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The black freedman Micah Reynaud, who had a chest like an ale barrel and hair the color of s with his razor Matthew also found him an excellent conversationalist, as Reynaud owned a brass telescope and studied the heavens as well as being an inventor of note In one corner of the barbershop was a cage in which a squirrel was afforded a treadears that turned a wooden spindle connected by another set of pulleys and gears to a second wooden spindle held in a tin sleeve at the ceiling This second rod, when revolving, also caused the parch a breeze beneath which a custoht wish for the ebony barber to be less quick in his duties The squirrel was naot a hair-trim, it was off to the bath room where Reynaud&039;s wife, Larissa, poured hot water into one of the three wooden tubs and left a gentleman to soak and ruminate Matthew stayed there until he wrinkled When he left Reynaud&039;s he was shaved, clean, and as bright as a new duit, but there was still the matter of his dirty clothes
a stop at theSherwyn&039;s relieved him of that particular problem, and he was about to leave when theasked, "am I to take it that due to the disaster the rest of your clothes are now beggars&039; ragsi"
"Yes, ht now I a-impoverished"
She nodded "Mayhaps I can help you, then Would you be skittish about wearing a dead man&039;s suitsi"
"Pardoni"
"Julius Godas my customer," she explained "He left six shirts, four pair of breeches, and two suits with me a few days before he was murdered They&039;re clean and ready to be taken I was about to donate thee, and then ausley bit it" She eyed him from shoesole to collar "Godasn&039;t so tall as you, but he was slender Do you want to try the clothesi The suits are right high quality"
So it transpired that Matthew found hi the deceased&039;s taste in clothing One suit was dark blue, with a silver-buttoned dark blue waistcoat; the other was light gray with black pinstripes and a black waistcoat He noted frayed cuffs on the shirts, which ht speak to the state of mind Mrs Deverick had ht across the shoulders, but they would do The breeches likewise fit hih to be discarded He decided the old adage of beggars not being choosers was highly appropriate; he thanked the laundress and asked her if she ht keep his neardrobe until after lunch
"Won&039;t walk off and leave," she said, as another customer entered the shop "Say hello to the Duke for me, won&039;t youi"
at twelve-thirty Mattheas sitting at a table in the Trot with a bowl of barley soup before hiulars came up to coedy and just smiled and nodded at their ishes He was fixed on the imoing to find out anything et to Philadelphia, and then to visit Icabod Pri the lady from the Westerwicke asylum, but he didn&039;t think any action would be taken in that regard He doubted a better or more humane place could be found It was a risk, of course, and counter to what the clients expected, but if it was results they-and himself as anted, then Primm&039;s office had to be the first stop
"Matthewi"
Yet ould happen if Prie of the lady, as was likelyi Philadelphia was a big town Hoas one to discover the identity of a single person, a more than a verbal description of the Queen, or as Greathouse had said he&039;d be walking the streets of Brotherly Love until he had a beard down to his-
"Matthewi"
He blinked, retreated frohts, and looked up at who&039;d addressed him
"I hoped I&039;d find you here," said John Five "Can I siti"
"Oh Yes Go ahead"
John took the chair across from him His face was ruddy and the sweat of labor still sparkled at his hairline "I only have a few et back to work"
"How are youi Would you like solass of winei"
"No, nothin&039;" John glanced back at the tavernkeeper and shook his head, and then he regarded Mattheith a gaze that could only be described as dour
"What is iti" Matthew asked, sensing trouble
"Constance," John said "She followed the reverend last night"
"Shefollowed himi" Matthew didn&039;t want to ask to where "Tellafter the clearin&039; of streets Ten o&039;clock or so, she said He left the house, tryin&039; to be quiet about it Constance said she heard the board creak near the door, and she knew after what happenedyou knowat the church, she&039;s been torn up over hioin&039; to pieces just like he is"
"all right, calm yourself So Constance went out after hie a constable, and once she herself almost walked into a lantern But she went on after him, God bless her heart, andI just wanted to know, Matthew Where did he go the night you followed himi"
Matthew shifted uneasily in his chair He picked up his cider and set it down again
John Five leaned closer and said in a whisper, "Constance said her father went to Petticoat Lane I can hardly believe it but I know she&039;s tellin&039; me the truth She said he stood across the street froo in, thank Christ, but just stood there Then, after maybe five or six minutes, a man came out and spoke to him"
"a man came outi Whoi"
"She couldn&039;t tell He spoke to Reverend Wade for a minute or so, touched his shoulder, and then went back into the house She said she could see lights inside, and while she atchin&039; two other gents went in and the reverend stepped back out of sight So the place was still doin&039; business, even after the decree"
"Bribes have a way ofconstables blind, I&039;m sure," Matthew said He had no doubt Polly Blosso payments even to Bynes and Lillehorne also, with the Masker s, the power of the decree eakening no o anywhere elsei"
"No Constance said she followed him back in the direction of hoet ahead of hiot back before he caot into bed He cracked the door open to look in on her and she pretended to be asleep, but I can tell you that she slept no ot there at dawn"
"Has she mentioned any of this to the reverendi"
"She said she almost told it all, but he looked so wretched at breakfast she couldn&039;t bear to I said to keep silent, &039;til after I&039;d talked to you"
Matthew reached for his cider and took a long drink
"What does it"I&039;m tellin&039; you, Constance is a wreck over this, and I&039;m thinkin&039; that Reverend Wade is involved in soht and what&039;ll happen to hiainst his forehead "What&039;ll happen to Constance theni"
Matthew continued eating his soup where he&039;d left off, his gaze vacant He had made up his mind what needed to be done as soon as John had mentioned the second man