The Light Beneath the Cauldron Read online

  The Light Beneath the Cauldron

  Alderman James Mystery Thriller Series, Volume 4

  European P. Douglas

  Published by European P. Douglas, 2019.

  While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, the publisher assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions, or for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein.

  THE LIGHT BENEATH THE CAULDRON

  First edition. March 1, 2019.

  Copyright © 2019 European P. Douglas.

  Written by European P. Douglas.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  By the same author

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  Chapter 50

  Chapter 51

  Chapter 52

  Chapter 53

  Chapter 54

  Chapter 55

  Chapter 56

  By the same author

  The Dolocher- Alderman James Mystery Thriller Series #1

  Shadow of the Dolocher- Alderman James Mystery Thriller Series #2

  Hunting Down the Darkness- Alderman James Mystery Thriller Series #3

  Rise of the Dolocher- Prequel to the Alderman James Series

  Rattleyard- Supernatural Suspense

  Rampike- Supernatural Thriller Suspense

  Chapter 1

  The boards of the gallows creaked loudly as the heavyset hangman placed the noose around Gaspard Delacroix's thick muscular neck. His face was as yet uncovered and the Frenchman smiled at his executioner as if they were old friends. The hangman didn’t like it but made no indication of this; he’d done this many times and had learned to keep a strong stoic expression throughout his work.

  Hundreds had turned out to watch the murderer receive his punishment. There hadn't been a crowd like this since the Dolocher was executed here. The booing and hisses that had followed Gaspard from his entrance to the open area until he was up on the stage had now abated and only general murmurs were heard as final preparations were being made. The priest stood by as well as a councilman who would surely say something. No one wanted to hear speeches or more condemnation, though. Everyone here was only waiting for one thing—the opening of the trap door.

  Alderman James looked around nervously. To his eyes, Gaspard did not look like a man who thought he was going to die any moment. Was something afoot, some foolish rescue attempt by his shipmates perhaps? Nothing looked out of the ordinary to James, but he could feel something was wrong.

  “What has you fidgeting about so?” Mr Edwards asked from beside him. His eyes remained on the gallows stage.

  “Nothing,” James said brusquely and looked back at the prisoner. He was further perturbed to see that Gaspard was looking back at him, and his smile was broader than ever as he winked at James!

  Gaspard flexed his colossal shoulder muscles and the veins popped in his neck as he snapped the ropes that had bound his hands. The hangman looked stunned and Gaspard was able to push him hard away and send him toppling from the stage and into the first rows of people.

  “Get him!” James shouted but as he tried to move forward, he became stuck in the now moving sea of the crowd. People were screaming and started to run away. Gaspard lifted the noose from his neck and turned to the priest and councilman, neither of whom made any attempt to apprehend him.

  Running the full length of the stage now, Gaspard leaped high over the people there and grabbed fast onto the ledge at the top of a nearby building. He pulled his body up quickly, some hand below just missing grabbing hold of his legs as he did. Gaspard looked down for one more moment on the gathering baying for his blood or else running away from him in terror and he smiled and disappeared out of sight.

  “Follow around the buildings!” James was shouting as he pushed through the crowd, “Don’t let him get out of sight!”

  Soldiers ran in all directions around the structures and some onlookers began to climb up on the roofs of the buildings to assist.

  “He’s over the side!” someone called and then another voice shouted,

  “No, he’s back up, look crossing over that red roof there!”

  James finally got some space and he ran down one of the side streets looking up at the roofs. How could this be happening, he thought. Gaspard was probably the most muscularly built person James had ever seen, but he was not a large man, was in fact rather small in height. Surely even he couldn’t have snapped out of those bonds without assistance? He would have to look into this later.

  People were running on every street he came to, and all of them looking up at the tops of the buildings. Calls would come from all different directions with reports of Gaspard’s progress but it was clear to James that he had escaped, at least for now. What these people needed to worry about now was getting off the streets until the French sailor could be captured once more.

  James also made a note to talk to the Mayor once more about these public hangings. It was far too much of a risk in James’ opinion and today was the perfect example of why. Gaspard should have been shot or hanged in the barracks, behind a high wall and that would have been an end to it. Instead, a multiple killer was running loose in the city once more because the Mayor had wanted to create a spectacle for the people.

  Alderman James stopped running and leaned over with his hands on his thighs to catch his breath. He took one more rueful look up and then started to walk back to the open area of the gallows.

  He was not surprised to find Edwards still in the place he’d left him.

  “You didn’t catch him then?” Edwards asked but there was none of his usual jocular tone in it.

