‘Someone did.’
‘Don’t look to me.’
‘But you’ve had other serving girls.’
Cates started to laugh, the confidence of position and money returning.
‘For the love of God, man, what’s the point in employing a pretty girl if you can’t enjoy her?’
‘Doesn’t matter if they want to or not?’
Cates stared. ‘Of course they want to. If they wish to keep their jobs, that is.’
‘And Lucy?’
Cates shook his head. ‘Not me,’ he said firmly. ‘Try asking my brother, she might have been to his tastes.’
‘I have,’ Sedgwick said. ‘He denies it.’
The man halted with the mug halfway to his mouth and inclined his head.
‘You have your answers, then.’
‘I have some answers,’ the deputy corrected him. ‘I still have to see if they’re honest ones or not.’
Cates seemed amused. ‘You don’t believe me?’ he asked.
‘There’s a great deal in this world I don’t believe until it’s been proved.’
The man shrugged and took a sip of his ale. ‘I can’t prove I never tupped the lass. I’ve been honest enough, I’ve told you I had others, and that I didn’t want her.’
‘The others aren’t dead,’ Sedgwick observed. ‘That’s a good reason for a man to deny something.’
‘Maybe you should ask my father,’ Cates said with a chuckle. ‘I think he’s had almost every serving girl. He likes anything female. Except my mother, of course,’ he added with a smile. ‘He hasn’t wanted her in years.’
‘I’ll be talking to him,’ the deputy promised.
‘You do that.’ Cates stood. ‘See how happy he is with your questions. I can guarantee that he won’t be pleased your stupid little bitch is causing us trouble in death.’ He nodded his farewell.
Sedgwick sat and slowly finished the drink. He believed the brothers when they said they’d never touched Lucy. Their disgust seemed too genuine. He’d been lied to by better men than them, and he felt they’d given him the truth. If they thought twice before lifting the skirts of another serving girl, then some little good would have come from the questions. But he doubted that; it would pass from their minds soon enough. And he still had to deal with Ben Cates; that would be a different matter. He wasn’t young and callow. He was a man who’d made his mark in the city, with wealth and power, and important friends. Still, it was the job he’d wanted and he had to do it.
He walked back up Briggate in the drizzle, the collar of his coat turned up, the smell of wet wool in his nostrils. The day seemed muted, the buildings in shades of grey, the ginnels leading through to the courts filled with deep, dark puddles. At least the rain had cleared some of the shit from the street, he thought, as the turds moved slowly down the runnel on the road, grabbed at by stray dogs crowded around the Shambles. Their ribs showed through their fur, and they snapped and barked at each other as they hunted the scraps from the butchers.
This time he marched to the front door of the house in Town End. He’d barely finished knocking when it swung open and he was looking at Grace the maid.
‘Hello, Grace,’ he said. ‘I’m looking for Mr Cates. Is he in?’
‘Yes, sir.’ She looked flustered, glancing around her, eyes fearful.
‘I’d like to see him.’
Grace took a breath and closed her eyes for a moment to gather herself before showing him through to a parlour.
‘I’ll see if he’s available, sir,’ she said. In a whisper, she added, ‘Please don’t say anything about. .’
‘I promised you,’ the deputy told her. ‘Not a word.’
‘Thank you.’ Relief flooded her face. ‘I’ll tell Mr Cates you’re here.’
He waited a quarter hour by the clock until the door opened again and Cates entered, a frown on his face.
‘The girl said you wanted me.’
‘That’s right,’ Sedgwick said.
‘She said you’re the deputy constable?’
‘I am,’ Sedgwick acknowledged.
‘And what’s the reason you’re here?’
‘Lucy Wendell.’ He spoke the name loud and clear, looking for a reaction.
Cates snorted. ‘The Constable here a few days back, you today. Who’s it going to be next, that lad you have?’
‘She’s dead,’ the deputy told him. ‘Someone killed her.’
‘So you thought you’d come back and hound me?’
‘We’re looking for anything that can help us find her murderer,’ he said evenly. ‘Or perhaps you think she’s better off dead, Mr Cates?’
‘You watch your tongue with me, boy,’ Cates warned. ‘I already told your master everything. There’s nothing to do with her death here. He should know better than to send his dog round.’
‘So you and your sons don’t take your pleasure with the serving girls?’
Cates rounded on him, anger in his eyes. ‘What we do or don’t do in this house isn’t your business. Or maybe you’d prefer me to talk to the mayor and the aldermen?’
Sedgwick returned the stare, his head high, taller than the merchant.
‘You can talk to whoever you want, Mr Cates. But I’ll tell you this — if what happened here led to her death, then it’s our business. Or perhaps you don’t feel the law should apply to you? I’m sure the aldermen and the mayor would like to know if that’s the case. Sir.’
‘Is that a threat?’
‘No.’ The deputy drew the word out slowly. ‘I never threaten, Mr Cates. And I’m sure there’d never be a need here, would there? Now, we can begin again if you’d like, or I can take you to the jail and ask the questions there.’ He knew he was on dangerous ground, but he was damned if he’d be cowed by someone who stood on his money box to speak.
Finally Cates shook his head in frustration. ‘I’ll tell you what you need to know if it’ll get rid of you. I never had that girl. Never wanted her. I didn’t even want her in the bloody house, but my wife thought it would be a charity. How does she repay us? Gets herself with a baby.’ He gave a shrug. ‘You want to know the truth? I was glad to be able to dismiss her. I hated seeing her ugliness around my house every day. Between that and her stupidity, the world won’t miss her.’
‘Some people will,’ Sedgwick said quietly. ‘Her mother, for one, and her brother. Perhaps you’d like to think of them.’
The man waved the idea away with a shrug.
‘She wasn’t pregnant when she began work here,’ the deputy said.
‘What the servants do on their own time is their business,’ Cates said brusquely. ‘I told the Constable that. As long as they don’t bring this family into disrepute, I don’t care what they do. Do you understand that?’
‘Yes.’
‘The girl was a simpleton. She was stupid. Anyone could have had her.’ His voice tightened. ‘I’ll say this for the very last time. I didn’t have her, and I doubt either of my sons did. Now, do you understand that?’ The final words came out as a furious hiss.
‘Thank you.’ Sedgwick put his hand on the doorknob, then turned back. ‘You’ve had other serving girls.’
‘What of it?’ Cates said with a snort.
‘Unless they agree, that’s called rape. Sir.’ He left the room, closing the door quietly, and made his way out into the fresh air. Away from the house, back across the Head Row, he made for the Rose and Crown. What he needed more than anything was a long drink of ale to wash the taste of the last few hours from his mouth.
Would Cates say anything to his cronies, he wondered? Probably not; even quiet words would make him seem ridiculous in front of his friends. He took a deep sip from the mug, feeling the liquid flood through him with a sense of relief. In the end it was just as well that Cates had backed down. Parading him past the Moot Hall to the jail would have been one step too far. As it was he’d made another enemy for the Constable and himself.
But he felt certain that none of the Cates men had been responsible for the baby. He disliked all of them, each in his own way, yet their revulsion when he mentioned Lucy seemed too real to be a lie.