The Hanged Man

by P. N. Elrod

  Lennon searched with no regard for the occupants’ privacy until he found a bolted door that opened to the roof. Any other time of the year Alex would have delighted in such a lofty expedition, but not now.

  She eased out in Lennon’s wake, shrinking from the cold despite her woolens.

  Ice coated everything and the wind cut like a fury.

  Directly opposite was a low wall that divided this house from its neighbor. To the left was a flat space with lines strung between a braced pole and hooks piercing the main chimney. Such washing as was done on the premises would be hung here in the more clement months. Alex stepped carefully across to the low wall that overlooked the back. Below were the mews and an enclosed extension leading from them to the house, its windows lighted, probably the kitchen and quarters for the male servants. A constable paced back and forth in the small yard below.

  She oriented toward Harley Street. The roof over the servants’ rooms slanted up and blocked the view. Above its line, oppressive gray clouds reflected back what little glow the city possessed. The smoke from countless fires rose to combat the falling sleet, sinuous black and translucent silver writhing and twisting about each other in the sky like silk rags.

  Footing was slippery. Lennon proceeded with much care toward the house’s main chimney, which stood out from the lesser ones like a brick obelisk.

  Alex tottered toward him and found it necessary to grab his arm to keep from falling. He glanced down at her with amusement and held the lantern so the light fell on one corner of the structure.

  The chimney was black with years of soot from London’s thick air. No need to clean something only the servants would see. The corners, though, had some interesting blemishes.

  “Rope marks,” said Alex, forgetting the cold for a moment. “There are fibers caught in the brickwork.”

  “I’ll have a man collect ’em. Mind your feet.” He made his way toward the low slanting roof, dragging her along, since she still had hold of his arm. He seemed unaware of her weight. He peered at the roof, which had a dusting of ice over its dark surface.

  “Someone’s been here, I think,” she said.

  “Let’s be certain.” He held the lantern out.

  She took it, thinking he wanted his hands free for climbing.

  “Your pardon, I’m sure,” he said, grasping her around the waist and lifting.

  Alex yelped.

  “Never mind that, what d’ye see?”

  Far too much. Until now she’d never minded heights. “The other side of the roof, the dormers coming out from it—” The street far, far below.

  “Any tracks?”

  She made herself hold the lantern steady. “Yes, someone’s been here. No boot prints, but lots of smears in the soot between the dormers.”

  “Good enough.” He shifted and set her down. She staggered a bit. “Steady now, you’re just startin’ to be useful. I couldn’t have boosted Brook up like that.”

  “I’d have paid to see you try.”

  He snorted and took back the lantern. “It seems we are after a human spider. He tied a rope to the chimney, went up, over, and down to the window. That’s a lot of effort even without ice. Why not break through a door during supper? With everyone in the kitchen no one would have heard. He could have hidden until the place was quiet, done the deed, then nipped downstairs and out to the street afterward when they were asleep.”

  “He may have been unwilling to wait all night. He might not have a familiarity with the routine of the house. He left the gas on in the master’s room, too. Forgetful, or did he want the body to be found more quickly?”

  “And how the blazes did he get up on the roof in the first place?”

  She broke away to check the dividing wall of the neighboring house, gesturing for Lennon to bring the light. “More disturbance in the dirt. He climbed over here. When it’s daylight you can send someone to backtrack farther.”

  “What, no mystical horripilations from beyond?”

  “There’s nothing to sense. He would not have lingered long enough to leave an emotional impression”—not that he’d left one in the death room—“and the sleet and wind would have the same effect on his psychic trace as a wave on sand. If it warms into rain you’ll be hard pressed to follow even a physical trail. Perhaps you better not wait for the dawn and get someone up here now.”

  He looked over the wall, but the lantern light did not carry far. “You know, you’d make a first-rate detective if you packed up the spook business.”

  The compliment surprised her. “I’ll keep that in mind, Inspector.”

  “I’m serious. Everything you found is to do with what’s in the here and now, not spook land.”

  She did not correct him with the term favored by Spiritualists. He was in a relatively good mood, no need to spoil it.

  Lennon paced off the distance between the chimney and the roof. “He’d need at least seventy feet of rope and a bit more, so there’s some left to string up the toff. Brassy devil, doing circus acrobatics in this weather.”

  “It would be nothing to a mountaineer or a sailor,” she pointed out, willing her teeth not to chatter.

  “You suss out if any of the household has been to sea, climbed Ben Nevis, or had recent dealings with such a bloke.”

  “It could be a woman.”

  “Then she’s a proper Amazon and not a little tweak like yourself. It would take real effort to pull that big boy from his sheets and haul him up, so unless you notice a Brunhilde struttin’ about lifting horses for sport, my money’s on some strapping lad for the dirty work.”

  The inspector had mixed his mythologies, but she had to agree with him. “Are we done?”

  “What? You chilly? An’ this such a balmy night.”

  * * *

  Alex shivered on the upper landing as Lennon bawled for the morgue attendants. They hurried past, bringing the long straw basket that would carry the body.