  “Not yet, but every person in the city will be looking for him now and I don’t imagine it will be too long before we have him back where we want him.” Edwards nodded,

  “Let’s hope so,” he said, “For your sake at least, Alderman.” The smile returned to Edwards’ face but there was shadow to it James thought. Was he worried about Gaspard being free for some reason?

  “Do you think he could have been strong enough to break those ropes?” James asked him after a moment looking around the rapidly emptying area.

  “I doubt it very much, Alderman,” he said, “I think if you find those ropes in your search, you will see that they had been partially cut beforehand.”

  “Who would want this man free?” James asked and he suddenly though the same thing Edwar
ds was about to utter.

  “His sister?”

  Madame Mel was a well-connected woman. Who knew where her fingers reached within the systems of law and society? James had interviewed her when it was discovered the killer was her brother but she had seemed quite distraught about it and had disowned him at the time. Had this all been an act? James certainly hadn’t thought so at the time, but now? He didn’t know what to think. All he knew for sure was that a killer was once more on the loose in his beloved city. He would have to be caught before he could kill again.

  Chapter 2

  A while later, as James was giving some last orders to one of the army Captains, he saw a crowd of people gathering around him. He’d expected this, though hoped he would be spared it until after Gaspard was caught.

  “Here comes the ‘common man’ to have a word with you,” Edwards said with derision. The Captain turned to look at the group and then looked back to James as if asking if they should be dispersed.

  “Let them to it,” James said, “You can go on about the search.” The Captain took a step back and saluted, glancing nervously at Edwards before leaving. The group was closer now and there was no pleasantries before they got stuck in.

  “How could you let him get away like that?” an angry man asked, he looked like a butcher or some trade like this.

  “If he kills again the blood will be on your hands!” a more shrill voice came from behind but James couldn't make out who this was.

  “You didn’t do too good a job at stopping him escaping yourselves!” Edwards said, his haughty tone and disdain for these people unmistakable.

  “It’s not our job to stop him escapin’” the butcher said sourly.

  “That’s not the Alderman’s job either,” Edwards said, “His job was to catch this man, and he did.” The butcher was about to say something else but he stopped on hearing this.

  “Blame is not important right now, ladies and gentlemen,” James said interjecting, “What is important is that we catch him again and that no one is hurt in the meantime.” The group murmured about this, “If any of you saw anything that might help, I’d be glad to hear it now?” James said.

  “We all saw him jumping up on the roof!” the butcher said, “What else do you expect we saw?” He was angry and he just wanted to vent it, James could understand this very well.

  “He can’t stay up on roofs for long,” James said, “He’ll have to come down if he’s to try get out of the city.”

  “What makes you think he wants to get out of the city?” the angry butcher asked.

  “I don’t understand why he would want to stay when he knows everyone will be looking for him,” James said.

  “He might want to kill again!” Edwards scoffed at this and rolled his eyes.

  “I think the best thing you can all do right now, is to go home. Lock your doors and make sure you are safe until we have him. It won’t be long,” James assured them, but he was only half hopeful that he was right.

  The steam was gone out of the group now but they had not been satisfied,

  “It better not be,” the butcher said and he walked away motioning for the other to follow him.

  “What a pleasant man,” Edwards said smiling.

  “They are afraid, that’s all,” James said, “As we all should be.”

  “You always give those people the benefit of the doubt, Alderman. When will you learn,” Edwards tutted. James didn’t answer. This was an old disagreement between the two men. James saw the good in them and knew of its importance. He also knew that Edwards would never see it, and would never consider it to be of any importance at all.

  James walked the streets of Dublin until the early hours of the morning and troops of soldiers scoured the city through the night and into the next day, but all to no avail. There was no sign of Gaspard and it had been more than long enough for him to have left the city by now. It was possible he would never be caught.

  This was not the worst case scenario, James could think of. Much worse was that Gaspard was still lurking somewhere in Dublin; that he had already killed and would soon be doing the same again. This was the real fear, the fear of letting everyone down once more. His life had taken such a turn in these last years, ever since the hunting for Thomas Olocher back in 1776, all those years ago now. Where had the time gone? Since Olocher, there had been the Dolocher who killed for almost two years before being caught; then there was Spencer or the ‘Shadow of the Dolocher’ who had another year killing, and then Gaspard, who had only a few months of murder.

  Of that list, James no longer believed that Spencer had been the killer. He didn’t think that Gaspard had been the killer then either. The record stood that Colonel Archibald Spencer had gone insane and killed all those people, but James was still open to a change in this. Indeed, he felt he would someday know the real truth.

