Shadow of the Hangman(47)

Dagg hunched his shoulders. ‘All I did was to smile at his wife.’

‘Barring my Mary, she’s the prettiest colleen in the tenement.’

‘I noticed,’ said O’Gara with a lewd grin. ‘I wouldn’t mind sweeping her chimney, I’ll tell you that.’ The others laughed coarsely. ‘But your neighbour wasn’t only upset because Moses smiled at his wife. What really set his belly on fire was that she smiled back at Moses.’

They’d deliberately chosen a table in the darkest corner so that nobody could see or hear them too well. Fallon took an additional precaution. Beckoning them closer, he lowered his voice to a hoarse whisper.

‘I’ve a great idea to make money, so I have.’

‘What is it?’ asked O’Gara.

‘There’s a place I know where people like me go for entertainment. Sometimes it’s cock fighting and other times we bet on how many rats a dog can kill in half an hour, if a hundred or more of them are tossed into the pit with him.’

O’Gara chuckled. ‘It’s the kind of place we might enjoy.’

‘Where is it?’ asked Dagg.

‘Let me finish,’ said Fallon. ‘From time to time, we have a boxing match. I don’t mean the sort of thing that the aristocracy and the gentry flock to see. You won’t find Belcher, Cribb or Gentleman John Jackson trading punches there. They belong to a different world of pugilism. We have a real fight with nobody to get in the way.’

‘That’s the way we like it,’ said O’Gara.

‘Then let’s see if we can find a challenger for Moses. We can say that he’s the best black boxer since Tom Molineux, that other American champion. It’s sure to bring a good crowd. We could sit back and watch the money roll in.’

‘We could, Dermot, but there’s no sitting back for Moses. He’ll have to go toe to toe with another fighter. He’ll enjoy that.’

Dagg was reluctant. ‘I’m not sure that I will, Tom.’

‘You can beat anybody.’

‘That’s not the point.’

‘Then what is?’ asked Fallon. ‘You’re not scared, are you?’ When Dagg seized him by the throat, he apologised immediately. ‘I didn’t mean that, honestly. I take it back. I’m sorry, Moses.’

Dagg released him. ‘Don’t ever question my nerve again,’ he warned. ‘I’ll take on any man. My worry is this. You’re forgetting something. Tom and I are on the run. We ought to stay in hiding and not be seen in public.’

‘Nobody there will give you away. Most of the people who turn up are on the wrong side of the law. Anyway, they don’t know who you are or what you’ve done.’

‘He’s talking sense,’ said O’Gara. ‘We can’t miss a chance like this, Moses. We need money to repay Dermot. It’s unfair to live off him when he’s got a family to feed. On the other hand,’ he conceded, ‘I agree that we need to be careful so we won’t call you by your real name. You can fight under a different one.’

‘I don’t like the idea,’ grunted Dagg.

‘But this could be the answer to our problems. If the Home Secretary turns down our plea, we’ll need to do what we threatened and kill him. There’ll be a proper hue and cry then,’ O’Gara emphasised. ‘The only way we’ll get back home to America is to bribe the skipper of a vessel that’ll take us there. That will cost a lot of money. You’re in a position to make it for us.’ He nudged his friend. ‘What do you say, Moses?’

Still uneasy, Dagg took a long time to make up his mind.

‘All right,’ he said at length. ‘I’ll fight.’





Charlotte Skillen had expected her husband back home much earlier that evening but he didn’t reappear until after eight o’clock. Peter was full of apologies, explaining that he’d visited a series of lawyers in his search for the anonymous scrivener and that, having allotted so much time to one investigation, he felt guilty that he’d neglected the other. Accordingly, he’d paid a third visit to Joan Claydon in order to tell her what he’d learnt about the abduction and to assure her that he would not abandon the hunt for her missing lodger until he found her.

‘I still can’t see what the kidnappers stand to gain,’ opined Charlotte.

‘They must have a reason of sorts, my love.’

‘Could someone just be trying to give her a fright?’

‘Mrs Horner is not easily frightened,’ he said. ‘That’s the impression I get of her from her sister, her landlady and the friends of hers to whom I’ve spoken. She’s an indomitable woman. Besides, a fright is, by its very nature, a short, sharp event that achieves its effect then is over and done with. Yet she’s been missing for days. That’s very disturbing.’