Page 40 (1/2)

Matthew stood on the street outside Prio next He counted himself lucky that on the way out he hadn&039;t been kicked in the botto, Matthew thought, is that when he&039;d reached down to retrieve the Earwig Primm had snapped it off the desk a and with beady rattlesnake eyes had dared Matthew to try for it That told hi, at least Primm obviously didn&039;t want it shown to anyone else

The question reo nexti

The sun ar dalance but he was in no ht breeze ruffled the shade trees along Market Street He paused, looking to left and right across Third Street and north about a halfblock was a sign reading The Good Pye with a depiction of a piece of pie and an ale tankard He decided thatin that direction at least he et hie to go past before he crossed the street, he caught a movement of white froed froedly south along Third Street Mattheatched the sht hand clutched the broadsheet in a death-grip

ah ha, Matthew thought I have save Prian to follow at a careful distance

In another moment Pri away fro the white wig bob along aain followed, realizing that Pri a backward glance Then, half another block ahead, the lawyer abruptly turned into a doorway under a sign that announced The Laht as he stood at the door Several hitching-posts at the curb alass bottles, soreen He opened the door without undue haste and entered, his eyes having to adjust froreenish interior where lanterns burned fro special, really a long bar where several well-dressed gentleht tables each set with the stub of a candle Only three of the tables were occupied, as it was a bit early for lunch It was no proble at the back of the rooht

Matthew approached, but at an oblique angle Pri until he was there Then the lawyer&039;s black eyes spat fire, his toy ain!"

"Guilty," Matthew said

"Of followingin my direction"

"Please continue then, all the way to New York"

a burly, black-bearded man with a lion&039;sa brown bottle and a slass to the bri aroma of stout apple brandy

"Leave the bottle, Samson," Primm said, and the man set it down and started back to the bar

It occurred to Matthew that if Prihly combustible mixture, not only would the lawyer&039;s la a liquid lunchi" Matthew prodded "It is unsettling to realize your client&039;s a murderer, isn&039;t iti"

Prileamed

"I think she&039;s his uess, for ould the lady not have reacted to her son&039;s namei "He hid her away in Westerwicke, and then he plotted the deaths of three men But my real question is: what happened to his fatheri"

"Samson!" Primm rasped after another s of fire had scorched his throat The black-bearded behe the planks squeal "This youngme If he speaks one more word, I&039;d like you to throw him out on his New York bum"

"Yes, Mr Pri into Matthew&039;s face from the distance of four inches He also cracked the knuckles of one huge hand like the walls of Jericho

Matthew decided that one ave Priot out before his own lan of another tavern, this one titled The Harp and Hat He approached its door, but before he went in he stopped to open his valise He removed from it another rolled-up piece of paper, which was the second portrait of the Queen of Bedlam that Matthew had asked Berry to draw, just in case Priers didn&039;t like the first one

Matthew entered the tavern, carrying the lady&039;s picture and in hopes that soed with hopes dashed, for no one in the place had any idea who she ht be Just across Chestnut Street was the Squire&039;s Inn, which Haverstraw had mentioned Mattheent in there with the picture ready, and was accosted by a drunken ho said the lady in question was his h to a grasshopper Since the man was over sixty, that was quite ient in his late twenties, said he thought the woman looked familiar but he couldn&039;t put a name to her Matthew thanked one and all for their trouble and continued on his way

By the time he reached a third tavern, this one called The Old Bucket on Walnut Street, it was nearing lunch and a dozen persons were celebrating the noon hour a younga russet-colored suit took the drawing and exalass of port and eating a plate of sausages and fried potatoes He called to a friend rather arded the picture as other custoed around to see "I think I saw this wo irl was playing the tambourinei"

"No!" his friend scoffed, and pulled the paper away so fast Matthew feared it was going to be ripped asunder just as the first had been "You knoho this is! It&039;s theBlake! She was sittin&039; up in her atchin&039; me when I went past her house today!"

"I know that&039;s not theBlake!" said the heavy-set tavern-keeper as he put an eot of the wine cask behind the bar and filled it "TheBlake&039;s got a fat face That one&039;s thin"

"It is her, I say! Looks just like her!" The rustic with the rough aze at Matthew "Hey, now What is it you&039;re doin&039;, carryin&039; around a picture of theBlakei"

"Not her," said the tavern-keeper

"She&039;s not in any trouble, is shei" caoatee "Does she owe moneyi"

"I&039;m sayin&039;, it&039;s not theBlake Lemme see that" The tavern-keeper nearly tore a corner off it when one of his big hands yanked it away "No, she&039;s too thin to be her anybody else thinks this looks like theBlakei" He held the picture up for the assee "and if you do, you&039;re already way too drunk!"

Matthew counted hi intact and no one chasing hi a bill collector He&039;d told the group he was trying to locate arustic that everyone knehere theBlake lived, so why should she bea few passersby on the street to show the Walnut Street, past an area where faretables for sale, he came to two taverns alht was the Crooked Horse Shoe and the one on the left the Seven Stars Inn He didn&039;t care for the luck of a crooked horse shoe, so he chose to cast his fate to the stars

again the lunchtime crowd-mostly a dozen or so men in business suits, but also a feell-dressed women-had come in for drinks and what Matthe to be a etables probably fresh froh the s bright, and the conversations lively On the wall behind the bar was a painted depiction of seven white stars It was the sa tavern as the Trot, with its i Matthew irl with a tray of platters pass, and al wine for a customer came down the bar to him "Help you, siri"

"Yes, please I know you&039;re very busy, but would you look at this for mei" Matthew put the Queen&039;s portrait down before theat thisi"

"I&039;ve coency there" a white liei It was all in the interpretation "Our client is trying to identify this woman We think she at least has roots in Philadelphia Would you tell nize the facei"

The man picked the portrait up "Just a moment," he said, while he fished spectacles froht that reflected off the bar&039;s polished oak

Matthe the ether

"Froht I arrived this "

"You&039;re a lawyeri"

"Not exactly a lawyer, no"

"What, theni Exactly"

"I&039;ht wordi he wondered Deduceri No, that wasn&039;t it Deductivei No, also wrong and hideous to boot His role was to solve probleht, as a sifter of clues a weigher of evidence a detector of truth and lies

That would do "I&039;m a detector," he said