A Measure of Menace (Kat Holloway Mysteries #7.5)

Chapter 12

“ W e made an arrest this morning,” the man said after he apologized for startling me. “Mr. Jacoby. For the murder of Mr. Mobley. Mr. Dougherty was arrested as an accomplice, though we believe Jacoby committed the actual murder.”

“Ah.”

It was all I could think of to say. While he’d surprised me , he’d not looked in the least unsettled to find me wandering about Daniel’s quarters by myself. That either meant he found nothing odd in a woman who was not Daniel’s wife at home in his rooms, or he’d followed me.

“McAdam was there when the men were brought in,” he continued. “He told me you’d put two and two together and made out that Jacoby was partners with this Mr. Dougherty. That the pair were swindlers. Mr. Jacoby often sent clients to Mr. Mobley when they couldn’t pay him. A man answering Jacoby’s description has been seen at Mobley’s business often, including last Sunday.”

“Indeed.”

He peered at me. “You do not seem as pleased as I thought you’d be, Mrs. Holloway. We got the man, or men. McAdam gives all the credit to you, though I dare say we’d have plodded there in the end. But I thank you for your assistance, especially in convincing Lord Clifford to speak to us.”

“I was helping his lordship prove his innocence,” I said stiffly. “He was an unlucky man, not a murderer.”

A nod. “This proved to be the case. But I must wonder—if you were satisfied that Mr. Jacoby and Mr. Dougherty were guilty, why did you visit Mr. Mobley’s office today?”

So, he had been following me.

“Because something bothered me.” I knew I was unwise to tell him exactly what I’d discovered, but my curiosity about whether I was right was too strong. Besides, I heard Mrs. Williams downstairs, humming in her kitchen, and any scream from me would alert her and all the other lodgers in this house.

“What was that?” he asked.

Did I imagine menace in his eyes? Or only friendly helpfulness? I could be wrong, after all.

“How you were so quick on the scene when Mr. Mobley was found.” I took a step toward the window, where I’d left my basket on the table. I lifted it, heavy with my shopping. I’d found some particularly fine potatoes. “I spoke to Mr. Ogden, who lets the offices next door to Mr. Mobley. He said he found Mobley dead, walked out of the door, and nearly ran into a convenient constable, who happened to work for Sergeant Scott. He did not say a detective constable at the time, but he did today. He described you exactly. Detective constables do not walk a beat, I am given to understand.”

“I happened to be passing along the Strand that morning,” Wallace said easily.

“Or making certain you were near so that you’d be first to investigate. Both so you could clear up any evidence you’d accidentally left behind and to impress Sergeant Scott and Chief Inspector Ferguson with your eagerness and thoroughness.”

Constable Wallace raised his brows. “That is an interesting supposition. How do you know I am not telling you the truth?”

“Because you told us you live in Pimlico,” I stated. “You’d have no need to go anywhere near the Strand on your way into work.”

“Where I walk in the morning is my own business.” Wallace’s affable expression did not waver, but his eyes hardened. “How does it make me a murderer?”

“You can explain to Sergeant Scott where you were,” I said. “I’m certain he would be most interested.”

Constable Wallace’s eyes flickered. I decided to try to make my way out, but he stepped directly in front of me.

“Did Mobley’s neighbor actually see me commit the murder?”

“No,” I had to admit. “Mr. Ogden only arrived in the morning, long after it was done. So you can spare him.”

Wallace studied me closely, as though he did not know what to make of me. “You are adamant. Why on earth should I kill Mobley? I barely knew the man.”

“Not necessarily. Mobley was a moneylender, notorious for his ruinous fees and quite dangerous. Why should he be allowed to continue his business, growing rich from lending to desperate men like Lord Clifford? Or maybe you owed him money yourself?” I doubted this last. Wallace didn’t have the haggard appearance of someone deeply in debt.

“I’d never do business with someone so repellent,” Wallace answered in disgust. “You are right that Mobley’s death is no loss to the world. Filth to be washed down the gutter.”

The deep anger in his voice chilled me, but I plowed on. “You must have persuaded him to meet you on Sunday night, without his ruffians, so they wouldn’t overhear your discussion. Perhaps you made out that you’d be willing to take a bit of his profits to look the other way at his dealings.”

“Now you are imagining things, Mrs. Holloway. I’d never take a bribe from someone like him.” The curl of Wallace’s lip told me this was true.

