Free The Society of Thirteen by Gareth P. Jones Page B

more like, he thinks we work for him.’
    â€˜Maybe that’s not such a bad idea. We got money now, and more than the dribs and drabs old Ringmore was throwing us.’
    â€˜You didn’t like being bossed around by a toff like that but you don’t mind if it’s a toerag like Hardy. Is that it?’ asked Esther.
    â€˜It’s different,’ replied Tom. ‘Hardy comes from the same place as us. Ringmore is never gonna see us as anything but street rats.’
    â€˜Not now, he won’t,’ said Esther, angrily. ‘That’s for sure.’
    â€˜I just thought –’
    â€˜You shouldn’t,’ interrupted Esther. ‘You should leave the thinking to me.’
    â€˜Why? Because you’re cleverer than me? That’s what you think, isn’t it?’
    Esther didn’t reply. They fell silent as they passed a pub, lively with the sounds of voices raised in drunken singing.
    â€˜You and me, Tom,’ said Esther. ‘We’re the only family we got.’
    â€˜I’m not like you. I got a family,’ said Tom. ‘My aunt –’
    â€˜Your aunt left you, Tom,’ snapped Esther.
    â€˜Only ’cos she had to. She had no choice. She never wanted to leave me at that place. You’ll see. One day I’ll be able to find her again and then you’ll see. I know she’s out there, Est. I know she is.’
    â€˜How you going to find her?’
    â€˜When I’ve got money. Money can get you anything you want.’
    â€˜If it’s money you want you’ll help me get that book off Hardy.’
    â€˜Can’t we just forget about that stupid book now? You don’t believe it’s actually magic, do you?’
    â€˜It’s not important what I believe. What’s important is that Ringmore believes it.’
    â€˜What you on about?’
    â€˜You want money and Ringmore will do anything to get the book back. He’ll pay anything to get it back.’
    Tom looked at her and, for the first time since they had set off, smiled. ‘You think he will?’
    â€˜Real, make-a-difference money, Tom. No matter what I believe, it’s worth it for that, ain’t it?’
    â€˜But Hardy’s got it in his coat pocket and I’ve never even seen him take that coat off. Maybe we should buy the book back off him.’
    â€˜No. He mustn’t know how much we want it. He already thinks there’s something up with it because of what happened back at Bloodstone’s. We need to get it from him without him knowing it was us what took it.’
    â€˜I don’t fancy pickpocketing Hardy.’
    â€˜Don’t worry. I’ve got an idea. We’ll swipe it right from under his nose.’
    â€˜He’ll kill us if he catches us.’
    â€˜This idea I got, he won’t even know it was us.’
    â€˜I’m listening.’
    â€˜Friday’s collection day,’ said Esther. ‘Except this Friday it won’t just be Hardy who’s collecting.’

Chapter 18
Investigations
    Lord Ringmore was impressed with Clay’s skills of detection. He had an uncanny ability to extract information from his interviewees, often without them knowing they were the subjects of an interrogation at all. By the end of the first day, having mixed with some of London’s most despicable characters and visited some of the city’s most deprived areas, Clay had established that Tom and Esther had begun life at an orphanage in Southwark by the name of St Clement’s Catholic School for Waifs and Strays.
    Lord Ringmore had been most insistent that they conduct the investigation together, even if he had so far done little more than observe. As the two men walked briskly across London Bridge, Clay explained how he’d first discovered his natural flair for investigation.
    â€˜A couple of years back, I was touring America; working the backwaters, you know, the small towns,’ said