Page 53 of Murder in Blackfriars

I joined Daniel at the window in time to see Mr. Patterson, Mr. Fielding, and Mr. Grimes emerge below and trudge north toward Oxford Street. Daniel said nothing, his gaze locked onto Mr. Patterson, who’d resumed his cap.

I closed my hand around Daniel’s arm and gave it a little squeeze. “Are you well?” I asked him softly.

“Tolerably.” Daniel gave me the ghost of his usual smile. “I am sorry you had to hear all that. An unhappy tale.”

“I am made of stern stuff, Mr. McAdam,” I said gently. “I am sorry for the children, and Mrs. Kerr, and also Mr. Patterson. What else could he have done?”

“Sought help, at least, instead of simply shoveling however many children were left into a parish workhouse. You did everything you could to keep from leaving Grace in one, as I did with James.”

“True, but I had friends and only one child. I am not condoning him, believe me, but I understand his dilemma. There is only so much one can do with no money and no prospects.However, I agree with you. He ought to have explored more possibilities. Obviously he cared for Mrs. Kerr, but not her strays.”

Daniel nodded. “Whether or not the boy Mrs. Forbes mentioned was me, I don’t blame him for running off.” His tone became wistful. “He sounds like me. I’m not one to stay long where I’m miserable.”

I could flatter myself that he’d remained a deliveryman in this part of London all these years for my sake, but I doubted that was the case. He’d found work with the police that had fulfilled him, he had a fine son, and he’d learned how to live comfortably here.

“Do you recall Mr. Patterson at all?” I asked.

Daniel shook his head. “Nor do I recognize the names of the two boys he mentioned—men, they’d be now. They haven’t come to the attention of the police, that I know of, so they must either be very careful, have reformed, or work for a powerful master.” His jaw hardened, and I guessed the powerful master he meant was Mr. Naismith.

I leaned against him. “Well, we must decide if you truly were this Robbie who was fond of a tattered picture book, and then fill in the gap between the time you left the workhouse and your first memories of wandering about Southwark, before Mr. Compton took you.”

“I might have been trying to reach the seaside.”

I started and gazed up at Daniel in surprise. His eyes had gone remote, as though he saw something in the rain that had begun to come down, darkening the stones of Regent Street.

A glance at Lady Cynthia and Mr. Thanos told me they hadn’t heard. They were eating scones, their heads together, chuckling over some private joke.

“The seaside?” I asked. “Whatever do you mean?”

Daniel shrugged. “I’ve always had this vague longing—or a memory, I’m not certain—for the seaside. If I truly were this Robbie, maybe I was running south, trying to get there. Brighton or Hastings or somewhere.” His lips twitched. “I made it as far as South London, at least.”

My interest surged. “Perhaps your parents took you to a seaside town once, and you recall that. Perhapsweshould go to the seaside, see if it triggers any memories.”

Daniel sent me a patient look. “Kat, there are any number of seaside towns in England. An entire country’s worth of them, this being an island.”

“Yes, but you saidsouth. You likely meant Brighton, which is where people go to enjoy the piers and walking on the shingle, and that sort of thing.” So I had heard, and seen on posters advertising the place, but I’d never been there myself.

“I don’tknow.” Daniel lost his smile, his voice holding frustration. “It is only a vague feeling. I might never have gone to Brighton, or any other beach. I did take a sojourn to the Cornwall coast once, with James, but I wasn’t overcome with sudden memories of who I truly was.”

“It is worth a try, though, isn’t it? Not that I have time to rush to the seaside at the moment, but perhaps next year?”

Daniel shook his head. “We are grasping at straws. Mrs. Kerr and Howard Banks might have absolutely nothing to do with me at all. Banks couldn’t possibly have remembered me when I was a two- or three-year-old child, and it might be a wild coincidence that Mrs. Kerr took in a lad who might have been the same age as me. It is very little to go on.”

From the bleakness in his eyes, Daniel had very much hoped for more. I rested my head on his shoulder. “I will not give up, my friend. We will learnsomething, I promise you.”

“No need to promise.” Daniel slid his arm around my waistand kissed the top of my head, uncaring whether the other two in the room observed us. “You owe me nothing, Kat. The fact that you have agreed to stay on with me is worth more than a parish record that shows me exactly who I am, where I was born, and the names of my mother and father.”

I scarcely believed that, but I said nothing as we leaned into each other, watching the world outside grow wet.

I vowed to myself I would not stop until I uncovered his true identity, even if his origins proved to be such that he no longer could marry me without impediment. Daniel was a good man, and he deserved no less.

* * *

I spent the hours following the visit to Mr. Thanos’s flat once again baking with Grace, Joanna, and anyone else who would fit into Joanna’s tiny kitchen.

Daniel had escorted me as far as Cheapside, neither of us speaking much. He left me at the opening to Clover Lane, saying he would hunt up Mr. Fielding and Mr. Grimes, ensure Mr. Patterson had been put where they could find him again, and plan what they would do next. I longed to be in this conversation, but I had no wish to forgo my time with Grace for it.

Joanna’s kitchen was warm, cozy, and filled with laughter as we rolled more dough and baked tarts and pies. I took time to mix up scones, which could be done quickly, and soon the odor of savory pies and currant scones permeated the house.