Page 86 of Murder in Blackfriars

“Did you know that when I was a babe?” Daniel asked quietly. “Or are you only realizing now? Hoping it’s the truth?”

Mr. Patterson shook his head. “I knew then. ’Twas me what took you to Jess, once they killed me daughter.”

Daniel’s cheeks lost color. “Killed?”

“My dear fellow.” Dr. Boland rose from where he’d watched, open-mouthed, and hurried to the sideboard. “I think you will need something stronger than sherry.”

Soon, the acrid odor of whisky wafted to us, and Dr. Boland returned with a tumbler of whisky for Daniel and one for Mr. Patterson. Mr. Fielding, who’d likewise gaped in amazement, moved to the sideboard and prepared a dollop for himself and also brought one to me.

I held the glass Mr. Fielding handed me and did not drink. “Did your daughter live in Richmond?” I asked gently. “Married to a Mr. Munro?”

Mr. Patterson started, and Daniel stared at me, his astonishment high.

Munro had been the name that had jumped out at me from Mrs. Davies’s second list, the one I’d jotted down for Cynthia to check against the name on theirs.

The Mr. Munro that Miss Townsend had turned up had filed a report of a missing boy in 1854. The first name of the Munro on Mrs. Davies’s list had been different, as was the house number and street, but both families had lived in Richmond. Miss Townsend had indicated that in this case, the brother of the deceased father had reported that the boy had disappeared.

“How the devil did you know that?” Mr. Patterson bleated.

“Thorough research,” I said. “And reasoning. Was your daughterMrs.Munro?”

“She were.” Mr. Patterson relapsed into a scowl. “My sweet Rosie married into that horror of a family, and I never saw hersince. I told her what would come of her wedding above her station.”

Daniel sat rapidly on his chair again, the whisky disappearing down his throat. I longed to be next to him, holding him while he heard this possible rendering of his past.

“Perhaps you should tell us the entire story, Mr. Patterson,” I said. “Who was Mr. Munro, and why did your daughter marry him?”

“She were in love, weren’t she?” Mr. Patterson’s face darkened. “So she said. When Rosie were eighteen, she started working in a shop, all the way over in the Strand. Sold gewgaws and things from across the world. The shop owner’s wife liked her, because she was polite and looked nice, and my Rosie could speak well, could erase the tones of the working class as easy as breathing.”

As could Daniel. He could sound like he was from anywhere.

“One day, Robert Munro walks into the shop and takes a fancy to her. Next thing I know, she’s showing me a ring, saying she’s marrying and moving up in the world. Leaving her old dad to look after himself. I tried to tell her not to go, but she was headstrong. Wouldn’t listen.”

More and more like Daniel, I mused. Mr. Fielding, absorbing all this, took a gulp of whisky.

“Why stand in her way?” I asked. “If she was happy? Was Mr. Munro a brute?” I hated to ask this in front of Daniel, but we needed to know.

“Naw, nothing like that. I’d have taken him apart if he’d laid a finger on her. But she moved away with him, all the way to that Richmond place, and I never saw her. She shed the dirt of Bethnal Green fast enough.”

I couldn’t blame her, but I kept my silence.

Daniel spoke, his voice hoarse. “What happened to her? How did she die?”

The last word stuck in his throat. I set aside my untasted whisky, rose, and went to him. Propriety could go hang.

I stepped behind Daniel and put my hands on his shoulders, nodding at Dr. Boland and Mr. Fielding to resume their seats, which they’d started to vacate as soon as I left my chair.

Daniel reached up and rested one of his hands on mine, pressing it as we waited.

“Was the fever, wasn’t it?” Mr. Patterson rocked a little in his seat. “Took her off, my sweet Rose. Gone forever. Took her husband as well, and almost took the child too. All the man’s money and fine house couldn’t save her, could it? She should have stayed home where she belonged.”

He pressed his hands to his face again, his grief unchecked even after thirty years.

Daniel’s hand tightened on mine. I leaned down and wrapped my arms around him, resting my head on his shoulder.

“What happened to the boy, Robbie?” Daniel asked. I noted he couldn’t bring himself yet to say,What happened to me?

Mr. Patterson wiped his eyes and shook his head. “Munro’s brother took you in.Hewere a brute, I’d heard, and I weren’t going to let him get his hands on my grandson. One of his maids was the daughter of a mate of mine. She took you away one night, brought you to her home. I fetched you from there and gave you to Jess. Jess were a good woman, and I knew she’d look after you well.”