CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

LATER AT THE PIG AND THISTLE

They sat at the table in the corner. It was almost half past two in the morning, but the pub still had eager customers.

    Quipp knew that Ned, the publican, would drive out all customers on the hour of six, but would open the doors again at ten. Quipp admired his stamina.

    He and Jake had been discussing Mr Frederick Granville for some time, and now Quipp felt sure he knew how to handle his quarry.

    He had deduced some days previously that Granville had been able to secure the Wellesley property in Northamptonshire with the aid of a corrupt lawyer. That same lawyer was now paying Quipp handsomely to remain silent about his fraudulent dealings.

    With the lawyer in his pocket he could face down Granville with confidence. But there were others, too, who knew something of Granville’s crimes.

    ‘From what Miss Wellesley told us of the actual abduction,’ Quipp said to Jake. ‘I am convinced that the footman, William, was in Granville’s pay.’

    ‘I could arrange for him to meet with a nasty accident,’ Jake offered. ‘I have friends who would do it for half a sovereign.’

    Quipp laughed. ‘No, Jake. William is too valuable to us.’

    There would be no point in putting the squeeze on a mere footman, but his knowledge of the abduction was invaluable.

    ‘We must have a little talk with him tomorrow,’ Quipp said. ‘I’m sure he could be very co-operative if he thought his position in Lord Birkett’s household was in jeopardy.’

    Quipp lifted his glass and drank the last of the beer.

    ‘We will call it a day, now Jake,’ he said. ‘I advise you not to return to the Phoenix Club to sleep tonight. Find another place.’

    ‘Not easy, guv,’ Jake said gloomily. ‘I’ve been sleeping in those stables for as long as I can remember.’

    ‘Have you never had a home, Jake?’

    Jake shook his head.

    ‘Well, it’s about time you got a room of your own,’ Quipp advised. ‘You have money and a regular wage from me.’

    Jake looked horrified. ‘No, guv,’ he said. ‘I could never sleep easy inside four walls.’

    ‘Well, I’ll tell you what,’ Quipp said. ‘I’ll ask the landlord here if he can find you a corner somewhere, but I dare say he’ll want paying.’

    ‘I don’t mind paying,’ Jake said. ‘As long as I ain’t shut in nowhere.’

    They got to their feet and Quipp was about to approach the bar counter to speak with Ned, when the door of the pub burst open and a man, obviously a cabbie, came charging in. He had a soldierly bearing about him and a walrus moustache.

    ‘Quipp!’ the man bellowed as though on a parade ground. ‘Any cove here by the name of Quipp?’

    Quipp lifted his hand. ‘The very same,’ he said in surprise. ‘What can I do for you, cabbie?’

    The man jerked his thumb over his shoulder.

    ‘A lady out here as wants a word with yer,’ the man said.

    Quipp and Jake looked at each other.

    ‘A young lady?’ Quipp asked.

    ‘Naw, this one has some years on her,’ the cabbie said. ‘And she looks fair affrighted, if you asks me.’

    Wasting no more time Quipp and Jake followed the cabbie outside to his hansom. As Quipp opened the cab’s door he saw Mrs Possimer.

    ‘Oh, thank God I’ve found you,’ Mrs Possimer said in agitation.

    ‘What in the world is it at this time of morning, Mrs Possimer,’ asked Quipp.

    Mrs Possimer glanced at the cabbie standing listening. ‘Up on your perch, cabbie, if you please,’ she said sharply to him.

    Quipp and Jake climbed into the cab.

    ‘Mr Quipp you must come at once to...the sister’s rooms,’ Mrs Possimer said urgently. ‘Do you get my meaning?’

    After a moment Quipp nodded.

    ‘Where to, then?’ the cabbie demanded to know. ‘I ain’t got all night.’

    ‘Drop us where you picked me up,’ she instructed.

    The hansom moved off at a fair clip.

    ‘I didn’t know you had a sister, Mrs Possimer,’ Jake said conversationally.

    In the gloom of the cab she gave him a stinging look.

    ‘Mr Quipp, there has been a terrible...accident,’ Mrs Possimer continued. ‘You are the only man I know who can put matters right.’

    ‘Don’t go into details now,’ Quipp said. ‘Wait until we are indoors.’

Mrs Possimer let them in to the house. Standing in the hall she indicated the door to the drawing room.

    ‘In there,’ she said simply and handed him the key.

    Quipp unlocked the door and went in, Jake on his heels.

    ‘Oh Gawd!’ Jake exclaimed. ‘Another corpse!’

    Quipp went forward, squatted by the body and turned it over.

    ‘Gawd! It’s Lord Langdon!’ Jake observed in excitement. ‘He was fighting earlier at the Phoenix Club.’

    ‘Got him right through the heart,’ Quipp observed.

    ‘It was self-defence!’ Mrs Possimer exclaimed hotly. ‘He was roaring drunk and abusive.’

    ‘Did you shoot him?’

    Mrs Possimer looked as though she might faint. ‘Me? No! It was her, Mrs Vallentine.’

    ‘Interesting!’ Quipp observed standing up. ‘Where is she now?’

    ‘She’s abed,’ Mrs Possimer said. ‘She was so shocked, poor thing, she couldn’t speak. I had to give her a sleeping draught.’

    ‘Good,’ Quipp said.

    Mrs Possimer put a hand to her face in anxiety. ‘I had better see to her. She may need me.’

    ‘See to her by all mean, but come down directly,’ Quipp told her. ‘We need to plan.’

    Mrs Possimer rushed out of the room.

    ‘What do you think, guv?’

    Quipp looked at the body of Lord Landon and sniffed.

    ‘I think this is a lot more trouble for Mr Frederick Granville, Jake. This is another nail in his coffin.’

    ‘For why?’

    ‘He is going to pay through the nose for the abduction of Miss Wellesley, Jake, but with this,’ he indicated the body. ‘He’s going to pay, to put it crudely, though every other orifice as well.’

    Jake looked mystified.    

    Mrs Possimer returned. ‘She is still soundly asleep,’ she told them. ‘I don’t know what will happen when she wakes.’

    ‘I warrant it will be all over and done with by the time that she does wake,’ Quipp assured her. ‘Mrs Vallentine has no more to fear from us.’

    ‘That’s a blessing, Mr Quipp,’ Mrs Possimer said. ‘I don’t want to see her come to any further harm.’

    ‘I agree,’ Quipp said solidly. ‘But her brother is another matter. We know Mrs Vallentine shot in self-defence or even by accident, but as far as Granville is concerned she shot Langdon in cold blood. It’s murder.’

    He turned to Jake.

    ‘Jake, find a cab and go directly to Mr Granville's house in Hanover Square. Tell him to come immediately to his sister’s rooms.’

    ‘If he won’t?’

         ‘Then tell him squarely that his sister, Mrs Vallentine has shot Lord Langdon dead. That should bring him at the double.’