by Emily Organ
“And the others? Did David kill the others?”
“I tried to stop him. He kept telling me that each one was the last and I believed him every time.”
“Why did he kill all those poor people? And Jack? Jack was just a boy!” I felt an intense anger rising within me. You knew and you didn’t tell anyone?”
“Penny,” whispered James, reaching out a hand to try and calm me. “Don’t be angry with him. Now is not the time.”
I looked back at Hugo. His eyes were half-closed, but they were still fixed on mine.
“Don’t harm him,” he whispered. “He didn’t mean it. God will forgive us both.”
His eyes moved from mine and stared straight ahead. His breathing slowed and his lips moved no more.
Chapter 47
James and I left the chapel as soon as the doctor arrived.
“We have to protect Martha!” I said. “We have to get to her before he does. How could Hugo and David have called themselves missionaries? David killed all these people and Hugo kept silent about it! How can they be men of God?”
“I share your anger, Penny,” said James, “but we need to save it for later. David Meares cannot be allowed to get to Martha. We need to have every officer in London searching this area now! Do you have any idea where he might hide? Quick, there’s someone up there!”
We ran a short distance up the road to find two constables calling at doors. James told them to alert Chief Inspector Cullen in Lumber Court and then arrange for a telegram to be sent from Bow Street station instructing all police stations and divisions to search for David Meares. The constables ran off to summon help.
I was hit by a sudden realisation. “I suppose we should have known who the murderer was long ago.”
“How?”
“Adam de Vries. It’s an anagram. We should have realised it. Adam de Vries is an anagram of David Meares.”
“Of course.” James sighed. “David Meares. A quiet, hard-working missionary whom I never suspected. He’s been taunting the police and even leaving us clues, and still I didn’t suspect him!”
“He can’t have got far.”
“Indeed, but he will be helped greatly by this thick fog.”
We moved as quickly as we could in the direction of Martha’s home off Queen Street, checking each doorway and courtyard as we went. We asked everyone we came across if they had seen David Meares. A few people thought they had seen a man in dark clothing, but no one could be certain that it was him.
Narrow streets led into a maze of alleyways and courtyards. The fog was close and thick, and I felt alarmed by how little we could see around us. The air felt like a damp, cold blanket on my face. Each time a figure came out of the fog I jumped. James held his revolver firmly in his right hand.
“It’s safer to stay inside,” he told the people we encountered on the street. “There’s a fugitive about, and we’ve almost got him.”
“We’ll ’elp find ’im, mister,” said a group of boys who looked like they might have been part of Ed Keller’s gang.
“If you see him, holler loudly and we’ll find you,” said James. “But be careful!”
Now and again, we encountered a constable who was also searching for the killer.
“Keep it up,” James said to him encouragingly. “He won’t escape us.”
He lit his bullseye lantern, but its beam was quickly absorbed by the dense fog. The walls dripped with damp and the ground was wet and slippery under our feet. The thought that we could encounter David Meares with a knife at any moment was terrifying.
“Are we nearly at Queen Street?” asked James.
“I hope so. I’m finding this fog disorientating.”
The murmur of a child’s voice startled me. I looked around, thinking I had imagined the noise before noticing two small, huddled forms at the base of a wall. I walked over to them and bent down. Two dirty, round faces stared back at me from beneath matted hair. It was a girl of about six and a boy who was just two or three years old. They looked familiar.
“You shouldn’t be out here,” I said as soothingly as I could. “It’s dangerous. Where are your parents?”
The girl shrugged. “Dunno.”
“Where do you live?”
“’Ere.” The girl looked at me, wide-eyed and wary and I recognised her as Hettie, the girl I’d seen in Nottingham Court. The little boy was Will who’d been pushed over by his brother in the argument about marbles.
“It’s not safe here,” I said. “You must find somewhere inside.”
“Why’s it not safe?”
I looked up at James, who sadly shook his head.
“We can’t leave them here,” I said. “They live in Nottingham Court. We need to take them home.”
“Ma don’t want us at ’ome,” said the girl. “We ain’t goin’ back there.”
She stood up and held out her hand to the little boy.
“C’mon, Will, let’s go.”
He got up and took the girl’s hand.
“Where will you go?” I asked.
She shrugged and began to walk away.
“Don’t go!” I called out.
The children stopped and stared at me, solemn-faced.
“Stay with us for now. You’ll be safer that way.”
“Penny,” warned James. “We can’t—”
“I’m not leaving them,” I snapped as I got to my feet. “I want to keep them safe. They can’t just be wandering around St Giles with this man about. If they stay with us then we know they’ll be all right.”
“I understand,” he said resignedly. “Perhaps you can take them into the next pub we come to and wait there with them until this is over.”
“You need me to help find Martha,” I replied. “And I know David better than you. I might be able to talk him out of doing anything foolish.”
“The man is deranged.”
“I want to help you, James. I don’t want to leave you facing him on your own.”
