Shadow of the Hangman(88)

‘I need to see you.’

‘We’re thirsty. Buy us a drink.’

‘Yes,’ said Hale, ‘we can’t think straight until we’ve had our first taste of ale. Make yourself useful for once.’

Chevy Ruddock was abashed. Keen to divulge what he felt might be valuable intelligence, he was being compelled to part with some of his modest wages in order to satisfy the thirst of the senior Runners. He walked disconsolately to the bar. It was only after they’d quaffed their ale, that the others took any notice of him.

‘Why have you come bothering us here?’ asked Yeomans.

‘Bill Filbert and I were on patrol by the river,’ said Ruddock.

‘We know that.’

‘Someone told us about a fight in that old warehouse tonight.’

‘So?’

‘It’s between someone called Donkey Johnson and another man.’

‘Boxing matches usually are between two people,’ said Hale, sarcastically. ‘Why should we be interested by this one?’

‘The other fighter is called the Black Assassin because he really is black.’

‘Lots of them are bare-knuckle fighters. I remember seeing one called the Black Pearl and there was a Black Demon as well. He gave the Game Chicken a real scare at a fight in Portsmouth. The Game Chicken was Hen Pearce. I bet on him once and he earned me a pretty penny.’

‘The man wanted us to place a wager,’ said Ruddock, ‘but Bill got rid of him. Later on, we met someone else who was taking bets. He told us a lot more about the two boxers.’

‘You’re starting to bore me, Ruddock,’ said Yeomans, yawning.

‘Donkey Johnson used to be a waterman. He got that strength by rowing people across the Thames. All the money will be on him.’

‘Fights mean trouble. I hate them.’

‘You haven’t let me tell you about the Black Assassin yet.’

‘What is there to tell us? He’s a nigger and that’s that.’

‘He’s an American, sir.’

Yeomans was in the act of sipping his ale. The information made him splutter. Lowering the tankard, he looked across at Hale then both of them turned to Ruddock. They were listening at last.

‘It made me think, you see,’ said Ruddock. ‘This man didn’t know what his real name was but he’s never fought at the warehouse before so he must be a newcomer. If he’s a sailor, he’ll know how to use his fists. They’re always brawling. It could just be – I’m only guessing, mind – that the Black Assassin is the very man that we’ve been looking for.’

‘He could, indeed. Well done, Ruddock!’

‘Thank you, Mr Yeomans.’

‘You kept your wits about you for once,’ said Hale.

‘Bill Filbert thought I was dreaming,’ said Ruddock. ‘He reckoned that we should stay well away from that warehouse but not if he really is our man. I want to be there to find out the truth.’

‘We’ll come with you.’

‘Yes,’ said Yeomans, ‘we certainly will. If the Black Assassin really is Moses Dagg, his friend will be there as well. We can nab the pair of them and claim the reward. Apart from Filbert, who else have you told?’

‘Nobody at all,’ replied Ruddock.

‘Keep it that way. This must be our secret.’

‘We mustn’t let the Skillen brothers know about this,’ said Hale. ‘They’ll be green with jealousy if we do their job for them.’

‘I could be wrong,’ said Ruddock. ‘We’ve had black boxers from America coming here before. They get hauled off a plantation and brought to London to be a rich man’s butler or something. Their master also acts as their patron and arranges fights for them. The Black Assassin could be one of those.’

‘He could also be Moses Dagg,’ said Yeomans.

‘What am I to do?’

‘Go back to that warehouse and see if you can find out any more details about the fight. We’ll meet up with you here later on. In the meantime, keep your mouth shut and tell Filbert to do the same. We don’t want this intelligence to leak out.’

‘No,’ said Hale, smirking. ‘We want to be the ones to arrest O’Gara and Dagg. They’re ours.’

‘There’s someone else we need to arrest, Alfred,’ said Yeomans.

‘Who’s that?’

‘We want to capture that elusive Irishman who’s been shielding the two fugitives – Dermot Fallon.’





They met by prior arrangement in a quiet lane off Charing Cross. The first thing that Fallon did was to hug his wife. Mary was relieved to see him still at liberty. She assured him that the children were well but that they were short of money. Fallon slipped some coins into her hand and promised that there would be a lot more money to come very soon, explaining that, since they’d last met, much had happened. He told her about the fight and about his expectation of certain victory for Moses Dagg.