*I do not know what misled you to that conclusion," Sidney Grice said. *I have not expressed any support for your cause."
Mrs Dillinger let go of the mantlepiece and swayed, and I stood ready in case she collapsed.
*Then I must go and find somebody who will."
Sidney Grice shrugged, but Mrs Dillinger stayed where she was.
*I repeat my question," he said. *Was the marriage a happy one?"
*Very... They were devoted to each other. He called my Sarah the apple..." Mrs Dillinger stopped, unable to continue.
*Would you like a gla.s.s of water?" I asked, but Mrs Dillinger whispered, *No. Thank you."
I took her arm and guided her back into her chair, pulling up one of the upright chairs to sit myself beside her.
Sidney Grice tapped his feet together and said, *Did they have financial problems?"
*No more than anybody else. They made enough to live on."
Mrs Dillinger cleared her throat.
*They?"
*Sarah worked in the shop also."
*Are you employed?"
*I give private tuition in the pianoforte and French Conversation, and I sometimes take in children whilst their parents are unable to look after them."
*For money?"
*Yes. I need it all the more since my dear husband died."
*And how did he die?"
Mrs Dillinger shivered. *He was killed by a footpad on Westminster Bridge for his father"s watch which did not even work. Is this relevant?"
Sidney Grice compressed his lips. *I do not know yet. Was your daughter"s life insured?"
The front door slammed and footsteps raced along the hall.
*For a very small amount, I think, but I do not know the details." Mrs Dillinger"s face tightened. *And I do not see what that has got to do with anything."
*The court may find it has something to do with everything. How old was..." Sidney Grice consulted his notes *... Sarah?"
*Nineteen."
*Why, she was younger than I," I said, and Sidney Grice said, *Please do not interject again, Miss Middleton. How old is your son-in-law, Mrs Dillinger?"
*Thirty-four."
The mantle clock struck the quarter.
*Quite a difference." Sidney Grice leaned back. *Perhaps your daughter was tired of being with an older man."
*Fifteen years is nothing," Mrs Dillinger said. *And I have told you... they were devoted."
*Perhaps he caught her with another man and killed her in a rage."
Mrs Dillinger straightened her back. *She was a loyal and decent girl and would never have betrayed him, and my son-in-law is a gentle and kind man. He could never have been so cruel."
*Where is he now?" Sidney Grice extruded a little more lead from his pencil.
*He is being held in Marylebone Police Station."
*And what is the address of this incident?"
*13 Mangle Street, Whitechapel."
*Mangle Street," my guardian mused. *Now there is a place with history. I know of six other murders along that road, the first being in seventeen forty as I recall, and the most recent being that of a certain Matilda Ta.s.sel and her two daughters, who were killed with an axe."
*How tragic," I said.
*Thank you for your shrewd forensic critique, Miss Middleton." He scratched his cheek. *Perhaps William killed them too."
*Or perhaps their murderer killed Sarah."
*I believe her husband died of consumption whilst awaiting trial," Sidney Grice said, *but I shall check with my records later. One last thing." He was still writing. *My services are very expensive and your means are obviously limited. Quite how do you propose to reimburse me?"
Mrs Dillinger took a small black-edged handkerchief from a pocket in her coat. *But surely your first concern is to see justice done?" And Sidney Grice smiled unpleasantly.
*It might be a novel diversion," he said, *but if word got about that I was prepared to lower my extravagant fees for the deserving poor, I should have every jackanapes in London sitting on my doorstep."
*But I have no money."
My guardian raised his left eyebrow.
*Then how do you propose to pay for this consultation?"
Mrs Dillinger looked at me and back at him blankly.
*I thought..."
*I do not want your thoughts," Sidney Grice said. *I want your money."
Her eyes filled with tears.
*Have you no human feelings?" I said.
*I am neither silly nor sentimental if that is what you mean."
Mrs Dillinger rubbed her forehead. *I will pay whatever you ask."
