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born, Holborn Viaduct, Newgate Street then Cheapside. At
the junction at Mansion House there was chaos. Two car-
riages were locked wheel to wheel.
The driver pulled up. Pitt was in a fever of impatience. All
around people were shouting, horses backing and squealing.
Then they seemed to turn almost back on themselves, and
down King William Street towards the river.
 You can t get through there! Pitt shouted furiously.
 You ll come up against the Tower!
The driver shouted something he did not hear. It was dark-
ening rapidly with a misty rain. They were picking up speed
again, but it would do them no good. They could not get
around the great bulwark of the massive eight-centuries-old
Tower of London, built by William the Conqueror.
Then they turned again and were going north. Of course.
Gracechurch Street, up Leadenhall Street, through Aldgate
and Whitechapel, and on east. Pitt sat back, gulping, and try-
ing to steady himself. He had miles to go yet. The gray air
was full of rain, the road surface gleaming wet in the lights
from carriage and streetlamps. The splash and hiss of wheels
was almost drowned by the sound of hooves.
Finally they pulled up at the King s Arms Stairs in near
darkness. Almost immediately Voisey s tall figure came out
of the gloom, solid black against the shifting glitter of the
river, ships riding lights dancing on the ripples of the tide
behind him.
Pitt leapt out, thrusting money at the driver probably
twice as much as he owed. He thanked him, and followed
after Voisey over the quayside to the water s edge.
 He s on that barge, Voisey said huskily.  He s been hid-
ing there. They ll take him out on the turn of the tide . . .
about twenty minutes. He pointed out into the river.  I ve
got a boat. Borrowed it from one of the ferrymen. It s not
280 Anne Perry
much, but it ll get us out there. He started down the dark
steps, balancing himself with one hand against the wall of
the embankment.
Pitt could see the black shell of a boat riding in the water
and the dripping rope that held it knotted to the ring in the
stones. The oars were shipped, waiting.
Voisey clambered in and took the oarsman s seat. Pitt un-
tied the rope, coiling it over his arm, and jumped into the
stern. Voisey unshipped the oars, and slipped them into the
rowlocks, and then threw his weight against them.
They pulled out into the tide, slithered around for a mo-
ment, righted, slewed the other way, then met the waves
straight and the oars dug in. Voisey leaned forward, back,
found his rhythm, and they sped away.
He slowed as they reached the moored barge, and swung
the oars on board again. Pitt stood up carefully, balancing to
reach out as they came around. He needed to stop them from
bumping the hull of the barge and alerting whoever was
there. Piers Denoon would not be alone. He reached forward,
catching the side and holding on. Then he jumped and rolled,
landing easily and regaining his feet, then dropping onto his
knee not to make a high outline against the sky, if anyone
were looking. He had a cudgel in his pocket, but at this mo-
ment he wished it were a pistol. Thank goodness Voisey was
with him, with as much interest in catching Denoon as he
had. Voisey was quite a big man, and both powerful and ruth-
less.
He crept forward and saw the lighted hatchway. There was
only one man standing there. He looked about twenty years
old, slender and angular. Beyond him there was the shadow
of a second man, heavier, but bent forward a little. He did not
appear to be armed, as far as Pitt could see.
He did not want to strike the younger man. He put his arm
around his neck instead and pulled him backwards. The
other man jerked up, startled.
LONG SPOON LANE 281
There was a movement on the deck. Pitt turned to look for
Voisey, but it was a big man in a woollen hat. Beyond him,
the boat with Voisey in it was pulling away, back towards the
steps. It was the betrayal at last, at the one time he had not
expected it.
11
PITT WATCHED the boat slide over the glittering water
with a rage that almost choked him. How unbelievably, fa-
tally stupid of him! But what clue had he missed? Voisey
wanted Piers Denoon caught and charged just as much as
Pitt did. It was the final connection between Wetron and the
bombings. It was proof of police corruption that could not be
denied.
The big man on the deck was coming towards him,
hunched forward a little as if preparing to lash out.  Get outa
my way, Mike! he snarled at the fair young man struggling
in Pitt s tightening grip. The only other person he could see
was the older man inside the cabin.
Why had he believed Voisey that Piers Denoon was here at
all? Because he had grown used to believing him. He had
been swept away by the fever of the chase, the expectation of
victory, and forgotten what Voisey was, what he had always
been. Perhaps he even knew where Piers Denoon really was!
The big man stopped, momentarily confused by the fact
that Pitt had the young man around the front of his neck, but
it would be respite for a very short time. The other man was
coming up the steps, an iron bar in his hand.
Pitt s only chance was to back away and hope to jump over
the side without hitting himself too hard on any of the loose
spars and boxes on the deck, or anything in the water. Even
282
LONG SPOON LANE 283
so he could easily drown. He was thirty yards from the shore;
the current was high and pulling out to sea. The water was
cold, and he had a coat and boots on. He would be lucky,
very lucky indeed, to make shore, quite apart from the
strings of lighters that went down the river and could strike
him, knock him senseless, entangle him and drag him under.
He needed only to catch a part of his clothing on a half-
submerged spar, drifting wood, anything, and he would be
trapped, sucked down.
He moved backwards carefully, dragging the man with
him. He was struggling now, kicking and trying to gouge
with his hands. Pitt was paying the price for his ultimate stu-
pidity. Narraway had warned him, Charlotte had, even Ves-
pasia. Why had Voisey taken the chance that Charlotte would
not use the evidence against Mrs. Cavendish? Because if she
did, she would have nothing left with which to defend her-
self, or the children! The thought twisted inside his belly till
it was a physical pain.
 Jump!
The sound startled him so abruptly that he slipped and
stumbled, falling backwards and yanking the man off his feet
as well, and letting him go. They both went clear together
just as the big man struck, hit the furled sail and let out a yell
of pain.
 Jump! the cry came again.
This time Pitt scrambled awkwardly to his feet and threw
himself over the side. He landed on his hands and knees on
the bottom of a small rowing boat, sending it rolling so
wildly it shipped water. It was lucky to right itself with con-
siderable effort by the man working the oars.
 You clumsy oaf, he said, not very critically.  Keep your
head down, just in case one of them has a pistol. He threw
his weight against the oars, shooting farther out into the mid-
dle of the river and away from the lights. He steered between
the moored ships into the current, pulling for the opposite
shore.
284 Anne Perry
Pitt climbed to his feet without straightening up, and sat in
the stern now that they were beyond the light.  Thank you,
he said sincerely, even though he had no idea if he was actu- [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]