The Mermaid in the Basement (44 page)

“Yus, I found ’er, and she lives with a man wot’s got a steel ’ook instead of a ’and.”

“Where is she, Callie? How did you find her?”

Callie grinned then, in spite of the fatigue that was slowing her down. “I been looking, me and Paco, everywhere we could. I went all over to different districts, and I finally ’eard about a dolly mop named Sadie.”

Dylan knew that
dolly mop
was a term used to describe the lowest class of prostitute. “Where did you find her?”

“I goes over to the east side, but I didn’t find nuffin’. Finally I goes to Seven Dials and asked everybody wot I could think of, but it was over in the west end that I runs ’cross a woman wot used ter live next to us. I asked ’er about a woman named Sadie and a man wif a steel ’ook. She wanted money, and I had to give ’er the sovereign you guv me ’fore she’d tell me.”

“You shall have it back,” Dylan said. “What did you do then?”

“I gives ’er the sovereign, and then I goes to the place where she said Sadie lived with her man. I didn’t want to ask too much, but I found out that the man with the steel ’ook has been real sick. Sadie’s been going out taking men to keep ’em in food.”

“And you found the house where they live?”

“Yus,” she said. “I can take you to it.”

“Right, you!”

“And what about them sovereigns?”

“Ten sovereigns, wasn’t it? You’ll have them today. I’ll have to go by the bank and get them.Wait, we need to find the viscountess. You look so tired. Let’s get you something to eat, then I’ll give you the sovereigns.”

“I’m a mite hungry,” she confessed, “and tired too. But just think what I can buy for Mum wif ten sovereigns.”

“You’ve done well, girl. Better than anybody. You found the woman when the rest of us all failed.”

“You say I done good?”

“Very well indeed. I’m so proud of you! We’ll have to buy you a new outfit, and Paco a new outfit, and we’ll go out and celebrate. Take your mother, too, if she’s able. If not, we’ll bring her some good food back.”

The girl smiled then, and he noted again her eyes, the colour of lapis lazuli, a rich azure blue, and saw that when she filled out, she had the potential of being a great beauty. Dylan decided in his heart that this girl would
not
go on the streets. He and the viscountess would see to that.

“Come along, then. We’ll get you something to eat. What would you fancy?”

“An eel pie.”

Dylan laughed. He felt exultant and said, “We’ll get it, and then I’ll go to the bank, and you’ll be ten sovereigns richer.”

“This is the place that Callie said Sadie lived with the man with the steel hook.” Dylan turned to see Serafina’s reaction.

“It’s a terrible place.”

“Yes, it is.”Dylan looked up at the leaning tenement. It looked as if it were about to fall down. “Let’s find out if Callie’s right.”

“I pray that she is.”

Dylan suddenly looked at her and smiled. “You pray that she’s right? That’s a good sign, isn’t it?”

“I—I didn’t mean that literally.”

“Well, I do. Come along, Serafina.”

The two entered the house and climbed a set of creaking stairs. Dylan knocked at the first door, and no one answered. Moving over, he tried another door, and after his knock, a voice inside said, “Wot do yer want?”

“I’m looking for Sadie.”

The door opened then, and a woman stood there. She was large and gaunt, and her hair was unclean. She had lost most traces of her early beauty, but some of it was still there. “Who are you? Wot are you doing ’ere?” The woman looked over Dylan’s shoulder at Serafina. “Why does you bring a woman ’ere for?”

“Is your name Sadie?”

“Wot’s it to yer?”

“I think we might do you some good, Sadie.”

“That ain’t likely. You rich nobs come ’ere to satisfy your appetites, not to do me no good.”

“Are you living with a man here with a hook on his right arm?”

Something like panic touched Sadie’s eyes. “’E ain’t done nothing! ’E’s been here for two weeks, too sick to get out of bed. ’E couldn’t hurt nobody or steal nothin’.”

“I’m sorry to hear he’s sick,” Dylan said. “I don’t know his name.”

“’Is name is Oscar Bent.Wot do you care for? You ain’t a copper.”

