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John Five aiting for Matthew outside the Thorn Bush when he got there just before seven It was the beginning of a fine night in New York The stars were showing, the breeze arm, candles burned in the street-corner lamps, and acurses at everyone who passed by

"Daot me whipped, do youi" Obviously he was drunk as well as battered He struggled to get to his feet, but John Five placed a boot at his shoulder and nonchalantly shoved him back down on his ass

Beyond the door with its five triangular glass panes-three of them cracked-and a depiction of thorns and leaves carved into the wood, the place was lit by dirty lanterns hanging fro beams The smoke from a thousand pipes had turned the beams as black as printer&039;s ink a current haze thickened the air The front room, where the bar was prominent, held tables where sat a dozen or so rees of intoxication while feathered and buckled women swooped and cawed around thehts of tracking Eben ausley He understood that the more attractive of these ladies-the better dressed and better -came from Polly Blossom&039;s rose-colored house on Petticoat Lane, while some of the others who seemed unkempt and desperate had coed probably froed upon John Five and Mattheith lip-licking expressions of seduction on their painted faces so ridiculous that Matthew entleman anyway, business was business and the co and as not; when John Five shook his head and Matthew said, "No, thank you," they turned away aled their bared shoulders, and life went on

Now the noise offiends were in their ele a pitcher of wine approached, and John Five said, "We&039;re going all the way back My friend wants some supper"

"Mutton pie with turnips and beef brains with boiled potatoes," she answered, reciting the evening&039;s fare

"May I have mutton pie with boiled potatoesi" Matthew asked, and she speared hiain he lasses of wine," John added "The port"

She went off to the kitchen and Matthew followed John into the gainia&039;s finest was truly dense The men in here at first appeared to beat tables where cards were being slapped down or hovering over boards where dice clattered as they were throard a series of painted numbers Then another uproar went off like an explosion and soainst wood and yelled, "Fuck it all, Hallock! Everything on the black!"

Mattheondered if some madhouses-bedlams, as they were called-weren&039;tdied down, the cards were turned or the bones were tossed and then again the throat of Hell seemed to open to allow out a quick hot breath of chaos Matthew thought that for so was not really the attraction; it was that chaotic instant of joy or terror, both made so pure in their intensity that all else of life paled in their shadows

"Look here!" soroup ofroom "It&039;s Corbett, isn&039;t iti"

Matthew looked in the direction of the voice and found hiside a dice table in the presence of the two young lawyers Joplin Pollard and andrew Kippering Both had ale tankards in their hands and appeared a bit woozy Of special notice was the dark-haired and not unattractive prostitute of about twenty years of age hanging on to Kippering&039;s left arm, her ebony eyes deep-sunken and vacant as the burned-out houses on Sloat Lane

"See, andrewi" Pollard said, with a wide grin "It is him He Whatever The one and only, ehi"

"I am who I am, I suppose," Matthew replied

"Good man!" Pollard hit his sore shoulder with the tankard Worse than that, he slopped soht-blue shirt Mattheore, which was the last clean shirt in his possession "always be who you are Eh, andrewi"

"always," Kippering said, with a lift of his tankard and then a long drink The prostitute pressed forward and Kippering obliged her by pouring some of the stuff down her throat as well

"and who&039;s this, theni" When Pollard motioned toward John Five, Mattheas able to step back and avoid another spillage "Hold a minute!" Pollard turned toward the dice table and thethere "I&039;s on anchor!"

Matthe they were playing the popular game of Ship, Captain, and Crew, in which the shooter had five throith a pair of dice to come up with a six, five, and four in that order, which stood for the ship, captain, and crew Others could bet on any variation of success or failure Pollard had just wagered on "anchor," which was a three to show up in the first throw

"My friend John Five," Matthew said when Pollard had returned his attention "John, Misters Joplin Pollard and andrew Kippering, both of whom are attorneys"

"First throw! Creithout a ship and an ace!" ca an once more at the pitch of frenzy as silver coins were tossed into an iron pot

Pollard just shrugged "To hell with it John Five, did you sayi"

"Yes sir" John was a bit distracted, as the prostitute had begun chewing on Kippering&039;s left ear "I&039;ve seen you both around town"

"You&039;re Constance Wade&039;s beau," Kippering said, trying carefully to get his ear free

"Yes sir, I am May I ask how you know about thati"

"I don&039;t think it&039;s a secret I was speaking to the reverend just lately and he "

"are you a friend of the faamblers hollered or cursed and the entire roohter, and shouts for liquid couragedeck of a rudderless ship He had noted that the prostitute&039;s left hand was crawling doard Kippering&039;s crotch

