Page 46 of Ghost in the Garden
Solomon went firstto the office, to change into his more normal garb. He didn’t wish to shock his neighbors—or his servant—by being seen in these worn and ill-fitting clothes. But when he got there, he found the lights still on, and Janey in the waiting room, eating sandwiches and drinking tea with a ragged young man who looked vaguely familiar.
They both sprang up as Solomon entered with his key.
“There you are,” Janey exclaimed. “We was just about to give up on you. This is Mr. Knox. He wanted to wait.”
Solomon’s eyes dropped to the plate of sandwiches.
“I bought ’em meself, with me own bleeding money,” Janey said aggressively.
“Then you will be reimbursed,” Solomon said mildly. “You’re not required to stay so late, you know. It’s after midnight.”
Mollified, Janey said, “Knew you’d be back ’cause you said you would. Mr. Knox here came at six.”
Solomon held out his hand to Knox. “I’m sorry to have kept you waiting so long.”
The man shrugged. He still looked white and ill, but his eyes had lost something of that terrible dullness Solomon recalled from St. Giles. “Not as if I had an appointment. I’d nowhere else I had to be, and Miss Janey said it was fine to wait.”
“Of course. Come through to the office. Perhaps you’d make some tea, Janey? And then take that waiting hackney back home.”
“Really?” She brightened. Reaching for the remains of her sandwich, she stuffed it in her mouth and went off to the kitchen, while Solomon led Knox into his office.
They sat in the comfortable chairs. Janey brought the remains of the sandwiches.
“Dr. Tizsa said I should come and talk to you. He thinks you’re investigating Lambert as well as Gregg.” Knox paused, rubbing his forehead. “First, though, I meant to thank you for sending him—Dr. Tizsa—to us. He’s worked wonders already for some of those poor… Well, he’s made a difference.”
“He’s a good man and a clever doctor.”
“He fought for people’s rights,” Knox said. “In Hungary. Not just protests. Actual war.”
“I know.”
“I wouldn’t like it to come to that here.”
“It’s a different situation,” Solomon said vaguely, trying not think of the atrocities and the slaughter of the slave revolt in Jamaica, which had been put down so mercilessly, only a few years before the law finally granted them freedom.
Knox stirred uncomfortably. “I say that because I don’t want you to think I’m just an agitator, a troublemaker. I’m not. I don’t want bloodshed. I just want a bit of fairness. I don’t want people to die in squalor, just for other people’s greed. That’s wrong.”
“Yes,” Solomon agreed. “You speak like an educated man, Mr. Knox.”
“I went to school. Apprenticed to a carpenter, found I was good at it. My master kept me on after, while I saved up to get married and start my own business. Got married first. We had a decent room, but I…I got involved in other people’s fights. People who couldn’t read and write, people who had nothing and no one to stand up for them. I wrote to their landlords for them, tried to get regulations enforced. Worked, too. Word got around, and I helped with some employment issues at a factory. Threat of strikes can work wonders in the right situation. We might not have achieved afairwage, but it was better one.”
Janey brought tea and poured it, setting the cups and saucers before each of them. Then, rather to Solomon’s surprise, she poured one for herself and sat down on the hard chair, notebook in her lap.
Knox did not appear to mind her presence. Perhaps he had already told her.
“Good for you,” Solomon said.
“In one way. Not in another. I got the attention of Caleb Lambert, who owned the factory.”
“I see…”
“I lost my job. Suddenly, I wasn’t needed. And no one else would take me on, even though I’m a skilled carpenter. It was Lambert’s doing. I found out he’s a vindictive ba—er, man. Came out of Devil’s Acre with grubby money and big plans I’d interfered with. For his own reputation he had to ruin me, show I should be grateful not to get my legs broken or vanish in the Thames.
“We couldn’t pay the rent on our pleasant little room. Cathy couldn’t get work either. Plus, she was pregnant and didn’t keep well. We got a cheaper room, shared with a decent family, curtained off so at least we all had some privacy, but the money still dwindled too fast, especially with doctor’s fees for Cathy.”
Knox swallowed. “I’m sure you can guess the rest. I picked up casual work when I could, but it was never enough. We ended up in that hellhole that collapsed. I had nothing to lose, or so I thought. I couldn’t believe it when I saw Lambert there, conferring with that smug sod, Fraser.”
“Lambert owned the building?” Solomon said eagerly.
