Chapter Six

VINCE SLEPT LATE. Cursing himself, he threw some water in his armpits, pulled on his top shirt, and dashed out of his quarters with Crabmeat in tow. After his time at the cherry house and his confrontation with Celeste, he’d returned to his new bed and fallen into the deepest sleep he’d had in weeks.

As he stormed his way through the packed streets, he ducked and weaved past the townsfolk going about their daily business. He almost collided with a man in a horological wheeled chair crossing a road and stopped himself just in time to avoid being run over by a coach.

He hurried up the steps of the town hall and pushed his way through the doors. A very unpleasant young man let him into Rabbit’s office and gave him funny looks the entire time. It took supreme effort on Vince’s part not to snarl at him. Or thump him.

Two large paintings hung on opposing mint-coloured walls of the serene office. One a scene of the Blackrabbit countryside, the other of the harbour laden with tall ships.

Framed by the arched window behind her, Rabbit sat at her desk reading a newspaper. “Ah, Mr Knight, at last. Come in, come in. The man from the C.T.C. will be here any minute. He’s blustering about in the records room. He’s not impressed at your lateness. Nor am I, come to mention it. Have you seen this?” She thrust the newspaper in front of him.

The first story read “Body Found Under Pier” and detailed the Watch’s discovery of the corpse. It went on to describe the new Watch Commander in less than flattering terms. “Ill-bred bull calf…boozed up blunderbuss…the Blight of Blackrabbit?”

“It’s what the people think of you,” Rabbit said. “We have some ways to go to change their mind.”

Before Vince could speak, the doors to the office flung open, and in marched a large, strikingly handsome bearded man with auburn hair, wearing an immaculate emerald-green-and-white C.T.C. uniform. The silver ring on his little finger clinked against the hilt of his sword as he rested his hand upon it. Following him were four officers, similarly turned out, each with a pained look on their face. They all held various piles of books and files.

“Take this to my cabin,” the man said, pointing to one of the stacks. “And this one—all of these—not that, man! What would I want with a history of France? Do you think there’s anything in there I don’t already know? I’ve taken a basting in Brest, given a licking in Lyon, and twice been drubbed up the Dordogne!” He noticed Vince and with a swish of his hand, dismissed his attendants from the office. “At last, he arrives!” He spoke with a voice both crystal clear and louder than one would have thought necessary.

Rabbit stood to introduce them. “Mr Invincible Knight, this is the representative from the Chase Trading Company—Captain James Godgrave.”

The captain approached him, hand extended. “Invincible, you say? Some names you people have here. Do you know I met a girl last night named Verisimilitude? Verisimilitude! What a mouthful for any child to pronounce. And my own lieutenant is one of you lot. Pertinacity Hancock. We call her Perty for short.”

“Vince will do. Just Vince.”

“Splendid. Makes things much easier. And since I’m in a good mood, you may call me James. If we’re to be working together, we should make it easy on ourselves, don’t you agree?”

“Didn’t mean to be so late,” Vince said.

“Hard night?” James asked with a wink.

The dashing captain had a warm, easy smile. Tall, too, though not approaching Vince’s height, and solidly built, with a beer keg for a belly and sturdy legs. He settled himself in a chair next to James’s. “Said we’ll be working together?” He shot a look to Rabbit.

“It was one of my officers who was killed,” James said. “I want to find out who did it.” His voice—deep as the ocean and warm as July—rolled up from his barrel chest and filled the whole room.

Though he spoke in the usual clipped English of an officer, Vince detected the faintest hint of another accent in there, too. “Scottish?” he asked. He didn’t know why.

“Good ear,” James said. “I try to curtail it. Makes things easier in the officer’s club. Now, I propose to have a regiment scour the back alleys and public houses for information. These gangs have been running wild for too long. If we kick enough rats’ nests, sooner or later the right one will come scurrying out.”

“Wouldn’t recommend it,” Vince said.

“May I ask why not?”

“Go charging in, guns blazing, killer will go to ground. Gangs will close ranks, townspeople will ignore you. Never get answers,” Vince said.

“You’ll forgive me if I don’t take advice from a landlubber. My crew are highly capable. We’ve turned over better places than this and always got our man.”

Vince shrugged and snorted. “Do whatever you want. Your officer, not mine. Rabbit put me here to stop the gangs. Don’t care about some drunken sailor on leave.”

“A fine attitude to take, I must say,” James said. “I’m sure when Rabbit hired you, she intended—”

“Gentlemen, please,” Rabbit said. “I didn’t invite you here so you could ignore me in plush surroundings.”

“My apologies,” James said with that smile of his. That stupid, charming smile.

Then the penny dropped. Vince wasn’t prone to blushing, but today might have been an exception. He covered his own mouth with his hand, rubbing his neat, snowy white beard. All of a sudden, he didn’t know what to do with himself. He felt as though the room had grown smaller, and he had become some grotesque statue within it. Vince studied James closely. The high forehead, the pointed beard, the little mole on his throat—all so familiar. Captain James Godgrave was, he realised, the man he’d met in the early hours of the morning at the cherry house. The man with the firm grip and the skilled tongue.

“Now, Mr Knight, we seem to be at cross purposes,” Rabbit said.

Snapping back to his senses, Vince folded his arms and grunted. “Call me Vince.”

“Mr Knight,” Rabbit said, “you are not here solely to curtail the gangs. You are the head of the Port Knot Night Watch. I think it would be good for the people of the town to see you bring this killer to justice. It would help build confidence. Instil some trust in you. You’ll need the people of the town on your side if you’re going to succeed.”

“Wait just a minute.” James’s voice had turned harder, full of bluster and self-importance. “Spradbery was my officer, and one of my finest, to boot. I should be the one to lead the search for his killer.”