  James took in the army reports and looked over them. Many alleged sightings but nothing for sure and no one had given chase in the night. He ordered that there be at least three more days of intensive searches and heavy troop presence. Even the Mayor was in agreement with this. A reward was offered for information on bringing Gaspard in. James didn’t like offering rewards like this as it often had the wrong effect. Either people would take the law into their own hands, risking their lives for money, or else greed would take over and any old scapegoat would do.

  If Gaspard was still in the city, James intended to bring him in. And if he did, he would be sure that the execution would take place as quickly as possible so that no repeat could occur. The more he thought about it, the more he warmed to the idea that the best thing that could happen for everyone would be if the fugitive was killed as he was captured. He could only hope that this would be the case.

  A second moon rose without his capture and James waited for the report that would tell him another person was dead. It would only be a matter of time; he was sure of it.

  Chapter 3

  Some hours after the daring escape of Gaspard Delacroix, Mr Edwards sat in a coffeehouse near Cork Hill. He had arranged to meet some of the other members of the Hellfire Club later this evening, but he was not much in the mood for it. He talked himself into going to this coffeehouse and making his mind up closer to the vicinity of the meeting point- the Eagle Tavern. It had been a trying day.

  Edwards sat facing the door; not something he usually insisted upon but which he required today. He’d been quite shaken by the escape of Gaspard and for many reasons. Before he escaped, Edwards was sure the Frenchman had winked at him with a knowing smile. What had he meant by this? The best hope was that Gaspard was reigniting the game that had gone on between them of late. Gaspard must have known all about Steven Olocher’s murderous activities and hence must know all about Edwards’ part in it too. The whole time Gaspard had been in custody Edwards and Olocher fretted about what he would tell of this.

  It seemed that he had never said anything about it, but now that he had escaped Edwards was concerned for his own life; hence his new desire to face the door when he dined out. It was hard to believe that all of this was happening just as he set his plan in motion. How had this been so well hidden from him?

  Since finding out the killer was the brother of Madame Mel, Edwards had stopped going there. He’d been frequenting the brothel for many years but had been tapering off his visits in the last few years since Kate left to marry the blacksmith Mullins. Even so, up to recently he would still have considered himself a regular of sorts. James believed that Mel had no knowledge of what her brother had been up to, or even that he was still in Ireland after his visit, but Edwards knew she was a very shrewd woman. He didn’t think pulling one over on the Alderman was above her skill set.

  Though he couldn’t think of in what situation he might have said anything at all, he wondered if it had been possible Gaspard had learned anything from Mel about his movements. He shook his head, no, this didn’t make sense. There was no way Mel could know about his nurturing of Steven Olocher, of setting h
im down his dark path of destiny. He was being paranoid. Still, something felt very off about it. He would have to go to talk to Madame Mel himself. He could show up in the late evening soon, like he usually did. Pretend nothing was different and see what he could learn himself.

  Edwards’ thoughts on this subject were ended when the huge frame of Daniel Deek filled the doorway of the coffeehouse. Their eyes met and the Prussian smiled and nodded in greeting. Edwards gave a light wave in return and Deek made for his table.

  “Hello, Mr Edwards, do you mind if I join you?” he asked.

  “Go ahead,” Edwards said, “But I have another engagement in not too long.”

  “Of course, of course,” Deek said sitting down. The waiter came over and Deek ordered, “Anything else for you?” he asked Edwards who shook his head.

  When they were alone again, Deek having taken in the place in a slow sweeping gaze turned to Edwards and said,

  “Plenty of excitement today, eh?”

  “Quite so,” Edwards agreed.

  “I think Mr James will be most upset this evening,”

  “He’ll be most upset until he catches the escapee.”

  “Yes, though it is running long now, isn’t it?”

  “Well, it’s only been a few hours,” Edwards answered; he wanted to feel hope of Gaspard's capture but it wasn’t there.

  “I would have thought that was more than enough time with the whole city looking for the man?” Deek said.

  “Perhaps the Devil is hiding him somewhere?” Edwards said slyly. Daniel Deek had only recently come to Ireland in search of tales of the Devil. It had been his life’s work, his conviction being that God did not exist but that the Devil did. Many people found his logic hard to disagree with these days.

  “Perhaps he is,” Deek laughed, “It would be just like him wouldn’t it?” Edwards nodded to this.

  “So you are happy to have stayed around in Dublin?” he asked. Deek nodded vigorously,