The voice spoke in English. English with a London twang. ‘Peace? If only you could. I’m going to hang, aren’t I?’
‘It looks very much like that, Sean. You killed a very distinguished man and a London bobby and left a butler and a cab-driver wounded.’
After a pause: ‘The butler. I’m sorry about him. And the cabby. Wasn’t their business. Just doing their jobs. How are they, miss?’
‘They’re going to recover. It’ll take a week or two but they’ll be all right,’ Lily said.
‘Well that’s something. I’m glad of that. It’s a crumb of peace you’ve brought me. Now all I can do is stand up and take my punishment like a man.’
‘I must go now,’ Lily said and, unbearably moved by his dejection, she evaded Joe’s outstretched arm, ignored his shouted reprimand, and went to take hold of the boy’s hands. ‘God be with you, lad,’ she said. ‘I’m sorry I can’t call you by your given name. But I’m sure you’re known to God.’
He called to her as they reached the door. ‘Miss? My name. It’s Patrick. Can you find my mother and tell her how it is with me? Tell her they used me? Say I’m sorry for the trouble I’ve caused?’ Into their surprised silence he muttered: ‘She’s in Little James Street, number fifty-seven. Name of Dunne. They’d find out soon enough anyway. And I don’t want her waiting and wondering …’ He turned to the wall, sobbing.
Neither Sandilands nor Kent attempted to stop her when Lily walked back over to the boy, held his hand and waited for the storm of grief to subside. ‘My name’s Lily. I’ll see that your mother hears your message, Patrick.’
The duty staff gathered round the sergeant at the reception desk the moment the door swung to behind Sandilands and his assistant.
‘Cor, blast! What do we make of that then? Makes us look bloody fools! Especially you, Kent. How long were you working on that pair with nothing to show for it but an earful of Irish screaming and two false names? Miss waltzes in here and she’s got name and whereabouts out of one of ’em in …’ he looked at his pocket watch with heavy emphasis, ‘eight minutes flat. And now they’ve gone trotting off to pay a call on Mum! Won’t be long before they’ve rolled up the other one as well.’