*This," Sidney Grice held his pencil vertically, *is a Mordan Mechanical of the very latest spring-loaded design, silver-plated and engraved with my initials. It was a gift from one of my many grateful clients and must have cost her twenty-four guineas. I doubt you have that much to your name."
Mrs Dillinger folded her handkerchief and blotted her tears with a corner. *William will pay you. He has a regular income."
*Which has been put into abeyance by his arrest and will cease the moment the trapdoor opens," Sidney Grice said, and Mrs Dillinger sat back heavily.
*You are a monster."
*We both earn our keep protecting the innocent." Sidney Grice twisted the lead back into his pencil. *But in my case the stakes and therefore the remuneration are higher."
*But I have nothing to give you."
Sidney Grice shrugged.
*Then I have nothing to give you either, and your son-in-law will almost certainly hang." He snapped his notebook shut. *I bid you good day, Mrs Dillinger. Expect my bill of charges by the next post."
Molly came, carrying a black-lacquered tea tray.
*Shall I bring another cup, sir?"
*That will not be necessary. Our visitor is about to leave."
Mrs Dillinger stood up again as if in a dream, casting about for something she did not have. I rose to steady her.
*Show Mrs Dillinger to the door, Molly."
For some reason Molly turned to me. I looked away.
*This way please, madam."
A tress of Molly"s hair was escaping from under the side of her cap. It dangled over her ear.
*No," I said, and Sidney Grice glanced up sharply.
*Whatever do you mean?"
*Mrs Dillinger may not have the money," I said, *but I have a small portfolio of shares in my inheritance. I do not know if you follow the stock exchange."
*I never gamble."
*I have one thousand shares in the Blue Lake Mining Company of British Columbia, which are currently valued at two shillings and sixpence each, which makes them worth one hundred and twenty-five pounds in total. I am unaware of your usual scale of fees but you can have them all if you agree to take on this case."
Sidney Grice"s face was expressionless.
*I will think about it." He spoke so casually that I knew this must be much more than he would demand normally.
I took a small breath. *There is, however, one condition."
*And that is?"
*That I accompany you."
Even as I spoke I knew that he would tell me it was out of the question.
*I should like to see how my father"s money is spent," I said, *and I may be of some use."
Sidney Grice smirked.
*I cannot imagine how," he said, *but it might be amusing. Very well, Miss Middleton. Consider my services engaged."
6.
The Green Flag Sidney Grice smiled thinly as Mrs Dillinger left his library.
*You will soon see your small inheritance evaporate if you take pity on every stray that comes scratching at my door."
I struggled to keep my voice calm. *Have you no heart? The woman"s husband and her daughter have been taken from her brutally and her son-in-law faces the prospect of the gallows, and she is left with nothing but the expectation of a child which she will probably not be able to support."
*If she wants charity she should go to the workhouse." He tossed his notebook on to the table. *Or the allegedly Christian church she attends. Besides, how do you know that he is not guilty?"
I sat down to face my guardian, and thought about the question but could not answer it.
*There are several precedents for this crime," he told me, *the most recent being that of Jonathon Carvil, the Sidmouth Stabber, as he was so colourfully styled by the popular press. The details are, at first glance, remarkably similar. He too claimed to slumber in the next room whilst his wife was butchered a quite literally in this case a her body was expertly jointed and trussed as if for the spit and her hands were never found. It transpired that he had intercepted a message from his wife to her lover that very day. I hope you are not easily shocked, Miss Middleton."
*I do not think so," I said, *and please call me March."
*Very well, March," he said. *I am generally known as a casual fellow but, given your position as my ward, I do not think it proper for you to address me by my Christian name."
*I should not dream of it." I poured us both a cup from the willow-pattern tea set.
*Stop," my guardian cried out as I lifted the milk jug.
*Whatever is the matter?"
*I will not drink the mammary excretions of cattle," he said. *Even the smell is nauseating."
*You make it sound disgusting."