25

I sat on the floor, wondering whether Sister Agnes was back at the convent yet.

Was she afraid?

My eyes filled with tears. When I blinked, I could feel the tiny rivulet of brine dripping down my cheek.

Where was Rosie? I wasn’t sure she would come. No doubt she was cross with me for going to the penny gaff without her, seeing my actions as typically secretive. But I hadn’t wanted to involve her in breaking the law. Better she was furious and safe than complicit and risking arrest. If the price of her freedom was our estrangement, I would pay it.

At lunchtime, the constable brought me another slice of bread and a glass of ale, shoving them disdainfully towards me.

‘From the sergeant. His new stripes are making him soft.’

I waited for him to leave before setting upon them hungrily.

In the early afternoon, some time between two and three o’clock, the door clanged again. Ripley’s uneven gait echoed down the corridor.

I remained seated on the floor. ‘Have you released Sister Agnes?’

‘Pallett’s on his way there now.’ He bit his lip pensively. ‘Look, I’m sure she’ll come to no harm with Pallett there. He’s a big bloke.’

‘He won’t be enough. Why are you here?’

‘Since you didn’t remember where you were two nights ago, I went to your lodging and spoke to …’ He paged through his notebook. ‘Yes, here we are. Alfred Smith, your landlord. He said you weren’t at home on Saturday night.’

Poor Alfie. He had offered me a home and his friendship. While I had been recuperating from my burns, we spent almost every evening together, sipping whisky and talking, or simply enjoying the silence. He had instructed Constance not to badger me with questions, so instead, she’d furiously cleaned very instrument in the house, polished the floors and scrubbed the pans until they gleamed.

Ripley didn’t care about anyone’s good opinion, he only cared about facts. I envied him that. ‘Mr Smith said you might have gone to see … yes, here we are, Mr Jacob Kleiner. You sometimes stay overnight there, he said.’

I breathed out deeply. ‘Sometimes.’

The detective tapped his notebook with his finger. ‘I visited Mr Kleiner. He required a little persuading to talk to me, him being of the opinion that all policemen are in the pay of the Golden Lane gang and not to be trusted. But when he did finally cooperate, he said that you weren’t with him either.’

‘Why did you bother? You already think I’m guilty of something.’

‘There’s more to this than you’re telling me, Stanhope. You have secrets and I want to know what they are. So, I paid a visit to Mrs Flowers, in whose company you’re often to be found, more fool her, and she wasn’t at home.’

My heart, which had briefly leapt, sank down again.

‘Where was she?’

Ripley pursed his lips, as irritated as I’d ever seen him. ‘Here, as it happens.’

I jumped up. ‘Rosie’s here? Well, why are you delaying? Send her in.’

He shook his head. ‘I’m not your valet, Mr Stanhope. No visitors. You’ll be seeing the magistrate tomorrow.’

Late in the afternoon, Rosie finally appeared, her face ashen.

‘Oh, Leo. Have they treated you badly?’ Her eyes slid down to the empty ale glass and plate of crumbs. ‘I see not.’

‘Why has Ripley let you see me?’

‘We came to an arrangement.’ She gave me a sheepish look. ‘A free pie every day from now until mid-summer and a politic tongue in conversations with his wife.’

I laughed out loud, feeling wild and manic. The sound echoed off the walls.

‘You are brilliant, Rosie. Thank you.’

She gave a little curtsy, and we spent a few seconds simply enjoying the moment. It couldn’t last. The truth of my situation closed in over me like a fog.

‘I’ve ruined everything, Rosie. They’ve let Sister Agnes go and she’s in danger. And I’m in here, accused of placing false evidence to get Coffey convicted.’

She sucked on her teeth. ‘Which you did, if I’m any judge. And Mr Ripley said you hit Coffey on the head with a box. Is that true?’

‘Yes. He was trying to molest a young girl.’

‘Oh. Well then.’

For a little while, neither of us spoke. I sat sulking on the mattress, and she stood with her hands on the bars so, from my perspective, she appeared to be the one in jail. Eventually, I met her eyes. They were wet and rimmed with red. I’d thought she’d be angry that I’d gone to the gaff without telling her, but more than anything, she seemed proud.

