Free The Cockney Angel by Dilly Court

experienced a sudden desire to move the clock to one side, or to empty one of the filing trays on the floor, but she managed to control the impulse. Kent pulled up a chair and motioned her to take a seat.
    She shook her head. ‘I’d rather stand.’
    ‘As you wish.’ He peeled off his peccary-leather gloves and laid them in his top hat while he shrugged off his heavy greatcoat and hung it on a coat stand in the corner of the room.
    Irene clasped her hands tightly behind her back, watching this well-practised routine with mounting impatience. ‘Look, guv, all I want to know is what’s happened to Arthur. What have you done with him?’
    ‘Are we speaking of Arthur Greenwood?’ Kent went to stand by the fire, warming his hands.
    His casual manner fuelled Irene’s resentment. ‘You ought to know. It was you who arrested an innocent man.’
    ‘You were both caught in an illegal gambling den.’
    ‘Then why wasn’t I arrested?’
    ‘You were doing nothing. He was playing the tables.’
    ‘Then you are holding him.’
    ‘Not now. I believe he spent the night in the cells but he was released this afternoon.’
    ‘Then where is he? What’s happened to him?’
    ‘No harm has come to your friend. Let’s just say that he is helping me with my enquiries.’
    ‘And what does that mean?’ He was so maddeningly calm that Irene could have shaken him.
    ‘It means that in return for receiving certain information, I am prepared to drop all charges.’
    Suddenly, it all made sense. ‘You’ve set him to spy on the Sykes gang.’
    ‘He’s gathering information.’
    ‘Arthur is a boy,’ she protested. ‘He’s just a boy and the Sykes brothers will have him for breakfast.’
    ‘I think you underestimate your friend, Miss Angel.’
    ‘Don’t play games with me, Inspector Kent. Everyone round here knows what happens to a nark if the gang catches him, and it ain’t pretty. You’d have done better to lock Arthur up and throw away the key.’
    ‘I’m dealing with this personally, and I can assure you that Mr Greenwood will be kept under surveillance at all times. The best you can do for him is to act normally and say nothing of this to anyone, not even your own father – especially your father.’
    ‘Are you saying that my pa is in with the Sykes gang? Because if you are, then you’re wrong, Inspector. My pa may be a lot of things but he ain’t a gang member and never was.’
    ‘Then the information I receive from your friend will be crucial in clearing your father of any suspicion that we may have, and you can help in this, Miss Angel.’
    She stared at him in disbelief. ‘Me? How?’
    ‘Since you already know so much, you could act as go-between. It would draw suspicion away from Mr Greenwood and help to clear your father’s name.’
    ‘Are you asking me to spy on me own flesh and blood?’
    ‘Not necessarily. If he’s innocent you will be doing him a great service. I’ve been trying to smash the Sykes gang for years, but so far they have evaded the law. I believe that you could be instrumental in obtaining evidence that would lead to their arrest and conviction.’
    ‘I told you before that my pa has nothing to do with the Sykes brothers, and Arthur don’t go anywhere near them. He’s just a silly boy who likes to gamble.’ The thought of spying on Pa was too horrible to contemplate. Irene shook her head vehemently. ‘No, I won’t do it. You’re asking too much.’
    ‘I know that your father frequents the gambling hell in Blue Boar Court. He has been followed there on many an occasion and even if he isn’t actually a member of the gang, he knows a great deal about them.’
    ‘Ask him yourself then. I don’t want nothing to do with this.’
    She made for the door, but Kent moved swiftly to bar her way.
    ‘Don’t be afraid. I will do my utmost to protect your father, Miss Angel. Help me to crush the Sykes gang and you will make London a safer place in which to live.’
    ‘No. You’ve got