"Where's Lytton? And the doctor?" Sid asked him.
"Round here someplace," he said, waving Sid through a doorway.
They entered another room, which was much like the first, only noisy
because two women in it were arguing. The first, a brunette, was
reclining languidly on a platform next to a handsome boy who couldn't
have been more than eighteen. The other woman, a slender blonde, was
chafing the first woman's wrists, berating her.
"It's a very powerful drug, Maud," she said, "one that should be used only by doctors. It's addictive and damaging."
The dark-haired woman let out a pained, trailing sigh and looked
imploringly around the room. Her eyes came to rest on Teddy. "Ko,
darling, can't you throw her out?" she asked, propping herself up on one
elbow.
"Who is she?"
"My sister."
"Then you throw her out, Maud!" Teddy shouted. "You get out, too! She's only here after you!"
The blond woman stood up. She was slight and wore spectacles. Sid guessed she stood about five feet six inches in her boots.
"You are wrong, sir," she said. "I am here for every poor, miserable, addicted soul in this room."
Sid groaned. He and Frankie were supposed to be at the Bark talking
with the rest of his men about an upcoming job--a very lucrative
job--and instead he was larking about doing work Teddy could've paid a
boy in short pants to do.
"Teddy, where's the bloody doctor?" he snapped.
"Are you blind? She's right in front of you!" Teddy said.
"Who? Her? She's a woman," Sid said.
"How very observant of you," the blond woman said. "I am indeed a
medical doctor and I'm also a member of the Society for the Suppression
of--"
"Aye, luv. I know all about it," Sid said.
She faltered for a second, then recovered. "Yes. Well. Then you also
know that I and my colleague, the Member of Parliament for Tower
Ham-lets, are determined to close down these dens of misery. These
people should be at home with their children, not giving their
hard-earned wages to drug lords and prostitutes."
Sid had heard enough. "Frankie, Tom, get her out of here," he ordered.
Just then, a tall, wheaten-haired man emerged from yet another
doorway in the rabbit warren of rooms. Sid knew him. He was Freddie
Lytton. Another man was with him. Sid knew him, too. His name was
Michael McGrath. He was one of Bobby Devlin's reporters from the Clarion
and he was carrying a camera. They hadn't seen Sid yet.
"Did you get one of me breaking the opium pipe in two?" Lytton asked
McGrath. McGrath nodded. "Good man. Make sure you get my name in the
headline. �Lytton Uncovers London Drug Peril'... or maybe �Lytton
Teaches Firm That Crime Doesn't Pay'..."
"Not as well as politics," Sid said to Frankie. "That's for sure."
"But that might be over-long for a headline, no?" Lytton said. "And
don't forget to mention all my good work with the SSOT. When will the
story run?"
"Day after tomorrow," McGrath said, folding the legs of the camera's tripod.
Frankie gave a low whistle. "A flipping camera no less, guv. If that
ain't taking liberties, I don't know what is." He was on McGrath in an
instant. He'd ripped the equipment out of his hands and thrown it out of
a window before the man knew what had happened. The sound of shattering
glass carrying up from the street told him.
"Jesus Christ!" McGrath cried. "That was a brand new camera!"
"Get out. Now. Or you're going out the window after it," Sid said.
McGrath, a big lad, rounded on Sid, ready to take a swing. His eyes
widened. He took a step back. "Bloody hell." He turned to Freddie
Lytton, ashen. "You never said he'd be here!" And then he was out the
door and gone, feet pounding down the stairs.
"Let's go, missus," Sid said to the doctor.
"Keep your hands off her!" Freddie Lytton ordered. "I should've known
you'd be behind this, Malone." He turned to the doctor and said,
"India, get Maud out of here now. I'm going to fetch the police and
"Round here someplace," he said, waving Sid through a doorway.
They entered another room, which was much like the first, only noisy
because two women in it were arguing. The first, a brunette, was
reclining languidly on a platform next to a handsome boy who couldn't
have been more than eighteen. The other woman, a slender blonde, was
chafing the first woman's wrists, berating her.
"It's a very powerful drug, Maud," she said, "one that should be used only by doctors. It's addictive and damaging."
The dark-haired woman let out a pained, trailing sigh and looked
imploringly around the room. Her eyes came to rest on Teddy. "Ko,
darling, can't you throw her out?" she asked, propping herself up on one
elbow.
"Who is she?"
"My sister."
"Then you throw her out, Maud!" Teddy shouted. "You get out, too! She's only here after you!"
The blond woman stood up. She was slight and wore spectacles. Sid guessed she stood about five feet six inches in her boots.
"You are wrong, sir," she said. "I am here for every poor, miserable, addicted soul in this room."
Sid groaned. He and Frankie were supposed to be at the Bark talking
with the rest of his men about an upcoming job--a very lucrative
job--and instead he was larking about doing work Teddy could've paid a
boy in short pants to do.
"Teddy, where's the bloody doctor?" he snapped.
"Are you blind? She's right in front of you!" Teddy said.
"Who? Her? She's a woman," Sid said.
"How very observant of you," the blond woman said. "I am indeed a
medical doctor and I'm also a member of the Society for the Suppression
of--"
"Aye, luv. I know all about it," Sid said.
She faltered for a second, then recovered. "Yes. Well. Then you also
know that I and my colleague, the Member of Parliament for Tower
Ham-lets, are determined to close down these dens of misery. These
people should be at home with their children, not giving their
hard-earned wages to drug lords and prostitutes."
Sid had heard enough. "Frankie, Tom, get her out of here," he ordered.
Just then, a tall, wheaten-haired man emerged from yet another
doorway in the rabbit warren of rooms. Sid knew him. He was Freddie
Lytton. Another man was with him. Sid knew him, too. His name was
Michael McGrath. He was one of Bobby Devlin's reporters from the Clarion
and he was carrying a camera. They hadn't seen Sid yet.
"Did you get one of me breaking the opium pipe in two?" Lytton asked
McGrath. McGrath nodded. "Good man. Make sure you get my name in the
headline. �Lytton Uncovers London Drug Peril'... or maybe �Lytton
Teaches Firm That Crime Doesn't Pay'..."
"Not as well as politics," Sid said to Frankie. "That's for sure."
"But that might be over-long for a headline, no?" Lytton said. "And
don't forget to mention all my good work with the SSOT. When will the
story run?"
"Day after tomorrow," McGrath said, folding the legs of the camera's tripod.
Frankie gave a low whistle. "A flipping camera no less, guv. If that
ain't taking liberties, I don't know what is." He was on McGrath in an
instant. He'd ripped the equipment out of his hands and thrown it out of
a window before the man knew what had happened. The sound of shattering
glass carrying up from the street told him.
"Jesus Christ!" McGrath cried. "That was a brand new camera!"
"Get out. Now. Or you're going out the window after it," Sid said.
McGrath, a big lad, rounded on Sid, ready to take a swing. His eyes
widened. He took a step back. "Bloody hell." He turned to Freddie
Lytton, ashen. "You never said he'd be here!" And then he was out the
door and gone, feet pounding down the stairs.
"Let's go, missus," Sid said to the doctor.
"Keep your hands off her!" Freddie Lytton ordered. "I should've known
you'd be behind this, Malone." He turned to the doctor and said,
"India, get Maud out of here now. I'm going to fetch the police and
Similar Books
