Chapter Thirty-Five – A Lesson In Lies

Did Archie know Ezra was dead? And, if he did, how did he know? Fagin hadn't told them, the gang had yet to leave the flat (so he couldn't have heard the news on the street) and Bill was certain the young man had never read a newspaper in his life.

Then again, he might not know. It was only natural that he was worried and upset at his friend's disappearance, surely. But there was something about his expression, his stance, a look in his eye that said otherwise…

"Fagin," Bill said firmly; Fagin shrank away from him slightly as if on cue. "You need to talk to 'im. 'E don't look right."

"Of course not!" Fagin spluttered.

"That ain't wot I mean. 'E looks shifty, like 'e knows somethin' we don't…"

Fagin bit his lip. Did Bill mean what he thought he meant? But…no, that was impossible! Why on Earth would he…what reason could he have had to…

Before he could form the words to protest against Bill's ridiculous notion, Nancy cut in and did so herself.

"Wot d'you think your sayin' Bill?" she said, in an aghast whisper. "You can't possibly mean…'e wos 'ere when we came back from the Cripples, wosn't 'e? 'Ow could 'e 'ave-"

"It's easy enough to sneak out of 'ere if you got a key," said Bill, shooting a look at Fagin. "Or even if you don't. There's always someone on duty to shut the door after ya…"

Bill was right. When the gang had grown so big there was hardly enough space to accommodate them all, one lad had always had the job of sleeping near the door, which they could open and shut as they pleased; Fagin thought of this as an extra security measure while many of the boys thought him crazier than ever.

Sure enough, as the three of them glanced over towards the door, they spotted a crumpled blanket and a folded jacket, doubtless used as the boy's pillow. Glancing over at the boys once more Bill was quick to notice that Archie was the only one still in his shirtsleeves; the others had all donned waistcoats or jackets that morning.

"If 'e wos on door duty 'e could 'ave easily pretended to go to sleep then crept out afore I left. I never would've noticed…" Bill muttered.

"Bill, that's crazy," Nancy hissed unwisely. "Crazy! Ezra and Archie were the best of friends; what makes you suspect-"

"Be quiet Nance," Bill hissed, noticing Archie looking their way. He turned back to Fagin.

"If you ain't gonna talk to 'im, I will. 'E's got somethin' to do wiv this, I know 'e does."

Both Fagin and Nancy opened their mouths to protest but Bill had already left them and taken Archie aside from the others.

"Wot-" Archie began before Bill cut across him, trying to speak calmly but failing as rage crept, ever so slowly, into his voice.

"Wot 'appened last night?" Bill growled.

"Wot are you talkin' about?"

"You know perfectly well!" Bill spat. "Last night! London Bridge! Ezra! Tha' ringin' any bells in tha' thick skull of yours?"

To Fagin and Nancy's dismay, this outburst meant the other boys had turned to look; they had finished their lunch and therefore had nothing to distract them from watching the accusation progress.

Archie had gone white, his lip trembling slightly. Those few words rung bells alright, and plenty of them. But what did Bill have to do with this? How could he have known?

"Well?" snarled Bill. "You know wot 'appened to 'im, don't yer?"

Archie nodded weakly.

"Tell me then! I'll force it out of yer one way or the other!"

"Bill, please!" Nancy cried, hurrying over to him and clutching at his arm in an attempt to make him release Archie, but Bill shrugged her off, not lifted his gaze from the terrified man he was gripping by the collar, eyes blazing.

"Stay out of this Nance," he hissed dangerously.

Nancy, cowed by the fury in his voice, retreated backwards, not wanting to watch the scene but at the same time unable not to. What if Bill was right? What if…?

"Tell me," he repeated his voice lower and, if possible, more threatening. "Wot 'appened last night?"

All the boys leaned in visibly closer, intrigued by what Bill was saying. Fagin and Nancy copied them, through more subtly. The eyes of the entire gang were on Archie and Bill.

Seeming to realize that if he didn't speak Bill would beat him until he did, Archie tentatively opened his mouth to begin his tale.

"I-I left just before you did, to look for Ezra myself…" Archie said, trying to avoid looking at anybody watching him. "He was my best friend an' I was worried-"

"Wos?" interjected several members of the gang, but Dodger silenced them all with a meaningful look. Fagin was about to open his mouth and suggest Bill and Archie took their 'conversation' elsewhere as it wasn't something for the boys to hear, but Archie had begun speaking again, seemingly heedless of the awkward interruption.

