The Body in the Thames by Susanna Gregory Read Free Book Online Page B

although he did not sound convinced. ‘But I hear he was fond of his wine,
     and he would not be the first drunkard to topple into water.’
    ‘He did drink a lot,’ conceded Chaloner. ‘But he was not drunk the night he disappeared.’
    Kersey regarded him curiously. ‘How do you know?’ ‘Was anything recovered with his body?’ asked Chaloner, unwilling to tell
     him.
    ‘You mean did I find the Privy Council papers he stole from Clarendon, so that when our two countries go to war, he will have
     given the States-General an advantage over us?’ enquired Kersey archly.
    Chaloner regarded him in horror, aghast that a charnel-house keeper should know about a matter that should have been contained
     within the Earl’s household.
    ‘It is common knowledge,’ said Kersey defensively, when he saw Chaloner’s shock. ‘Everyone knows Worcester House was burgled
     the day that Hanse and Ambassador van Goch visited it.’
    ‘Christ!’ muttered Chaloner, more appalled than ever. ‘Are you saying Hanse had the papers, then? Where are they?’
    ‘I did not find them. The body was stripped by the time it came to me.’
    Chaloner winced. ‘By the people who found him?’
    ‘No, they said he was naked when they stumbled across him. I believe them, because they often bring me bodies from the Thames,
     and they have never undressed one before.’
    Chaloner stared at him. Was this evidence of murder? That Hanse’s killer had removed his victim’s clothing tohinder identification? Or perhaps to inflict some final humiliation on him?
    ‘The only thing left was a stocking,’ Kersey went on. ‘And that was tied on so tightly that I needed a sharp knife to remove
     it.’
    Chaloner’s pulse quickened. Hanse had owned a peculiar habit of securing valuables in his hose, and kept them tight around
     his knees to prevent money and papers from spilling out. ‘Do you still have it? May I see?’
    Kersey’s eyebrows went up. ‘I threw it away. An odd stocking is of no use to me, and I cannot imagine his next-of-kin wanting
     it. It will be with the other rubbish outside. Why?’
    Chaloner shrugged, feigning indifference. ‘If it is all that is left, then I had better examine it.’

Chapter 2
    Chaloner left the pungent building with relief, and went to rummage in the pile of refuse behind it. Most did not bear too
     close an inspection, and the feasting flies he disturbed buzzed in an angry cloud around his head. The stocking was near the
     bottom, recognisable by the high quality of its wool and an intricate design that rendered it unmistakably Dutch. It was unmistakably
     Hanse’s, too, because he had always prided himself on his immaculate footwear. It had been slit near the top, presumably by
     Kersey to allow it to be pulled off, but was otherwise undamaged.
    Chaloner glanced around carefully before picking it up, but the lane was deserted. The proximity of the Thames with its sun-baked
     cargo of sewage and rubbish, along with Kersey’s odoriferous domain, meant the alley was not a pleasant place to be, and anyone
     who lived nearby had taken themselves off to more conducive surroundings. He was definitely alone.
    He sat on a crate and turned the stocking over in his hands. Hanse had harboured an especially strong horror of robbers, and
     his family had always been amusedby his habit of secreting valuables in his hose – he spurned pockets in coat or breeches, on the grounds that thieves knew
     how to find those. To ensure the stockings did not slide down, he took needle and thread each morning, and sewed them tight.
     The fact that the sock had resisted attempts to remove it – by whoever had stripped his body and later by Kersey – suggested
     it had been anchored very firmly. And that meant there was something within that Hanse had deemed worthy of protection.
    But Chaloner’s hopes were soon dashed – it contained nothing. Disgusted, he flung it away, but as it landed, it caught the
     sun, and he saw silver