Page 73 of An Artful Dodge
“There’s a room to let at Mrs. Watson’s, next to the bakery. I’d be leaving soon anyway.” She eyed me. “You won’t be staying in the ring after this, either.”
“No.”
I watched Mary as she tugged the second drawer out of its track and slid her hand along the back, removing a knife with a leather sheath. She put it in the pocket of Bea’s coat.
“I’ll meet you on Blackfriars,” I said. “You go first.”
As she left I pulled out a drawer of my own, slid my hand underneath, and withdrew my own knife, concealing it in my pocket. I retrieved both of my money pouches and followed Mary a few minutes later, catching her on the bridge. She took my hand and together we went to find the two other people I could trust.
Chapter 21
As much as Amelia liked Mary, she wouldn’t want her to know where she and Adam were staying, so I gave Mary James’s address and went to fetch Amelia. I needed all of them, together.
Gas lamps cast my shadow over the cobblestones, broke it apart, and put it back together as I made my way to Shoe Lane.
Amelia answered my knock immediately and pulled me into a hard embrace. “Thank God you’re all right. I’ve been imagining the worst.”
“It is the worst,” I said. “Maggie took Sarah to make me do her dodge.”
“Oh.” Amelia stepped back, the fingers of her right hand coming to her mouth. “God, Kit. I’m sorry.”
“I can’t do it the way Maggie wants,” I said. “I need your help. Can you come with me to James’s? Mary is already there.”
Amelia handed me a lit lantern and plucked her coat from its hook without a word. The fog was thick, turning the gas lamps into yellow blurs, smaller in the distance. As we walked, I told her about Maggie’s plan, concluding, “I know too much. Likely she’ll kill me once she has the gems, so I can’t rat her out.”
“Or take over the ring,” Amelia said. “You’re the only choice, if enough of you wanted to break away. Although even she needs to give some thought to how many bodies she wants to rack up.”
“She could frame me instead.” I stepped over a pile of sodden newspaper. “Hide one of the diamonds in my room and tip off the police. Have an eyewitness say I killed the constable. She’d get her revenge, two of the diamonds,andme hanged into silence. But my best guess is she’ll have Billy kill me afterwards. Not least because once Sarah is safe, she has no guarantee I won’t go for revenge myself.”
Amelia nodded soberly. “She lives by revenge. She wouldn’t be able to imagine you don’t.”
“Even if Sarah and I left Southwark.”
“You’d need to leave London, Kit. I told you she found Adam. Even if she’s caught—even if she’s in jail, she has reach.”
An ache hard as a pebble formed in the back of my throat. The thought of leaving Amelia and Mary—and James—
“But first, you need to take this dodge in hand,” she said. “Get her what she wants, but do it safer, yeah?”
I swallowed down the ache. “I know. I just need to think on how.”
We paused at a corner, and church bells doled the half hour, muted by fog, as we crossed the cobbled road.
“Maggie was shrewd, choosing you.”
“Because I’m a capable thief or because I work at Ardle’s shop?” I asked.
“Because you have a sister you love that she could use,” Amelia replied. “I daresay she caught on to that early.”
I felt a pang of self-loathing at my stupidity. “Because I mentioned Sarah the day we met, in the goods room.”
“Don’t take yourself to task,” Amelia said. “She’d have found out soon enough because she was looking.” Her voice grew harsh. “She’s like a bloody magpie, gathering up bits of information.”
“At least I’m sure Sarah’s alive.”For now, I added silently, though I immediately squelched the thought.
“Do you have a good map of Hatton Garden—I mean one that shows alleys, passageways, and such?” Amelia asked.
“No.”
