‘LISTEN TO ME, LEO,’ shouted Rosie. ‘Don’t do anything ridiculous, do you understand? Nothing heroic. Just wait where you are. Viola came home with the Blood Flower. I’ll give it to the lieutenant and we can be on our way.’
She knew me well also. She knew that if I thought her endangered, I would throw myself at whatever was threatening her: no hesitation, no equivocation. But still, I was glad to hear her voice.
Chastain was trying to peek through a crack in the door, but I doubted he could see much in the darkness.
‘Well done, Mrs Stanhope,’ he called. ‘We’re all glad you’re back. Put the Blood Flower on the steps of this bathing machine.’
There was a silence from outside, and then: ‘How do I know my husband’s still alive?’
Chastain nodded to me, and I called out: ‘Rosie, I’m unhurt. Honestly.’
‘Oh, Leo,’ she said, and I could hear her relief.
‘Enough talking,’ called Chastain. ‘Put my property on the steps and leave. When I’ve got it in my hand, I’ll let Mr Stanhope go. Not before.’
‘What about the rest of us?’ demanded Quinton.
‘No,’ said Rosie, sounding very close to where I was sitting, though of course there was a wall between us. ‘Send out my husband first.’
Chastain gave me a long look.
‘You can trust her,’ I said. ‘She truly doesn’t care about the jewel. It will be returned to you, I promise.’
‘Very well,’ Chastain called to her. ‘I’ll come out with your husband and check that what you say is true. If it isn’t, I’ll put a bullet in his head.’
He waggled his pistol at me. ‘Get up.’ He gripped my shoulder and put the gun to the back of my skull. I could feel him shaking. ‘Open the door.’
‘I wasn’t lying before,’ I said. ‘It’s not a ruby. It has value, but … ’
‘Not enough, that’s what you’re saying. I understand. All I wanted was enough capital to … to live as I wish to live. Is that so much to ask?’
I turned to face him, and he let me. His skin was sallow and damp, and his eyes were darting from side to side as if he’d lost control of them.
‘I don’t believe you’re a killer,’ I said.
He smiled, though he was almost weeping at the same time. His face was a battleground of emotions. ‘Madagascar is quite beautiful, you know. The sea is warm, and they have trees like parasols, and huge squirrels called babakotos that sit outside your window and sing to each other. We used to listen to them in the evenings. Sometimes, we sang along with them, hooting and howling like children.’
I looked into his eyes. ‘What’s your Christian name, Lieutenant?’
‘James.’
‘Well, James, you can go back there, if you choose. You can have the life you crave. As long as you don’t hurt anyone.’
He turned away from me, wiping his eyes, and at that moment I felt a hand on my collar. Two hands. Before I had a chance to cry out, I was lifted bodily upwards, hoisted up through the sliding panel in the roof. I heard the tiniest grunt of effort, and then my head emerged into the night air. I put my hands on the wood frame and tried to push myself up so I could stand.
‘Quick!’ said a voice. ‘Roll off. Now!’
The hands threw me sideways with surprising strength and I found myself slipping and falling down the sloping roof. It all happened so quickly, I only heard Chastain’s cry of anger as I hit the beach, knocking the wind out of me. Looking up, I could just about make out a face staring down from atop the bathing machine.
‘Miss Brown?’ I asked stupidly. ‘Is that you?’
Who else could have crept up on to the roof without anyone hearing, and then had the muscular power to lift me out?
‘Shh. This is a rescue.’
She leapt down, landing on her feet as neatly as a cat, and this while wearing a full-length frock and bonnet.
And then another, more familiar presence. ‘Get moving, you idiot. We can’t stay here.’ Rosie pulled me upright and put a hand to my face. ‘You’re bleeding.’
‘Not my blood.’
I had the urge to hug her. I resisted.
Inside the bathing machine, I heard Alice say: ‘There’s no need for you to keep us here any more, Lieutenant. Your leverage has gone.’
Chastain cursed, and I had a vision of him bursting out with his gun or, almost worse, randomly shooting through the walls. Rosie could be hit. As we clambered away over the stones, I stayed between her and the bathing machine, just in case.
Miss Brown was already ten yards ahead of us. ‘Thank you,’ I called after her. ‘You saved me.’
She turned. ‘Your wife said you needed help, and that you’d be able to prove who killed Natalia. And now you have.’
‘Yes, but it wasn’t Lieutenant Chastain. It was Stephan on Mr Quinton’s orders.’
