in front of him. He looked up to see that it was Seth Hooper. The man’s face was impassive. He was holding a small package and, after a moment, he gave it to Peter. After a brief handshake, Hooper walked out of the inn, leaving Peter to peel back the pieces of paper. Inside the package, he found a pie and some pickled onions, ammunition against the rigours of the long drive. It was a peace offering. Peter was relieved that they’d parted as friends, after all, and felt that his visit had been thoroughly worthwhile.

  There was no point in staying because they’d certainly come back after him. The assassin had to flee. There were compensations. He still had a weapon to defend himself and enough money in his purse to pay for accommodation. London was full of hiding places. Once he’d chosen one, he could begin his search for the man who’d betrayed him and the accomplice who’d tried to kill him. He was already planning a slow and excruciating death for both of them.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Since he was only a short ride away, Paul decided to go back home for a while to see Hannah. The days after a successful production had ended were usually difficult ones for her. With the excitement of performance taken away, she was often morose, if not wholly depressed. The mental fatigue of a long run was complemented by physical exhaustion. In the past, she’d been known to sleep for half the day. As he dismounted from his horse, therefore, Paul was wary. He was more than likely to walk into a stream of complaints punctuated by extravagant yawns. While a servant took charge of the horse, Paul went into the house.

  Hearing his footsteps, Hannah leapt to her feet and ran into the hall.

  ‘Thank heaven you’ve come!’ she exclaimed.

  ‘It’s nice to be welcomed,’ he said, embracing her.

  ‘I need you, Paul. Come into the drawing room.’

  ‘What’s going on?’ he asked, as she pulled him by the hand. ‘And why are you leaping about? I expected to find you dozing.’

  ‘I’m far too anxious to sleep.’

  ‘Has something happened?’

  ‘Yes, I had a visitor.’

  ‘Who was it?’

  ‘Dorothea Glenn.’

  ‘What on earth did she want?’

  ‘Ostensibly, she came here for advice about her role in our next play. That was simply an excuse to get to me. I soon saw through the deception.’

  ‘But she’s always seemed to be a truthful girl to me,’ said Paul. ‘I can’t believe that she tricked her way into the house.’

  ‘It was vital that she did so. Dorothea is in a terrible state.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘If you sit beside me,’ she said, patting the sofa, ‘I’ll tell you.’

  ‘You don’t need to, Hannah. I think I can guess.’ They sat down together. ‘The poor girl has been seduced by one of those powdered rakes in your company and there are the usual consequences.’

  ‘It’s nothing like that. Well, it is, but not in the way you suggest.’

  ‘Stop talking in riddles.’

  ‘Dorothea is in love.’

  ‘That’s perfectly natural for a young woman at that age.’

  ‘She really thought she’d found the man of her dreams. She’s not a fanciful creature. Dorothea has both feet firmly on the ground. That’s why she made sure that the friendship moved at a slow and steady pace.’

  ‘In other words, she wasn’t swept off her feet by some adventurer like me.’

  She elbowed him. ‘Listen, will you? It
’s important.’

  ‘Let me have another guess. He’s lost interest in her.’

  ‘No – or, possibly, yes. Dorothea is not sure and it’s the uncertainty that’s so maddening. After all the vows he made to her, he just disappeared. She said that it was completely out of character.’

  ‘He’s a virile young man, Hannah. I’d say that it was absolutely in character.’

  ‘Don’t keep interrupting. We’re talking about a serious moment in that girl’s life. I’ve never seen anyone in such distress. There was nobody else to whom she could turn. That’s why she came here.’

  ‘What did you advise?’

  ‘I told her to have more faith in him. She has to watch and pray.’

  ‘Suppose that her beau doesn’t return?’

  ‘He must do, Paul. He’s professed his love a hundred times. She showed me some of the letters he’d written to her. A philanderer would never have done that. Well,’ she continued, ‘you’ve seen Dorothea. If you’d made promises to her, would you walk away from someone as beautiful as that?’

  ‘No, I wouldn’t. It would be an act of cruelty.’

  ‘So why did Orsino vanish into thin air?’

  Paul gulped. ‘Is that his name?’

  ‘Yes, he’s an actor – Orsino Price.’

