by Clive Mullis
‘Don’t look at me and keep walking, there are another two behind you,’ said a voice at her side. ‘Your other colleague behind has spotted them. I suggest you do a bit of window shopping for a minute so that he can catch up. Good day to you, Miss Morant.’
The man passed her by without even a glance; she couldn’t even see his face as he stepped right in front of her as he headed off. She gradually slowed to a stop, her heart began to pound and she felt a degree of shock. What should she do? She quickly realised that if there were more following her then they would notice that she just stood there staring straight ahead; she decided that the warning came from Mr Magpie and it might be prudent to follow his advice. She saw out of the corner of her eye that she was next to a shop, so without even looking at what it sold stepped right into the doorway and looked into the window. It took a moment to realise that she now stared at a shop window selling seedy erotica; there were censored carvings and pictures and strange looking items, all intending to give some degree of enjoyment. Her eyes widened at the miniscule items of clothing designed, she supposed, for women, and some weird looking stuff, presumably for men. Then she noticed two men pass by the window and so she cast her gaze to the door, and saw a smiling woman looking back. She beckoned Rose to come in and began to open the door. Rose felt a panic grip her throat just as Frankie pulled on her arm and whipped her away.
‘You are full of surprises, Rose; I wouldn’t have put you down as a fetishist.’
‘Frankly, Frankie, I’m not, thank you very much. I’ve met Mr Magpie and he told me that you might need some help. I had to do something, so I just stopped and I happened to be here.’
‘Yeah, I believe you,’ he chuckled. ‘But you’re right, I met him too and we have a couple of handy looking men to deal with. You can see them just ahead now, one with a green coat, the other grey.’
Rose recovered quickly. ‘I can see them, but there was another one in front of me.’
‘Really? That makes three of them; they’re hunting in packs now.’
The two they were after turned down the street that Cornwallis had not long gone down, followed shortly after by Frankie and Rose. One of them looked behind and seemed to want to stop, but the other said something then pulled him along; then they yelled and broke into a run.
‘Come on, Rose; let’s see how fast you are.’
Their feet hammered on the pavement as they ran for all they were worth. The men up front slewed around a corner and shot off down another side street; Frankie and Rose were only a few yards behind them and already closing. A couple walking towards them arm-in-arm hurriedly backed out of the way, the woman noticed Rose and quickly covered her partner’s eyes with her hands. Rose ran past and felt the woman’s stern gaze, she wondered for a moment what she had done, and then she glanced down. Oh Gods, she thought. She could see now why the woman had covered the man’s eyes; her chest bounced around like two footballs in a sack. She flicked her eyes to see if Frankie had noticed and then grabbed the offending articles to keep them still.
‘Forget ‘em, Rose,’ yelled Frankie. ‘No one’s going to complain.’
Shit, he has seen them. She cast caution to the wind and let go. The two men were nearly in arm reach and then one of them took a chance and looked behind. A bad move on his part, because despite his attempt to get away, the sight of Rose and her appendages put him off his stride. He stumbled, and then grabbed hold of his mate to stop himself falling, but only succeeded in bringing him down too. They both fell headlong onto the road, tumbling end over end before coming to a stop against a wall.
Frankie and Rose skidded to a halt and leapt on top of the two men, pinning them to the ground before they had a chance to recover. Frankie whipped out a pair of handcuffs and clapped them on with well-practised skill. Rose struggled with hers, until Frankie, seeing she had problems, helped out. ‘Would you prefer if I went and got some padded ones from that shop back there?’ he puffed, gleefully. ‘Won’t take me long.’
‘Frankie,’ gasped Rose, ‘You can just sod off.’
‘Yeah, Frankie, do as the lady says,’ said one of the men menacingly, as he turned over. ‘You’ve just made a big mistake; you got no chance of… umph!’
‘Oh sorry,’ scowled Frankie. ‘My elbow must have slipped.’