“Let him do it,” Vince said. “Enough on my plate as it is.” He fixed Rabbit with a stare, hoping she would understand the reason for his bluff.

“Look at it this way,” Rabbit said. ”Isn’t it entirely plausible Sergeant Spradbery was done in by a gang member, Mr Knight? Possibly after a night’s drinking?”

“Possible, but—”

“And Captain Godgrave, you don’t want the killer to escape due to some well-intentioned but unfortunate mishandling of the situation, I’m sure. And don’t you agree a delicate and important matter such as this is best dealt with by someone with local knowledge and a deft touch?”

“I certainly do, and I’m sure Mr Knight has the very deftest of touches.”

Vince’s ears grew hot as beacons, sure to burn themselves into his skull.

“Of course, if you simply allowed my crew to take charge of the situation,” James said, “it would make things easier all round. This is the home of the Chase Trading Company, after all. Where better than here to be patrolled by its officers? Who better to welcome us with open arms than the people who have benefitted most from its work?”

“Armed soldiers on their streets are an affront to the people’s liberties,” Vince said. “Won’t stand for it."

“Ridiculous,” James said.

“It’s true,” Rabbit said. “Blackrabbiters are a fiercely independent lot. Whatever the trouble, they will choose their own people over outsiders, no matter whose uniform they wear. You’d do well to remember that, Captain. I must insist you let the Watch carry out their work uninterrupted. As a matter of urgency, I might add.”

James’s sage-coloured eyes twinkled as he spoke. “I have every faith we’re in good hands with you, Vince.”

Vince cleared his throat and nodded.

ABOARD THE LANCELOT Striking, Captain James Godgrave shoved open the door of his cabin. Behind him, his lieutenant, Perty Hancock, accompanied a seaman carrying a cup and saucer. James swiped the cup and sipped some tea. He threw his hat onto the table, disturbing some papers. His meeting with Rabbit hadn’t gone at all the way he’d anticipated.

For starters, he’d expected to attend a meeting of the full council. He had planned to march in, give them all some bluster about honour and duty, and get his own way. It’s how things usually went. He thought especially here, on Blackrabbit, people would bend over backwards to please officers of the C.T.C.

Of course, some of them did. The lout, Vince Knight, for one. A bit of a revelation, that one. When James visited the cherry house, he hardly expected to find such a fine specimen. An absolute beast of a man, taller and wider even than him. He felt a stirring in his loins as he remembered the brute’s hands on his skin, in his hair. A shame they were set to be at odds, really.

While perfectly prepared to play nicely in front of Rabbit, James doubted the abilities of the Watch. If push came to shove, he would have to exert his authority vociferously and decisively. “Sit down,” he said. “What more can you tell me about the incident?”

“Not much, I’m afraid,” Perty said. A woman in her late thirties and quite severe-looking, James had always thought. She wore her dark hair tied back as tightly as could be and carried the weight of the world on her shoulders. “After your offer, Spradbery and I decided to go for a drink to talk. It wasn’t easy, I’ll admit. Harsh words were said, on both sides. Ultimately, we both decided our new roles were more important than any lingering animosity between us.”

“So everything was patched up between you two?”

“No. No, we both know…we both knew…it would take time, but…” Perty’s voice broke, just a little. “We were starting to make headway.” She blinked hard and cleared her throat. “Sergeant Tresome arrived and joined us for a while. We left Spradbery in the company of some comely local maiden or other in the early hours of the morning and returned to the ship. It was the last I saw of him. I take it we are to go into town and investigate further?”

“Rabbit has decided against it,” James said, shaking his head. “She wants to leave it to the local Watch.”

“Surely they’re not equipped for this?”

“She has faith in her man, Mr Vince Knight. What an extraordinary person he is. Whatever possessed Rabbit to hire someone like him?”

Perty’s eyes widened. “That’s who’s running the Watch?”

“You know him?”

“I’ve heard about him my whole life.”

James leaned in. “Well? Don’t keep me in suspense.”

Perty rubbed her cheek. “When I was a girl, my friends used to tell stories about him. We were all terrified of him, used to frighten each other every time we went past an Entry. We’d push each other in and run off, leaving them at the mercy of Vince. He was supposed to hold all of the criminals in Port Knot in the palm of his hand. I didn’t believe he was real until I grew older and started to hear other adults telling stories about him. I was chatting to someone in the tavern last night and they said he’s turned over a new leaf of late.”

“After a lifetime of crime? What prompted such a sea change?”

“Until recently, he and a former council member ran the gangs on the island. The old gangs, that is. There wasn’t anyone who wasn’t under their thumb. He was the enforcer, the one who kept everyone in line, by any means necessary. After Vince’s abdication, the old gangs fell to in-fighting. The survivors organised themselves into the current structure. I’m not sure exactly what that structure is, but it appears highly efficient. The Watch was struggling to cope and needed someone to take over, show them how it’s done.”

“But surely there must have been other options? The man’s a scoundrel! He should be in the gaolhouse himself, not sending other people there.”

“Who better to tear down the new gangs than the man who built the old ones? He knows them, how they think, how they operate. From what I understand, he recruited most of them into a life of crime in the first place.”

James leaned back and crossed his arms. “A criminal of some renown. And Rabbit thinks he’s a suitable person to head the Watch? Quite a lapse in judgement. I wonder what the rest of the council think. I must make a point of asking them. What makes Rabbit so sure he isn’t still working for the gangs?”

“Last Midwinter, Councillor Baxbary Mudge tried to stage a coup d’état. He was thwarted only thanks to help from Mr Knight.”

“Oh yes, I read about it in the papers. I can’t recall Mr Knight’s name being mentioned. I suppose it must have earned him a significant amount of favour in Rabbit’s eyes. I wonder how far that favour will stretch?”