  ‘Oh dear!’ he sighed.

  ‘What’s the trouble?’

  ‘Dorothea is going to need a lot of help from you, Hannah.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘Orsino Price was stabbed to death in Covent Garden yesterday.’

  Embarrassed by their lack of progress, the Runners were also bruised by the censure heaped on them by the chief magistrate. As they walked side by side along the street, they were hurt and vengeful.

  ‘I’d like to wring that scrawny neck of his,’ said Yeomans.

  ‘Who do you mean, Micah?’ asked Hale. ‘Are you talking about Mr Kirkwood or Mr Clearwater?’

  ‘Both of them.’

  ‘I’d be afraid to touch the chief magistrate. There’d be repercussions. In any case, we can’t really blame him. What made him so angry with us was what he learnt from Clearwater.’

  ‘Don’t talk to me about that treacherous fop.’

  ‘Fancy going over our heads like that!’

  ‘I’ll never forgive him. If he has evidence, he should have handed it over to us and not tried to catch the killer on his own. We know how to track our prey. Clearwater will get nowhere. He’s groping in the dark.’

  ‘Mr Kirkwood has faith in him.’

  ‘Our job is to restore his faith in us, Alfred. That means we have to find Clearwater and get the truth out of him even if we have to dip his head in the Thames.’

  Hale was shocked. ‘He might drown, Micah.’

  ‘I can’t think of a better way for him to depart this world.’

  ‘What about our duty to uphold the law?’

  ‘It gets in our way from time to time. This is one of them.’

  ‘I’m as mad at him as you are,’ said Hale, ‘but you have to take your hat off to him. He won Mr Kirkwood over. Not many people have ever done that to the chief magistrate. We never manage to charm him.’

  ‘We would do if we solved the murder of Sir Roger Mellanby.’

  ‘How can we do that if we don’t have Clearwater to help us?’

  ‘We concentrate all our efforts on catching up with him. We don’t know where he lives, but he obviously hangs around the theatres and rubs shoulders with the rakes and dandies who flock there. Well,’ he continued, ‘you saw them flaunting themselves outside that stage door. And Clearwater was one of them.’

  ‘Yes, he was preening like a peacock, I daresay.’

  ‘We need someone to pick up Clearwater’s trail, and, in my view, the best place to start is the Golden Crown.’

  ‘It’s where all the actors go,’ said Hale. ‘If he likes the theatre that much, I’ll wager that Clearwater frequents it as well. In fact, he might be downing a drink there at this very moment. Why don’t we go there now, Micah?’

  ‘I’ve got a better idea. You and I will enjoy the privileges of our seniority and send someone else instead.’

  ‘I agree wholeheartedly.’

  ‘A name is already being whispered in my ear, Alfred.’

  ‘I’m hearing it as well – Chevy Ruddock.’

  Harry Scattergood almost invariably worked alone because he knew that he had the ability to escape from any place or predicament. Others lacked his expertise in shinning up buildings and running along roofs. If he had someone else in tow, he reasoned, there’d be a weak link. It was better to take his chances alone than to engage a fellow thief who might be apprehended and betray Scattergood in order to secure a lighter sentence. He was not, however, without friends. Alan Kinnaird was the closest of them. Because he liked the man, Scattergood had given him useful advice over the years, even suggesting houses that were ripe for a clandestine visit after dark. As a result, Kinnaird had been able to reap the benefit of his friend’s help time and again. He was eternally grateful and would do anything for Scattergood.

  Kinnaird was a thickset man of middle years with the kind of constantly smiling face that won friends and deprived them of any suspicion. In spite of his bulk, he was extremely nimble and could squeeze through open windows with ease. As he got older, however, he preferred less strenuous ways of making an income and dressed in a way that allowed him to mix with crowds in theatres and at other public events. Like Scattergood, he’d learnt to look, sound and behave like a member of the class from whom his deft fingers took money on a regular basis.

  When Scattergood called on him at his lodging, he was given a respectful welcome.

  ‘It’s good to see you looking so well,’ said Kinnaird.

  ‘I could say the same of you, Alan. Business is clearly thriving.’

  ‘That’s in no small part due to my mentor, Harry Scattergood.’

  ‘It’s only because I trust you implicitly.’

