“Mr. Keats? There is a gent to see you, sir.”
A dark-suited man entered the condemned cell. He had prominent ears, closely cropped beard and a solemn demeanor.
The executioner.
“Good evening, Mr. Keats. I am Mr. Berry.”
Keats stuck out his hand. “I would say it is a pleasure to meet you, but that would be lying, sir.”
A slight smile stole across the hangman’s face. “I wished to speak to you of the morning.”
“I understand.” Keats sat on his bed, composing himself.
Berry cleared his throat. “Shortly before eight, I will come to you and pinion your arms. Once we are at the scaffold, I’ll place the white cap on your head and pull it down to cover your eyes. I will position the rope, and then shortly thereafter you will be at peace.”
“I hope so,” Keats said. “I am a slight man, and that does give me concern as to your calculation of the drop.”
“Approximately ten stone?” Keats nodded. “Then I shall employ a drop of six feet. That should be sufficient.”
Keats felt his blood chill. This was an unholy science.
“If this must happen, I am pleased you are to do it, sir,” he remarked. “You have an excellent reputation.”
“Thank you. For my part, I urge you to make your confession so that you may find peace within yourself and with God.”
“I have confessed, sir, but not to the crime for which I am being executed. I will not lie to satisfy the newspapers.”
Berry paused. “You claim to be innocent?”
“Yes. God knows my soul and when I stand before Him, I will repent for many things, but not the death of Nicola Hallcox. Her blood is not on my hands.”
Berry shuffled his feet uncomfortably. “You will give me no trouble in the morning?”
“None. You are only performing your duty.”
A sigh of relief. “Then I shall take my leave. Rest easy. I shall make it painless.”
For that, I will be eternally grateful.
~??~??~??~
It felt like a wake.
Alastair took a sip of the fine whiskey in his hand. Across Lord Wescomb’s study, Chief Inspector Fisher also had a whiskey, but he’d not touched it. Lady Sephora sat near the fire, an embroidered shawl around her shoulders, as if the room would never be warm enough. Her husband was at his desk, pouring through a stack of law books and muttering to himself. Every now and then, he’d slap a book shut and select another.
“John,” the lady called out. He looked up instantly. “Come sit with us. You have done what you could.”
His lordship closed his eyes for a moment, then rose from his desk with a sigh. He sat near his wife, taking hold of her hand.
“There has to be a way to stop this madness,” he murmured.
“I don’t think there is,” Fisher replied, his voice flat. “It is much like a runaway train. You can apply the brakes, tear up the track, and nothing happens. It only goes faster.”
Alastair took a sip of his whiskey, letting it burn down his throat.
Jacynda cannot let Keats die. But where was she? What was she doing?
His thoughts drifted to the prisoner. Keats had been very quiet that afternoon, and that had made their last meeting particularly poignant. To keep himself from breaking down, the sergeant had spoken of his nephew, of his grandparents. At the end, he mentioned he’d brought his will up to date. In all ways, Keats was disengaging himself from this world. Preparing himself for the end.
As we all must.
~??~??~??~
It was an odd procession. Cynda held the lead, followed by Flaherty and the hulking presence of Paddy. For a big man, he moved fairly quietly. Flaherty, to Cynda’s surprise, was damn near silent.
No wonder Keats had trouble finding this guy.
She’d not expected Paddy to come with them, but he’d insisted. When that decision had been made, Flaherty swore under his breath.
“They’ll put ya in jail, ya know that.”
Paddy nodded. “I did wrong. It’s not as bad as some say.”
“He probably won’t mind prison. He’s too big for anyone to bully,” Mr. Spider observed.
As they’d made their way across London to Marylebone, first by omnibus and then on foot, they’d worked through the stages of this unlikely marriage of convenience. The first part had been devoted to threats. Flaherty had let her know if this was a trap, she was the first to die. She’d retaliated by telling him that if anything happened to Lord Wescomb, nobody would take the time to find his daughter. She’d expected him to react in anger. Instead, he’d given her a grave nod and set his jaw.
They’d walked the last mile, nerves on edge, none of them knowing when they’d encounter a constable on his beat. Cynda kept moving ahead at a pace steady enough to make progress without triggering anyone’s interest, the pair following her lead. Their dress was too shabby for this part of town, but that couldn’t be helped. Flaherty in full evening dress wasn’t going to make this meeting any more acceptable.
Cynda paused at Wescombs’ front door, doubt forming a lump in her throat. This could go wrong in so many ways. Squaring her shoulders, she knocked. Behind her the two men waited, knives concealed from view.
The moment after the door opened, she began working on the face. Howard Brown. According to the notes on the pendant, she’d gotten the butler his job with the Wescombs. The smile on Brown’s face was genuine. That made it worse. It felt like she was betraying a friend. No matter what happened, he was going to detest her before the evening was over.
“Miss Lassiter,” he exclaimed with a smile. “How unexpected.” The smile vanished when he noticed the pair behind her.
“Mr. Brown,” she greeted awkwardly. “I’m sorry, but this has to happen. These two gents need to be inside…now.”
“Miss, I can’t allow that. They don’t look—”
Flaherty pushed forward, pressing his knife against the butler’s fine coat just at heart level. “Best not to think, my friend. Just let us in, nice and gentle, and this’ll go right fine.”
The butler’s eyes widened as his hand headed for his pocket. Cynda grabbed it, then removed the pistol lodged inside.
Too close.
The knife pressed harder, to the point where Brown winced.
“What is this?” he demanded.
“I’ll tell you more once we’re inside,” Cynda said. She started to put the gun in an empty pocket, but Paddy took possession of it.
That was fine. As long as they don’t know about the other one.
Brown’s face grew grave. “If any harm comes to the Wescombs, I’ll see all of you hang for this.”
“Fair enough,” Cynda conceded. “Inside, now. The longer we’re on the street, the more danger there is.”
The moment the door closed, Brown’s quick breaths rose in intensity. His eyes moved to the coat rack and back to her in a silent plea. Two bowlers.
Ah, crap. “Who else is here?” she demanded.
“People you don’t want to annoy,” Brown replied. “I suggest you be on your way.”
“Who is it?” she pressed.
Brown glowered. “Besides my employers, a chief inspector of Scotland Yard and Dr. Montrose.”
“Chief Inspector Fisher?”
The butler gave a terse nod.
Oh, stellar.
Flaherty chuckled. “We’re playin’ to a full house. Take us in quiet as ya can. Yer gonna announce the woman, and then she’ll tell ’em who we are. Course, two of the gents’ll know me right personal.”
Every step down the hallway drew them closer to the moment when it could all fall apart. If Flaherty didn’t keep his word, he could kill the lot of them. When they stopped at the door, the anarchist flicked his knife closed. He casually lit a cigar and took a long puff. Smoke clouded around them.
“Put that out!” Brown grumbled.
Flaherty ignored him. “Don’t raise a fuss. I don’t want to hurt anyone, and that’s God’s truth.”
Brown shifted his eyes toward her, making one last silent appeal.
“We’re here about Sergeant Keats, nothing more,” she said.
A low sigh came from the man. He tapped on the door, awaited the response and then entered.
“My lord, my lady. I…apologize, but a situation has arisen over which I have no control.”
Wescomb leaned forward. “What sort of situation, Brown?”
Cynda stepped around the butler.
“Jacynda?” Alastair called out, rising with a smile. “Were you able to—”
“I’m sorry about this, but there is no other way.”
She stepped aside to allow the most dangerous man in Britain into the room.