Page 37 of Courier of Death
Olaf, the man who’d tossed Niles Foster from the casino. So, Lloyd was connected to the Spitalfields Angels too.
“How were Lloyd and this Swede associated?” he asked.
Drake swallowed hard, then with his voice lowered to a rasp, said, “The one time I went with John to the casino room, the Swede fronted him a few bob. He won it back and all, but I had the impression it was a regular thing between them.”
If Lloyd had been borrowing gambling money from the Angel, there was a high probability he might have become indebted to him.
“Is there anything else you know about Lloyd’s…activities?” Jasper asked. “Anything you’ve heard?”
Warnock had walked by then, eyeing Jasper and Constable Drake’s hushed conversation.
“No. Nothing,” Drake was quick to reply. Jasper took pity on him and then, with a jerk of his chin, dismissed him.
That evening, he and Lewis returned to Striker’s Wharf in the hope of finding Olaf. They spent nearly three hours at the bar,and Jasper had even entered the casino room, receiving scathing glares from all present. But no one matching the description of Barry Reubens’ hired muscle had been at the club.
“Bloom probably tipped him off not to come,” Lewis said as they were returning to the north bank of the Thames.
Jasper had known it was a possibility, but they’d needed to take the chance.
After a few moments of quiet in the cab, Lewis had said, “Do you remember the bombing in the cloakroom at Victoria Station last year?”
At Jasper’s nod, he’d continued, “An Angel was arrested. He had connections to Clan na Gael. And LaChance has mentioned more than once that they’re watching some Angels rumored to be assisting the IRB.”
“Are you suggesting the Angels might have been involved with Clan na Gael’s strike against the Yard?” Jasper asked.
The detective sergeant had shrugged. “It’s something to consider. We have a connection confirmed between Lloyd and a member of the Angels,” Lewis said. “If the Angels were helping the Irish, maybe they used Lloyd as a delivery boy.”
Jasper had considered the suggestion but ultimately shook his head. “The bomb Lloyd carried was a different make than the ones that detonated later that night,” he reminded Lewis. “I don’t see how Clan na Gael can be connected.”
And yet, for the rest of the evening, he’d tried to think of some proof that would verify Lewis’s theory.
Now, rain speckled Jasper’s right side as the wind blew in under the portico. With some relief, Oliver Hayes’s carriage came into sight and drew alongside the curb. Jasper opened the door to the morgue as Oliver approached, and they entered the lobby.
“Forgive the delay, Reid. I went past Gillman’s to arrange for the collection of the body for burial,” Oliver explained.
“That’s good of you.”
It seemed that, with no other family, the funeral arrangements had fallen to Oliver. The bell over the front door had signaled their presence, and now, the viewing room door opened. Claude gestured for them to enter.
“I’ve already confirmed it is Niles. Is this really necessary?” Oliver asked, again looking pallid.
“It’s police protocol,” Jasper explained. “It won’t take long.”
He and Oliver entered the small room, lit by weak daylight coming through a window of milk glass. Claude folded back the top of the sheet covering the body.
Oliver grimaced. “Yes, it is still Niles.” Then he asked, “So then, did he drown?”
Claude waited for Jasper to give a nod. The coroner then adjusted his spectacles, something he tended to do before delivering bad news. “He did not drown, my lord. He was stabbed—twice.”
The viscount swore softly and looked as though he might be ill. “He wasmurdered?”
Jasper opened the door to the lobby and, with the brief task of the formal identification concluded, ushered his friend from the room.
Leo was waiting for them in the lobby, a paper in her hand. She appeared guarded and serious as she approached Oliver.
“The morgue requires a signature to release the deceased to the appointed funeral service,” she explained.
Oliver took the pen and jotted down his signature, but he was still reeling from the news Claude had shared.
