Death in the Devil's Acre (4 page)

Pitt waited several seconds before he answered, and when he did there was resignation in his voice. “Actually, it was someone you have already met.”

Shock tingled through her, not unmixed with a sense of excitement that she was ashamed of the instant after she felt it.

“I’ve met?” she repeated incredulously.

“Do you remember General Balantyne—in Callander Square?”

The excitement turned to horror so intense it almost made her sick. The room swam and she thought she was going to faint. To imagine the general, with his fierce, inarticulate pride, his loneliness, his veneration of duty—how could he have descended to the Devil’s Acre to die not in service or battle but exposed in such a horrible manner.

“Charlotte!”

Surely there must be some way it could be kept quiet? It was the last way on earth such a man deserved to die!

“Charlotte!” Pitt’s voice cut through her thoughts.

She looked up.

“It wasn’t Balantyne!” he said sharply. “It was his old footman, Max—do you remember Max?”

Of course! How could she have been so ridiculous? She took a deep gulp of air. “Max—yes, of course I remember Max. Perfectly odious. He always gave me the feeling that when he looked at me he could see through my clothes.”

Pitt’s face dropped in alarm, then changed to a wide-eyed amusement. “How graphic! I had no idea you were so perceptive.”

She felt herself coloring. She had not meant to let him know she understood that look so well, especially in the eyes of a footman. She ought not have!

“Well ...” She attempted an explanation, and gave it up.

He waited, but Charlotte refused to dig herself in any more deeply. “What was Max doing in the Devil’s Acre?” she asked. “I didn’t think people in that sort of area had footmen.”

“They don’t. He was keeping a brothel—in fact, more than one.”

She maintained her composure. Over the years Charlotte had had cause, one way or another, to learn quite a lot about poverty and the prostitution of both adults and children.

“Oh.” She remembered Max’s dark face, with its hooded eyelids and heavy, sensuous mouth. He had always given her an acute consciousness of physical power, of an appetite that was his servant as well as his master. “I should imagine he would do that sort of thing rather well.”

Pitt looked at her with surprise.

“I mean—” she started, then changed her mind. Why should she explain? She may not know as much as he did, but she was not a total innocent! “In that case, he must have had rather a lot of enemies,” she continued reasonably. “If he had several establishments, then he was doing very well—and I imagine in that sort of trade people are not very scrupulous about how they dispose of competition.”

“Not very,” he agreed with an expression that showed such a mixture of feelings she found it quite unreadable.

“Perhaps Dr. Pinchin kept a brothel as well,” she suggested. “Sometimes very respectable people own property in places like that, you know?”

“Yes, I do know,” he said dryly.

She caught his glance. “Of course you know. I’m sorry.”

“There’s nothing you can do in this case, Charlotte. It isn’t your world.”

“No, of course not,” she said obediently. At this point it would not be to her advantage to pursue the matter, because she could think of no argument to put forward. “I don’t really know anything about the Devil’s Acre.”

Nevertheless, the following morning as soon as Pitt was out of the house, Charlotte began making arrangements to be absent for most of the day. Gracie, who far preferred to look after children than blacken the stove, polish the passage floor, or scrub the doorstep, greeted Charlotte’s instructions with enthusiasm—and a tacit promise of silence. She knew a conspiracy when she met it, even if she did not entirely approve. A lady’s curiosity ought to be restricted to other people’s romances, who was wearing what, and how much it cost—and even then she should always keep her dignity. If a gentleman was murdered, that was one thing—but not a doctor who practiced in the Devil’s Acre and was obviously no better than he should be! Grade had heard about places like that—and people!

Charlotte had said she was going to see her sister Emily, but Gracie had her own ideas of what that was for! She knew perfectly well that Lady Ashworth was not above a good deal of meddling in shocking affairs herself.

“Yes, ma’am.” She bobbed a neat curtsy. “I ’ope as you’ll ’ave a nice day, ma’am. An’ come ’ome safe.”

“Of course I’ll come home safely!” Charlotte switched her skirt past a chair and accepted her coat from Gracie’s outstretched hands. “I’m only going to Paragon Walk.”

“Yes, ma’am, I’m sure.”

Charlotte gave her a sidewise look, but apparently considered she had already said enough about discretion. Anything more might only make Grade’s suspicions worse.