“But he wasn’t to know that, was he?” I said. “Also, you are ambitious. If you solve this case, you will receive many accolades and move up in the world.” I adjusted my basket. “Sergeant Scott is very careful, but you surged ahead and found a killer for him.”

Now all pretense of friendliness left him. “I worked long and hard to drag myself up from lowest constable on the force to my place as a detective. I don’t come from a police family, and I didn’t have friends at the Yard to recommend me. I moved into my position all by myself, and I do not intend to be brought down by the speculations of a silly woman. Of a cook .”

“I also came to my position in a prominent household by hard work,” I said. “But I never murdered anyone to do it.”

“You will never prove that I killed Mobley,” Constable Wallace stated with derision. “You can’t. Neither can anyone else. Jacoby is swindling scum, and I can place him near the scene of the crime at the time in question. He used Mobley often enough, and I made certain to make my appointment near the same time Jacoby made his. Dougherty will hire an expensive barrister to get him off, but Jacoby will break rocks at Dartmoor. He deserves to go down. It would have been entertaining to watch the Earl of Clifford stutter before the House of Lords and have his reputation destroyed—aristos are parasites on the rest of us—but I couldn’t produce enough evidence against him. I wager Dougherty truly wasn’t at home when Lord Clifford called on him, and he’ll have to dance to prove he wasn’t helping Jacoby murder Mobley.”

“Then you will have to take your chances that Sergeant Scott won’t tumble to your ruse,” I said. “Good afternoon, Constable Wallace.”

I tried to move around him, but wasn’t surprised when he would not let me.

“You will come with me, Mrs. Holloway. We will walk to Scotland Yard and face Sergeant Scott together. I wonder who he’ll be more willing to believe?”

“No, indeed. If I leave with you, you’ll find some quiet turning or empty building in which to knock me on the head, as you did Mr. Mobley. If we stay here, and you try anything, I can shout for the landlady, who will run for a constable. The beat constable on this street is honest—I know him .”

Wallace came at me, and in that second, he became very frightening indeed. His eyes were lit with rage, determination, and a frustration that anyone would have the gall to stand in his way. He raised his club—a long, slender thing of polished wood, like what had killed Mobley. All I could do was dart aside and lift my basket to fend off the blow.

Which never fell. Unlike Mobley, who unluckily had been alone, I had a rescuer. Daniel, who’d been standing in the doorway for the last few minutes, ripped the club from Wallace’s upraised hand and expertly twisted the man off his feet.

Wallace fell heavily but rolled away and sprang up once more. He’d had training, but Daniel had been fighting for his life since he was a wee lad. Daniel delivered an elbow to the chin and then the gut, followed by a few tight punches. Wallace fell again, this time to lie unmoving on the carpet.

“Kat.” Daniel’s eyes blazed with anger, worry, and something else I dared not pin hopes on. “What the devil?—”

“I knew you’d come right away,” I said quickly. “I saw James lurking and then race away to fetch you. That meant you weren’t far, or he would have told me so. If that had been the case, I would have gone at once to Scotland Yard to speak with Sergeant Scott.”

I was babbling and shaking, because I’d had no idea that Constable Wallace had followed me and would confront me here. I’d only wanted to tell Daniel what I had found out and leave the mopping up to him. I’d blurted my theory to Wallace because I’d heard Daniel’s step below and knew he’d be a witness, one respected by Scotland Yard, if Wallace admitted his sins.

Two witnesses, I realized, as James came bounding in, gaping at Wallace on the floor.

“He was a bad ’un, wasn’t he?” James asked me, the lanky youth towering over Wallace’s prostrate form. “Not right when the police are criminals, is it?”

I tried to answer him with some quip, but my strength failed me. I found myself sinking to a chair, which somehow had Daniel on it first. He held me on his lap, and I buried my face in his shoulder and hung on.

Daniel cradled me close, kissing my hair. James patted my shoulder, trying to soothe me, and I decided there were no two better men in the world than they.

“I am taking Papa home tomorrow,” Cynthia announced to me the next morning as Tess and I finished cleaning up the breakfast things. It was Tess’s day out, but the dear girl wanted to make certain everything was neat for me before she departed. She’d also lingered to hear about my adventures.

“That would be best, I agree,” I said to Cynthia as I finished wiping my worktable.

“He’s feeling much livelier now that the true murderer has been arrested,” Cynthia went on. “Add to that, Mr. Parkin agreed to soften the terms of the loan. Papa will pay back every penny, but thanks to you, he has much more time and will owe far less interest.”

