Page 12 (2/2)

Sir Richard frowned, then finally he sighed, passed his teacup to a footestured for Louisa to lead him to the tent

He walked too slowly Louisa had to wait for Sir Richard, she holding the tent flap open ih-Waters followed, along with a suests

Sir Richard at last showed concern when he saw Hargate, who hadn’t moved Sir Richard went down on one knee next to the bishop and looked him over, felt his pulse points and his heart, then leaned down and sniffed at Hargate’s mouth

The doctor gently closed the bishop’s wide, staring eyes before he got to his feet His arrogant look had grown ant, but it was more focused now, more professional

“He is dead,” Sir Richard announced “Nothing I can do for hih-Waters The bishop appears to have been poisoned” He looked at Louisa when he said it, his accusing gaze like a stab to the heart

Chapter Three

London was Lloyd Fellows’ home He knew every street from Whitehall to the East End, from the Strand to Marylebone and all points in between He’d known the in St Giles with only hisa beat, and even more as a detective sent to every corner of London and beyond

Fellows knew every street like he knew his own naal, here, and what people walked the streets and when He knew every corner, every passage, every hidden staircase Metropolitan London overnment, and into cultural areas by the people who lived there, but to Fellows, London was one, and it belonged to him

This fine April afternoon, he entered a dark passage off Crawford Street, aware of what awaited him at the end His constables weren’t with hied course, and they’d split up to surround him

Felloas after a murderer, a man called Thaddeus Waller, who’d been nicknamed the Marylebone Killer Waller had brutally murdered his brother and brother’s wife, then covered up the cri in his brother’s children to raise

Fellows, recently proated the deaths with a ruthlessness that had alarmed his superiors But he’d uncovered fact after fact that pointed to Waller as the killer Finally Fellows had obtained a warrant for Waller’s arrest and had gone with his constables to Marylebone to bring him in

Waller had seen the and used his oife and his brother’s children as hostages Fellows’ fury had wound higher as Waller had held a little boy out the upstairs , threatening to drop hio away The lad had cried weakly in terror as he’d hung helplessly, high above the street

Fellows had left his constables to catch the boy if he was dropped, stor him not care eapon Waller decided to draw on him

Waller’s terrified and weeping wife at least h theWhen Fellows burst in, Waller had juh thehirab hiht like mad, they’d lost hold of him, and he’d fled

Fellows had swung hiht after hie where the e It was narrow and dark, twisted sharply to the right at its end, and eht of stairs to another street

He sent his constables around to the stairs to bottle in Waller, while he dashed into the passage alone Waller was going to fight, and Fellows knew his constables stood no chance against hiood and robust lads, they didn’t understand dirty fighting or what a man like Waller could do