Cornwallis appeared shortly after with the third man in cuffs; he explained that he’d heard a yell and had turned around to see a man pull a knife out, then another man came running up, and as he passed, he’d whacked this one on the head, and then shot off. It was just a matter then of clapping the cuffs on the semi-conscious assailant and coming back to find out what was going on. Mr Magpie, Cornwallis assumed, appeared to be keeping a very close watch on everything.
Cornwallis, Frankie and Rose had one apiece as they marched their complaining captives down the road towards Scooters Yard. It was a shame that Maxwell wasn’t one of the three but at least they had a bit more breathing space for a while. The Yard wasn’t far, and shortly they marched them into the reception area.
‘Bed and board for three please,’ said Cornwallis, relieved to see Wiggins and not Grinde leaning over from the vantage point.
‘Good morning, Mr Cornwallis,’ replied Wiggins. ‘But it will be floor and board in this hotel. What charge please, for the record?’
‘Assault with a deadly weapon, to start with, and I’m sure we can find a few more things of interest when we have a proper word with them.’
‘Assault, eh? Whom, may I ask, were the victim?’
‘Me, Constab… I mean Sergeant Wiggins, it was me.’
When they had safely deposited the three men in custody, Cornwallis, Frankie and Rose took a few moments respite before going to find Maxwell. They had spoken at length to the three individuals, and one of them had let slip that Maxwell had business at the warehouse. They were also curious as to MacGillicudy’s fate, but no word had yet filtered down from Bough: the two were still suspended and awaiting judgement. They sat in the canteen drinking coffee and a grinning Frankie described Rose’s two unfortunate occurrences, much to her discomfiture.
‘Look,’ she explained, ‘I stopped at the shop as a result of Mr Magpie’s warning that you, Frankie, might need some help, and the second is just something I can’t do anything about. It’s just typical that you pick up on anything remotely sexual just to have a bit of fun at my expense. What you would you feel like if I spent all day staring at your groin, eh?’ She held up her hand. ‘No, stop, don’t answer that one.’
‘I’m sorry, Rose,’ said Frankie. ‘But you have to admit that matey boy wouldn’t have fallen if your…’ He tried to find the appropriate words. ‘Your, you know what’s, weren’t bouncing around. It was poetic really.’
‘Come on, children,’ interjected Cornwallis, ‘let’s be adults please.’
Rose turned on him. ‘Adults? That’s a fine thing coming from you. The other night you were virtually talking to these things before I managed to drag your eyes away. Now I’m working with you, I expected a little more respect, if you please.’
Frankie and Cornwallis were both speechless, they looked at each other for some help, but Rose had the bit between her teeth, her eyes showing her anger.
‘That’s it. I’m going back to my uncle’s. I’m finished with you two. I thought you were different, but I couldn’t have been more wrong.’ She stood up and began striding through the canteen, scattering chairs and feelers in equal measure.
‘Quick, Jack, get after her,’ cried Frankie. ‘We can’t let her go like this.’
Rose had already gone through the door by the time Cornwallis got to his feet. He thought he would be able to stop her at the front desk, but she had breezed past and got out just as Wiggins let someone through. By the time he had got through too, she was outside and marching away. He ran, for the first time in his life, he ran after a girl.
‘Rose,’ he yelled, not caring who heard. ‘Rose, stop. We need to talk.’ He knew she’d heard because he saw a slight
hesitancy in her step, but she ignored his plaintive cry and carried on. He ran harder and caught up with her just as she turned into a park. ‘Look, Rose. I’m sorry, we’re both sorry; we meant no harm. We both thought that you were okay with the banter and would give back worse than you got.’ He touched her shoulder and pulled back to bring her to a halt.
She stopped, and turned, and held her head up high. There were tears in her eyes and she sniffed sorrowfully. She stood like a statue for a few moments and then let her shoulders droop; she then sort of crumpled against him. ‘No, I’m the one who should be sorry,’ she said eventually. ‘I thought I was stronger than I am.’
