“He was deeply contrite.”
“Contrite? That’s all?
“He told me he felt deep remorse, also shame for his actions, but he did not express guilt and I detected none in his manner.”
“In other words, as far as he’s concerned, his only crime was getting caught.”
“Crudely put, but I suspect that may be so.”
“He’ll get away with it, won’t he?” Hawkwood said heavily.
“Carslow will certainly not face trial. There will be no precedent set this day. You know as well as I do that no surgeon has ever appeared in the dock as a result of an association with the resurrection gangs. In any case, it would be most unlikely that a figure as eminent as Eden Carslow would be taken to task.”
“He was an accomplice to murder!”
Read sighed. “The authorities have already decreed that Colonel Hyde was killed by the Reverend Tombs in Bethlem Hospital. A dead man cannot rise up and commit murder.”
“But that’s exactly what he did do,” Hawkwood said.
“The girl’s death at the hands of Colonel Hyde will go unrecorded,” Read said.
“She had a name,” Hawkwood snapped. “It was Molly Finn.”
Read’s head came up. His jaw was set. Then his face softened. “You are right. Forgive me, Hawkwood. I cannot say I like this state of affairs any more than you do.”
“Can’t you do anything?”
“Some things are beyond the remit of this office.”
The Chief Magistrate steepled his hands. “As I believe I advised you before, Hawkwood, Eden Carslow moves in privileged circles. He has powerful, influential friends. He attends the Prime Minister and at least two members of the cabinet. Molly Finn was a working girl, of little consequence. His words, not mine, I hasten to say. I found his arrogance a shade irritating, as you may imagine.”
“You mean they’re closing ranks?”
“Indeed.”
“So what next – he resumes his rounds as if nothing happened?”
“Not entirely.”
“What does that mean?”
“I understand a knighthood has been mooted. I saw no harm in advising him that such an honour bestows certain responsibilities on the recipient. I told him there could well come a time when he would be reminded of his … aberration, and his obligations to this office.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means he is beholden to us.”
“So he gets a knighthood while Molly Finn goes to an early grave. Where’s the justice?”
“Justice, Hawkwood?” James Read sighed. “It is the way of the world.”
“It’s wrong.”
“Perhaps. But the world turns, there is no stopping it. It is relentless. It is inevitable.”
“It doesn’t mean I have to like it.”
“No,” Read conceded. A silence fell between them. The fire crackled in the grate. It was Read who finally broke the spell. “How is Major Lomax?”
“He’ll live. He has more lives than a cat.”
“I am pleased to hear it. And Constable Hopkins?”
“I’ll be having words with him about the maintenance of sidearms.”
“And Sergeant Jago?”
“He was his usual efficient self.”
Read’s mouth twitched. “By the way, I’m assuming Twigg told you that he discovered the location of Hyde’s daughter’s grave?”
“No, he didn’t.”
“A very curious state of affairs.”
“How so?”
“It appears that the body was still
“What?”
“The grave had not been tampered with. The body Hyde was attempting to resuscitate was not that of his daughter.”
“Then whose was it?”
“I doubt we shall ever know the answer to that question. I suspect, if anyone could shed light on the mystery, it would be Eden Carslow. He told me that Hyde had asked
“He told you that?”
“In one of his more unguarded moments.”
“He wouldn’t have dug it up himself though.”
“No. He did, however, admit to making regular use of one of the resurrection gangs. A porter at St Thomas’s by the name of Butler is his liaison. Butler, you will be interested to know, is also a former military man. He was an associate of Sawney’s during the war. It would be ironic if Sawney was hired to retrieve the daughter’s body. Twigg tells me the grave was constructed of stone and protected by a metal grille. I think it’s safe to assume that Sawney and his cohorts, if indeed it was them, would have considered that particular exhumation to be too exacting. They evidently obtained another body instead and kept quiet about it. I doubt Carslow knew. Colonel Hyde, of course, had never met his daughter. He placed his reliance on Carslow to retrieve the body and preserve it until his escape. Carslow stored the corpse at 13 Castle Street …” The Chief Magistrate’s brow creased. “It was fortunate you found that note.”
“What are they going to do with the place?”
“No decision has been made. The contents will most likely be moved to Lincoln’s Inn to join the rest of John Hunter’s collection. I’ve yet to receive an explanation as to why they were not removed earlier when the house was closed. It appears to have been an oversight.”
“God Almighty,” Hawkwood said.
“Indeed. The Lord does work in mysterious ways. Which, incidentally, brings me to another mystery. I’m intrigued and not a little concerned to learn of the fire which consumed the Black Dog public house. I understand the owner and his sons died in the blaze, along with Sawney and his associates.”
“So I heard,” Hawkwood said. “A terrible business.”
“Indeed. So you would have no knowledge of how the fire might have started? It was down to good fortune that it did not spread to the surrounding buildings, though I believe the neighbours were able to offer some assistance. This morning’s early snowfall would also have helped to dampen it down.” The Chief Magistrate looked towards the window.
“Probably a stray spark,” Hawkwood said, moving towards the door. “You know how easy things like that can happen.”
James Read turned and looked down the end of his long nose.
Hawkwood paused, hand on the door knob, and nodded past the Chief Magistrate towards the newly installed fireguard. “Could happen to anyone, sir …”
Read’s eyes narrowed.
Closing the door behind him, Hawkwood smiled grimly at Ezra Twigg, who was seated at his desk in the ante-room, and murmured softly under his breath, “… even surgeons.”
HISTORICAL NOTE
By any definition, body snatching is and was a foul trade, and yet there is no doubt that during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, prior to the Anatomy Act of 1832, which allowed corpses other than those of condemned murderers to be used in anatomy studies, it played a crucial role in the advancement of