‘Perhaps we really should do it,’ she said eventually, with a tense little smile.

‘Do what?’

‘Marry. It would save so much trouble, don’t you think? I’ve had enough of men.’ She wrinkled her nose, realising what she’d said. ‘You know what I mean. You’ll have to pay rent, of course. And I don’t intend … that is to say, we’ll have a spare room soon, when Alice and Albert go.’

I thought her jest was in poor taste and gave her a sour look. ‘I think my accommodation is arranged for the time being.’

She folded her arms, regaining some of her usual bearing. ‘I intend nothing more than a convenient arrangement. No one to bother me and no awkward questions for you. Who’d doubt a married man?’

I was attempting to maintain my composure, but my mind was reeling. Given what was about to happen to me – humiliation and imprisonment – for her to propound this fantasy, this other life in which I could live freely as a man, wasn’t funny. It was cruel. I didn’t understand. No one on earth was less cruel than Rosie.

I put my head in my hands. ‘Please, stop. It’s too late.’

A glimmer of a smile crossed her face. ‘Do you think I’ve done nothing while you’ve been feasting in here?’

I jumped to my feet. ‘What have you found out?’

The door at the end of the room opened and I could hear footsteps.

Rosie stepped back. ‘Here she comes now.’

Ripley led the way. A step behind him was Sister Nora, dressed in her usual garb of black tunic and scapular, her long face fringed by a veil, emphasising her frown.

She appraised me squarely. ‘Mr Stanhope. I’m sorry to see your present situation.’

‘Me too.’

Ripley glared at us both. ‘This isn’t how I prefer to do things. If she has pertinent information, she should be in my office telling me, not chatting with a prisoner in his cell.’

Rosie gave him a look which might almost be described as ‘fond’. ‘You agreed to our arrangement so we might as well get on with it.’ She put her hand on the Sister’s arm. ‘Tell the detective and Mr Stanhope what you told me.’

Sister Nora straightened her back and cleared her throat. Despite being much younger, she was as formidable as Mother Eugenie, in her own way.

‘My name is Sister Nora Sutherland and I’m at the Convent of Mercy on Tooley Street. Iain Sutherland is my brother.’ She was speaking not to Ripley directly, but into thin air, as though confessing her sins to God. ‘Oswald Drake persuaded my brother to invest in the wrestling club. He calls it the gaff. I don’t know what convinced Iain to do it because he doesn’t have a great deal of money, only what he inherited from our parents.’

Ripley raised his eyebrows. ‘Is he allowed to make investments? Isn’t he a vicar or something?’

She shook her head. ‘A deacon. Not yet a priest. He’s free to do with his money as he wishes, but his choice was … unwise. I advised him that Mr Drake wasn’t to be trusted, but he wouldn’t listen. It turned out that I was right.’

I sensed that, for her, rightness was enough to justify any action, even if it led to the arrest of her own brother.

‘Drake accepted your brother’s money,’ stated Ripley, getting to the point. ‘And, I assume, refused to repay him.’

Sister Nora nodded. ‘As I predicted, yes. I don’t know the details. My brother has a bad temper and the two men argued. It’s unthinkable that Iain would’ve taken Mr Drake’s life, but … I can’t be certain.’

Her voice trailed away, and she wiped her eyes with her palms.

Ripley clapped his hands together. He seemed reinvigorated. ‘Right. Excellent. I’ll go and question him.’

I realised how much it had weighed on the detective, not being able to solve the case. He always appeared so laconic, it was easy to think he didn’t care about anything. But he loathed the idea of criminals evading justice.

I caught his eye. ‘Yes, arrest Sutherland and make sure everyone knows about it. We’ll need him as proof that Sister Agnes is innocent to avoid a riot.’

Sister Nora looked anxiously from one of us to the other. ‘When I left the convent, there were men outside and more arriving. Do you think we’re in danger? We do nothing but help those in need. Why would anyone wish harm on us?’

