Steps to the Gallows Read Online Free Page A

cane. In all the times they’d been inside the room, they had never once been offered a seat. Kirkwood, by contrast, always occupied the high-backed, elaborately carved oak chair. Perched on three cushions, he looked far bigger and more menacing than ever. In front of him lay a series of papers. He snatched one up, gave it a cursory glance then tossed it back on the table.
    ‘A foul murder has been committed,’ he declared.
    ‘What are the details, sir?’ asked Yeomans.
    ‘If you will close that uneducated orifice known as your mouth, I will tell you. Before you became a Runner, I seem to recall, you were a blacksmith, were you not?’
    Yeomans nodded in assent. ‘Then you – more than anyone else – will appreciate the virtue of that old adage about striking while the iron is hot.’
    ‘Yes, sir.’
    ‘In short, take immediate action. The facts are these. A gentleman residing in Bloomsbury was strangled to death then the property was set alight. The name of the murder victim was Leonidas Paige.’ He saw the blank expressions on their faces. ‘I see that neither of you recognises the name.’
    ‘No, sir,’ admitted Yeomans.
    ‘I’ve never heard of him,’ said Hale.
    ‘Were neither of your aware of Paige’s Chronicle ?’
    ‘So many newspapers are printed,’ said Yeomans, ‘that it’s impossible to keep track of all of them. They come and go all the time.’
    ‘This one existed long enough to cause considerable offence to some of the most distinguished men of the realm, myself among them. In essence,’ Kirkwood went on, plucking at his goatee beard, ‘the Chronicle was little more than a disgraceful example of indiscriminate mud-slinging at figures of authority.’
    ‘There’s far too much of that, sir.’
    ‘I hoped that the Stamp Act would terminate the vile publication but Paige continued to issue it without paying the duty. His boldness was expensive. His newspaper was closed down, a punitive fine was imposed and the wretch was thrown into prison. If it had been up to me, I’d have sent him there in perpetuity but the case, alas, didn’t come before me.’
    ‘Did you say that you were mentioned in the Chronicle ?’ asked Hale.
    ‘I was more than mentioned, Hale.’
    ‘Oh?’
    ‘I was roundly traduced,’ said the other, curling his lip. ‘My name was changed, of course, but everyone who read the article would have realised that Eldon Kirkwood had been rechristened “Well-done Churchwood”.’ Yeomans spluttered. ‘I’m glad that you find it so amusing. Wait until you are the target of some malicious satirist, Yeomans. You feel as if you are being flayed in public.’
    ‘I’m astonished that anyone should dare to mock you, sir,’ said Yeomans, trying to win favour by being obsequious. ‘If anyone in public life is above reproach, it must be the Chief Magistrate.’
    ‘Paige thought otherwise.’
    ‘It could have been worse,’ ventured Hale.
    ‘Keep your idiotic opinion to yourself, man.’
    ‘But it could, sir. Being attacked in a newspaper must be very hurtful but imagine what it must be like to be sneered at in a caricature. Micah and I were passing a print shop only today. The cartoons on show poured scorn on everyone – even on the Prince Regent. The artists who draw them have no respect for anyone. There was the most vicious attack of Sir Humphrey Coote.’
    ‘Then it’s not impossible that Paige was party to it.’
    ‘I don’t understand.’
    ‘The print, I believe, is part of a series under the collective nomenclature of the Parliament of Foibles . Rumour has it that the hand of Leonidas Paige is involved in its production. It’s one of the mysteries you need to solve. First, however,’ said Kirkwood, picking up the sheet of paper, ‘you must set an investigation in motion.’ He handed the paper to Yeomans. ‘Here is the address and what little we know of the crime. Report back to me when you’ve made your preliminary enquiries.’
    ‘Yes,