She remained still for several seconds, but I could see the tension in her face. ‘So, Timothy Honey was telling the truth.’
‘He was. Natalia’s death was a meaningless bargaining chip.’
I chose not to mention that Quinton had also feared Natalia would tempt Miss Brown away to America. I didn’t want her to have to carry the burden of that guilt.
‘He should be punished,’ she said, taking a step back towards the bathing machine.
Rosie held up her hand. ‘He will be,’ she said. ‘They’ll all be arrested now. I’ve brought the police.’
I stared at her. ‘You’ve what?’
Rosie beckoned in the direction of the pier, and a figure appeared, striding towards us. He raised his hand as he grew closer.
‘Sergeant Dorling!’ Rosie called to him. ‘Mr Stanhope is unharmed, as you can see.’
He was holding a pistol, a stubby thing with a barrel no longer than my thumb.
We were lit by the illuminations on the pier, and Miss Brown stepped a little away from us into the shadow. I could see the unease in her stance. She had no reason to trust the police. I gave her a brief nod of thanks, and she hurried away towards the promenade.
‘You were supposed to be here at nine o’clock,’ I said to Dorling, keeping my voice low. ‘That was our agreement.’
‘As I told Mrs Stanhope, I was called away.’ His eyes were fixed ahead of him. ‘This isn’t my only case. Where’s Chastain?’
‘Inside that bathing machine with Quinton, Stephan and Miss Morgan. I’m sure he won’t hurt anyone.’
Dorling took a deep breath and raised his pistol again. ‘Stand aside, Mrs Stanhope.’ And, as an afterthought. ‘You too, Mr Stanhope. That’s a Royal Navy officer in there. A dangerous man. And he’s already murdered three people.’
I stood in front of him. ‘No, Sergeant, he hasn’t. Quinton ordered Stephan to kill Micky Long and Natalia La Blanche. He admitted it. Lieutenant Chastain is homesick and lonely, that’s all. Let me try to persuade him to come out peacefully. Please.’
Dorling’s moustache twitched a couple of times and then he shrugged. ‘Very well. Can’t do any harm.’
I went to the front of the bathing machine and raised my voice. ‘Lieutenant!’ I called out. ‘James! The police are here. You can’t escape. Come out peacefully and you won’t be hurt.’
I heard a shuffling from inside and then Chastain’s voice. ‘How do I know?’
‘You haven’t murdered anyone, James. I’ve told them that. You’ll be treated fairly.’
After a pause, he opened the door and tossed something out. I heard it land with a soft thud on the shingle.
‘There’s my gun,’ he called. ‘I’m coming out. I’m surrendering. Here I come.’
He stepped out, his hands in the air. He didn’t have time to cry out. The shot rang out so loudly I thought it must burst my eardrums. He lurched against the frame of the door and fell sideways on to the beach.
I turned away and fell into a crouch as a waft of smoke emerged from the barrel of Dorling’s pistol.
‘What did you do?’ I shouted. ‘He was surrendering. He threw out his gun.’
The sergeant shrugged. ‘He might’ve had another. I wasn’t to know. Couldn’t take the chance.’
I heard Quinton’s voice from inside: ‘Is that you, Dorling? Good man. Now let’s get out of here.’
‘Wait there, sir,’ said Dorling, cocking the hammer of his pistol. ‘I’m coming in.’ He climbed up the steps and entered the bathing machine.
Rosie was sitting on the shingle, her hands clutched to her chest. Her face was as pale as a goose’s egg. I put my arms around her and pulled her close. ‘We need to go,’ I said. ‘We’re still in danger. The sergeant’s in the pay of Quinton.’
‘What?’ She stared at me, aghast. ‘But I brought him here.’
Then another gunshot tore through the silence from within the bathing machine. I looked back, and a further shot rang out, accompanied by a flash which lit up every crack and knot in the wood.
‘Quickly,’ said Rosie, and took my hand.
But making progress over the loose stones was hard and Rosie was further hampered by her skirts and the canvas bag she was carrying. We hadn’t gone ten yards before we heard Dorling’s voice behind us.
‘Come back, both of you. You’re suspects in a crime.’ He held out his hands. ‘It’d be best if you gave me the Blood Flower now. It’s evidence. I’ll take it to the police station.’
I turned and stared him. ‘You shot them.’
‘I had no choice. They rushed at me. I was in fear of my life. Stephan’s a dangerous man.’