‘You are strong,’ replied Cornwallis. ‘Come on, let’s sit down.’
They moved over to a bench and sat down; he put his arm protectively around her shoulders and she leant against him, taking a few deep breaths.
‘It’s not the banter that got to me, Jack. I was scared. When that Mr Magpie told me there were two men behind me, I froze; I didn’t know what to do. Then I felt Frankie pull me out and he showed me the two men who just went past, and I just wanted to hide. Instead, we had to run after them, and I kept thinking, is this it; are they going to turn and run us through? I didn’t have a problem the other day with Snodgrass because I had control. In the Brews when we found Freddie the Weasel, I had control again. Just now? I wasn’t in control, even though we were chasing. I know you told me it could be dangerous doing this, but I’ve only just now realised how right you were. Maybe I should go back to being a serving girl.’
‘Never, you’re part of the team now. We all have to go through the scary bit. I have, Frankie has. It’s just something that you have to go through. You need to experience it and then come out the other side. Once you’ve done it once, I can assure you it gets easier.’
‘What happens if it doesn’t? What happens if I freeze again? I’d be letting you both down.’
‘You won’t. I’ve learnt a little about you over the last few days, and I can say without a shadow of doubt that you won’t. And if you agree to carry on with us, I promise that both me and Frankie will stop the banter, we’ll treat you just like another man. How’s that for you?’
Rose sniffed and smiled. ‘No you bloody won’t. Do you think I want to be treated like a man? I’ve spent my life using what I’ve got and I’m not going to stop now. Yes, Jack, I know how I look, and I know what reaction I’m going to get. But I’m used to it, and I intend to stay being used to it.’
Cornwallis breathed a sigh of relief, they’d come through the crisis; he had thought for a moment that he had lost her, but now she was right back where she belonged. ‘We had better go and find Frankie then, and then we have to find Maxwell. You can go back to the office if you want and wait there. The two of us can deal with Maxwell.’
‘No chance, I’m coming too,’ she replied defiantly. ‘You ain’t getting out of it that easily.’
They found Frankie waiting outside the Yard; he paced up and down and looked for all intents and purposes like an expectant father. He stopped when he saw them appear, and Cornwallis could see the relief in his face. Rose bit her bottom lip as they approached; she then skipped up to him and planted a kiss on his cheek.
‘That’s to say sorry,’ she explained meekly. ‘I was a naughty girl who deserves to be put across your knee.’
Frankie’s face broke into the biggest smile ever. ‘Ah, we’ve got our Rose back. Right, now where’s a chair?’
She smiled and then playfully patted his arm.
‘Right you two,’ said Cornwallis grinning. ‘We have work to do. We have a nasty little man to go and find, but first we need to see Algernon.’
When the cab dropped them off by the bridge, Cornwallis led them down the slope and onto the north shore docks. The scene was much like the day before, with all the activity associated with a busy port. The ships moored up alongside the wharves were a hive of activity with workers rushing around. The fishing fleet were in and they had docked further down on the north side, and the sight of them reminded Cornwallis that they owed two boxes to the cat; but under the present circumstances the cat could wait, Maxwell came first, and if they had time after, he would allow Frankie an opportunity to get reacquainted with his favourite fish-gutterer. Algernon had been given details of the task required and had hurried off to recruit some friends; Cornwallis had promised now to relieve him of his hairdressing enterprise, provided he proved satisfactory in this little piece of work.
‘Did anyone notice if we were being followed?’ asked Cornwallis, turning around and looking back up the slope. ‘I suspect this Mr Magpie will be around somewhere, but try as I might, I haven’t been able to spot him.’
‘Can’t say that I have, Jack,’ replied Frankie, ‘and I’ve been looking too.’
‘Does it really matter if he is around?’ asked Rose. ‘He's meant to be on our side, after all.’