“No, we’re not the police. Sadie, could we step inside?”

“You might as well,” she said, her voice filled with despair.

They went inside the room and saw a man lying on the bed. His eyes were closed, and he had not shaved in some time. Both arms were lying across his breast, and a steel hook glinted where his right hand should have been.

Sadie backed up as if to protect herself. “Wot do yer want? We ain’t got nothing, and he’s like to die.”

“He needs to be in the hospital,” Serafina said abruptly. She was touched by the awfulness of the situation. The woman was obviously worn out and had been misused, and the man, indeed, might even be dying. “We want you to help us,” Serafina said, stepping closer to the woman. “And I hope we can help you.”

“Me ’elp you? How could I ’elp you?”

“Several weeks ago a young man came here. You picked him up on the street, and he was drunk.”

“I sees lots of drunks.Was ’e quality like you?”

“Yes, he was. He’s not a tall man, and he has light brown hair and brown eyes and he’s very handsome.”

“Wot’s it to you if I seen ’im?”

Serafina decided to be totally honest with the woman. “The man is my brother. He’s being tried right now for the murder of a woman, but the murder took place while Clive says he was with someone. He didn’t remember your name or where he was, he was so intoxicated. So you see, we’ve been looking for you for some time, and now we’re going to ask you if you’ll help us.”

“And ’ow could such as me ’elp you?” Sadie demanded wearily. “I ain’t got nothing to ’elp nobody.”

“Would you be willing to testify that my brother was with you that night?”

“You means go afore a judge? I’d be afeared to do that!”

“You needn’t be afraid, Sadie,” Dylan said quickly. “You’ll be doing the court a favour.”

The man on the couch started to cough, and the woman turned and went over to him. She poured something into a glass and pulled him into an upright position. “Drink this, Oscar. It’ll do you good.” The man opened his eyes and reached out and took the glass. He managed to get most of it down, and then when she took the glass, he reached up and touched her cheek. “Thank you, Sadie. You’re good to me.”

“Lay down and try to sleep,” Sadie said. She laid the man down carefully, and there was obvious affection in her, as well as worry. She turned again and came to stand before the two. “I remember ’im, all right.Wot will I get out of it?”

Quickly Serafina said, “We can’t pay you money for your testimony, but I will tell you this. If you do testify, I will be very grateful to you.”

“So will I, Sadie. We’ll get a doctor here to look at Oscar, and if he says that he needs to be in a hospital, we’ll see that he goes there. Things will be better for you both. And you’ll save a good young man’s life.Will you do it?”

Sadie looked at the two and then at the man. “If it’ll get my man in a ’ospital, I’ll do it.”

“Good! We’ll get some proper clothes for you to wear to the court,” Dylan said.

“And we’ll have a doctor here to look at your—” She started to say
husband
but faltered. “To look at Oscar, and we’ll put him in the hospital if that’s what the doctor says.”

Sadie stared at the two, and suddenly tears came into her eyes. She dashed them away, saying, “Look at that. I ain’t cried in many a year, but nobody ain’t ’elped us. I still don’t believe it.”

“You can believe it,” Serafina said. She came forward and put her hand on the woman’s shoulder.“It will be all right.You’ll see.We’ll go find a doctor right now.”

The two left then, and when they got into the carriage, Serafina was quiet. Dylan did not disturb her, but he could see that the viscountess had been moved by the pitiful condition of the two.

Serafina said, “She loves him, doesn’t she?”

“She obviously has an affection.”

Serafina seemed to be unable to speak for a moment. “It’s hard for me to see how such people can have any love left in them. It seems it all would have been drained out by the hardness of their lives.”

“I’ve seen love in strange places, but she does care for him, and he for her, it seems.”

Serafina was quiet again, and finally she straightened up in the seat and turned to face him. “I know you think I’m cold, Dylan, but I wasn’t always that way.”

“What happened, Serafina?” Dylan’s voice was gentle, for he saw she was struggling to get something out.

