The woman who answered was not pretty in any conventional sense, but clear eyes and a gentle nature made her appearing. She spoke with a soft Irish accent.
'Yes sir? Can I help you?'
'Good morning, ma'am,' he answered with more courtesy than he would have used in his days as a policeman. He had no power to demand anymore. 'I am making enquiries on behalf of a friend whose brother used to live in this house twenty-one years ago. I realize it is unlikely anyone will know what became of him now. It is really his children I am concerned with. She lost touch…' He saw the look of concern and disbelief in the woman's face. Twenty years was too long to account for renewed interest now without an explanation. He made himself smile again. 'Her own circumstances were difficult. She had not the financial means to employ anyone to seek after them, nor the time or knowledge to do it herself.'
'And she has now?' the woman said, skepticism still evident in her voice.
'No,' Monk admitted. 'I am doing it as a favor. She is in service in a house where a friend of mine is nursing an injured soldier.'
'Oh.' The answer seemed to satisfy. 'Twenty-one years ago, did you say?'
'Yes. Were you in this house then?' The moment he had said it he realized it was a foolish question. She could not be much more than twenty-five herself.
She smiled and shook her head. 'No sir, that I wasn't. Sure I was still at home in Ireland then, but my pa was. He worked here, and he lodged over the road with Mrs. O'Hare. He'd maybe know who was here then. Missed us all, he did, and were terrible fond o' the little ones. If you'd like to come away in, I'll ask him for you.'
'Thank you Mrs____________________'
'Mrs. Heggerty, Maureen Heggerty. Come away in, then, sir.' And she backed into the passageway, pulling the door wide for him to follow. 'Pa!' she called, lifting her voice. 'Pa! There's a gentleman here as would like to see you.'
'William Monk,' he introduced himself. She turned her back to him and was awaiting her father's answer to her summons, so it seemed inopportune to offer her a card.
'Welcome, Mr. Monk. Pa! Are you fallen asleep again now? It's only half past ten in the morning.'
A man of about sixty came lumbering from the back of the house, pushing a large hand through thick silver- white hair. He was dressed in shapeless trousers and a collarless shirt with its sleeves rolled up. He denied it indignantly, but obviously to Monk, he had indeed been asleep. He looked like a bear woken from winter hibernation. He blinked past his daughter at Monk standing in the passage, silhouetted against the light from the still-open front door and the sunlit street beyond.
'Sure and what is it I can be doin' for yer, sir?' he said pleasantly enough. He narrowed his eyes to focus on Monk's face and try to read something beyond his beautifully cut jacket and shining boots.
'Good morning, sir,' Monk said respectfully. 'Mrs. Heggerty tells me you lived in this street twenty-one years ago-in the house opposite this one?'
'Two doors along,' he corrected. 'On t'other side.' His brow creased. 'Why would that be interestin' to you?'
'I believe a Mr. Samuel Jackson lived here then,' Monk explained. Mrs. Heggerty stood between them, the light on her fair hair, her hands tucked under her apron. 'He had two children,' Monk went on. 'I am making enquiries on behalf of Mr. Jackson's sister, who is at last in a position to attempt to trace those children. Since she is their only living relative, as far as she knows, she has a care that if there is any chance whatever of finding them, she may be able to offer them some… some affection, if that is possible.' He knew it sounded foolish even as he said it, and wished he had thought of something better.
'For sure, poor little things,' the older man said with a shake of his head. 'A bit late now, mind you.' The criticism was only mild. He was a man who had seen much tragedy of a quiet domestic kind, and it was written in his weathered face and his bright, narrowed eyes as he regarded Monk.
'You knew them?' Monk said quickly.
'I saw them,' the man corrected. 'Knew them'd not be the right word. They were only tiny things.'
'Would you not like a cup o' tea, Mr. Monk?' Mrs. Heggerty interrupted. 'And you, Pa?'
'For sure I would.' Her father nodded. 'Come away to the kitchen.' He beckoned to Monk. 'We'll not be standing here for the neighbors to stare at. Close the door, girl!' He held out his hand. 'Me name's Michael Connor.'
'How do you do, sir,' Monk responded, allowing Mrs. Heggerty to move behind him and close the door as instructed.
The kitchen was a small, cluttered room with a stone sink under the window, two pails of water beside it, presumably drawn from the nearest well, perhaps a dozen doors along the street, or possibly from a standpipe. A large stove was freshly blacked, and on it were five pots, two of them big enough to hold laundry, more of which hung from the rail winched up to the ceiling on a rope fastened around a cleat at the farther wall.
A dresser carried enough crockery to serve a dozen people at a sitting, and in the bins below were no doubt flour, dried beans and lentils, barley, oatmeal and other household necessities. Strings of onions and shallots hung from the ceiling on the other side of the room. Two smoothing irons rested on trivets near the stove, and large earthenware pots were labeled for potash, lye, bran and vinegar.
Mrs. Heggerty pointed to one of the upright wooden chairs near the table and then moved to the stove to replace the kettle on the hob and fetch the tea caddy.
'What happened to the children, Mr. Connor?' Monk asked.
'After poor Sam died, you mean?' Connor resumed his seat in the largest and most comfortable chair. 'That was all very sudden, poor devil. Right as rain one minute, dead the next. At least that's what it looked like, although you can never tell. A man doesn't talk about every pain he gets. Could've been suffering for years, I suppose.' He looked thoughtfully into the middle distance, and on the stove the kettle began to sing.
Mrs. Heggerty scalded the teapot, then put the tea in it- sparingly, they had not means to waste-and added water to the brim, leaving it to steep.
'Yes, after he died. What happened?' Monk prompted.
'Well, Mrs. Jackson was left all on her own,' Connor answered. 'Seems she had no one else, poor little thing. Pretty creature, she was. Charming as the sunshine. Never believed those poor misshapen little things were hers. But o'course they were, sure enough. Looked like her, in her own way.' He shook his head, his face sunk in sorrow and amazement. Absentmindedly he made the sign of the cross, and in a continuation of the movement accepted a cup of tea from his daughter.
Monk had already been given his. It did not look very strong, but it was fresh and piping hot. He thanked her for it and looked again at Connor.
'What happened to them?'
'Bleedin' from the stomach, it was.' Connor sighed. 'It happens. Seen it before. Good man, he was, always a pleasant word. Jackson loved those two little girls more, maybe, than if they'd been perfect.' Again he shook his head, his eyes welling over with sadness.
Behind him, Mrs. Heggerty's face was pinched with sorrow too, and she dabbed her eyes with the corner of her apron.
'But always anxious,' Connor went on. 'I suppose he knew what kind of life lay ahead for them and he was trying to think what to do for the best. Anyway, it never came to that, poor soul. Dead, he was, and them no more'n three and a year old, or thereabouts.'
Mrs. Heggerty sniffed.
'What did their mother do?' Monk asked.
'She couldn't care for 'em, now could she, poor creature?' Connor shook his head. 'No husband, no money anymore. Had to place 'em and go and earn her own way. Don't know what she did.' He cradled his mug in his hands and sipped at it slowly. 'Clever enough, and certainly pretty enough for anything, but there aren't a lot for a respectable widow to do. No people of her own, an' none of his to be seen.' He stopped, staring unhappily at Monk. 'You'll not find them little mites now, you know?'
Mrs. Heggerty was listening to them, her work forgotten, her face full of pity.
'Yes, I do know,' Monk agreed. 'But I said I would try.' He sipped his tea as well. It had more flavor than he had expected.
'Well, you could try Buxton House, down the far end of the High Street,' Mrs. Heggerty suggested. 'She must
