Bedford Square - Anne Perry [91]
Lapsing into the attitude of the beggars and pickpockets lounging around the area, Tellman fell into conversation with a bull-chested man whose “terrier-crop” haircut indicated he had not long been out of prison. In spite of his impressive physique he had a hacking cough and dark circles of exhaustion under his eyes.
From him Tellman learned that Slingsby frequently worked in partnership with a man named Ernest Wallace, infamous for his ability to climb up drainpipes and balance along roof ledges and windowsills, and for his filthy temper.
He spent the rest of the day in Shoreditch, learning all he could about Wallace. Little of it was to his credit. He seemed to inspire both dislike and considerable fear. He was very good at his chosen skill of thieving, and his profits were both high and regular. So far he had escaped the attention of the law, who might well have been aware of him but had not yet proved any charge against him. However, he had quarreled with almost everyone with whom he had had dealings, and two or three of them that Tellman found carried the scars.
In this area it was understood that no one cooperated with the police to the extent of betraying one of their own, even at the cost of life. Tellman was the enemy, and he knew it. But revenge might be sought in more than one direction. He needed to find someone whom Wallace had hurt badly enough that he would be willing to savor Wallace’s downfall and pay the price. A little fear and a little profit might sway the argument.
It took him another day of slipping in and out of gin mills, crowded markets, being bumped and jostled, carrying nothing in his pockets, and even then the linings were ripped by cutpurses so skilled he did not feel their hands or their knives. He ate from a sandwich stall, walked dripping alleys, stepping over refuse, hearing rats’ feet scurrying away, and mixed threats and wheedling, but finally he found the person he sought, not a man but a woman. Wallace had beaten her, and as a result she had miscarried her child. She hated him enough not to care how she took her revenge.
Tellman had to be very careful how he questioned her. He must not prompt her into saying anything intentionally to ruin Wallace, and thereby end up being useless in any trial.
“It’s Slingsby I want,” he insisted.
She stood leaning against the dark brick wall of the street, her face half shaded in the gloom. The sky was hazed over with chimney smoke, and the smell of effluent was heavy in the air.
“Well, find Ernie Wallace an’ yer’ll find Joe,” she answered. “Joe Slingsby’s the only one as’ll work wif’im. Least ’e were. Dunno if ’e still does.” She sniffed. “ ’Ad a fight summink terrible ’baht a week ago—it were, ’cos o’ the big row down at the Goat an’ Compasses. Were the same night. Ernie damn near killed Joe, the bleedin’ swine. In’t seen Joe around ’ere since then. I ’spec ’e went orff.” She sniffed again and passed the back of her hand across her mouth. “I’d a’ come back an’ stuck a shiv in ’is ribs, if I’d a’ bin ’im. Bleedin’ bastard. Would now, if I could get near enough the swine. But ’e’d see me comin’, an’ ’e’s too fly by ’alf ter ’ang around any dark alleys by ’isself.”
“But you’re sure Joe Slingsby was with him that night a week ago?” Tellman tried to keep the excitement out of his voice. He could hear his words falling over each other with eagerness. She could hear it too.
“Din’ I just tell yer?” She stared at him. “Yer deaf, or summink? I dunno w’ere Joe is. I in’t seen ’ide ner ’air of ’im since then, but I know w’ere Ernie Wallace is. ’E’s bin throwin’ money around summink wild, like ’e ’ad it all.”
Tellman swallowed. “You reckon he and Joe Slingsby did a burglary that day and fought over the takings, and Wallace won?”
“ ’Course I do!” she said with contempt. “Wot else? Yer in’t very bright, are yer?”
“May be true.” He must be very careful. He affected doubt, turning away from her. “An’ maybe not.