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"Welli Let&039;s have it!"

Matthew had barely gotten through the door of City Hall before Marside, step-for-step, but had to struggle to keep up with Matthew&039;s long strides "What did McCaggers thinki Did he say more about the murder weaponi"

"I think we should not turn this into a public foruht there were still a few athered on the street puffing their pipes and discoursing on the callous quickness of the pale rider Matthew kept walking and turned the corner onto the Broad Way with Grigsby at his elbow Even as he did, he thought that he had quite a distance to travel on such a dark night, with the Masker now blooded by two killings The street-corner lanterns had almost burned themselves out, and clouds had slipped in on a dah he carried his own ht and occasionally could be seen a lantern here and there as another nocturnal citizen moved about, he decided it was best to have cosby said "We should co at once I have other announcements and sundry items to fill up the sheet, but this by far merits the ink"

"I have a full day tomorrow Today, I o ahead and write what I know to be true You can go over the article and add your facts and i the type You will help me with that, won&039;t youi"

It was a tedious task that nearly blinded a person, since the type had to be set up backward It could take-regardless of what he&039;d told Magistrate Poas "an afternoon&039;s work"-the whole of a day and well into the night But the operation did require at least two men, one to "beat" the type with ink and the other to "pull" the lever that pressed the page

"Yes, I&039;ll help," Matthew agreed He did like Mr Grigsby and certainly ad the sheet together, and being the first eyes to see so drunken tavern brawls, fights between husbands and wives, chases of bulls and horses loose in the streets, as seen dining at what eating-house in the coo had arrived and as shipping out, what vessels were due in port from which destination, and the like

"I knew I could count on you We&039;ll need to speak with Phillip Covey, of course, since I understand he was first on the scene and you second there, how fortunate for et an official statement from Lillehorne Iht even gather a state such a"

Matthew had just about stopped listening at the phrase first on the scene as Grigsby ra about who had really been second and third on the scene He recalled Reverend Wade saying to Dr Vanderbrocken We have to leave hio wherei

He decided this was an instance of what perhaps should not be shared with Grigsby, at least until he&039;d had a chance to hear what Lillehorne would learn about those two gentle that wasfor a constable at athat bore tellingi If so, they were poor witnesses to be such town pillars, for they&039;d surely disappeared this night

"How did Mrs Deverick take the newsi" Matthew asked as they neared Trinity Church

"Stoically," resby "But then, Esther Deverick has never been known to display emotion in public She lifted her handkerchief and hid her eyes, but whether she shed a tear or not is up for question"

"I should like to interview Robert again Surely he knows soht have wished his father harm Or maybe he knows, but doesn&039;t realize it"

"You&039;re sby are of how his voice carried down the Broad Way&039;s silent length, and he lessened the volume considerably-"that the Masker has a plan and a purposei How do you come to the conclusion that we don&039;t simply have a lunatic in our midsti"

"I didn&039;t say the killer wasn&039;t a lunatic, or at least half-ht to equally concern Lillehorne If two people have been murdered by the same hand, why shouldn&039;t we expect a third, or a fourth, orhowever many But I&039;m not sure this is so randoave youi"

Matthew could feel Grigsby tensed like a lightning rod Once the printer&039;s ink got in a h all of life&039;s aistrate Powers," he said, not wishing to coht have been struck down in the process of recognizing a fellow gentleman or-God forbid-business leader It had coht indeed wear his own mask of community service and industry fellowship, and that this "half- into action for ers&039; opinions before we-"

Both he and Grigsby were startled as a well-dressed e suit and tricorn hat ca Street, quickly walked past them without a word, and disappeared into the further dark Matthew had just had a few seconds to register that the nized him as the individual who&039;d thrown apples so viciously into the face of Ebenezer Grooder

What was , however, was that in the breeze of the ht the faint aroain, ausley&039;s realate stood around the building of leprous-colored walls on the corner of King and Smith Whenever Matthealked so near to that place, his skin crawled and his nostrils flared, so perhaps ausley&039;s reek emanated from the yellow bricks here, or from the very air as it moved past the shuttered s and darkened doors

"Usby said, as he looked at the little flickering flame from the tallowcandle lamp on the cornerpost "Please don&039;t thinkwith me a little further oni" He correctly read Matthew&039;s hesitation to leave his own straight route ho important to ask of you"

Mattheasn&039;t certain as i when New York seemed not quite the familiar town it had been yesterday, but he did think that whoever the Masker was, the ht have been to hiht," he agreed

Soon they alking past the alsby didn&039;t speak, perhaps in deference to Matthew&039;s history there, though of course he knew nothing of ausley&039;s nocturnal punishht nor left, but kept his gaze fixed upon thein Matthew&039;s tih still known collectively as the "alest still housed the boys of the streets, the castoffs of broken families, the victims of violence both by Indian and colonist hands, those ere sometimes nameless and bore no recollection of a past nor hope for a happy future The second building kept orphaned girls and atched over by a Madaland sponsored by Trinity Church for the purpose The third building, the ray brick and black slate roof, was under the jurisdiction of the chief prosecutor and contained those debtors and impoverished miscreants whose actions were not exactly criminal but ould be expected to work the blemishes off their records by physical labor on behalf of the town This building, with its low squat structure and barred s, had lately becoive a shiver down the spine of every working man and woman whose coins could not equal their credit when the bills came due

Matthew allowed hi before they passed It was completely dark and oppressive in its stillness, its wretched weight of bricks and mortar, its hidden secrets and yetand yetdid the faint shine of candlelight move past a bolted shutteri Was ausley on theto the breathing of the young and defenselessi Did he pause by a particular cot in a cha facei and did his older "lieutenants," recruited to keep violent order a, turn their eyes away froht&039;s refugei

That kind of thinking led nowhere Without witnesses, there was nothing Yet still in the future so to reveal their torht still see ausley hauled away in the back of a wagon

They continued past more houses and business establishments, but in this area of toith the al blocks there was a gray cast to the air even on the sunniest day, and night seeht, was a slave cemetery; on their left was a paupers&039; field, the occupants identified-as much as possible-with painted names written on small wooden crosses a Dutch farmer named Dircksen still worked two acres of corn just east of the paupers&039; graveyard, and his sturdy white brick farhter is arriving soon," said Grigsby

"Siri" Mattheasn&039;t sure he&039;d heard correctly

"Beryl My granddaughter She&039;s arrivingwell, she should have been here three weeks ago I&039;ve asked Reverend Wade to put up a prayer for me, on her behalf More than one, actually But of course everyone kno errant those ship schedules can be"

"Yes, of course"

"They ht have had problems with a sail, or a rudder Everyone kno difficult those voyages can be"

"Yes, very difficult," Matthew said

"I expect her any day now Which is what I wished to ask you"