William Monk 12 - Funeral in Blue

Promise
    The Twisted Root
    Funeral in Blue
    Featuring Thomas and Charlotte Pitt
    The Cater Street Hangman
    Callander Square
    Paragon Walk
    Resurrection Row
    Bluegate Fields
    Rutland Place
    Death in the Devil’s Acre
    Cardington Crescent
    Silence in Hanover Close
    Bethlehem Road
    Highgate Rise
    Belgrave Square
    Farriers’ Lane
    The Hyde Park Headsman
    Traitors Gate
    Pentecost Alley
    Ashworth Hall
    Brunswick Gardens
    Bedford Square
    Half Moon Street
    The Whitechapel Conspiracy
    Slaves of Obsession
     
     
    A Ballantine Book
    Published by The Ballantine Publishing Group
     
    Copyright © 2001 by Anne Perry
     
    All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions.
    Published in the United States by The Ballantine Publishing Group,
    a division of Random House, Inc., New York, and simultaneously
    in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto.
     
    Ballantine is a registered trademark and
    the Ballantine colophon is a trademark of Random House, Inc.
     
    www.ballantinebooks.com
     
    Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
    Perry, Anne.
    Funeral in blue / Anne Perry.—1st ed.
    p. cm.
    ISBN 0-345-44001-3 (alk. paper)
    1. Monk, William (Fictitious character)— Fiction. 2. Private
    investigators—England—London—Fiction. 3. London (England)—
    Fiction. 4. Nurses—Fiction. I. Title.
    PR6066.E693 F86 2001
    823′.914—dc21
    2001037481
     
    Manufactured in the United States of America
     
    First Edition: October 2001
     
    v3.0
     
    To Meg MacDonald, for her wonderful ideas,
    her work, and her belief in me

Read on for an excerpt from Anne Perry’s
    Treason at Lisson Grove
    A Charlotte and Thomas Pitt Novel

CHAPTER

    1
    “T HAT ’ S HIM !” GOWER YELLED above the sound of the traffic. Pitt turned on his heel just in time to see a figure dart between the rear end of a hansom and the oncoming horses of a brewer’s dray. Gower disappeared after him, missing a trampling by no more than inches.
    Pitt plunged into the street, swerving to avoid a brougham and stopping abruptly to let another hansom pass. By the time he reached the far pavement Gower was twenty yards ahead and Pitt could make out only his flying hair. The man he was pursuing was out of sight. Weaving between clerks in pinstripes, leisurely strollers, and the occasional early woman shopper with her long skirts getting in the way, Pitt closed the gap until he was less than a dozen yards behind Gower. He caught a glimpse of the man ahead: bright ginger hair and a green jacket. Then he was gone, and Gower turned, his right hand raised for a moment in signal, before disappearing into an alley.
    Pitt followed after him into the shadows, his eyes taking a moment or two to adjust. The alley was long and narrow, bending in a dogleg a hundred yards beyond. The gloom was caused by the overhanging eaves and the water-soaked darkness of the brick, long streams of grime running down from the broken guttering. People were huddled in doorways; others made their way slowly, limping, or staggering beneath heavy bolts of cloth, barrels, and bulging sacks.
    Gower was still ahead, seeming to find his way with ease. Pitt veered around a fat woman with a tray of matches to sell, and tried to catch up. Gower was at least ten years younger, even if his legs were not quite so long, and he was more used to this kind of thing. But it was Pitt’s experience in the Metropolitan Police before he joined Special Branch that had led them to finding West, the man they were now chasing.
    Pitt bumped into an old woman and apologized before regaining his stride. They were around the dogleg now, and he could see West’s ginger head making for the opening into the wide thoroughfare forty yards away. Pitt knew that they must catch him before he was swallowed up in the crowds.
    Gower was almost there. He reached out an arm to grab at West, but just then West ducked sideways and Gower tripped, hurtling into the wall and momentarily winding himself. He bent over double, gasping to catch his breath.
    Pitt lengthened his stride and reached West just as he dived out into the High Street, barged his way through a knot of people, and disappeared.
    Pitt went after him and a moment later saw the light on his bright hair almost at the next crossroads. He increased his pace, bumping and banging people. He had to catch him. West had information that could be vital. After all, the tide of unrest was rising fast all over Europe, and becoming more violent. Many