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Number Seven Stone Street was a brown door that opened onto a narrow and rather steep stairway squeezed between, on the left, the office of Moses Leverich the peltry buyer and on the right the shop of Captain Cyrus Donaghan, who crafted quadrants, astrolabes, and other navigational tools for the shipping trade

Mattheent up the stairs and found hi-over with a scrub-brush and bristle-broom He had no idea what business had existed here, perhaps during the reign of Peter Stuyvesant, but traces of its grandeur reold in a mudpuddle at the top of the stairs was an oak-paneled outer room that held a clerk&039;s multi-drawered desk and a chair with a broken back Behind the desk was a cubbyhole-chest suited for holding rolled-up ht at Matthew&039;s feet, was a disturbingly large dark stain that he sincerely hoped was not ancient blood Beyond this room was another closed door Theshutters were open, allowing the strong sunlight full entry, and the s therime-had been unlatched and pushed ajar to allow for the circulation of air Through ts below the overhanging gray slate roof could be seen the full expanse of the Great Dock and the ships awaiting destinations and cargo It was an intriguing view The whole busy picture of the wharf was on display froons trundled back and forth across the cobbles and citizens went about their errands against the backdrop of buildings, s chimneys, shipmasts, furled sails, and the spark of sun off the blue harbor water

"Hello!" Matthew called "anyone herei"

Boots thumped on the boards and the other door opened with a squeal of angry hinges

Hudson Greathouse, dapper in a dark blue suit and waistcoat with brass buttons, stood in the doorway "Corbett!" he said, not without a faint suished "Come in here, will youi"

Matthealked into the second rooe as the outer chaainst the wall three wooden file cabinets a pleasant addition was a sray and tan stones on the left Overhead at the center of the rooht old ave a view of New York to the northwest, the wide river and the brown cliffs and emerald hills of the Jersey shore

"What do you thinki"

Matthew looked to his right Standing there was Mrs Herrald, elegant in a gray goith an adorn-cap, again tilted at a slightly rakish angle but with neither feather nor other decoration Her blue eyes were fixed on him, and her eyebroent up "Welli" she prodded

"a nice view," he said

"also a nice price It&039;s been vacant, obviously, forspider&039;s web "But Hudson and I think it will do as an office What&039;s your opinioni"

"a bit dusty What used to be herei"

"a coffee-iun in the years of the Dutch colony The real-estate broker tells me the business perished in 1658 and the space has only been rented a few ti, but it does have potential, don&039;t you thinki"

Matthew looked around, avoiding Greathouse&039;s stare "I do," he decided "It&039;s certainly large enough" He just wished he&039;d found this place before she had and claiain he was sure the rental-though it could hardly be regal-was surely beyond his row, yes," Mrs Herrald said firmly She walked past Matthew and stood beneath the chandelier, which Matthew realized hung at a crooked angle "I think this will suit our purposes very nicely If we&039;re all in agreeentlen the papers this afternoon and don&039;t worry, Mattheon&039;t iet the place cleaned up and cart furniture in I&039;ll hire solad to hear that Thethe soot off the s, in his present condition, was enough to rekindle the throbbing ache in his groin

"You look like hell," Greathouse said, getting right to the point "What have you been intoi"

"Hudson!" the woht," Matthew said "as a matter of fact, I was taken on a trip yesterday and I stayed the night at an estate about fifteen miles up the river"

"Reallyi" Greathouse looked at him quizzically "What was that abouti"

"I&039;m not quite sure, and I can&039;t explain it But do either of you know a man named Simon Chapeli"

Mrs Herrald shook her head and Greathouse replied, "Doesn&039;t ring a chime"

"How about a woreni"

"Never heard of them either," Greathouse said

Mrs Herrald came a few steps closer to Matthew "What&039;s this about, pleasei"

Matthew took aim at Greathouse "You haven&039;t told her yeti about Ormond&039;s farhtened

"Don&039;t you think you shouldi I have some suspicions about Simon Chapel I don&039;t fully knohat he&039;s up to, but his estate ht be where the body came from"

"The body," Mrs Herrald repeated She turned to also aiave Matthew a look that said Thank you for bringing this up now, fool He reached into his coat and brought out a folded piece of paper "I was going to go over this with you later," he said to Matthew, "but since you&039;ve chosen this moment to air the subject, I&039;ll tell you what I&039;ve found out from the survey office" He unfolded the paper, which Matthew could see was a listing of names in black ink "North of Ormond, just as he told us, are far Then there&039;s a few lishman named Isaac adams He lives in London Up above that, there&039;s an estate and vineyard owned by-"

"Simon Chapel," Matthew interrupted "That&039;s where I was last night"

