The Light Beneath the Cauldron Read online

  “I’ll be at the shop if you need me. I’ll finish up early this evening and be straight home,” he said. Kate hugged him once more and then went down Skippers Lane.

  She took the back entrance to the building, knowing she would not be able to take seeing the blood in the doorway. When she got to the room she found Mary and Alderman James sitting by the window, Mary’s face was streaked and dirty from crying but she looked almost lifeless now. James looked to Kate and shook his head. She took this to mean he was getting nothing of any use out of her and she nodded and went to Mary.

  “Mary!” she said and her own tears started up again. Mary looked up and saw who it was and threw her arms around Kate and she too cried now. James stood up,

  “I’ll be on my way,” he said solemnly, “I will call on you again.”

  “We will be at our house if you need her again,” Kate said and Mary looked at her in confusion. “No objections,” Kate warned her, “Tim is happy to have you back in the house.” James left the two women alone.

  “Oh Kate,” Mary said looking into her eyes when they were alone.

  “How terrible,” Kate said, “And you saw nothing?” she asked. Mary shook her head,

  “She went down to lock the front door and it happened then.”

  “Why was the door open?”

  “Flaherty went out,” Mary said. Flaherty had lived in this building when Kate lived here so she knew all about his drunken rambling.

  “Fuckin’ auld eejit!” Kate spat.

  “It should have been me who went down,” Mary cried, “But she had her shoes on!”

  “Hey, hey,” Kate took hold of her shoulders, “You can’t be blamin’ yourself for this. You didn’t do anything wrong. It was the animal who did this who should be sorry.” Mary didn’t make any indication that she agreed with this, or indeed that she had even heard it.

  Kate looked around and saw the door was still open. Then she looked around the room and took up Mary’s long shawl.

  “Come on,” she said tugging on Mary’s arm, “We have to get you out of here.”

  “Now?” Mary asked standing up at the tug.

  “Yes, now. This is not a good place to be right now.”

  “But there are soldiers guarding the doors—”

  “Your safety is not what I’m talking about,” Kate said, “You need some air and to get away from this building for now.” Kate threw the shawl over Mary shoulders and checked that she was now wearing shoes. “We can come back and get anything you need later or tomorrow morning.”

  Though Mary was moving, Kate could feel that it was against her will. She wondered what it was that kept her wanting to stay where this awful thing had happened. Covering Mary’s eyes as they left the room, Kate guided them past the bloodied top of the stairs and towards the back of the building where they could leave without using the site of the murder.

  Outside the air felt fresher than Kate could ever remember. By the way Mary was gulping it down she thought she felt the same. They walked a circuitous route back to Kate’s and both looked to the ground as they walked, not wanting to meet anyone they knew or see the eyes of anyone who would look on them with pity. They spoke little but both knew that would come later when the drink was out. For now, they both simply walked, breathed in the air and mourned for their lost friend.

  Chapter 18

  Though he didn’t know it, Alderman James was as uncomfortable as Mullins had been on the one occasion he’d ever had to be inside Madame Mel’s house. James fidgeted and looked out the window, while at the same time hoping not to be seen, as he waited for Melanie. It would have been better to talk to her somewhere else, but he was here now and there was no point in regretting it.

  “Alderman James,” came Mel's melodious voice as she entered the room. She held out a hand for him to take and he touched his lips to it in a perfunctory manner. “Forgive me, but I never thought I’d have cause to speak to you again in my life after last we spoke.” Her charm was effortless and coupled with her beauty James had to concentrate on his task and not fall into apology and excuse before her.

  “I’m afraid the escape of your brother and the goings on since are why I am here,” he said.

  “But I have already told you everything I know,” she said shrugging like that was the end of the matter as far as she was concerned.

  “Yes, however, I still need to follow up. If there's a chance Gaspard is still in the city I have to know about it.”

  “You think he is still in Dublin?” she asked. James looked at her a moment and wondered two things. One, did he see a hint more interest than warranted in her eyes just now, and two, should he tell her the truth? He decided on the truth.

  “I don’t believe so,” he said, “but a great many people in this city do.”

  “Well, I certainly can’t imagine any reason why a man facing the gallows would stay,” Mel said.

  “I would agree,” James said. “What I have really come here for is to ask you one more time if you know anything at all, even the smallest detail, about either Gaspard’s time in Dublin or his escape?” He pressed gently with his eyes beseeching her, “Anything at all, no matter how insignificant you may think it.”

  Madame Mel returned his gaze and a changed look came over her face and he knew that she was thinking, scouring her mind for something she could tell him. He knew at once that she was in earnest and that it was entirely possible she could unintentionally make up a ‘fact’ so as to have something to tell him. He’d seen this many times with people in the past.

  “I saw him only the once while he was here, like I told you,” she said, “He may have mentioned he was staying over a tavern while the ship was here, but I can’t recall for sure.” She looked at him with hopeful eyes as if he might be able to make sense of this for her.