  One of them muttered something about bloody spook chasers just loud enough for Alex to hear. She was always on guard against comments from the uneducated and superstitious about her trade. Her internal defenses were up; their emotions would not leak past and pollute her own. They didn’t understand, didn’t want to, and never would.

  Lennon ordered each to the bedroom to smell the pillow in situ. One claimed to have a cold, but the other confirmed the stink of ether.

  “Good,” said Lennon. “Remember that if you’re called to give evidence. Brook, get his name and make a note.”

  That done, the four of them initialed the page as witnesses.

  “Plain as pikestaff,” said Lennon, summing up for the benefit of the morgue man who asked why he had to sniff some toff’s bedding. “Person or persons unknown made entry and inflicted a dose of ether on the man as he slept. Some of it slopped on the pillow. They strung up the poor devil, neat as neat, expecting to draw a verdict of suicide at the inquest, which they won’t get. Cut him clear and get him out.”

  With no desire to watch, Alex went downstairs, feeling sick and sad as she always did afterward. Only it wasn’t afterward; more was yet to come, all part of the investigation. She would have no sleep tonight. Closing her eyes would only conjure images from the death room. Those would fade, given time and some meditative cleansing. Regrettably, given her trade, there would always be replacements.

  The under-stairs door leading to the kitchen opened, and a slender man of middle years garbed in a robe and slippers stepped out. Taking him for the valet or butler—a person she preferred to avoid for the moment—she did not meet his eye. Her attention was instead fixed on a laden tea tray left on the foyer table.

  She hurried to it, pouring a cup of the blessed brew with the same reverence another might accord a French brandy of noble lineage. Blessings on high, it was hot and strong, but not bitter. No need for milk, she drank it straight, glad of the heat.

  “Please, miss, what’s to happen?” asked the man behind her. His voice was hoarse and hushed from grief.
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br />   She shook her head in reply, not wanting to think about the hours to come when she would sit with each member of the household and Read their various feelings. That was invasive, exhausting, and uncomfortable to her, but necessary. Murderers were the most vulnerable when the shock—or guilt or triumph—was fresh. If any here was or had aided the killer, she would discover it, pointing to the most suspicious or discounting the innocent. It was almost impossible to lie to a trained Reader.

  Alex had studied cases where the murderers showed and felt no remorse, even considered what they’d done to be a good job, though she’d yet to encounter one. This might be her first.

  If so, then she would look for that which wasn’t there, but … later. Another cup of that wonderful tea, sweetened with an excess of sugar, would brace her up.

  From the corner of her eye she was aware of the man’s hesitant approach. “Miss, begging your pardon, but—” He stopped in his tracks. “Good heavens.… Lady Drina?”

  She gave an involuntary start and nearly dropped the cup. She’d not heard that name in years. Years. Not since—

  Alex rounded on him. Time slipped treacherously and dizzily backward as she matched his face to one in her memory. He was older, his thin hair showing gray, but the port wine birthmark on his right ear was unmistakable.

  “Fingate?” she whispered in disbelief.

  “Bless you for remembering, Lady Drina. It’s myself, sure enough. How you’ve grown, if you’ll pardon my saying.” A crooked smile passed briefly over his drawn features.

  “Whatever are you doing here?” she asked, and the question sounded foolish even as the words left her lips. She abruptly knew the answer, but her mind froze, absolutely froze.

  “What I’ve always been doing, looking after—oh! Oh, no.” His expression shifted to horrified dismay.

  She stared up at the landing where the grunting morgue men were just beginning to descend with the heavily laden basket. It had no lid. A grimy sheet of stained canvas served as a cover, but it caught on something and began to peel away, revealing what was inside.

  “They didn’t tell you…?” Fingate whispered.

  She blinked rapidly as ghastly realization flooded in. Step by step, the men lugged their burden closer to her, and she would see—

  “Is it—? I … I didn’t know it was … no one said…”

  Fingate rushed forward, putting himself between, blocking her view. Against all rules of proper deportment that male servants must follow toward their female betters, he threw an arm around her shoulders and dragged her to the parlor. “There now, you’ve no need to see your poor father like that. In here—and for God’s sake close your eyes.”

  CHAPTER TWO

  In Which Cold Inquiries Are Made of the Past and Present

  There was hell to pay when Lennon was informed.

  As a relative of the deceased, Alex should never have been allowed anywhere near the house. In a case of murder, family members were always the first suspects.

  Her psychical observations would be discounted, the room sealed again until another member of the Service arrived. Of course by now the scene had been emotionally contaminated by the coroner’s men, by Brook and Lennon, and by Alex herself. A very experienced Reader might make sense of the mess, but each passing second meant the dispersal of latent emotions—including those of the servants who had yet to be questioned. Given time, some suspects could cover their reactions, masking their feelings as well as the most adept actor.

  Murder disguised as suicide was complicated enough, but the procedural breach put Lennon in a fury, which he aimed at Lieutenant Brook.

  “I’ll not be responsible,” he roared. “If you bloody Service people can’t keep track of your own, then it’s not my fault when things go wrong.”

  Alex sat numb and silent in the parlor, out of the direct line of fire, finding Lennon’s reaction to be more comforting than if he’d taken her hand and offered sympathetic condolences. Though his anger clouded this part of the house, it was a good thing. He’d stir people up, get them moving, see to it they found out who had murdered her—

  God, I can’t get my head around it. It’s too grotesque.

