Chapter 17 #2
Both women looked at him in exasperation, but there was no time to argue. With an irritated cluck, Alexandra turned back to look out of the window where the shadow had moved past them.
‘Come on then,’ she hissed, ‘and keep quiet.’ It was only after they were fifty yards away from the carriages that she realised the boy had brought Aggie…
At first, it looked as though their quarry was going to get away, but gradually they closed the distance.
Desperate though she might be, Muriel Pemberton was not in the first flush of youth, and they could hear her laboured breathing as she struggled up the steep hill towards Warberry Woods.
Unfortunately, she wasn’t the only one finding the terrain difficult.
‘Where the ‘ell’s she goin?’ Billy muttered.
‘I think she might be trying to hide,’ Bella puffed. ‘We need to catch her before she gets into the woods proper, or we’ll never find her.’
‘Billy, circle ahead and try and head her off,’ Alex panted. ‘Bella’s right, it’s too dark to follow her into the woodland.’
‘Aye, aye,’ the lad answered with his customary enthusiasm. ‘Come on, Aggs,’
The two crossed the road and raced ahead of the figure in black, the shadows hiding them from any but the keenest observer. Gradually, though, the road began to narrow into a lane, and Billy realised he wouldn’t be able to remain hidden for long. It was now or never.
With a glance back towards the two Shackleford women, he calculated how long he’d have to subdue their quarry before they reached him.
While growing up with a violent father had given Billy an aversion towards any kind of violence – especially towards women, he didn’t think twice about stopping the bogus clairvoyant by any means necessary, given the misery she’d caused to so many people.
Unfortunately, however, she happened to glance in his direction while he was still a good twenty yards away and, with a small scream, veered towards the darkness of the thickening trees.
Billy made a split-second decision. Letting go of the Retriever’s lead, he pointed towards the fleeing figure, hissing, ‘Aggie, fetch.’
Naturally, the dog thought this was a new version of the game she always played with her family, and with a joyful bark, she took off, catching Muriel Pemberton within seconds.
Jumping up onto the matron’s shoulder, she snuffled into her ear.
The clairvoyant fell forward with a shriek, landing face forward in a patch of mud.
By the time Alex and Bella arrived, Billy was standing over the screeching woman while Aggie sat on her back, licking her neck.
‘Aggie, down,’ Arabella ordered, with a reproachful look at Billy. ‘Do you need help getting up?’ she added after a second when the prone figure showed no signs of moving.
Just as they were beginning to wonder whether it was possible that Muriel Pemberton had had some kind of apoplexy, she suddenly lifted up her head, staring glacially at each of them in turn.
Unfortunately, the threatening look fell somewhat flat, given that her face was now covered in mud and her bonnet was hanging down over one ear.
By unspoken agreement, the three stepped back, waiting.
At length, she pushed herself up and stood, straightening her bonnet with another, this time much more vindictive, look.
The darkness behind her was almost absolute, and the lamplight from the road behind turned her into an apparition similar to the lurid drawings common in a Penny Dreadful.
Billy especially stared in horrified fascination until Alex gave him a kick.
‘What do you want?’ The question was clipped and abrupt, with no attempt made to hide the fact that she knew who they were.
‘We know you killed Margaret Finch,’ Alexandra returned levelly.
‘And is that supposed to have me quaking with fear?’ She shook her head and sneered. ‘You are amateurs. You have no idea what you’re dealing with.
But under the sneer and the contempt, Arabella senses something else. Fear. Muriel Pemberton was terrified.
‘We can help you,’ she declared, earning her an incredulous look from her twin.
‘How?’ The response was immediate.
‘Why did you kill her? Were you following orders?’
She gave a harsh laugh in response. ‘Would it make any difference if I said it wasn’t me?
I didn’t kill the stupid bitch…’ There was a pause, then her expression changed into something more calculated.
‘I was told to find out what the muttonhead was up to. Deliver a warning of what happens to people who don’t follow the rules… ’
‘When I got there, Margaret Finch was already dead. John Thorpe had cut her throat from ear to bloody ear. Go on, ask me how I know?’
How do you know?’ Arabella dutifully asked in a horrified whisper.
