Free Kill-Devil and Water by Andrew Pepper

sly with one sniff.’
     
    ‘What business are we talking about?’ Saggers picked his nose and licked what was on his nail without embarrassment.
     
    ‘A murder.’ Pyke let the word create its own effect. Murders tended to lift the spirits of the penny-a-liners; hunting down arcane snippets of information about the victim or murderer could result in significant sums of money.
     
    ‘You mean the lord?’ Saggers said quickly, his greed suddenly getting the better of him. The newspapers had been full of stories about the demise of Lord Bedford and any new story about the murder or the police investigation would be snapped up by any number of sub-editors.
     
    ‘Not Bedford, but a murder none the less.’ Pyke waited for a moment. ‘And right now, not many people know about it. Me, the deputy commissioner of the New Police, the coroner, the jurors at the inquest. As far as I know, it hasn’t yet been reported in any of the newspapers.’
     
    ‘An exclusive, eh?’ Grinning, Saggers pulled out a notepad and a length of shaved charcoal. Doubtless he was already imagining the money he would make from it and the meals that would buy.
     
    ‘Of course, before I can divulge any information, I need certain assurances ...’
     
    ‘What kind of assurances?’
     
    ‘For a start, that you’ll endeavour to place the story by the day after tomorrow.’
     
    Saggers scratched his bristly chin and considered what Pyke had just said. ‘If you want to see your story published so quickly, why not go directly to a newspaper?’
     
    ‘I don’t want it to be published in just one newspaper. I want the story to be sold to as many papers as possible. And that’s where you come in.’
     
    If Mary Edgar had, during her brief stay in London, consorted only with the types who couldn’t read or write on the Ratcliff Highway, it wouldn’t have made any sense to appeal for information about her in the newspapers. But if, as Pyke now suspected, she had moved in an altogether different social class, news of her murder might compel someone who’d met her to come forward. Initially Pyke had striven to keep the murder out of the public eye, but this approach hadn’t borne much fruit so now it was time to change tack.
     
    ‘Capital idea, sir, capital ,’ Saggers said, his grin returning. Selling a column, or even half a column to five or six sub-editors would see him clear for the rest of the month.
     
    Pyke placed the drawing on the table. Saggers inspected it keenly, his eyes giving nothing away. ‘So who is she?’ he asked eventually.
     
    ‘Mary Edgar. Her naked body was found the day before yesterday just off the Ratcliff Highway.’ Pyke saw him scribble down the word ‘naked’ on his notepad, and then he added ‘exotic’ and ‘beautiful’. Already the story was taking shape in Saggers’ mind and, for the time being, Pyke was happy to let the journalist run with it.
     
    ‘I love a good “naked body” story as much as the next man, but what else can you tell me about her?’
     
    ‘She had recently arrived in London from the West Indies. Jamaica.’ Pyke paused. ‘I’d like to know when, where she docked, and which ship she sailed on.’
     
    Saggers scribbled a few more words down on his notepad. ‘And that’s it? That’s all you know about her?’ He had another look at the drawing. ‘So how would you describe her? Black or mulatto?’
     
    ‘What do you think?’
     
    Saggers looked up from the drawing and shrugged. ‘I think she looks rich.’ He waited and added, ‘In which case, why was her body found on the Ratcliff Highway?’
     
    Pyke smiled. ‘Exactly my question.’ He’d clearly picked the right man for the job.
     
    Saggers gave a satisfied smile. ‘I’ve always said, give me the right raw materials and I’ll write you a veritable Beggar’s Opera . This is good, sir. It will permit me to indulge my creative juices. I’ll have it written by the time the newspapers go to bed tomorrow