  She choked at the rose scent of the handkerchief and threw it away. The smell clung to her hands. She clenched them into fists and hammered them once on the arms of her chair. Only Fingate, standing protectively over her, noticed, but made no move, just a soft humming sound of distress.

  Alex glanced up at him, noting other minor changes the years had made. His soft brown eyes were sad and full of pity for her. Her control slipped and she felt a wickedly strong slap of anguish and grief from the man. It was unintentional, but the purest emotions could bowl one over; he was in great pain from the death of his master. She took a breath, eyes shut, and had to imagine a lead barrier clothing her like a suit of seamless armor. It was the first exercise in self-preservation she’d taught herself and the most reliable. She steadied out and squared her shoulders.

  “We must get outside,” she said. “All of us.” The last thing the next Reader would want was a fellow member of the Service failing when it came to basics.

  No one heard. Lennon was still on a rampage.

  Alex raised her voice to a strident, cutting level. It felt unpleasant to speak, was unpleasant to hear, but she repeated her statement as an order, and this time it got through even to Lennon. He was in charge of the investigation, but she was the senior member of the Service here, and ultimately her authority trumped his.

  This was the first time she’d ever used it. She wondered if he would comply. She locked her gaze on him and hoped he’d fall back on duty and training.

  Apparently yes. He shut down and turned to the servants. They’d crowded into the entry, drawn by the row and to get a glimpse of the remains being carried out in a basket. Fingate had spared her that, bless the man.

  “Everyone out,” rumbled Lennon. He wasn’t shouting, but his size and tone made it seem so. People fled through the front door into the sleety night as though the house were afire. Lieutenant Brook herded the last ones clear, pausing on the threshold.

  Alex stood, forcing herself to be steady, and indicated to Fingate to precede her. He slipped past Brook. She followed, then Lennon, who slammed the door with a bang.

  Strangely, he had her ulster over one arm. He glared at her as though not pleased at being caught doing a kindness and thrust it at Brook, then stalked over to one of the mystified constables to pass the word up the ranks about the disaster.

  Brook came to her, awkward for a moment, then politely held the coat that she might thread her arms through. It was so mundane as to be ridiculous. Alex fought down the treacherous ripple of hysterical laughter that wanted to break free. That was dangerously close to losing control, which would not do at all. She was in charge until someone else arrived.

  She murmured gratitude to Brook and buttoned in, grateful to have silk-lined wool between her and the wind. The servants were not so lucky, huddling together with miserable faces, not a coat or cloak in sight. Fingate stood next to her when he should have been with them. No matter.

  “Mr. Brook, please organize something with Mr. Fingate and get those people to shelter in one of these houses as quickly as possible. They are not to speak to anyone. Impress that upon them.” She could trust that Fingate would know of a friendly neighbor who would lend their home to such a purpose and that Brook’s official standing would smooth the way.

  “Yes, miss,” they said in unison. Suddenly working together, they exchanged unsure looks, but sorting credentials would have to wait.

  They moved off, leaving her alone with the sleet speckling her face and clinging to her hair. She found her hat in a pocket and pulled it on, then her gloves and the muffler. Everyone had something to do, the world rolled on, and yet her father …

  Mere yards away, shoved into the anonymity of a morgue wagon, his cold clay growing colder.

  How could I not know his emotional trace?

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sp; Because she’d not expected it. Why should she? She hadn’t seen him for ten years, not since he’d cut short her education in China and sent her packing back to England without a word to explain why.

  Alex had been fifteen and adored him, but Father’s odd reticence against answering her reasonable questions had left a lasting hurt. Until then, they had always been so comfortable together and talked about everything.

  “Something’s come up,” was all he’d said.

  Something more important than me, she’d finally concluded.

  Ten years since she’d last seen him waving from the dock in Hong Kong, and in that time, not a letter, not a telegram. The thorny pain of being sent away like a discharged servant had been slow to root, for she had not wanted to believe it, but it burrowed deep and had grown strong. She’d consciously pruned it back over the years, but now it jabbed her, all over again, making her flinch.

  Why did he not contact me when he got home?

  Why had he not contacted her, period?

  He’d been in London at least three weeks, perhaps longer, living less than half a mile away. Surely he’d have gotten in touch with his brother, her uncle Leopold, to get her address. Why had no one spoken to her of this? She wasn’t on good terms with the Pendlebury clan, but Leo had always been polite to her and would have sent word.

  She’d have to remain here until another member of the Service arrived, but once free she’d go straight to the Wilton Crescent house and make a holy terror of herself.

  Damned Pendleburys, she thought, then more charitably wondered if Leo had simply not known his wandering brother had returned. That didn’t seem right. Certainly Gerard would have—

  Or not.

  Alex did not fight the surge of old anger that rushed her. It was a familiar if tiresome companion.

  If he’d not contacted his own daughter, then he might not have called on the rest of the family.

  Why?

  That question could only be answered by the inquiry into Lord Gerard’s murder, but she was now banned from the case.