James sighed. “Instead you’re bringing the children along to face him too?”
“He won’t hurt the children.”
“How can you be sure of that?” He scowled.
“James, we don’t have time to argue. Let’s continue searching. I’m sure the children will behave themselves. Come on, Hettie and Will. Come with us and do what I tell you. You must do what I say. You’ll do that, won’t you? We’ll keep you safe.”
We continued on our way with the children following closely behind. Having promised to protect them, I felt even more nervous that we would encounter David. I prayed that some of the other police officers would find him before we did.
We turned a corner and heard voices, then out of the gloom came Fenton and Pilkington.
“I’ve never seen fog like it,” said Fenton. “Blakely, what’s happening? Some constable found us and said the killer’s roaming around here. Children?”
He glared down at Hettie and Will, who shrank back from him.
“I’m looking after them,” I replied. “It’s not safe for them to be alone.”
“It’s certainly not!” said Fenton.
“We need to protect Martha Nicholls,” said James. “David Meares is after her.”
“David who?”
“One of the missionaries, I’ll explain when we have time. Martha lives in one of the courtyards off Queen Street. You can get there faster than us as we have these children in tow.”
“So I see,” said Fenton.
“You two head back the way you’ve come. Queen Street leads off Seven Dials.”
“I’m aware of that, but I’m not even sure where Seven Dials is in this fog,” said Fenton. “I thought I knew this place, but it’s a labyrinth.”
“Ask people for directions, but be quick!”
Fenton’s eyes narrowed, as if he didn’t want to take orders from James.
“What are you waiting for, Fenton? We don’t want another murder on our hands!”
“Very well.”
&
nbsp; “Good luck,” said James.
My feet were damp and cold.
“Do you think someone could be sheltering him?” I asked.
“You think he has an accomplice?”
“I don’t know. Someone could have let him into their home without realising what he has done. He’s known as a missionary around here, and anyone who has recently encountered him won’t yet know about his crimes.”
“It’s possible, isn’t it?” said James.
We paused in a narrow alleyway and heard the noise from a nearby gin shop drifting up the street.
“We should ask in each pub in case anyone has seen him,” I said.
“I agree. We must try everything we can think of.”
“And if someone’s sheltering him, he could be anywhere in this place.”
I looked up at the walls around us, where a few lights could be seen flickering dimly in the windows. We asked in the gin shop whether anyone had seen David Meares. Some people didn’t know who he was, while others gave conflicting reports of sightings. When James told them why we were looking for him, a mixture of panic and excitement passed through the crowd.
“I’m goin’ ’ome and lockin’ meself up till yer’ve got ’im!” said a woman with only a few teeth.
“I think you’ll be safer staying here for the time being,” said James. “Wait until we have him in our custody before you leave.”
We stepped out of the gin shop and back into the street. Everything was still and silent outside, with many of the drinkers heeding James’ warning to stay where they were. The children stayed quiet and obedient, and Will sucked his thumb.
“It won’t be long now,” I said to them, but I felt guilty about reassuring them when I had no idea what was to happen next.
I detected movement in the fog ahead of us and waited for the figure to emerge, assuming it was one of the constables, but no one materialised.
James put his hand on my arm and brought me to a stop. “I think I saw someone walk into that doorway,” he whispered.
“I’m sure I saw someone too. Do you think he’s hiding from us?” I kept my voice as low as possible and held my breath as we slowly approached the doorway.
Was David Meares hiding just inside it?
As we drew nearer, I saw that it wasn’t a doorway at all, but the entrance to a dark passageway.
“Do you know where it leads?” whispered James.
“No idea.”
We peered into the passageway, but it was too dark and foggy to see much.
“Hello?” called James.
There was no reply, but we heard footsteps running away from us.
James quickly lit his lantern.
“Let’s go!” he said.
We stumbled into the darkness, following the beam of the lantern. I took hold of Hettie and Will’s hands, and all we could see ahead of us was a swirl of mist and fog. We heard only the echo of our own footsteps.
The passageway came to an end and opened out into a courtyard. I could just about see the high walls around us. To my right was a pair of large wooden doors, which looked like they belonged to a warehouse. There were no lights in any of the windows.
“I heard something come from this way,” said James, moving off to the left.
But just at that moment, I heard footsteps from the right side of the courtyard.
“No, definitely this way,” I said, moving towards the sound so that I didn’t lose it.
“David?” James called out. “Is it you?”
James and I drifted apart, but I made sure that I could still see the faint beam of his lantern. Keeping Hettie and Will close to me, I made my way around the edge of the courtyard, passing the warehouse with its broken windows and a rickety staircase, which led down to a basement room.
“David?” I heard James call again. His voice was further away, but so long as I could still hear him and see his lantern I felt sure that I would be safe. If I caught sight of David I knew that James was close enough to be swiftly by my side with his gun.
The children and I reached the corner of the courtyard and then continued along the next side. I could see boards nailed over windows and a narrow gap between two buildings, which was wide enough for a man to hide in.