  In that moment, James’ mind was swept to the memory of what had transpired between himself and Sarah, the former maid of Lord Stapleton and murderess of Wild Boar Hall. He didn’t know what it was about Mel that made him think of his own sinful act. Was it her beauty that reminded him of Sarah’s? Was it her look of vulnerability that led him to recall how Sarah had been and how he’d taken advantage of it?

  “That may be of some use to me,” he said to Melanie and hoping she would believe him. “I will look into it.” She nodded her thanks and then asked,

  “If not my brother, who do you suspect for the killing at the prison?”

  “Unfortunately, no one as yet,” he answered absently but on hearing his own answer he quickly added, “No one I can make public, I mean.” It was never a good idea to let the general populace know when you had nothing to go on.

  “I see,” she winked like they were in secret with one another. James took up his hat from the couch and smiled,

  “I must be going now, Madame,” he said, “But if you think of anything that could help at all, please let me know.”

  “I will of course,” she smiled back and then with a bewitching look said to him, “It is a pity you are not a customer here Alderman. It would be well to have you around at night while there is a killer loose.” James blushed and her smiled broadened, “I’m sorry,” she laughed her face even more beautiful now, “I couldn’t resist that!”

  “Very good,” James said playing along weakly and he shook her hand.

  “Goodbye,” he said,

  “For now,” she answered with a grin but he was on to her now and knew she was trying to make him feel uncomfortable. Why did she do this he wondered? Had it been bred into her through her profession or did she simply like to exert her power over men and watch them cower and wither before her? Whatever it was, he thought, it wouldn’t last forever. She was beautiful now but that wouldn’t last forever either and with the loss of her looks, he imagined she would also lose a lot of her power. If not in anyone else's eyes then at least in her own. And in the end, those were the eyes that really mattered.

  James left and got into his carriage asking to be brought home. As t
he loud wheels throbbed over the cobbled streets, his mind fell to Lisa once more. How she had fooled him all along and only in the moment of saving his life had she given herself away as a murderer. He couldn’t condone what she had done to the poor stableman Thompson but he knew he had deserved what he got. Lisa was a free woman now, most likely in the employ of Stapleton again in England. He wondered would their paths ever cross again. In one way, he hoped so, but in another, he hoped not. He didn’t know if he would ever be able to face her again after what he’d done.

  Chapter 19

  The dark of evening had fallen and all the traders in the area of Cook Street save one had shut up shop for the night. The one that still had light come from within was the blacksmiths. Inside, Mullins and Larry worked on some gates for a customer. Larry had made an error that resulted in the almost completed gates having to be started afresh and now they were up against a deadline.

  “Another ten minutes and we’ll be done here,” Mullins said to his apprentice. Larry looked up at him and was about to apologize again when he saw Mullins smiling face discouraging it.

  “They’ll be very happy with them,” he said instead.

  “That remains to be seen,” Mullins sighed, "You never know with a customer until they’ve paid what they think.” He wasn’t too concerned with the customer, though professionalism dictated he finish the job on time. What he was really worried about was leaving Kate and Mary at home after dark. He’d only had a brief chance to let her know he was going to be late home, but he hadn’t asked any of the neighbours to keep an eye out until he got there. He regretted that now, his thinking at the time was that he would have been home by now but things had run longer than he’d expected.

  Fifteen minutes later the work was done and the room was emptying of the smoke of the extinguished fires. Larry pulled on his coat and Mullins locked the back door to the yard.

  “Put out the flame at the door would you, Larry,” Mullins called to the lad. Larry went outside and took the torch down and blew hard on it a few times to put it out. Mullins came out then and locked the door and they stood a moment looking over the quiet street. They could hear the goings on at a tavern nearby but they weren’t sure which one it was.

  “Come on,” Mullins said, “The less time we’re on the streets the better.” They started walking.

  They weren’t far away when a bright light lit up the fronts of the building around them a split second before a huge boom came from behind. This was followed quickly by the thudding of stones and bits of wood all around. Mullins dived to the ground pulling Larry under his arm to protect him as small pieces of debris clattered all around, some hitting them on the back but none large enough really hurt.

  They sat up and looked behind and heard the shouting of many men. Smoke filled the air and Mullins saw that part of the wall of the ‘Black Dog’ had tumbled out into the street, something else looked wrong at first glance but the rising smoke obscured his vision. The hard slap of feet running came to his ears next and Mullins got up and grabbed Larry’s arm,

  “Get up,” he said, “We don’t want to around here now that this has happened!” Just as Larry was to his feet, the shape of a man emerged at speed from the smoke and ran straight into Mullins.

  “Get out of the way!” the man said, his voice young and his hands pawing at Mullins’ huge arms as he tried to free himself.

  “Watch where you’re going you fuckin’ eejit!” Mullins barked back at him and then he saw the runners face. He was young alright, perhaps only twenty and the fear in his eyes was wild. Mullins let go of him, “Run!” he said and off the youngster went.

  People had started to come out from the buildings all around now and Mullins thought it better not to run himself anymore; that would only look incriminating. He held Larry from taking off in the same direction as the young man.

  “Wait,” he said, “We may as well see what’s going on now.” Larry nodded.

