Riley nodded, thinking that for all his unscrupulous activities, Ezra had also had a kind heart. ‘You are aware that your brother was arrested last night? he asked.
‘It was all I could do not to throw a party. He tried to involve me in the thieving from the building site but I didn’t wanna know. He got angry about that, too. Well, just about anything angers him but his little brother not doing as he was told came high on his list. Not that he can clout me around the ear anymore, like he did when we were kids. I didn’t fall in with his plans but he had other ways of making me pay. I told him he’d get his collar felt but he was so determined to show John that he weren’t the only brother capable of getting ahead that he seemed to think he was charmed.’
‘Sam was caught red-handed. He’ll go to prison for years, but he will get out one day.’ Riley paused. ‘Unless you can help me find evidence for another crime we think he was responsible for.’
Paul sat forward. ‘What crime? I’m the only one of the three of us that prefers to make an honest living. I've never wanted to know how John and Sam got ahead and they’ve never shared details of their schemes with me, so I doubt if I’ll be able to help you.’
‘Do you recall a woman by the name of Verity Randall coming to see him?’
Paul leaned forward. ‘What does she look like?’
Riley gave a description and Paul hesitated before responding. ‘I didn’t see her,’ he eventually said, ‘but Ruth told me about her. She came to see Sam at home and Sam sent Ruth into the other room while they talked. He must have known that Ruth would be able to hear what they said but it didn’t occur to him that she would tell anyone. She didn’t, not until after John’s death and then she only told me. We both knew that John was working in the Randall household, so you didn’t need to be a genius to figure out that the woman who came to see Sam was a member of that family. I mean, she gave her real name, as bold as you please. She would have had to, I suppose, because she grew up in Clapham and Sam would have recognised her as Verity Wendall, as was.’
‘What did Ruth overhear?’
‘The woman was going on and on about Ezra, as she referred to him, and how he was getting money out of the woman he worked for to open his club. How Ezra would make a fortune and become even more unbearable. And how he had designs on feathering his nest by taking up with Mrs Wendall.’
‘You know her?’
‘Everyone around these parts knows of the Wendalls, and I could well imagine steam coming out of Sam’s ears at the thought of John getting cosy with Mrs Wendall. Mrs Randall said that someone had to warn Wendall so that he could nip it in the bud and thwart Ezra’s plans.’
‘And Sam offered his services?’
Paul snorted. ‘Course he did. For a price, naturally. Mrs Randall would have remembered him as the bully he was in his younger days. Growing up locally and knowing everyone works both ways.’ Paul nodded emphatically. ‘Mrs Randall would have remembered Sam right enough.’
‘Didn’t you think it suspicious that Wendall died at around that time?’
‘Suspicious but not surprising. If Wendall refused to do anything about his wife’s affair, I can well imagine Sam losing that famous temper of his—which of course played right into John’s hands since it left Mrs Wendall to inherit her husband’s estate. Sam was in a black mood for days after Wendall’s death, which is probably why.’
‘Would Ruth be willing to testify to what she heard?’
Paul’s head jerked up. ‘I thought a wife couldn’t be made to testify against her husband.’
‘She can’t be forced to, but there’s nothing to prevent her from doing her civic duty.’
‘Given that Sam beat her poor bairn out of her, I would imagine she’d be more than happy to,’ Salter said pensively. ‘He wouldn’t be the first man to underestimate the strength of a woman’s maternal instincts.’
‘I’ll have to ask her,’ Paul said, nodding and smiling for the first time, ‘but I don’t reckon she’ll take much persuading. You’re right about that, Sergeant.’
‘Go back and talk to her,’ Riley said, standing. ‘Sergeant Salter will call later today and get her answer.’
Paul nodded, stood up and was escorted from the Yard.
‘It’s all coming together, sir,’ Salter said, rubbing his hands together. ‘Shall we go and have a word with Sam now?’
‘I fail to see why not.’
They entered the room where Sam was being kept. He looked bedraggled and not nearly as belligerent as he’d been when Riley had last seen him. His nose was swollen and sat at an odd angle, there were grazes and bruises all over his face and one eye was swollen almost completely closed. Each time he moved he winced. Riley assumed he had more bruises, courtesy of the business end of Barton’s constables’ boots in all probability. Riley hoped it hurt like the devil.
‘Know how it feels now, don’t you Dawson?’ Riley said cheerfully, sitting across from the man and earning a dark scowl for his trouble.
‘Wot am I doing ’ere? You got me last night in Clapham. Ain’t nothing to do with your lot.’
‘Why should it matter where we keep you?’ Salter asked with relish. ‘You won’t be seeing the light of day again for many a long year, Dawson. And by the time you