"Wrong" Greathouse&039;s attention never left the paper "according to the records at City Hall, the estate is owned by another Englishht the estate from a Dutchman in 1696 about three miles north of the vineyard is a farm deeded to William Vale, and then an apple orchard and cider ers after that you&039;re at the ferry and the end of the island" He looked up "None of those names fit any alias that I know to be used by any associate of" He trailed off, but Matthe he could feel Mrs Herrald staring at him

"Go on" The way she spoke it said she already knew "any associate of who his time about it, and put it away

"He&039;s here," Mrs Herrald said "Is that what you , her chin lifted in indignation "You suspect he&039;s here, and you didn&039;t tell mei Because you weren&039;t sure-and aren&039;t sure-and you wished to investigate furtheri Or you wished to spare me the e it over Then at last he replied, "Yes all that"

"You found a body, theni In a condition we&039;ve conizei"

"Yes"

"Hudson" She shook her head, her eyes lit with both anger and sadness "Why didn&039;t you tellflower I&039;ve been expecting this, but justnot so soon Why didn&039;t you tell mei" Her voice cracked, just a little bit

"If I told you I was trying to protect you, would-"

"There is no protection," said Mrs Herrald Though this had been spoken quietly, the tension in her voice e and preparation"

"Of course" Greathouse decided it was best to avert his eyes to the floor "My pardon"

Mrs Herrald went to theand peered north, as if trying to locate her enemy by a darkness on the horizon It was at least fifteen seconds before she spoke again "I presume we can&039;t be surei"

"No, but the body bore the auntlet, yes" She glanced quickly at Matthew and then out the s again "I&039;m not the only one with that theory, by the way Howman, the aro on John Orone to buy produce The coroner had already buried the body, so Matthew and I had toumdo some shovel work"

"That must have been lovely"

"The method of execution appears to be the sa difference," Greathouse continued "In all the cases we know about, the skulls of the victi on a floor bleeding to death In this particular instance, the front of the skull was crushed"

"Speculationi" asked the lady in gray

"Well, it ain, it may be that one of the professor&039;s students has put his own auntlet&039;s done Or it auntlet was held out-of-doors I think the victih cliff, and he bashed his skull on the way down" He held up the paper "I got this list of property owners intending to find out where the body ain, there&039;s no nanize"

"a neorld," Mrs Herrald said, her eyes heavy-lidded, "calls for new na of names," Matthew said, "Chapel knew yours He had a copy of the broadsheet announcement and wanted more information I&039;m supposed to ask about you at the Dock House Inn and report back to him within a few days"

Mrs Herrald pursed her lips and released a small, quiet puff of air "I don&039;t like that How is it you went to see this Chapel person in the first placei"

"It has to do with the Masker Specifically, with Eben ausley&039;s notebook"

"Is this so "What&039;s this about a notebooki"

"Corbett&039;s on a tear about this damned Masker," Greathouse spoke up "He&039;s told Pennford Deverick&039;she can find out who the bastard is, and for that he&039;ll get ten shillings"

"ah" Mrs Herrald regarded Mattheith a knowing expression "an independent job, is that iti"

"She wants the Clear Streets Decree overthrown, as it&039;s costing herto keep the decree in force It&039;s a silance at Greathouse, then back to Mrs Herrald "But no, it&039;s not entirely an independent job"

"Meaningi"

"Meaning," Matthew said in a calm but firm voice, "that I believe these current events are by no ether, in a way I can&039;t yet explain The Masker, the three murders, the notebook, Chapeleven the woman at the Westerwicke asyluood one!" Greathouse&039;s face wanted to grin, but Mrs Herrald&039;s lifted hand stopped his chortle before it began

"again youto who whati"

Matthew took in a deep breath The moment had arrived "a notebook taken froiven to me by the Masker Before you ask: no, I wasn&039;t able to see his face Chapel wants the book, and I believe he&039;s sent someone to break intoorphans to Chapel for some reason the Masker wantsan immediate response, he was disappointed Mrs Herrald stood silent, her head cocked to one side and her hands clasped before her Hudson Greathouse was also struck otten any bigger they ht have popped from his head

The silence stretched on, until finally Mrs Herrald busied herself with rearranging the folds of lace at her throat

Greathouse found his voice, though it sounded nearly strangled "as I said before, what have you gotten intoi"

"What we&039;re supposed to be into a probleet your throat cut trying to solve it" Greathouse turned to appeal to Mrs Herrald "If Chapel-whoever he is-has some tie to Professor Fell, then Corbett&039;s in water way over his head You kno cunning they are Chapel ht already know Corbett went to oes back there, and Chapel does happen to be one of the professor&039;s disciples, I wouldn&039;t give a rat&039;s ass for his survival"

"If he was going to kill ht," Matthew said, but he did think he&039;d nearly been killed, after all