“What shall I say to the master, ma’am?” Gracie asked.

“Nothing. I shall be home long before then. In fact, if Lady Ashworth has an engagement, I may even be home by luncheon.” And with that she swept out the door, down the front step, and went briskly toward the corner where the public omnibus stopped.

Paragon Walk was classically elegant in the winter sun. Charlotte walked smartly along the footpath and up the smooth carriageway to Emily’s front door. The footman opened it before she had reached up for the bellpull. Naturally, in a well-ordered house the pantry would look out onto the drive and guests would be anticipated.

“Good morning, Mrs. Pitt,” he said courteously.

“Good morning, Albert,” she replied with satisfaction, accepting his tacit invitation and stepping inside. It was a very comfortable feeling to be recognized so easily. It gave her the temporary illusion of belonging to this world again.

“Lady Ashworth is writing letters,” he said almost conversationally as he walked ahead of her across the large hall. On its walls were the Ashworth family portraits stretching back to the days of ruffled collars and Elizabethan pantaloons, with gorgeous slashes of color. “But I am sure she will be pleased to see you.”

Charlotte, knowing how Emily disliked letter-writing, was also sure. And she would be even more pleased when she heard Charlotte’s extraordinary piece of news.

The footman opened the morning-room door. “Mrs. Pitt, m’lady,” he said.

Emily stood up, pushing her pen and papers away before Charlotte was even through the door. She was not quite as tall as Charlotte, and had fairer hair that turned to curls with a softness Charlotte had envied all her life. She came forward and hugged Charlotte impulsively, her face alight with pleasure.

“How delightful of you to come! I’m bored to pieces with letters. They are all to George’s cousins, and I can’t bear any of them. Really, you know, the young girls out this Season seem to be even sillier than last year. And heaven knows they were light-witted enough! I refuse to think what next year will be like! How are you?” She stood back and surveyed Charlotte critically. “You look far too healthy to be in the least fashionable. You should appear delicate, like a lily, not some great bursting rose! That is the thing these days. And don’t you know that it is vulgar to look so excited? Whatever has happened? If you don’t tell me, I shall—” A suitable chastisement eluded her; she went over to the comfortable chair in front of the fire and curled up in it.

Charlotte joined her on the sofa opposite, feeling warm, comfortable, and smug. “Do you remember the murders in Callander Square?” she began.

Emily sat up a little straighter, her eyes bright. “Don’t be idiotic! Whoever forgets a murder? Why? Has there been another?”

“Do you remember that dreadful footman, Max?”

“Vaguely. Why? Charlotte, for goodness’ sake stop being so obscure! What on earth are you talking about?”

“Did you read of the murder of Dr. Hubert Pinchin in the newspapers yesterday, or this morning?”

“No, of course not.” Emily was on the edge of her seat now, her back ramrod stiff. “You know George doesn’t give me anything but the society pages. Who is Hubert Pinchin, and what has it to do with that unpleasant footman? Really, you can be extremely irritating!”

Charlotte settled more deeply into the cushions and recounted everything she knew.

Emily clenched her hands, crushing the shell-pink silk of her dress. “Oh dear—how very disgusting! But I never liked that man,” she added frankly. “He left the Balantynes, didn’t he—before the end of that affair, anyway?”

“Yes. It seems he became very successful as a procurer of women.”

Emily winced. “Then perhaps it was rather suitable that he was found in a gutter. And by a prostitute. Do you suppose God has a sense of humor? Or would that be blasphemous?”

“He created man,” Charlotte answered. “He must at the very least have a pronounced sense of the absurd. The newspapers say that Dr. Pinchin was perfectly respectable.”

“Then what was he doing in the Devil’s Acre? Did he take charity cases or something of the sort?”

“I don’t know. I expect Thomas will find out.”

“Well, any man of quality who wanted to pick up a loose woman for the evening would go to a music hall, or the Haymarket. He wouldn’t go to some dangerous slum like the Devil’s Acre.”

Charlotte felt a little crushed. The mystery was fast dissolving in front of her. “Perhaps the women in the Haymarket were too expensive. If Max kept a brothel, there must be customers in the Devil’s Acre! If Dr. Pinchin was one of them—”

“Why kill him?” Emily interrupted with an irritating display of reason. “Nobody but an idiot kills his own customers.”

“Maybe his wife did.”

