The smile on Devine's face changed from oily and predatory to genuinely friendly.
"Now you know why I never let you drink any champagne. You're safe now if you would like to drink a little of it."
Mattie took a sip or two.
"It's nice", she said, sounding so like a child that it wrung Chiltern's heart.
The Chinese assistant dragged the struggling, protesting Henry outside.
Devine – or was it Chiltern now? – steered Mattie gently to the window,
showing her where a Black Maria waited for Henry to be bundled inside.
"You-you're not a bad man after all, are you?"
"No, Mattie, I'm not a bad man. Inspector Keogh and I have had our eye on Henry and his unpleasant sister for quite a while now. Wilton's is a
breeding ground for villainy, alas, but while I perform there I can at least keep a look out for corruption."
He stroked Mattie's chin very gently.
"Forgive me for that, and for the things I said about you. I had to draw in our greedy fish but I apologise from the heart for using you as bait."
"Doesn't matter. Shall I put on my coat and go now?"
Even as she said it, Mattie was afraid. This was London after midnight.
"You will not. Tonight you will stay at my home – I have a respectable housekeeper who will be in residence – then tomorrow Ling will
accompany you to the station; I shall pay for your train back to Leeds."
Mattie's tears flowed anew.
"Please don't send me back home! My Dad'll knock me across the room if I go back. He'll say I'm useless!"
Dylan asked:
"Did he often strike you, Mattie?"
She nodded.
"And my Mum. I used to hear him and I could tell from the way she'd pull a face if I touched her shoulder that he'd bruised her."
"Can you cook and clean, Mattie?" Devine asked her.
"Oh yes, Mr – er – Detective –"
"I'll ask Mrs Bateman, my housekeeper, to take you on as an assistant. I can't pay too much but you'll have a room, respectable clothes and three
meals a day. Will that suit?"
The tears were of a different kind now. Mattie felt secure once more.
Then she ventured:
"Couldn't I be your Bold Assistant?"
He didn't know whether to laugh or weep at this.
"Mattie, my dear, I would never ask that of you. You have to understand that the world Dylan and I move in is a dangerous and unsavoury one.
You have been hurt by life and I want you to have a new start. Now…"
He clapped his hands and the Chinese man re-entered the room. Both Dylan and Ben sensed Mattie's fear.
"Don't be afraid of Ling, Mattie. He says little but he'd give his life to protect my friends and I. He'll get you safely back to my house. Now, goodnight."
So much she wanted to ask but the thought of a roof over her head and a good warm bed soon convinced her to wait till another day to ask Mr
Chiltern questions. After all she was likely to see him every day now.
She could maybe ask Inspector Keogh questions too but it would be more pleasant to ask Mr Devine or Chiltern, whichever name he chose.
"Miss Mattie."
Ling made her a slight bow and escorted her from the room.
She didn't see Ben Chiltern bury his face in his hands and never knew that the man was emotionally drained. At least she didn't know it that
night. Mrs Bateman, who was strict but not without compassion, made her drink a cup of hot milk with a little brandy "for the shock". Mattie fell
asleep quickly and slept well that night. Ben did not.
"Keogh!"
Dylan winced. District Superintendent Hanssen was clearly not in a happy mood. Well, why should today be different?
He walked into Hanssen's office, trying not to glare at the portrait of a cold-eyed Queen Victoria on the wall.
"It seems Operation Petticoat went well yesterday. Chiltern – or should we say Devine - managed to be useful."
Dylan wanted to protest that Ben had been useful on several occasions but refrained from annoying his superior, the main reason being that his own leave was due to start soon, and Hanssen was spiteful enough to cancel it on a whim.
"Yes, Sir."
"So you trust the man to carry on in your absence, in between his nightly warblings at Wilton's?"
"Sir, Detective Chiltern's alter ego is right at the heart of crime. Whitechapel, as you know, is a nest of vipers…"
Hanssen waved his hand impatiently.
"So I believe, Keogh. Well, you shall have your leave. However, if Chiltern isn't equal to the task in your absence, it's on your own head. Just as it's on his own head if he loses his life by chancing his luck once too often."
"I think Ben Chiltern has a pretty sound idea of what's out there, Superintendent."
Dylan cast his mind back to the reason for Ben's alter-ego, for his involvement in the first place.
The reason why Chiltern's heart was broken.
Ben Chiltern always had a keen interest in music and singing, but knew he had to train for a more conventional career to please his father, Ralph Chiltern. In his early twenties, the younger Chiltern had studied law and worked for a while as a barrister. Although encouraged to court Jean Dormer, a friend of the family, Ben met a young singer called Melanie Doyle during one of the amateur concerts he performed in during his spare time. He and Melanie soon fell in love. As Ben's legal skills grew so did his reputation. He was offered the chance to act for the prosecution of a vicious thief, Martin Ashford, and was successful in finding the man guilty. Ashford's relatives vowed vengeance and one night Melanie was followed home from a visit to a concert with an elderly aunt. Once the old lady was safely installed in her home, Melanie asked the driver of the hired cab to take her to Montague Gardens. The driver did a slight detour, and Melanie's body was found lying in one of the alleys behind King's Cross station. Her throat had been slit, and a note pinned to her dress: "She has Chiltern to thank for this." The murderous Ashford family had been pursued but seemed to have vanished into thin air and Ben Chiltern was left grieving and broken. He seemed to abandon the legal profession after that, and, to casual observers, took to the bottle and to visiting cheap music halls to kill his grief. Ben had, in fact, been saved from hanging himself by his friend, a young policeman called Dylan Keogh. "Don't give the bastards what they want, Benjie, fight them another way." Encouraged to change his profession from barrister to police constable, Ben had risen through the ranks thanks to his dogged determination, and had finally been promoted to what was officially a detective, and unofficially an undercover agent for the police force. To most people who had known him, Ben Chiltern had all but disappeared, and in his place came the sarcastic, decadent performer Luke Devine. Only Keogh knew that behind the twinkling smiles and resonant voice, Ben was taking in every detail of his environment. This way he could move among thieves, rapists and murderers and, with Dylan 's help, beat them at their own game. Now at thirty-two years old, Chiltern had dedicated himself to tracking down scum like the Ashfords.
But at present, Mattie Skerritt, who was now enjoying three good meals a day, a warm bed, and less than half of the domestic duties she'd had to carry out, was yet to learn all that.
