Free Death at the Beggar's Opera by Deryn Lake

must be, in a way. She was having some sort of liaison with Jasper Harcross, more’s the pity.’
    ‘But so were half a dozen other women, by the sound of it.’
    ‘Yes, but …’
    ‘They can’t all have killed him so why should she be more involved than anyone else?’
    John laughed out loud. ‘Father, you are so refreshing. The truth is that she is walking about looking guilty as a thieving child and it is decidedly unnerving.’
    ‘Why?’ asked Sir Gabriel mildly.
    ‘Why what?’
    ‘Why should it unnerve you?’
    ‘Because I like her. Because she saved my life once. I don’t want her to be a murderess, she is too agreeable.’
    ‘Ah!’ replied his parent, and said no more.
    Nor was the subject of the killing raised again until both Sir Gabriel and John were sitting in the pleasant salon which stood directly above the Public Office in Bow Street. Since the time of Sir Thomas de Veil in the late 1730s, it had become the tradition for the Principal Justice of the Peace to live in the Bow Street house, occupying the four floors situated over those rooms devoted to the law. John Fielding had moved in there when his half-brother Henry had sought to restore his shattered health by sailing for warmer climes. But, sadly, it was to be the great writer’s last voyage, and now his younger sibling not only ran the Public Office but also bore the entire responsibility for policing the capital.
    ‘I was so sorry to read of the death of your remarkable brother,’ said Sir Gabriel now, echoing a remark of David Garrick’s.
    ‘He was broken by overwork,’ answered the Magistrate sadly. ‘Do you know, he was only in his forty-eighth year.’
    ‘What a terrible waste,’ Sir Gabriel commented softly. ‘Why is it that so many with something to offer to the world are taken from it? While others live on and on, contributing nothing?’
    ‘Blind justice,’ answered John Fielding, and laughed just a tinge bitterly. He turned to John. ‘Now tell me of Mrs Harcross. I gather from Rudge that the lady is old enough to be the dead man’s mother. Is that correct?’
    ‘It certainly is. It was really quite extraordinary to meet her. She is a woman who has once been beautiful and is also extremely sharp witted in my estimation. What she was doing with a rascal like Jasper Harcross is beyond comprehension. Incidentally, Sir, she says she will speak to no one but you and requests that you visit her tomorrow.’
    ‘So Rudge informed me. He also said that she seemed to trust you, which makes things damnably awkward.’
    ‘In what way?’ asked Sir Gabriel, slightly irritated on his son’s behalf.
    The Blind Beak rumbled his deep and melodious chuckle ‘Because Mr Rawlings and I have come to an arrangement. Namely, that he would work in his shop on alternate days in order to keep his business thriving. If I honour this agreement, as indeed I must, then he will not be free to accompany me when Mrs Harcross reveals the secrets of her past.’
    Sir Gabriel thoughtfully adjusted the white lace cuffs of his jet satin coat. ‘Perhaps I could be of help in this regard. An apprentice apothecary in need of some practical experience might well be released by his Master in return for a consideration. I shall go searching for one first thing in the morning. Meanwhile, could the lady not be visited tomorrow night?’
    ‘A splendid notion,’ John Fielding answered, so rapidly that the Apothecary wondered whether he had had it in mind all along. ‘Then that is settled. And now for some refreshment,’ he continued as a servant came in bearing an excellent selection of drinks. ‘What will you have, Sir Gabriel?’
    The conversation turned to who desired what beverage and was further diverted by the entry of Elizabeth Fielding and Mary Ann, who was in fact Mrs Fielding’s niece though being brought up by the couple as a daughter.
    ‘Mr Rawlings,’ said the pretty child, ‘how nice to see you. Are you working with my uncle