I thought of something Brodie said after one of our inquiries, when boys, many of whom were orphans who had disappeared from the streets of the East End, had been used for the pleasure sport of others.
I didn’t understand it then. How could there be such evil? How could one man who appeared to have everything— wealth and title— become part of an anarchist group that vowed to destroy hundreds of lives?
While another man who came from nothing, had nothing but that office on the Strand and an odd assortment of acquaintances, understood the evil that was there and did everything in his power to stop it?
“There are some people who are filled with it,”he had once told me.“They can never hurt enough, or hate enough. It destroys everything about them, and then destroys them as well.”
I watched now as Soropkin was half-carried, bound and gagged, that horrible gash on his face where the skin peeled back. Then forced into a heavily guarded police van.
There was still no sign of Brodie. And all I could do was watch and wait.
“He will be all right, you know.”
I turned at the sound of Alex Sinclair’s voice.
“The Agency needs good men.”
And I knew that. Brodie was a good man, however not an indestructible one.
What if…?
“You must show me that move you made against Soropkin,” Alex said as we stood together and continued to watch and wait.
“Most extraordinary!”
He was certainly full of surprises as well. Not that I didn’t know what he was doing— a bit of distraction perhaps.
“And you as well,” I replied. “You never mentioned that you were proficient with a weapon.”
He scooped that shock of hair back from his forehead and smiled somewhat sheepishly, transformed once more into that shy young man who preferred his machines, inventions, and deciphering codes.
“Sir Avery insisted that everyone with the Agency must be prepared to defend themselves,” he explained. “He ordered me to the practice yard. It turns out I have quite extraordinary aim.”
For which I was grateful. I had another thought. “What about Lucy Penworth? Did Sir Avery’s order include her as well?”
“Oh, yes. She is quite fearless with a revolver and reminds me much of yourself.”
“You might want to remember that,” I told him.
We waited what seemed hours longer, and heard whispered rumors of dozens still inside, barricaded in rooms and offices. If there was an explosion, there would be no safe place for them. I forced back the thought of how many might die.
There was suddenly a buzz of speculation and we saw a stretcher with a blanket pulled over what could only be a body carried out of Westminster Hall, then quickly loaded into yet another police van.
“It’s not him,” I said quite determined, as if saying it would make it so. “They wouldn’t use a police van.”
But I knew different. Bodies were collected and then taken to the police morgue or some other facility until the family could be notified.
Family. I supposed that was what Brodie and I were now, the two of us. And Lily was part of it now as well. Where the devil was he?
Alex’s hand closed around mine.
“It’s not him,” he repeated emphatically.
More of Sir Avery’s men then appeared, going about the outside of Westminster Hall, then heading the long way around toward the river with more police and soldiers.
There was the sudden sound of shots fired and speculation among those who stood with us quickly followed.
“What had they found? Who fired those shots? Was it over?”
