‘How did she react?’
‘Rather strangely, as it happens.’
‘Oh – in what way?’
‘Well, I wasn’t the only person to offer a compliment. Others did so as well and she accepted their comments with obvious pleasure.’
‘What happened when you spoke to her?’
‘She was very pleasant at first then she made it very clear that she didn’t wish to talk to me.’
‘Why was that?’
‘I really don’t know,’ said Charlotte. ‘To be honest, she was extremely rude. In anyone else, it would have been unforgivable but I suppose that we must make allowances for someone in her profession. And her odd behaviour doesn’t obscure the fact that she’s still giving the most remarkable performance in that play.’
Paul could take no more. Excusing himself, he left the room.
It had been a bruising encounter for the Bow Street Runners. When they’d tried to make some arrests at the old warehouse, they’d met stern resistance and been bitten by a dog. Their high hopes had foundered. As they made their way to the Home Office late that afternoon, Yeomans and Hale both walked with a limp.
‘It pains me to say this,’ Hale began, ‘but Ruddock may be right.’
‘Don’t mention that idiot’s name to me.’
‘You didn’t think he was an idiot when he told us about the fight.’
‘No,’ admitted Yeomans, ‘that’s true. We only learnt of the event because of his quick thinking. Perhaps I was too hard on the lad.’
‘Looking back, I think we both were, Micah. What Ruddock suggested may be a good idea, after all. The fact is that we did track down the wanted men and that’s more than the Skillen brothers managed to do.’
‘What’s the point of tracking them down if we don’t arrest them?’
‘We deserve credit for trying,’ argued Hale. ‘There were hundreds packed into that warehouse and we were hopelessly outnumbered. The Doctor needs to be told that. It might convince him that we need to increase the size of the foot patrols. There’s some advantage in this for us, Micah.’
‘Possibly,’ said the other, mulling it over. ‘We certainly acted bravely last night, Ruddock included. He tackled the nigger. You and I were both injured in the execution of our duties, so that mightbe brought to the attention of the Doctor. We may have failed in our objective but we got within inches of the fugitives and deserve plaudits for that.’
‘You agree, then?’
‘I do, Alfred.’
‘And we must put in a word for Chevy Ruddock.’
‘Why?’ asked Yeomans. ‘We don’t want anyone else to share our glory. All that he did was to stumble upon the fact that the Black Assassin might be one of the men we were after. It was left to us to organise the raid. Keep his name out of it.’
When they reached the Home Office, they saw that the carriage was there to take Sidmouth home. They were let into the building and only had to wait a few minutes before he came out to them, putting on his hat in readiness for departure. Yeomans seized his moment and told him about the raid on the warehouse and the attempted arrest of O’Gara, Dagg and Fallon. He made much of the wounds inflicted on them by the dog and insisted that they needed more men at their disposal in future. Sidmouth listened to it all with an interest edged with slight suspicion. He had the feeling that he was being given a highly edited account of what happened.
‘Who first realised that these men would be there?’ he asked.
‘We did, my lord,’ said Yeomans, boldly.
‘You must have had good intelligence.’
‘We always do.’
‘Then why didn’t you communicate it to Peter and Paul Skillen? They have been retained to arrest these men.’
‘There was no time to involve them, my lord,’ said Hale, quickly. ‘We either had to take prompt action on our own or allow the fugitives to escape.’
‘So we did what you would have expected of us,’ said Yeomans, ‘even though we acquired some wounds in the process.’
Keeping his reservations to himself, Sidmouth congratulated them on showing initiative and courage. All three of them left the building and climbed into the waiting carriage. As it rolled away from the kerb, Sidmouth broached a new topic.
‘You’ll no doubt recall your raid on that tenement behind Orchard Street.’
Yeomans nodded. ‘It remains fresh in our minds, my lord.’
‘A man killed himself there yesterday by jumping from a high window. A verdict of suicide will be returned but that may not explain what really happened.’
‘Do you know the fellow’s name, my lord?’