Emily raised her eyebrows. “In the Devil’s Acre?”

“Not personally, stupid! She may have hired someone. You would have to hate a person very much and in a particular sort of way to do that to him.”

Emily’s face lost its spark of amusement. “Of course you would. But, my dear, all sorts of men use loose women from time to time, and as long as they do it discreetly, a wife with any sense at all does not inquire into it. If a man does not offer explanations of where he has been, for the sake of one’s own happiness it is wiser not to press for them.”

Charlotte could think of no reply that was not either painful or naive. People must deal with their own truths as they were able.

Emily’s mind was on a different train. “Fancy that dreadful footman turning up again. He always made me uncomfortable. I wonder who provided the money for him to set up a brothel? I mean who owned the property and paid for an establishment? Perhaps it was Dr. Pinchin.”

But a far uglier thought forced itself into Charlotte’s mind, linked with memories of the Balantyne house, murder and fear in the past, and Max’s sudden, silent departure.

“Yes,” she agreed abruptly. “Yes, that may very well be so. I dare say Thomas will discover that.”

Emily gave her a narrow look, a flicker of suspicion, but she did not pursue it. “Will you stay for luncheon?”

As Charlotte was preparing for her visit with Emily, Pitt alighted from his cab and walked up to the front door of number 23 Lambert Gardens. It was a high house with a handsome frontage, though today, of course, the curtains were drawn and there was black crepe on the windows and a wreath on the door. The whole effect was one of a curious blindness.

There was no point in putting it off; he lifted his hand and knocked on the door. It was several minutes before an unhappy-looking footman opened it. Death in the house made him awkward; he had no idea how much grief he was expected to show, especially in these grotesque circumstances. Maybe he ought to pretend to ignore it. After all, what could he possibly say? The kitchenmaid had already given notice, and he was considering doing the same.

He did not recognize Pitt. “Mrs. Pinchin is not receiving callers,” he said hastily. “But if you care to leave your card, I am sure she will accept your condolences.”

“I am Thomas Pitt, from the police,” Pitt explained. “I do convey my sympathy to Mrs. Pinchin, of course, but I am afraid it is necessary that I also speak with her.”

The footman was painfully undecided about which of his duties was paramount: on the one hand, preserving the sanctity of mourning from such a crass invasion by a person of this sort, or, on the other hand, his undoubted allegiance to the majesty of the Law.

“Perhaps if you call the butler?” Pitt suggested tactfully. “And permit me not to wait upon the step while you do so. We do not wish to attract the attention and the gossip of the neighbors’ maids and bootboys.”

The footman’s face was almost comical with relief. It was the perfect solution. Gossip would be inevitable, but he had no intention of being blamed for adding to it.

“Oh—yes, sir—yes—I’ll do that. If you come this way, sir.” He led Pitt across the hall, which was filled with a faint odor as if none of the doors had been opened for days. The mirrors were black-draped like the windows. There was an arrangement of lilies in a pedestal vase; they looked artificial, though they were in fact real, and undoubtedly extremely expensive at this time of year.

The footman left Pitt in a room with a black-leaded grate and no fire. It was dark behind the drawn blinds, and it seemed as if the whole household were determined that even if the corpse of the master could not lie in his own home, they would order their domestic arrangements to imitate the chill of the grave.

It was only a few moments before Mr. Mullen, the butler, arrived, his thinning, sandy hair brushed neatly back and his face determined. “I am sorry, Mr. Pitt.” He shook his head. “I’m afraid it will be another half hour before Mrs. Pinchin is able to receive you. Perhaps you would like a dish of tea while you wait? It is a very inclement day.”

Pitt felt warmer already. He had respect for this man; he knew his job and seemed to perform it with more than ordinary skill.

“I would indeed, Mr. Mullen, thank you. And if your duties permit, perhaps a little of your time?”

“Certainly, sir.” Mullen pulled the bell rope and, when the footman answered, requested that a pot of tea be brought, with two cups. He would not have presumed to take refreshment with a gentleman caller, and a tradesman would have been sent through the green baize door to the kitchen. But he considered Pitt to be roughly his social equal, which Pitt realized was something of a compliment. A butler was in many senses the real master of a household, and might rule a staff of a dozen or more lesser servants. He might also have greater intelligence than the owner, and certainly inspire more awe from his fellows.