I felt my insides turn to liquid. There was no possible way that Stephan could have rushed at anyone, and Quinton had thought the sergeant was under his command. And what about poor Alice, killed as she had lived, in thrall to powerful men? I knew that in time I would weep for her, for the memory of her soft skin and quizzical smile. But for now, my brain was jangling. Why had Dorling shot them?
Dorling himself was pacing up and down, fumbling with his gun, reloading it. I considered taking this opportunity to charge at him, but it wasn’t worth the risk. We had what he wanted anyway.
And suddenly I realised why he’d killed Quinton.
I leaned close to Rosie and spoke quietly. ‘He’ll kill us too. He wants the Blood Flower for himself. Our only choice is to give it to him.’
She looked up at me with a glum expression.
‘Good grief,’ I said. ‘You don’t have it, do you?’
‘I couldn’t find Viola. Mr Black’s still looking for her.
‘But you came anyway, with nothing but a bluff? Oh, Rosie.’
That made the decision for me. I had to keep her safe. I had no choice but to run at Dorling and kill him, or at least postpone my own death long enough for her to escape. I set my jaw and prepared for the leap.
She gripped my hand tighter. ‘Don’t be stupid,’ she whispered. ‘You’re not going to die, not here. And you won’t kill anyone either. I won’t have it. I won’t have you tainted that way.’
‘Rosie—’
She whirled to face me, hissing through clenched teeth. ‘No, Leo. It’s not a debate. You will trust me on this. I know what I’m doing.’
Dorling had finished reloading his gun. ‘The Blood Flower, Mrs Stanhope, if you wouldn’t mind. I’ll take it for safekeeping. It’s caused enough trouble.’
‘Of course, Sergeant.’ She held up the canvas bag. ‘It’s in here. I’m always happy to help the police.’
He licked his lips. ‘Very good.’
She crouched down, searching through her bag. ‘Would you mind putting away the gun, Sergeant? All that noise and destruction is bad for my nerves.’
He tucked it back into his belt. I had no clue what she was thinking. He could easily pull it out again and shoot us both. After all, he’d just killed four people without so much as a flinch. And then I realised the truth. How could I have been so stupid?
‘Ah!’ said Rosie. ‘Here it is.’
She pulled her hand out from the bag, and she was holding a gun of her own. As close as I was, I could see it wasn’t real. It was Peregrine’s theatrical prop, carved in wood and painted black, no more lethal than a stick. She stood up straight and pointed it at Dorling.
‘We’ll be leaving now,’ she said. ‘Don’t try to stop us.’
My goodness, I thought, she had some nerve. She didn’t have the Blood Flower and she didn’t have a real gun, yet here she was, facing down an armed policeman whom she knew to be a killer.
She took a step backwards, her eyes fixed on Dorling.
He froze in place. ‘It’s a crime to threaten a policeman, Mrs Stanhope.’
‘You can’t claim the protection of the law now,’ I said. ‘You wanted the Blood Flower for yourself, and you murdered Bill Broadman to get it.’
Dorling scoffed. ‘He was a thief and a fool. A waste of breath. He stole a jewel worth more than he could earn in a thousand years, ten thousand, and was stupid enough to brag about it down the pub. Word gets round. No shortage of lowlifes who want a favour from the police.’ He thumbed back at the bathing machine. ‘And those three were worse. Stephan killed the two kids on Mr Quinton’s orders and Chastain was a filthy pervert. I’ve worked all my life to bring men like them to justice. Why shouldn’t I be the one to benefit for once?’
‘And what about Miss Morgan? What did she do to deserve death?’
He frowned and cast a nervous glance back at the bathing machine. My brain stirred into life. He had only fired two shots inside.
Rosie took another step backwards, and I followed her.
Dorling held out his hands. ‘You’re not going to shoot me, Mrs Stanhope. It’s not in a woman’s nature.’ He was right and wrong respectively, but she was selling the ruse as best she could. She renewed her grip, lifting the prop gun with both hands and looking straight along the barrel at him.
‘I don’t want to,’ she said. ‘But I will.’
I was almost convinced. I had to take another look at the thing to be certain it wasn’t real.
Dorling was watching her, his hand moving towards his own revolver.
‘Don’t,’ she said.
His fingers touched the hilt, his eyes fixed on hers.
‘She’ll kill you, Sergeant,’ I said. ‘If you want to live, you’ll let us walk away.’