‘Because when I got there, the bastard was standing over her with a knife as big as my arm. He looked at me and told me to get rid of the body. Then he walked out. Just like that.’ She laughed, a cackle that was half sob.
‘What the bloody hell was I to do with her? I couldn’t even lift her.
I knew right there and then I was done for.
I knew he’d already be busy spinning his story - pinning the whole bloody thing on me.
So, I cleared everything out of the office and left. ’
‘What did you do with all the documents?’ Alex asked levelly.
‘Wouldn’t you like to know…?’ Muriel gave a short humourless laugh. ‘You’re not the only one. The reason I’m still breathing is because Jacob White is not entirely sure what’s in them. Oh, he knows there’s nothing there to incriminate him, but what about those around him?’
Jacob White. Alex and Bella stored the name away without looking at each other.
‘I thought keeping the files would give me some protection,’ she went on, seemingly oblivious to the fact that she’d inadvertently shared a surname.
‘They haven’t?’ Arabella asked carefully.
Another harsh laugh. ‘Not enough to keep me alive after tonight…’ She stopped and stared cunningly at her captors.
‘I could tell him about you,’ she said, her voice alive with malice.
‘That might give me a few more days. And then he’ll come for you when you least expect it.
He’ll take everything and everyone you ever loved. ’
‘You say that betraying us might give you a few more days,’ Alexandra shot back, forcing a sudden terror deep down inside. ‘But you’ll survive a lot longer if you help us.’
‘You’re nothing,’ Muriel spat. ‘A boil on the arse of a beggar. You think this thing is confined to Winner Street? To Torbay?’ She pulled her shawl around her shoulders and glared at them defiantly, before sagging, staring down at the ground, a picture almost worthy of pity.
Then, suddenly, she looked up. ‘He has girls locked up in a cellar in a house…’ she started before suddenly pausing, her eyes narrowing.
‘But of course you already know that…’ She laughed again, this time at herself.
‘That’s why you’re here.’ She shook her head with a grimace.
‘Get them out if you can – he’s moving them tomorrow morning - early. ’
‘Why? Where’s he taking them tomorrow?’
A shrug. ‘I don’t ask. I’ve learned never to ask. But the snake doesn’t live in Torbay. He’s not even based in the West Country. This is bigger than you could ever imagine…’ She stopped with a shudder. ‘You lock me up now and I’ll be dead by morning…’
She didn’t speak the names of her siblings – she didn’t have to. They knew she spoke the truth.
Bella and Alex glanced at each other. They had no reason to be merciful to Muriel Pemberton. She was a blackmailer, a liar, and a possible murderer. But if Jacob White managed to get her to talk before he finished her off…
The bogus clairvoyant watched their silent deliberation.
‘There’s going to be some kind of party,’ she added at length. ‘At the end of June. Two hundred people at least. An auction…’
‘Where?’ Bella quizzed her.
‘Unfortunately, I was forced to leave before I had the chance to find out,’ was the sarcastic response, ‘but I know it’s by invitation only.’ A taut silence followed her words, then, ‘Let me go and I’ll find out what I can.’
‘How do we know you’ll keep your word? You’ll likely disappear this time for good.’
Muriel Pemberton shook her head. ‘There’s nowhere safe for me now I’ve been marked by that monster – that’s why he didn’t bother chasing straight after me. He knows I’m already a dead woman.’ She lifted her head and stared at them defiantly. ‘If I help you, swear you won’t turn me in.’
‘It’s beyond our power to promise that,’ Arabella answered quietly.
‘Poppycock. You need to decide who you want to see dead - me, or that bastard White.’
‘We’ll do what we can to ensure your freedom,’ Alexandra declared. ‘Once Jacob White has swung for his crimes.’
The matron nodded. ‘Then I’ll take my leave.
If you haven’t heard from me within a sennight, it means I’m dead.
’ With that blunt statement, she turned and started down the path, only to stop seconds later to look back at them.
‘If you’re intending to follow me, you might want to rethink it,’ she declared tersely – ‘especially if your father and that old baggage are in that house somewhere. They could be dead even now if Jacob’s discovered them.
’ She gave a low chuckle and hurried away.