Page 60 of Molly Boys
“Jack,” Stanley said softly. “The inspector is trying to stop a killer so no one else gets hurt. Isn’t there anything you can tell him that would help?”
Jack paused and looked up at Archie, his eyes wide. “Are you going to kill the monster?” The boy whispered.
Archie met the boy’s eyes, noting they were as blue as Stanley’s. Jack was so painfully young. He may have acted like a tough street rat but he was still a child afraid of monsters. And Archie wished he could tell him they weren’t real, but unless he was very much mistaken, all three of them sitting at the table had seen one.
“The monster?” Archie repeated.
“The giant,” Jack replied.
“The one you saw along the banks of the river?” The boy nodded.
“I’ve seen ‘im in The Nichol, he hunts the streets, looking for pretty boys. He leaves the girls alone,” the boy said quietly.
“Jack,” Archie said in his soft, comforting rumble. He leaned a bit closer. “If you help me, I promise you I’ll stop the monster.”
Jack stared at his nearly empty plate for several long moments. Then he let out a quiet breath. “Mabel.”
“Who’s Mabel?” Archie asked.
“She lives on Empire Street near Bethnal Green Road, her boy Peter was taken by the monster. She’s the only one who might talk to you.”
“No,” Stanley said so firmly Archie looked up in surprise. “You are not going into The Nichol by yourself. You might as well be wearing a sign that says POLICE painted on it.”
“Empire Street is right on the boundary line. I can be in and out before anyone realises,” Archie said.
“No.” Stanley shook his head, his eyes narrowing.
“I’ll be fine,” Archie insisted.
“Fine. Then I’ll be going with you.”
“You most certainly will not.” Archie scowled as he took in Stanley’s beautifully tailored suit and unbuttoned overcoat, not to mention the stylish Homburg perched on his head. “Dressed like that? You’ll be robbed blind the moment you set one toe over the boundary.”
“It’s your choice, Inspector. Either we go together or I follow you,” Stanley said stubbornly.
Archie stared at Stanley for a long moment.
“Finish your meal, boy,” he snapped at Jack, who was looking back and forth between the two men, his eyes widening.
Jack kept his head down and cleaned his plate.
* * *
Mabel’s house on Empire Street was little more than a door and a front step so worn it sagged in the middle. Archie lifted his hand and knocked, glancing around warily. He felt a thousand eyes watching them, watching Lord Stanley next to him, his beauty and quality impossible to hide. He was like a beam of sunlight against the dark grimy narrow streets of The Nichol. They might only be on the outskirts, but there was no hiding the suspicion with which they were greeted from women and children alike.
Jack stood beside them, a tiny sentry, which only added to Archie’s worry. He’d told the boy to disappear, knowing he couldn’t afford to be seen in the company of a gentleman and a policeman, but the stubborn little thief wouldn’t budge. Jack was convinced he was going to help Archie kill a monster. The idea seemed to appeal to the child, like he was some sort of knight and Jack his page.
Archie was sure as hell no knight and he had no intention of killing anyone. He was going to arrest an overly large man and let the courts decide if he was going to hang for his crimes, which Archie had no doubt he would. So maybe the boy was right in a roundabout way. They were trying to kill a monster.
The door slowly creeped open and a thin, listless woman appeared against the crack, only half her sallow face visible.
“Who’re yer, and what do yer want?” She croaked like she hadn’t used her voice in a while, that or she’d been drinking hard. From the smell of her, Archie guessed it was the latter.
“Mabel?” Archie said quietly, so as not to be overheard by unfriendly ears. “We’ve come to talk to you about your son, Peter.”
“My son is dead, go away.” She tried to shut the door but Archie’s hand prevented her.
“Please,” he said. “Help us stop the killer before he kills anyone else.”