His eyes flicked to me and back to her. ‘I’ll take my chances.’
He slowly pulled his revolver out from his belt and raised it until it was pointing at Rosie.
‘Best to put that down,’ he said.
She had no choice. She dropped the prop gun on to the stones.
‘You see?’ he said. ‘Ladies can’t shoot people. Now, no more delays. The Blood Flower, if you please.’
I ran all the moves in my head, like a game of chess, trying each of them in turn, holding them up in front of me and measuring their worth. Every possible option was a mad gamble, but gambling was all we had.
I stood in front of Rosie. She tried to push me aside, but I refused to let her.
‘We don’t have the jewel,’ I said.
Dorling jerked as if he’d touched something hot. ‘What do you mean?’
‘We don’t have it. We never had it in our possession. The whole thing was a bluff from start to finish.’
Rosie gave an angry tug on my jacket. ‘Leo, what are you doing? You will not sacrifice yourself for me.’
I continued to block his view of her, having to dodge from side to side as she tried to evade me.
‘You see, Sergeant, if we did have the Blood Flower, a ruby of such value, you’d have to shoot us. You wouldn’t want any witnesses, and with that much money, you could run away and live like a king on his throne. America, perhaps, or Madagascar. I hear it’s delightful. They have singing squirrels, so I’m told.’
‘What are you blathering about?’
Rosie went left, trying to stop me from standing in front of her, and I went left too. Behind Dorling, the pier was still illuminated. People were dotted along it, late-night revellers and couples stealing kisses before they headed home.
Something glinted on the stones.
‘If we had a thing of such value, do you think for one second, we’d still be in Portsmouth? We’d have left days ago.’
He frowned. ‘You truly don’t have it?’
‘No. You’ll get nothing. There’s no Blood Flower here. If it ever existed at all.’
‘Why would you pretend to have it if you don’t?’
I forced my face into a confident smile. ‘Isn’t it obvious? For money. We knew Quinton and Chastain would pay handsomely for a ruby like that. Things didn’t work out as we planned.’ I gave a theatrical sigh, all shoulders and pout. ‘Too bad for us and too bad for you too. You’re stuck here, Sergeant, in this city. No throne for you, no singing squirrels.’
He lifted the revolver towards my face. ‘You always have a deal, don’t you, Stanhope? Some crafty proposal that’ll get you what you want. But you know what I’ve done, and I’m better off with you dead than alive.’
I held up my hands, keeping myself in front of Rosie, who was kicking the backs of my ankles. ‘Don’t be hasty, Sergeant. All the deaths so far, you can explain. Saving civilians from danger, self-defence, a policeman’s loyal duty, I’m sure you can find the appropriate words for a story like that. But you can’t explain killing us. We’re not criminals and we didn’t take any hostages.’
Again, I caught a glimmer of light among the stones, a reflection from the lamps on the pier.
Rosie veered right, and this time I stayed where I was. She kept moving, making an arc around Dorling, away from me. Now, he could shoot one of us, and the other might get far enough away not to be shot as well. He took a step back, swivelling to aim the gun at each of us in turn.
‘I may not be a clever London man like yourself, but I know this city. Every nook and corner of it. I can dispose of your bodies easily enough. I’ll put you where no one will ever look.’
Rosie picked up a rock and heaved it at him. It fell six feet short. ‘You should be ashamed,’ she said. ‘You’re a terrible policeman. A disgrace. People trust you, but you’re nothing more than a common criminal.’
She was goading him, trying to give me a chance to escape.
I took a step forward. But as I moved, my angle to the lamps on the pier changed, and the glint on the stones disappeared. I stepped back again, and there it was.
Dorling was facing away from me, fully occupied with Rosie. She caught my eye, and I could see her willing me to go the other way, to turn and run. But I could not. I had to reach that metallic glint. I took another step forward and it went out again, but this time I kept my eyes locked on the exact spot. I couldn’t afford to miss it.
‘What are you waiting for?’ Rosie demanded. ‘You say that a woman can’t shoot a man, but I’ve beaten one to death with a chain. What do you think of that?’
I almost missed it in the darkness. In fact, I trod on it.
‘You’ve been brave, Mrs Stanhope,’ said Dorling, ‘but your time is up.’
He pulled back the hammer of his revolver.
I crouched down and there it was: Chastain’s gun, right where it had landed after he threw it out of the bathing machine.
I picked it up and aimed it at Dorling.
I pulled the trigger.