“Mr. Parkin wants to make a go of having a legitimate business, he told me.” I set out a basket of carrots from yesterday’s shopping and began to go through them. “It was one reason he went to Manchester, apart from the wedding. To attract new investors, or something of the sort. I wasn’t quite certain what all he was explaining to me.”

“You ought to have taken me with you,” Cynthia said sternly. “Wallace could have popped you on the head at any time you were walking about.”

“Hardly in the crowds of the Strand and Covent Garden.” I lined up the carrots I’d chosen, readying them for peeling and scrubbing. “I did not inform you because you were looking after your father, and besides, I wasn’t sure I was right. I only wanted to ask Mobley’s neighbor more details about that morning, because no one paid much attention to his story. I only meant to tie up the loose ends, not be followed and attacked.”

“Lucky for you, Daniel was there,” Cynthia went on severely.

“That’s what I said,” Tess put in. She snatched up her bonnet and set it carefully on her head, checking her appearance in the mirror. I guessed she’d meet Constable Greene today for another lively knees-up.

“It was not luck.” I’d explained many times to both Daniel and Cynthia that I’d not have remained in Daniel’s flat if I’d thought I’d be cornered there. I’d been very careful and would have gone straight to Scotland Yard had I not thought Daniel would soon be along. “Never mind. Please convey my best wishes to your father for a safe journey.”

“I will.” Cynthia grinned. “He’s taken with you, Mrs. H. He might hire you away from Aunty and Uncle to come cook for us in Hertfordshire.”

“No, he will not,” I said firmly. “I prefer London, and in London I shall remain.”

Cynthia knew exactly why I wished to stay in the metropolis—for several reasons, in fact. She only widened her smile and turned away, clattering through the hall and up the stairs to prepare for their journey.

In the late hours that night, when the house was dark and quiet, Daniel arrived at the back door. I greeted him silently and set before him a plate of leftover roast, carrots, and potatoes I’d served to Lord Clifford and Cynthia for supper. I plunked a fork next to it and seated myself not far from him.

“Magistrate was not kind to Wallace,” Daniel told me between mouthfuls. “Was quite unhappy that a policeman had managed to commit murder and then investigate his own crime under other policemen’s noses. Apparently, Sergeant Scott had already suspected him and had been quietly investigating Wallace’s movements.”

“Sergeant Scott will go far, I predict.” I poured tea for both of us, adding a bit of sugar and dollop of cream in both. “He has the cool-headed resolve for the job.” I wasn’t certain I liked the man, but I recognized his competence.

“If Sergeant Scott had a helpmeet like you, he would go far indeed.” Daniel winked at me as he took another large bite.

“Impertinence,” I scolded. It would never do to let Daniel know how much his offhand compliments pleased me.

As he finished eating, my ebullience ebbed. I descended into the troubling thoughts I’d had since I’d spoken so forthrightly with Lord Clifford the other night.

The only sounds beyond us now were the quiet hiss of the kettle I always kept warming and a thunk of coal breaking apart inside the stove. A breath of peace in a kitchen that could see so much bustle.

“I told Cynthia’s father to be kind to her,” I said as Daniel scraped his plate clean and laid down his fork. “In other words, to take comfort in the child he had left. But oh, Daniel.” I let my hand slide from my teacup to go limp on the table. “I can pity him so deeply. If something happened to Grace, it would be the end of me.” My eyes stung, and I suddenly found it difficult to breathe.

Warmth touched me as Daniel knelt next to my chair and slid his arms around me. “I feel the same about James. We’ll protect them together, you and I, shall we? From everything bad in the world.”

“Will we be able to?” I asked, the words shaky.

“I intend to have a damned good try. Join me?”

“Of course.” My resolve resurged. I’d protect Grace from the demons of hell if I had to. “Let anyone try to get in our way.”

“That’s the spirit.” Daniel tugged me closer. “My brave, brave Kat. What would my life be without you?”

“Your stomach would be less filled, that’s for certain,” I said.

Daniel laughed, a warm, gladdening sound. “So would my heart.”

And mine . But as it was, with Daniel, Grace, James, and my friends, I had everything I needed.

Another piece of coal broke, reminding me of the late hour. I’d need to bank the fire and go to bed.

Instead, I sat with Daniel holding me, my head resting on his smooth hair, letting myself savor this moment of happiness as long as I was able.