The Gallows Murders

the bags were gone. I ran to the cross, up the steps and gazed over the crowd. Of course, everybody was running: either terrified that an infected person was near, eager to get away from the explosion, or determined either to guard their possessions or plunder someone else's. The scene was total chaos. Men and women fighting each other, stalls knocked over, knives being drawn, bottles hurled, children crying, women screaming, men cursing and shoving at each other. I glimpsed Ramasden, his sword drawn, beating people away from the cross.
    The sacks have gone, Roger!' Benjamin shouted. And God knows who took them!' "But how?' I screamed back.
    Benjamin sat on the bottom step, head in hands. It seemed to be the only thing to do, so I joined him.
    ‘I never thought of that.' Benjamin raised his head, staring at the chaos around him. 'What are all Londoners frightened of, Roger? The sweating sickness and fire.' He got to his feet. ‘We are wasting our time here!'
    He went across and spoke to Ramasden, then beckoned to me to follow him back into the cathedral which was also deserted. ‘I am not a prophet,' my master remarked, squatting at the base of the pillar. "But I wager a tun of wine, Roger, that Ramasden comes and tells us there is no one ill of the sweating sickness, whilst the explosion came from a trail of gunpowder carefully laid in some enclosed space.'
    Benjamin was correct. Ramasden followed us into the cathedral, swearing and cursing fit to burst.
    The bastards!' he screamed, walking up and down in front of us. The misbegotten turds!'
    'Are you talking about your men?' I asked. 'Who allowed the villain to escape?’
    Ramasden ceased his pacing. He came over and kicked me on the sole of my boot.
    'No, sir, I am not. I'm talking of the stupid drunk, sweating like a pig, who fell into a swoon just inside the churchyard. A silly woman believed a beggar who examined the man and said he was infected.' 'And the explosion?' Benjamin asked.
    'A trail of powder,' Ramasden replied. ‘I.aid in a gulley which ran into one of the derelict tombs.' He shook his head. 'Nothing but a magnificent fart.' He hawked and spat on the church floor. "Didn't you see him?' Ramasden stared accusingly at us. He squatted down and poked me in the chest. ‘How do I know you didn't take it yourself?' If you poke me again…!' I shouted.
    'If you poke me again,' Benjamin repeated, ‘I’ll see you in the Tower, sir!' My master got to his feet, dragging me with him, and stared coolly at Ramasden. The gold has been taken by a subtle device and the rogue will be long gone. I shall report as much to my uncle the Cardinal.'
    Ramasden stepped back, muttering apologies. Benjamin ignored him. He plucked at my sleeve and almost hurried me out of the cathedral, down past Paternoster Row to a small tavern built alongside Blackfriars Wall. "Now's not the time for eating and drinking!' I moaned. There is little more we can do’ Benjamin replied.
    ‘We could search for that beggar who raised the alarm, or make inquiries about who laid the gunpowder.'
    Benjamin smiled. Hoger, do you think anyone in St Paul's churchyard saw what happened and, if they did, would any of those wolvesheads tell us the truth? We could spend hours making fools of ourselves.'
    "But it must be someone from the Tower,' I said. 'Gunpowder is stored there.'
    'Aye,' Benjamin sighed. "But it can also be bought, stolen, or even made. What we have to do, Roger, is discover whether Kemble, Vetch, Spurge, Mallow, or any one of those hangmen, were absent from the Tower this morning.' 'And if they are not?’
    Then, dear Roger, we are truly in a pig's mess. Uncle will be furious. The King's rage…'
    He paused as a servant brought us a tankard of ale and a platter of stew and vegetables. The King's rage can only be imagined!'
    I dropped my horn spoon and gripped my belly. Once the news reached Windsor, the Great Beast would be bellowing. Herne the Hunter had publicly promised that I would bring the King safely through his present troubles. Now he was two thousand pounds poorer and the rumours of this blackmail were spreading further. I picked up my horn spoon again. Then it's back to the Tower, Master.'
    'Oh no. We first have to check on Mistress Under-shaft's new-found wealth.'
    I ate morosely. After we had finished, I followed Benjamin along the busy, crowded streets, up through the dirt and mess of Newgate and down into Cheapside. An apprentice boy pointed out Thurgood the