In the tu&039;s response to John&039;s question, Matthew had the chance to sum up what he knew about the two attorneys Joplin Pollard-boyish and clean-shaven, his reddish-blond hair close-cropped and his brown eyes large and sparkling with good humor-was in his early thirties and had come to the colony in 1698 to join the older and established lawyer Charles Land Hardly a year later Land had inherited a large suland and returned to the home country with his wife to becoistrate Powers, a rich art patron and dabbler in politics

Thus Pollard-a "green gent," Powers had called him-had been forced to sink or swierald fro well enough now, though, as attested by his taste in his fine light-gray linen suit, his ruffled royal-blue cravat and expensive black boots polished to a gloss

Co, who&039;d coo with an excellent reputation as a business lawyer but who had, as the istrate had heard from Pollard, dallied with one banker&039;s wife too entle penance in the colony until he rander arena, but at the ripe age of twenty-eight Kippering-lean and wolfishly handsome, two days past a shave, a comma of thick black hair fallen over his forehead and his eyes so icy blue the expression from them was nearly fearsome-was obviously not ready for the embrace of a leather ar about and the wine flowed smooth and dark from tavern casks Neither was he in a hurry to join the best-dressed list, for his plain black suit, simple white shirt, and scuffed black shoes had seen better years

Kippering caught the young woently confined it with his own "I&039;ve given advice to the reverend Not anything concerning his daughter But he felt co situation"

"Youshuddered "Please restrain the profanity"

"This isn&039;t a place the good reverend ht approve of for his future son-in-law," said Pollard, as his mouth spread into a sly smile "Do you thinki"

"Probably not," Matthew spoke up, "but the food&039;s good and cheap I&039;ve eaten hereprivacy, which I believe can be found in the back rooht be so furtively private between a istrate&039;s clerk and a reverend&039;s future son-in-law, visiting the back roo my bounds, wouldn&039;t Ii"

"Co o down the road to disaster, he ought to be praised for his courage Hell, I wouldn&039;t have the guts to ask that crow for his daughter&039;s hand Would youi"

"Sir!" said John, with a heat in his voice that ht be imminent "I&039;d ask you not to refer to Reverend Wade in that disrespectfullifted his tankard "It&039;s the ale talking"

"Yes," said Pollard, "and that loquacious ale is going to get you skewered someday But listen, Corbett about Robert Deverick He wasaht add our best client You saw him stretched out there in the street Terrible way for a o," Matthew said He winced as another holler and harumpdedoo from the dice table blasted his eardru a foul blue streak at one of the card games

"any ideas about iti" Pollard asked "Ito Lillehorne and since you seemed to have such an opinion on the enforceovernor"

"No ideas other than the obvious I would ask if you knew of any enemies Mr Deverick had" It was a shot in the dark since he doubted Deverick would have greeted an ene-point

"We&039;ve already covered that one with Lillehorne" Kippering was trying to hold the prostitute back froet a firrip on a weasel "Deverick has had his business eneh He&039;s had supply problems from some unreliable merchants e&039;ve had to threaten with lawsuits, but nothing went beyond the point of sword-rattling That&039;s all"

"Thereelse"

Pollard said, "Youthen if Dr Godwin had enemies, if indeed as I understand it the saain, does a maniac need a reason for murderi" He answered his own question: "absolutely not!"

"I&039;," Matthew said, "if the Maskera h his attention was divided Being unsuccessful at looting her coan to kiss and lick his neck

"I have no idea, but I&039;d like to know if there is some connection between Dr Godwin and Mr Deverick Do you know of anyi"

another uproar caamblers, some bitter loser slah crile cat and pinched his behind on the way, and then Pollard turned back toward the dice ga, "Don&039;t roll those &039;til I get ot the throwi Wyndha, who had his hands full with his squirmy minx "They weren&039;t doctor and patient, if that&039;s what you&039;re assu Neither was Dr Godwin a client of ours"

Matthew shrugged "I didn&039;t think it would be that si to you"

"Evening to you both," he ood luck withwhatever your business irl and also turned to rejoin the hubbub

The room at the back of the Thorn Bush was at the end of a short corridor where a sign was posted on the wall reading No Ga, No Wo-rooht be discussed in relative quiet True, the noise froamblers still carried in, but it was at least tolerable The rooether at one of the six tables, which were set far apart for the sake of privacy The trio were all puffing long clay churchwarden pipes and reathed with smoke, their conversations serious and lanced up as the new arrivals entered Matthew and John Five sat at a table on the opposite side of the rooot colasses of port and left again Matthew spent awhat looked like a dried clulass He hoped it wasn&039;t the beef brains

John Five took a long drink of his wine and then said, "I couldn&039;t figure who else to go to, Matthew When Constance told s would work theettin&039; any better"

"You ought to start at the beginning," Matthew advised

"She says it started back about a o Late May, early June Her father always liked to walk, around sundown Said it helped him breathe She never took a oin&039; out later and later Now it&039;s after ten o&039;clock ets back, he&039;s" John hesitated, obviously uncoed "He is whati"