Steps to the Gallows Read Online Free PDF

murdered , Micah. Show some respect for the dead.’
    ‘I’d rather dance a jig on his grave.’
    ‘You didn’t even know Paige.’
    ‘I know his type, Alfred. He’s another of those nasty, hateful, conniving scribblers who use words to blacken the reputation of others and cartoons to turn them into scapegoats. I detest the whole breed of cunning back-stabbers.’
    ‘They’ve never troubled you , have they?’
    It was a pointed question. They both knew that Yeomans had been derided in one of the caricatures they’d seen earlier. Hale was too scared to say it aloud and Yeomans refuse to concede that – along with a lecherous politician – he’d been the butt of a satirist’s joke. He stared so aggressively at the other Runner that Hale was forced to avert his gaze and step quickly backwards. His feet landed in the soggy remains of a blanket and he almost fell over.
    Having seen all they needed to, they went back downstairs and questioned the landlord and his wife about their lodger’s source ofincome. Lomas had no idea how Paige had made his money. All that concerned him was that the rent was paid regularly and that they had an unusually quiet tenant.
    ‘We hardly knew he was up there, sirs,’ said Lomas. ‘Most of those we’ve taken in as lodgers have given us trouble of some kind or another but not Mr Paige. He’s a great loss to us.’
    ‘Who could want to kill him?’ asked the wife, wringing her hands.
    ‘It couldn’t have been for his money because I don’t think he had a great deal. We felt sorry for him, spending his old age in a single room among strangers.’
    ‘We’re not strangers, Gregory. We treated him like a friend.’
    ‘Yet he wouldn’t let us get close to him, Ellie.’
    ‘Why was that?’ asked Yeomans. ‘Did he have something to hide?’
    Lomas hunched his shoulders. ‘Who can say?’
    ‘I’m sorry you had to come back and find your house in this state,’ said Hale.
    ‘The damage can be repaired but nobody can bring Mr Paige back to life.’
    ‘Good riddance to him!’ muttered Yeomans under his breath. He raised his voice. ‘We’ll need to speak to your neighbours,’ he went on. ‘They may have seen the killer coming or going. No man is invisible. He must have been spotted by someone .’
    ‘Will you catch him, Mr Yeomans?’
    ‘We’ll not sleep a wink until you do,’ added the wife.
    ‘It won’t take us long,’ boasted Yeomans. ‘We always catch up with the culprit in the end. It’s a matter of pride with us.’
    ‘It is,’ said Hale. ‘When a murder is committed, they always send for us.’
    It was true. They had become a formidable team. Having madetheir names as efficient thief-takers, Yeomans and Hale had been assigned to the more difficult and dangerous work of hunting killers. As a result, they’d sent a number of people – male and female – to the scaffold. One of the reasons for their success was that they’d built up a wide network of informers in the criminal underworld. The Runners either kept them on small retainers or offered them immunity from arrest for the petty crimes in which they were routinely involved.
    ‘As soon as word spreads,’ said Yeomans, confidently, ‘information will start to trickle in. We have eyes and ears everywhere in the city.’
    ‘London is a cesspit of crime,’ said Lomas, resentfully. ‘There’s theft and violence everywhere you turn. Because of that, we take care to avoid trouble. What we never expected was that our own home would be invaded by disaster. Can you offer law-abiding citizens no protection at all?’
    ‘No,’ replied Hale, bluntly. ‘There are far too few of us. We can’t police a huge city with a mere handful of men. But we have our successes.’
    ‘The gaols are full of them,’ asserted Yeomans. ‘We’ll never catch every light-fingered rogue who steals for a living or every accursed footpad who knocks his victims senseless before robbing them. What we can do is to put enough of