"I looked in all 'is usual spots but I couldn't find 'im anywhere! I even went to the Cripples and asked if anyone 'ad seen 'im. They all said no of course, 'e'd never go somewhere like tha'. I kept walkin' wivout much 'ope when I spotted 'im; 'im an' 'is owl. I 'ad no idea wot the owl was doin' wiv 'im but I wos so glad to see 'im I started runnin' to get 'im. It wos dark…'e couldn't see it wos me…'e started runnin' too…I caught up wiv 'im at the bridge…"

Archie paused wringing his clammy hands. The tension filling the loft was thick enough to cut with a knife…what had happened then? How had this resulted in Ezra's untimely demise?

"But by then it wos too late…'e…'e'd jumped…"

"Wot?" cried Bill, and he wasn't the only one. The whole lot of them were in disbelief; Ezra would never have done such a thing, surely! He was the most kind-hearted, most gentle of them all! What reason would he have had to do such a thing?

"Please believe me!" Archie pleaded. "I ain't lyin'! As I wos standin' there a policeman came runnin' towards me; I hid but it turns out 'e wosn't after me…e'd seen Ezra fall…I 'eard voices down below on the water…it wos the river police…they…they recognized 'im…'He's the one tha' got 'imself out of trouble with Matthew's this afternoon,' one of 'em says. 'Accordin' to this 'un there's a whole lot of 'em down the Saffron Hill way…'"

Fagin was white as a ghost.

"You don't mean…" he said, in barely more than a whisper.

Archie nodded miserably.

There was a stunned silence, broken only by Archie speaking again, his voice shaking.

"'E must've done it an' jumped so us or the police'd never find 'im again…either tha' or 'e regretted wot 'e did an' there wos no goin' back…"

"Why would 'e though?" cried Dodger, his shock and fear evident even in his voice. "Why would 'e blow on us all, jus' like tha'? Wot could've possibly made 'im do tha'?"

Archie reached into the pocket of his tattered trousers and extracted a crumpled handful of notes, along with a small scrap of paper.

"'E wos bribed weren't 'e?" said Archie sadly. "Got caught on the job, wormed 'is way out of trouble by tellin' the traps on us, they praised 'im for it an' let 'im go, probably 'opin' they could use 'im to get us all in the clink some'ow, realized 'e couldn't live wiv 'imself…'e dropped this an' the owl before 'e…before 'e went…"

Much as Bill hated to admit it, it all made sense. That was why the officer on duty had said there'd been no-one like him at the station…he'd hadn't been there. He let go of Archie's collar, his own hands sticky with sweat.

Ezra had peached on them just to get himself out of trouble…this didn't seem like him…but it made sense…

-

The next morning when Bill arrived at the den (the boys still there, too fearful of going out on the job) to collect his overdue wages from his last housebreaking, he saw neither hide nor hair of Archie. The boys duly informed him they hadn't seen the young man since the previous day, nor had Fagin. He'd simply vanished.

Upon further inspection of the scene, Bill found the crumpled pound notes on Archie's pillow, as well as the scrap of paper he'd been so desperate to hide. Bill had difficulty deciphering the untidy, wobbly scrawl, but even more difficulty coming to terms with the words…

"It wos all a lie. I'm the one that got caught an' did evrythin' else. Ezra 'ad the owl wiv 'im at first but I 'borrowed' it to use as evidence against 'im…I 'ad to blame someone else…I couldn't live wiv wot I did…I lured 'im to the bridge after I found 'im wanderin' alone, got rid of 'im so 'e wouldn't blab…'e kept sayin' if 'e'd been caught 'e'd 'ave gone to jail or faced the drop rather than told but I didn't listen…'e said you don't tell on friends, you keep their secrets. But I didn't. I regret wot I did now, but there's no goin' back. I've left London to try an' leave the past behind.

I'm truly sorry for wot I did an' hope tha' in time you'll forgive me.

Thank you all for your kindness an' friendship, 'specially Mister Fagin. I will always remember it."

--

A/N: It's been far too long since I worked on this story and am delighted to be back. A nice long chapter, so I hope we're even. XD A bit of a shocker there, eh? I do love my (hopefully un-cliched) dramatic moments.

Please R&R!