‘Why indeed.’ I grabbed Ripley’s sleeve through the bars. ‘We have to hurry, Detective.’

He tugged his jacket out of my grasp. ‘We? You’re under arrest, Stanhope. You’re not going anywhere.’

Rosie took a deep breath. ‘Detective Sergeant Ripley, what you’re accusing Mr Stanhope of having done happened two nights ago, is that right? Well, the answer is simple. He couldn’t have done it because he was at my house with me. He’s hasn’t admitted as much to protect my good name. You can let him out now.’

‘Rosie, no …’ I couldn’t bear to let her lie for me, not if the price was her reputation. She had tossed it away in a heartbeat for my sake; no hesitation, no equivocation.

Ripley cleared his throat, seeming as if he might spit on the floor, but swallowing instead. ‘Let me get this straight. You’re claiming Mr Stanhope was with you at eleven o’clock on Saturday evening. Just the two of you was it, Mrs Flowers?’

She pulled her mouth into a polite, flat smile. ‘I’m a widow, as you well know.’

‘I know the two of you stick together, which is why I checked that detail in anticipation of just such a claim on your part. Your lodger, Mrs Alice Brunswick, said Mr Stanhope wasn’t with you. She said you came home alone at around ten o’clock and went straight to bed. It’s my opinion—’

He wasn’t able to continue. The door at the end of the room banged open and I heard a familiar growl. ‘Bah! Let go of me! Do you think I can’t walk on my own? When I was your age, the dockers called me medved. The bear. That’s how strong I was.’

A portly constable came into view and then came Jacob, leaning on his cane with, to my amazement, Lilya, holding tightly on to his arm.

I stood up and would have rushed to greet them had I been able. ‘Jacob, Lilya, my goodness! What are you doing here?’

My delight in seeing them was tempered with concern. It was weeks since Jacob had left the house and Lilya almost never did, fearful of London’s uneven cobblestones.

She caught my tone and waved it away. ‘I was invited, so I came. Constable Pallett sent us a message, though he signed it Sergeant Pallett, I’m told. Anyway, yes, Sergeant Constable Pallett told us where you were. He said you needed help.’ She felt for the bars. ‘My poor boy, what have they done to you?’

It was Rosie who answered. ‘Leo’s been wrongly accused.’

Lilya nodded. ‘Ah, Mrs Flowers, I’m pleased you’re here. Always you come when he needs you. This is good. This is very good.’

She directed a sly grin in my general direction, which of course Rosie noticed.

Rosie gently took Lilya’s hand. ‘I’m sure he was at your house on Saturday night with you and your husband, wasn’t he, Mrs Kleiner?’

Lilya nodded vigorously. ‘Yes, that’s right. We talked about the river, the most beautiful river. It flows like music, this way and that way.’ She moved her hands in a sinuous motion. ‘When this old fool, my husband, and I were young, we followed the music from Belgrade to Wien – you would say Vienna – and all the way to Linz. We had only each other.’

She was describing the Saturday of the week before but was such a good liar I wondered whether she was genuinely mistaken. Ripley watched her acutely but, of course, her eyes could give nothing away; no shifty glances, no ersatz innocence.

The portly constable leaned forward and said something quietly to Ripley. They were standing close to the bars, so I could hear some of the words, though fortunately no one else could. They included: ‘Can’t be trusted’ and ‘Jew’.

Ripley narrowed his eyes at the man, staring at him for so long, the constable’s face reddened.

The detective turned back to Lilya. ‘Mrs Kleiner, are you absolutely certain Mr Stanhope was with you? It’s just that …’ He paused, biting his lower lip. ‘You’re blind, if I’m not mistaken.’

Her mouth twitched. ‘You think another man could come to my house and pretend to be Leo, who is like my own son, to say the things he would say, to eat my bread and cheese as he would do, and I could not tell?’

Ripley studied her carefully, one eyelid half lowered. ‘Your husband told me that Mr Stanhope wasn’t with you.’ He indicated Jacob, who was adjusting the nap of his trousers at the crotch. ‘Why should I believe you over him?’