“David?” I said.
I heard only silence.
I turned around to see where James’ light was, but it was no longer there.
“James!” I called out. “Hettie, Will, tell me if you see his light.”
I looked around frantically and then I heard a clatter as if something had fallen to the ground.
“James?” I ran carefully with the children to where I thought the sound had come from, soon reaching the other side of the courtyard.
He wasn’t there.
“James!” I cried out, hoping that someone would hear me.
I hadn’t wanted to alarm the children but I knew they were frightened now because they were clinging to my skirts.
“There you are,” I said with relief as he emerged from the fog on my right. “You had me worried for a moment!”
But when I saw the figure more clearly, I realised that it wasn’t James at all but a taller man, dressed in a long dark coat and wearing a Pulcinella mask, which covered his eyes and nose.
Chapter 48
A cold fear gripped my stomach and the children hid behind me. The man’s dimpled chin and straw-coloured moustache were familiar to me.
“David?” I asked cautiously.
I could see the gleam in his eyes through the dark holes of the mask. He was staring at me, and in his right, gloved hand was a knife.
“Have you done something to Martha? Where is she?”
David said nothing, and with a chill I realised that the vision of the man who stood in front of me would have been the last thing many of his victims had seen. I fought the urge to run and kept my feet rooted to the ground. I knew that if I ran away we might lose him again in the fog. I had to stay and hope that James would swiftly find us.
“Give me the knife, David.” I slowly held out my hand in vain hope.
“No.” He lifted his hand and brandished the weapon wildly.
“Run to that wall over there!” I instructed the children. Hettie and Will did as they were told and huddled together. I decided to keep David talking in the hope that it would distract him from harming anyone.
“Why are you doing this, David?” I asked. “Why are you after Martha?”
“She upset Hugo. They all did.”
“You know that Hugo is dead?”
“Is he?” His voice had a slight quaver to it. “It was an accident. I became angry with him.”
“I don’t understand.”
“He wanted me to stop, but I couldn’t sleep for thinking about what they had done to him. He didn’t need to tell me how much their words hurt; I could see it in his face. I saw how the rejection affected him. For every person who accepted his help, there were half a dozen who ignored or insulted him. Have you ever felt such deep hatred for someone, Miss Green, that you wished they were dead? That’s how I felt about them. He told me God would forgive them, but I could see that his heart was wounded.”
“But you killed him. I still don’t understand.”
“I didn’t mean to, I was seized with rage. He forgives me, I know he does.”
His mouth widened into a macabre grin, which made me shiver.
“It’s been amusing, hasn’t it? All this has caused quite a stir and I didn’t even have to hide! I could watch the police searching for me, even at the funerals.” He cackled.
“You called yourself a missionary!” I retorted. “You pretended to be helping people and they trusted you. They believed what you told them. How can you pretend to serve God and commit such evil acts?”
“The people I killed rejected Hugo. And by doing so, they rejected God.”
“So killing them was a noble act, was it?”
“I believed it to be. Not one of them was worthy.”
“But why Martha?”
“Hugo was a friend to her. He made sure she could attend Mrs Baxter’s funeral. And Mr Turner’s funeral, too. You saw how much he helped her, didn’t you? But she refused to pray with Hugo. She took his help when she wanted it, but refused the most important help of all. I can’t tell you how much that upset him.”
“Where is she?”
He shrugged in reply and I shuddered, terrified that he might already have tracked her down. I glanced quickly around me, desperately hoping that James would emerge from the fog. The only sight which reassured me was that of Hettie and Will remaining crouched by the wall. I prayed that Fenton and Pilkington had found Martha safe and well.
“I saw what you did to Jack. It was a brutal act. Why did you do it? Jack was only a boy!”
“And a thief since he’d been old enough to walk. He stole from you, remember?”
“And I forgave him! As men of God, you and Hugo should have done the same.”
David laughed and I hoped I could keep him talking.
“Why did you write the letters?” I asked.
“You’re a writer, aren’t you, Miss Green? You understand the power of words. Haven’t you ever wished that your words could create such panic? Nothing you write will ever have the same effect as my letters. The police didn’t take me seriously at first, but they soon learnt, didn’t they? They had only a matter of hours to locate every possible Mr Turner in London!” he laughed. “When I killed, people had to listen to me. The power was intoxicating.”
“And the reason you scattered those cards about with the name Adam de Vries on, that was about power?”
“Of course. It’s all part of the same game. I heard about you and the inspector making the journey to Leinster Gardens. Oh dear, I am sorry.” He laughed again. “I thought you knew that the address wasn’t real. It was supposed to be a joke!”
“A joke which only you would find funny?”
“I’ve always had a queer sense of humour. Do you know what I enjoyed most about the panic the murders caused? The numbers in our congregation increased threefold! I’d never seen Hugo so happy. He finally had a decent flock. That was all he had ever wanted.”
“And he was complicit in what you were doing.”