‘Mr Magpie,’ replied Cornwallis, ‘is on the Bagman’s side, not ours. If his objectives coincide with ours, then yes, but if they diverge at all, then no. Besides, I feel a little uncomfortable with the fact that we know someone is following us but can’t spot them. Maxwell’s men were easy, but this one is proving to be a bit more difficult.’
They turned back around and began to saunter off with Cornwallis deep in thought; the task now, to find Maxwell, if indeed he was here. They had the advantage, for the moment, having disposed of his men, but they needed to make full use of it. Another thought rushed into Cornwallis’ mind, the King of the Dwarfs, somehow he would have to find the time to go and speak with him; but everything seemed to be gathering pace, and if he’s not careful, it could all over-run him. One thing always seems to lead to another in quick succession, everything half done, nothing fully resolved. Tie it all up later, he thought to himself, one thing at a time, that’s all you can do in this game.
When they got to the warehouse they decided to hang back for a while and observe; from what the Bagman had said there were now two warehouses to look at, the empty one with the drugs and Kintersbury’s next door. Kintersbury’s seemed to be quite busy, and even though the ship had sailed yesterday, there seemed to be a lot of activity with the coming and going of wagons. Kintersbury must be making a mint.
Maxwell didn’t appear to be outside either of the warehouses, so he should be inside one of them, but which one? Cornwallis decided to search the disused one first. Yesterday they had just gone to the trapdoor and hadn’t given it a proper look, today he would rectify that mistake and give it a thorough going over. One of them would have to stay outside and observe, while the other two went inside to search. Frankie wasn’t happy, but agreed with the suggestion that he should be the one to keep an eye out.
‘How long do I give yer?’ asked Frankie. ‘And what do you want me to do if Maxwell sticks his head out?’
‘Half an hour should be enough in an empty warehouse, we’re not going in the tunnels again,’ replied Cornwallis. ‘As to the second question, use your initiative, but don’t do anything stupid… I’m talking to you, Frankie, aren’t I? On second thoughts just come and get us.’
Frankie looked peeved. ‘You certainly know how to wound a guy, don’t you, Jack.’
Cornwallis grinned and slapped him on the back. ‘Just don’t want to lose you, Frankie.’
The pair of them hurried away and retraced their steps from yesterday. They went down the side of the warehouse to the little door and tried the handle, it opened just as easily and Cornwallis poked his head in to give it a quick scan. He couldn’t see anyone, so he eased himself in, closely followed by Rose. The door closed behind them and they stood there a moment waiting for their eyes to adjust to the light.
‘Seems the same,’ observed Rose. ‘Just a big empty shell. What do you expect to find?’
‘I haven’t a clue,’ replied Cornwallis. ‘But that far wall connects to Kintersbury’s, so I think that that’s a good place to start.’
They padded over to the far corner and
began to walk along the wall; they could hear a lot of noise coming from the adjoining warehouse, but in here, it was eerily quiet. They walked quickly at first as there really wasn’t much to see, just empty space right up to the roof, it was only when they got further along that they came across some offices to look into. There were plenty of footprints in the dust, as the floor hadn’t been swept around there, but they couldn’t tell who had made them and when. The likely explanation would be that MacGillicudy and the police had made them, but it wasn’t wise to make assumptions just yet. The first three offices they came to were exactly the same, fading posters on the wall, a ripped calendar, a couple of old notes, and some broken old furniture; all no good to anyone. But the fourth office piqued their interest, being clean.
Cornwallis stood still and cast his eyes around. The floor had been swept, and a clear path ran all the way across the warehouse to the office with the trapdoor down to the dwarf tunnels; the same clean area that he had noticed the day before, he grinned to himself.
Rose too had noticed and was just about to point it out when Cornwallis put his finger to his lips.
‘Shush,’ he whispered, and then leant close to her ear. ‘I think we may have found an entrance to next door.’
Rose nodded in agreement; she had been thinking the same. She put her mouth close to his ear. ‘But why are we whispering?’
