The Slum Reaper_Murder and corruption in Victorian London
Page 15
‘I didn’t hear you come in,’ Jack commented as he walked into the kitchen and nodded in Percy’s direction.
‘Many a burglar’s discovered to his cost that I could be stealthier than him,’ Percy grinned. Esther shot him a warning look and shook her head, but Percy was not in the mood for either subtlety or sympathy. ‘Your beautiful lady wife is trying to warn me not to mention police work, because of what is no doubt your ongoing belief that you and the Yard have parted company. I take it that your discharge letter hasn’t come through yet?’
‘No,’ Jack pouted, ‘but I’m expecting it by every post.’
‘I have a letter here for you,’ Percy announced solemnly. ‘It’s from the Met and since I was planning on coming to see you anyway, they asked me to deliver it.’
‘Thanks,’ Jack muttered as he took it from Percy’s outstretched hand and threw it on the table.
‘You’ve learned nothing from me, have you?’ Percy grinned.
‘Meaning?’
‘Meaning that time when you took the trouble to look more carefully at that company account page that Victor Bradley handed me. The one I’d not read properly and that turned out to contain the key to the kidnapping when examined more carefully.’
‘So?’
‘Open that envelope and read its contents before you make any assumptions.’
‘If he won’t, I will,’ Esther announced as she grabbed the envelope and tore it open. Her eyes ran down the page, before her lips opened in a wide grin and she walked across to where Jack was sitting.
‘My second new hat in the same year!’ she laughed as she kissed Jack fully on the lips and forced the letter into his hand.
Jack read the letter and his mouth opened wide in delight.
‘I’ve finally been promoted to Sergeant!’ he yelled.
‘I think the two of us already knew that,’ Percy reminded him with a broad grin. ‘But there’s a catch.’
Jack re-read the letter. ‘What’s this “Political Branch”? Is it new?’
‘So new that it hasn’t formally been announced yet. But rumour around the Yard is that it’s headed by an Inspector who’s a total bastard — pardon me, my dear — who drives his men mercilessly, involves their families in police matters, breaks every rule in the book and regards authority as a personal challenge.’
‘Sounds like you.’ Jack smiled. Then the smile froze when he saw Percy’s idiotic grin.
‘Oh my God — it is you, isn’t it?’
‘Indeed it is, so show some respect and pass me the biscuit tin.’
Esther giggled in sheer delight and began kissing Jack with a passion that caused Percy to look away in embarrassment.
‘A new hat to go with some more maternity gowns!’
‘I’d no idea you’d fallen pregnant again,’ Jack responded breathlessly between kisses.
‘You should have done,’ she grinned back at him. ‘You were there at the time.’
***
Want to carry on the journey with Esther & Jack? Read The Posing Playwright — Book Five in the Victorian crime series.
GET IT NOW!
Join the Sapere Books’ mailing list for the latest releases, eBook deals, author news, and much, much more!
SIGN UP HERE
THE POSING PLAYWRIGHT
Order it now!
London, 1895
The whole of England is agog with the revelation that one of its favourite playwrights, Oscar Wilde has been accused of homosexuality and has brought a court action against his accuser in the hope of retrieving his good character.
When disturbing information is brought to light regarding the famous names that are likely to be dropped in open court and the dark crimes they may have committed, Detective Inspector Percy Enright and his nephew Detective Sergeant Jack Enright are ordered to supress the scandal.
But when a leading peer goes missing, the caseload at Scotland Yard is stretched to the limit…
With two intermingled investigations and a fresh eye needed to spot the connections between them, Jack’s wife Esther, bored to distraction by domestic duties, finds herself involved once again…
Together they embark on another investigation into the seedier elements of late Victorian society. The Enrights are hopeful that this time they won’t be put in any personal danger.
But one can never be entirely certain…..
AVAILABLE HERE!
A NOTE TO THE READER
I hope that you enjoyed the fourth novel in the Esther and Jack series!
As usual, this novel has real-life events as its background. The ‘Old Nichol’ ghetto in what is modern Bethnal Green really did exist, and really was demolished in the final years of Victoria’s reign, to make way for the very first experiment in public housing anywhere in the world. It was called ‘The Boundary Estate’, and in due course it become a slum of its own, although it was ‘home’ to highly successful Londoners such as brothers Lew Grade and Bernard Delfont. You may still connect with the original slums in a very physical way, by standing on the bandstand in the centre of Arnold Circus, a raised mound originally constructed from the ‘infill’ rubble of the Old Nichol.
London has always possessed slums, even in Roman times. But as life moved on, the slums acquired a different look, and it was a constant battle to provide new and ‘better’ housing for its rapidly growing population, whose teeming hordes threatened to explode into the streets, where many of them were forced to live anyway. By the 1890s the newly formed London County Council had inherited the responsibilities of the former Metropolitan Board of Works, and the populace were being eagerly advised by the politicians that the scandals that had become synonymous with urban redevelopment were at an end.
But every well-meaning and slightly condescending scheme ‘for the betterment of the poor’ has its opportunities for corruption, and the demolition of the infamous rookery of verminous dwellings known as ‘The Old Nichol’ to make way for the much needed, and long-awaited, ‘Boundary Estate’ proved to be no exception.
This novel, with Jack hobbling around on crutches, also reminds us of the physical risks still faced in their working lives by modern police officers, and the anxiety of the wives who wait at home while their husbands provide for them in a world full of bad people. These days, of course, the ‘thin blue line’ contains female officers, and there is no need for emancipated women such as Esther to work without formal recognition, although those of them with children have even more cause to be apprehensive of what may be awaiting them around the next corner.
As ever, I’d be delighted to receive your feedback, in addition to your requests regarding what the Enrights should tackle next. In the next novel they will be back in London, but always happy to pack their bags and move on somewhere else. I would be delighted if you could post a review up on Amazon or Goodreads. Or, of course, you can try the more personal approach on my website, and my Facebook page: DavidFieldAuthor.
Happy reading!
David
davidfieldauthor.com
Published by Sapere Books.
11 Bank Chambers, Hornsey, London, N8 7NN,
United Kingdom
saperebooks.com
Copyright © David Field, 2018
David Field has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work.
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publishers.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organisations, places and events, other than those clearly in the public domain, are either the product of the author’s imagination, or are used fictitiously.
Any resemblances to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales are purely coincidental.
eBook ISBN: 9781912546763
/> David Field, The Slum Reaper_Murder and corruption in Victorian London