  ‘What brings you here?’

  ‘I have a proposition for you,’ said Scattergood. ‘It may frighten you at first, but the rewards on offer will ease your fears. All I ask is that you hear me out before you give me your answer.’

  ‘It will be in the affirmative,’ said Kinnaird, blithely. ‘Whatever you ask me, I’m more than willing to do. I owe you an enormous debt, Harry. It’s time to repay it.’

  Scattergood smiled. ‘I was hoping you’d say that …’

  Nobody was more aware than Paul Skillen of the fact that Hannah Granville was egotistical to the ultimate degree. Though he’d found it an unpleasant aspect of her character, he’d quickly adapted to it. He now witnessed a miracle. Hannah was actually putting someone else’s needs first for once. Having talked obsessively about the invitation from the Prince Regent, she was so overwhelmed with sympathy for Dorothea Glenn that she forgot all about the possible visit to Brighton Pavilion. Hannah and Paul reached the same conclusion. Rejection by the man she loved would have been a dreadful blow for her but the news that he’d been murdered was far worse. Hannah feared that it might destroy the poor woman and rob the theatre of a promising actress. On their way to Dorothea’s lodging in a cab, Paul suggested a compromise.

  ‘We first need to reassure her that Orsino Price would never have cast her aside. Evidently, he adored her. Only a serious obstacle would have prevented his coming to meet her.’

  ‘Murder is rather more than a serious obstacle, Paul,’ said Hannah, drily.

  ‘We must acquaint her with the possibility of a mishap before we give her the bare facts. Prepare her gently for the truth.’

  ‘What if someone else blurts it out?’

  ‘There’s little danger of that, Hannah. From what I can gather, he had few friends. His ambition was to be an actor, but Simeon Howlett had never heard of him and his mind is an encyclopaedia of the profession. In view of the fact that she confided in you,’ he continued, ‘I’m surprised that you didn’t suggest that she moved in with us so that
you could look after her.’

  ‘I did make that offer but she refused. Dorothea was so afraid that he’d turn up at her lodging when she wasn’t there that she insisted on returning.’

  ‘At a time like this, she shouldn’t be alone.’

  ‘I know. She’s in too delicate a state.’

  ‘The wonder of it is that she didn’t mention this fellow, Price, to you earlier. Since they were that close, you’d have thought she’d have been burning to tell someone her good news.’

  ‘She did tell me,’ said Hannah, ‘but not in so many words. It was written all over her face. I was too absorbed in playing Lady Macbeth to notice but Jenny did. She misses nothing. Jenny observed that there’d been a big change in Dorothea. We now know exactly what it was.’

  ‘Poor creature!’ he said. ‘We must find a way to soften the blow.’

  ‘The first thing to do is to get her out of that lodging. As long as she’s there on her own, she’ll only brood and mope. If I can persuade her to stay with us for a while, it will be a great help to her.’

  ‘What she needs most is a sympathetic woman friend. That’s you, Hannah.’

  ‘I was touched that she turned to me.’

  ‘If she’s under our roof, we can protect her from finding out the truth about Orsino, but she’ll have to know the worst eventually. Is she strong enough to bear it?’

  ‘I’m not sure, Paul.’

  ‘How long has Dorothea been in the profession?’

  ‘It’s almost three years.’

  ‘Then she’s no shrinking violet. An actress has to have an inner core of belief to survive in what can be a testing world. You’ve often told me that.’

  ‘It’s true. Sometimes you have to fight tooth and nail. Dorothea knows that.’

  ‘Good,’ said Paul. ‘It will help her through the ordeal to come.’

  Peter Skillen had arrived back in London the next morning much later than he’d hoped. Expecting a relatively swift nocturnal journey in a mail coach, he was dismayed when one of its wheels was badly damaged as it hit a rock invisible in the darkness. It had meant slowing to a snail’s pace and – with the passengers trudging behind it – the coach limped into the next village like a wounded soldier returning from the war. Though extremely unhappy about being roused from his bed, the blacksmith was able to repair the wheel enough to make it serviceable until it could be replaced with a new one. Peter and the other passengers were grateful to climb aboard once more and resume their journey at last. It did, however, mean that he arrived in London hours later than intended.