Lilya drew herself up. ‘You should have asked me, not him. My husband is a fine man, a fine jeweller, but he’s old. His mind was trusty once, like a flask. You filled it to the brim, and nothing ever came out.’ She banged her hands together as if pushing a lid on to a jar. ‘Now, it leaks and leaks until everything is gone.’

Ripley turned to Jacob, losing all remnants of patience. ‘Is this true? Are you senile?’

‘Of course, he isn’t,’ I protested. ‘He’s perfectly capable, aren’t you Jacob?’

Jacob swallowed hard and brushed his hands down his jacket.

‘It’s true,’ he said in a quiet voice, his chin trembling. ‘I try to hold on to my thoughts, but they slip away. I can’t reach them. They’re gone. I see it in people’s faces, when I forget or say the same thing twice. I can’t bear it. Soon, I know, I will have no memories of anything.’ He looked at Lilya, tears in his eyes. ‘Or anyone.’

It was as great an act of friendship as any I could imagine.

Rosie folded her arms and glared at Ripley. ‘So, Mr Stanhope has an alibi. You can’t keep him in jail.’

‘All right.’ He held up both of his hands in surrender. ‘Since you’re all determined to save him from his just deserts – even Pallett from the sound of it – I’ll let him out. At least for now. Not that I believe any of you.’

The portly constable unlocked my cell, giving the strong impression it was against his better judgement.

Ripley strode away in disgust and I had to shout after him. ‘There’s a lot of angry men out there, Detective. They’ll become violent unless we can prove to them beyond doubt that Sister Agnes is innocent. You must arrest Sutherland and take him to the convent. I’ll go with you. I know the priest at the church.’

He nodded without slowing his pace.

Sister Nora grabbed my sleeve. ‘I have to go to the convent and warn them.’

Rosie glanced up at the high window. Dusk was already falling. ‘I’ll go with you. We have to keep the babies safe.’

Before I left, I embraced Jacob. He was initially shocked and tense, before returning the gesture, patting my back.

As we separated, I held his shoulders. ‘Thank you.’

He sucked in air through his teeth. ‘You’re like another son to me. You know this. Now go and do whatever it is you have to do. Come and see me when it’s all over. We can play chess.’

I hurried through the police station after Ripley. When I emerged into the chill air of the yard, the sliver of the moon was shining behind the clouds. I’d rarely felt so grateful to be seeing it.

Ripley was speaking urgently to the carriage sergeant. ‘And find some men,’ he instructed him. ‘Send them to the convent on Tooley Street. Do you know it?’

‘I do.’ The sergeant scratched his head. ‘I’ll see who we have. Might be able to spare a couple.’

I made sure I caught his eye. ‘You’ll need more.’

I helped Sister Nora and Rosie into a brougham. ‘Please just warn the Sisters and leave, Rosie. Take no risks. And thank you for trying to give me an alibi.’

She smiled and patted my hand. Her skin was comfortingly oven-hardened and warm. ‘You’d do the same for me.’

Her tone indicated that I shouldn’t pursue the topic, but she was right; I would do the same for her; no hesitation, no equivocation.

Her carriage pulled away. If I’d been prone to such things, I would have prayed for her.

As I turned back to Ripley, he grabbed my lapel. I tried to pull away, but he was far too strong. I was eye to eye with him, breathing in his foul breath. Both of his eyes were fully open and for once there was no cigarette in his mouth.

‘Listen, Stanhope, I suppose you think you’ve got away with something, but you haven’t. If you choose to plant evidence to send some sewer rat like Coffey to prison, I won’t mourn. The city’s best off without him. But you’ve put good people in harm’s way today. They queued up to lie for you. Decent people, honest people. Mrs Flowers soiled her own good name just so you wouldn’t have to pay for your crimes. You should think about what you’ve turned her into. I’d hate to see her land in more trouble because of you.’ He bumped his fist gently against my chest. ‘I’d hate it very much indeed.’

He turned away and I followed him into the waiting Black Maria, shivering as if a cold wind was blowing through the yard.