“I had a terrible marriage.” The words came slowly, and Serafina had to clear her throat. “Everyone in the family thought Charles was such a wonderful match. He was rich, he had a title, and his family was high on the social scale. And he had a romantic way about him when he was courting me. I thought I was in love with him, but I was wrong.”

Dylan saw that tears welled in Serafina’s eyes.He pulled his handkerchief out of his breast pocket and said, “Here, take this.”

“Thank you.” Serafina wiped her eyes, then took a deep breath, but her voice was still unsteady as she said,“He married me to get an heir.He didn’t love me.” A touch of bitterness came to her then. “I was a brood mare to him. He liked—” Her voice broke, and she shook her head. “I hate to say this, but he liked . . . boys.After David was born, as he began to grow up, I was terrified that he would molest our son.”

“How terrible for you!”

“I stayed with David constantly to give him no chance for that.”

“How did he die, Serafina?”

“A man came to the house, a violent, angry man. I heard them shouting, and I listened at the door. The man accused Charles of molesting his son and ruining his life. I heard Charles laugh at him, and then the man cried out, and there was the sound of crashing. They had a terrible fight.

When I went in, the man was standing over Charles, who was on his back and had a terrible wound. The man didn’t bother me. He just ran away.”

“It must have been awful for you.”

“Everyone thought I had done it. They didn’t believe my story about a man coming in, but I knew what that man suffered, so I refused to tell them what he looked like.”

“I think you did the right thing.”

“So if I’m cold, it’s because of those terrible days. I—I feel like I’m frozen sometimes.”

Dylan suddenly took her hand. He held it with both of his and said, “God will be with you, Serafina.We found the witness that can save Clive, and the Lord God is going to save you. He’s going to take away those old memories and give you a rich, full life.”

Serafina stared at him in disbelief, but with hope in her eyes.“Do you really think so, Dylan?”

“Of course I think so. God’s not finished with either one of us yet. Now,” he said, “we’ve got to get news to Sir Leo that we’ve found the witness.”

“He’ll be glad to have some ammunition for the battle, won’t he?”

“I think he will, and it’s going to be a glorious day when Clive walks out of that courtroom a free man! If you are having my opinion, the Lord God is giving you a miracle.”

TWENTY-FIVE

A
s soon as Grant stepped into the superintendent’s office, he saw that Winters was in a good mood. “Good morning, sir,” he said at once.

“Well, good morning, Inspector Grant.How are you this fine morning?”

“I’m fine, sir.” Grant smiled and said, “I suppose congratulations are in order. I understand that you’re to be knighted very soon.”

“Oh, well, that’s true enough, but it means little. After all, it just means that you put a
Sir
in front of my name. I don’t know if that’s any great advantage to a man. But it’s what my wife’s been trying to bring about for quite a while. Sit down, Grant, and tell me what’s going on.”

Grant took a seat and went over three cases that he had been working on. He saw that the inspector was paying close attention to him, and finally he said, “Well, I have a bit of personal news.”

“I can see that you look different. What’s going on? Don’t tell me you’ve found a lady that pleases you.”

“Indeed, I have, Inspector.”

“Well, it’s about time.You’ve lived alone for so long I had about given up on you as a crusty old bachelor. I don’t suppose I know the lady.”

“Yes, you do, sir. It’s Dora Newton.”

Winters opened his eyes wide. “Well,” he said, “that
is
a surprise. You’re actually courting her?”

“I made my intentions known to her father and to the family yesterday.”

“It’s a wonder they didn’t throw you out. A policeman doesn’t rank very high on the social scale.”

“That’s true enough, sir, but I think highly of the young lady, and it seems she likes me too.”

Winters turned his head to one side and studied Grant. He asked, “Doesn’t she blame you for arresting her brother?”

“Oh no, sir. But her brother’s not guilty.”

“Why do you say that?”Winters’s voice was sharp. “We have all the evidence. Allen Greer says it’s a certain thing that he’ll be found guilty.”

“The woman’s been found, sir—the witness that the viscountess and Dylan Tremayne have been looking for.”