Bluegate Fields - Anne Perry [115]
“Then you’d better talk to Sergeant Wittle, sir. ’E’s ’andlin’ the case, such as it is. Although, to be honest, I don’t reckon we’ve much chance of ever knowing who done it. You know yerself, Mr. Pitt, poor little beggars like that get done in every day, fer one reason or another.”
“Get a lot of them, do you?” Pitt asked conversationally. He leaned a little on the desk, as though he were in no hurry to pursue a more senior officer.
The constable warmed to the attention. Most people preferred to ask the opinion of a sergeant at least, and it was very pleasant to be consulted by an inspector.
“Oh, yes, sir, from time to time. River police brings ’em in ’ere quite a lot—’ere an’ Greenwich. And o’course Wapping Stairs—sort o’ natural place, that is.”
“Murdered?” Pitt asked.
“Some o’ them. Although it’s ’ard to tell. A lot o’ them is drowned, and who knows whether they were pushed, or fell, or jumped?”
“Marks?” Pitt raised his eyebrows.
“Gawd ’elp us, most of ’em is pretty marked anyway, long before they gets as far as the water. There’s some people as seems to get their pleasure out o’ beating other people, instead o’ what any natural man would. You should see some o’ the women we get, and no more’n bits o’ kids, lot o’ them—younger than my wife was when I married ’er, and she was seventeen. Then, o’ course, some o’ them girls gets beat by their own pimps, if they’ve bin ’olding back on the money. All that, and wot with the tides and knockin’ around the bridges, some o’ them yer’d ’ardly recernize as they was ’uman bein’s. I tell yer, it’d fair make yer weep sometimes. Turns me stomach, it does, and it takes a deal ter do that.”
“A lot of brothels in the docks,” Pitt said quietly after a moment’s silence while they pursued their private memories of horror. It was more an observation than a question.
“Course,” the constable agreed. “Biggest port in the world, London.” He said it with some pride. “What else d’y’expect? Sailors away from ’ome, after a long spell at sea, and the like. An I s’pose when yer gets the supply o’ women, and boys, fer them that’s that way inclined”—he grimaced— “then it’s natural yer gets others come in from outside the harea, knowin’ as they’ll find whatever they wants ’ere. There’s a few times yer’ll see some smart gents get down from a cab outside some very funny ’ouses. But then I reckon yer knows that fer yerself, bein’ near that kind o’ harea, too!”
“Yes,” Pitt said. “Yes.” Although since his promotion to inspector he had had to do with more serious cases, and the ordinary, rather pedestrian duties of keeping a modicum of control over vice had not fallen his way.
The constable nodded. “It’s when I sees children involved that I gets the sickest about it. I reckon most adult people can do as they wants, although I ’ates ter see a woman lower ’erself— always make the think o’ the muvver—but kids is diff’rent. Funny, yet know, they was two ladies—and I mean ladies, all dressed and spoke like real quality they was, and ’andsome as duchesses. They came in ’ere just yesterday, a-sayin’ as they wanted ter do somethin’ about child prostitution. Wanted ter make people sit up and take notice. Don’t reckon as they’ve much chance.” He smiled wanly. “It’s a lot the quality as pays the money that makes it worth the procurer’s while—up the better end, any’ow. No good pretending the gents wot matters don’t already know about it! Still, yer can’t tell ladies as their own kind does that kind o’ thing, can yer? I never saw them meself, but Constable Andrews, as was on duty at the time, ’e said they wanted ter look at the corpse what was brought out o’ the river—the one as yer come about. White as sheets, they went, but never lorst their nerve, nor fainted. Yer’ve gotta admire them. Just looked and thanked ’im, polite as yer like, and went out again. Yer’ve got to ’and it to ’em, they got spirit!”
“Indeed!” Pitt was startled. Half of him was furious, the other half idiotically proud. He did not even bother to ask if the ladies had left any names,