Shadow of the Dolocher Read online

  "I'm going to have to arrest you, Colonel Spencer," James said. Spencer's face flushed with relief. It was as though he thought up to now he was going to be let away with his crimes and that this was the worst possible outcome for him.

  "You don't seem to be too worried about the prospect of the gallows," Edwards remarked.

  "The gallows will be a relief to me, Mr. Edwards," Spencer said.

  "It's time to go, Colonel Spencer," James said taking him gently by the arm. James felt sorry for him, his mind had completely twisted, and an insane asylum was more likely to be his new abode than the gallows. The Alderman couldn't make up his mind which was worse.

  Chapter 71

  The water of the Liffey lapped softly against the hull of the ship as it disembarked from Templebar. Doctor Adams stood on the deck and looked back at the city of Dublin as he was leaving. He had enjoyed his time here and thought perhaps he would return one day. For now, however, it had lost all its charm to him. His game was over, and he had no intention of finishing it on Edward's terms. Mullins and Mary Sommers would live- what did he care about those two now?

  London would be fine though, he thought, there is always something going on, and there was the opportunity to make an even bigger impression over there once he was established. Still, it would have been nice to finish what he started here and now have to leave in this ignominious way.

  The part of Dublin he knew best was leaving his sight now, and a hollow feeling of loss came into his breast. As careful as he thought he had been, he had been found out, and a lot earlier than he would have ever suspected.

  Edwards' sneering face came to mind, and he couldn't help but smile. What was that man made of? What did he have planned that was so outrageous it would put his own work to shame? Edwards had promised Adams would know about it no matter where he ended up. Time would tell on that score.

  Chapter 72

  "It's time for you to come and stay with me Olocher," Edwards said. He was sitting in Lord Muc's kitchen at a large wooden table with Scally, whom Edwards had started to call by his father's surname.

  "Where?" the boy asked.

  "Across the city, you will be in luxury from now on, but it was important for you to see life at this level before you came to me."

  "Am I done with Lord Muc?"

  "I'm still undecided on that, he is a delightfully unpredictable and violent man, and I'm sure he would be very much missed in this part of the city," Edwards said. Olocher looked at him with eyes widened slightly.

  "I didn't mean killing him, I meant with the training."

  "His death will be the last act of your training and the first of your new mission," Edwards said to him.

  "He's been good to me."

  "He's been paid handsomely to be good to you." Olocher thought on this for a moment.

  "Can we not use him for this mission?"

  "No, this will be done by you alone," Edwards looked at him with a big smile. "I'll tell you what, lets compromise, Muc has to go as part of the mission, but he doesn't have to go first. How does that sound?"

  He looked at Olocher and saw his agreement with this in a low bow of his head. "Come along, I want you to see the decor in the place you are going to stay."

  Edwards thought of the huge painting of the Devil that hung on the wall opposite the bed Olocher would call his own for the next year.

  Every night, Olocher and the Devil would look upon one another and get deeper and deeper inside one another until it was time to unleash his creation on the city.

  It was going to be hell being patient for that long, but Edwards felt that he could do it. Who knows, perhaps there will be another killer in the meantime.

  The carriage rattled over the cobblestones and into the fog of the evening, drifting towards the river and away into the mist so that soon all that could be heard was the clopping of the horseshoes on the even rough surface. It was chilly, but the spring was coming soon. A dog scuttled across the road and into Muc's yard. There was a phantom moon through the air as Dublin went to sleep that night.

  The End

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