Read The Montgomery Murder for Free Online

word.’
    ‘Someone that we don’t know about yet,’ mused Alfie. ‘I wonder . . .’
    ‘I’ll go for Sarah, the scullery maid,’ said Tom with a grin. ‘She got fed up with him putting dirty footprints on her clean step so she murdered him.’
    ‘Stop being stupid,’ said Alfie. ‘You just keep saying stupid things and —
    A thunderous knock interrupted him.
    They all looked at each other. Mallesh jumped up and then stood hesitating, the knife gleaming in his hand.
    ‘Hide,’ whispered Sarah. She grasped him by the arm and pushed him into a dark corner away from the fire. ‘Lie down and I’ll put some cushions over you,’ she
hissed.
    Alfie nodded, and when there was no sign of Mallesh to be seen, he strolled over to the door. ‘Who’s there?’ he called as a tremendous thump showed that their visitor had
kicked the door.
    ‘It’s me, your landlord. Open up, or I’ll kick this door down and you’ll pay for the mending of it.’
    Alfie hastened to obey the order. Mr Parker would do what he threatened.
    ‘I’ve already paid your rent-collector on Saturday,’ he said as he unlocked the door. To his annoyance he heard his voice tremble.
    ‘No, you haven’t. Rents have gone up. You owe me an extra bob. Think yourself lucky that it isn’t a crown. It’s not many people who would let out a lovely comfortable
cellar like this to a pack of kids.’
    And charge them double the rent, thought Alfie. He said nothing, though. They all had to keep a roof over their heads, and he would just have to pay the extra. He went over to the shelf, took
down the rent jar and emptied it out into his hand.
    ‘One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve pennies,’ he said aloud. Half of next week’s rent. Now that was gone, and next week he would have to
find three shillings or thirty-six pennies for this old scoundrel. And perhaps the week after the rent would double again . . .
    ‘Here you are, Mr Parker. This leaves us without food tomorrow,’ he said, trying to keep his voice steady. He felt like kicking or punching or even screaming. But he just stood
quietly until the door had been slammed shut, and then went back to sit beside Sammy. He dared not trust his voice for the moment, so he just sat there, staring into the fire and allowing Sammy to
rest his arm on his shoulder. No one else spoke; they were all waiting for him. Eventually he gave Sammy a little push, sat up straight and looked around, doing his best to make his voice cheerful and confident.
    ‘Well, that’s it, then. We must solve that murder and get the rent money from the inspector. Otherwise we’ll all be out in the street. And winter is coming on!’

 
    CHAPTER 10
A S PY IN THE H OUSE

    It almost seemed as though dawn had not yet come the following morning when Sammy and Alfie left Bow Street and walked up Monmouth Street towards Bloomsbury. The street was
dark and the air was filled with fog so thick, it almost seemed like a solid wall in front of them. Sammy’s hair, carefully washed and brushed by Alfie, was now standing up from his head in
tight curls. He walked along whistling quietly to himself, apparently quite relaxed and happy, but Alfie was worried. Perhaps he should never have suggested putting his blind brother into that
house. Sarah’s words and her frightened face kept coming into his mind.
    ‘Do you want me to do it instead, Sam?’ he said, stopping abruptly outside a shop in Monmouth Street, and then moving on hurriedly when he realised from the police posters in the
window that he had stopped on the very spot where Mr Montgomery had been garrotted.
    ‘Nah,’ said Sammy placidly. ‘I’ll enjoy it. Bit of a change for me. Won’t be many people around today. No point in me singing in this fog.’
    Funny how Sammy always knew what the weather was like and what sort of a day it was going to be, thought Alfie, trying to move his thoughts away from the butler and from what Sarah had