  “They’ve blown up the prison!” someone called out. Mullins and Larry walked to join a crowd of people who were gathering in the street. As Mullins looked down the rubble-strewn street, the smoke began to clear and he saw what had been so wrong. The skyline of Dublin was forever changed with the falling of the Tower of Newgate Prison.

  “Good riddance,” he muttered under his breath and he was sure he wasn’t alone in this sentiment. In Mullins’ mind, the tower had signified nothing other than death and murder. It had been the spawn place of all the things that had made this part of the city such a horror to live over the last ten years. Ever since the time of Thomas Olocher.

  “Do you suppose they were trying to break someone out?” a man asked and someone answered,

  “You don’t need bombs to break someone out of there. A half-crown to one of the guards would be fine.”

  “There wasn’t anyone in there with this,” another man said, “This was the Fenian's in revenge for all increased troops on the streets lately.”

  Mullins looked at the man who had said this and he saw in the man’s face that he was serious. If that was the case Mullins had most likely helped the bombers escape and not a running prisoner as he had first thought. Had anyone seen this happen? He certainly hoped not.

  “Speaking of the soldiers,” another man said, “They’ll be here in a minute and it’s probably best if none of us are on the street when they get here if we know what’s good for us.” He was the first to take his own advice going back into his own home at once. There was a murmur of agreement and the crowd began to disperse.

  Mullins and Larry walked away and for a time he knew Larry wanted to say something. He had the sense to wait until they were out of earshot of anyone else.

  “Do you think we let the bomber go?” he asked.

  “We didn’t let anyone go,” Mullins answered, “A man ran past us is all.” Mullins looked at him as they continued walking. “Don’t mention it to anyone all the same, you hear?” Larry nodded and looked over his shoulder once more at the wreckage behind.

  Chapter 20

  Lord Muc was eight drinks into his evening when he met Sam Speer in the tavern. Sam was well on his way to being drunk too and he greeted Muc warmly when he came over to the table,

  “Sit down,” he said after they had clasped hands in greeting. Muc did and looked over at Sam.

  “How’s things, Sam. Did you get in trouble?” Sam’s happy demeanour faded and he glanced at the surrounding tables to be sure no one was paying attention to them.

  “Plenty of grillin’ alright,” he said.

  “You’ve kept the job though?”

  “So far, but it wouldn’t surprise me if they just can’t find anyone else willing to do it. That’s pretty much the reason I got the job in the first place. Muc nodded; he was one of very few people in the city who knew that Sam Speer was the masked hangman, the executioner of death sentences for the Crown here in Dublin. It had been he who was thrown from the gallows by Gaspard as he escaped.

  “How the hell did it happen?” Muc asked of the escape.

  “Were you not there?” Sam asked.

  “Of course I was there, I saw what went on but I want to know how it happened.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I’ve tried on many occasions to snap a couple of those thick ropes even when not tied around my wrists and I wasn’t able to come close. I know Gaspard was strong and muscled but there was no way he could have done it either.”

  “Well, he did.” Sam didn’t look comfortable at all anymore and Muc could sense an intrigue here. He knew better than to push it though.

  “Another couple of drinks over here,” he called out to the barman and then to Sam said, “Well, I suppose he was stronger than I gave him credit for.”

  “Maybe not,” Sam said thankful the conversation was dying, “they were old ropes so they could have been ready to snap at any time anyway.” Muc didn’t look at Sam as he said this, he couldn’t believe the lies coming out of the man, and that he expected Muc to swallo
w was the worse insult. He would find out later this evening what the truth of the matter was, one way or another.

  They moved on to other conversations and Muc even drew in people from other tables and it was a raucous gathering soon after. The drinks flowed and the laughter came in gusts as the end of the night approached rapidly. The whole time Muc was watching Sam Speer and waiting for the time to be right to press on. That time came near closing time, the people began to thin out and Muc asked the tavern keeper to let him and Speer stay on for one more drink.

  “We don’t need to go yet,” Muc said coming back from the bar. “We can have one more,” he put the drinks down on the table. Speer looked tired and like this drink was the last thing in the world he wanted just then but he didn’t complain. He also didn’t seem to notice a few minutes later that they were the only customers left in the place and the staff were cleaning up the place.

  “Why don’t you tell me what really happened with Gaspard’s ropes?” Muc said as soon as no one else was around. Speer looked at him through stuperous eyes, “Come on,” Muc cajoled, “You can tell me, I won’t say anything, you know that.” A grin came over Speer’s face and then a small chuckle came out. He beckoned Muc closer.

  “I cut them before he left the gaol that morning,” he said with a wink. Though Muc had thought Speer would know or at least suspect something about what had happened with the ropes, he was not expecting this answer.

  “Why?” he asked before he could stop the question.

  “Let’s just say I’m getting ‘paid’ for it,” he said.

  “In what way?”

  “I am now a proud customer of Madame Mel’s brothel,” he said. He didn’t think it pertinent to say he could only show at the back door from time to time and get whatever girl Mel decided to throw his way and never one of the top girls.

  “She came to you herself?” Muc asked, his mind already whirring on what this could mean.