Cold Cruel Winter by Chris Nickson Page B

really lay behind it? He’d known the procurer far too long to take what he said at face value. Worthy was a man with his own reasons for things, his own brand of evil.
    The door opened and Sedgwick ambled in, his eyes morning bright, his hair a tangle.
    â€˜Anything last night?’ Nottingham asked him.
    â€˜No.’ The deputy gave him the short answer. ‘We searched almost everything, but there was bugger all to offer a clue. No one saw anything, no one heard anything.’ He shrugged. ‘Of course.’
    â€˜We need to find him before he kills Rushworth.’ He didn’t need to mention what would happen after Rushworth was dead. That knowledge hung between them like a dark promise.
    â€˜How?’
    â€˜Wyatt has to have space for what he does. And privacy.’ He paused to allow the idea to sink in, waiting until Sedgwick began to nod his understanding.
    â€˜Makes sense,’ he agreed. ‘Somewhere with some isolation.’
    â€˜Start looking around today,’ Nottingham ordered. ‘He needs to eat and drink, too. He’s buying things somewhere. Get Josh out asking around the shops and the traders.’
    â€˜I will.’
    The Constable looked up at Sedgwick. ‘Someone was talking to me about Graves’s murder last night. He knew what had happened after.’
    The deputy raised his eyebrows. ‘It wasn’t from me,’ he said defensively.
    Nottingham waved the idea away with his hand. ‘I didn’t think it was. Or from Josh. It was Amos Worthy who stopped me.’
    â€˜Oh aye? What’s all this to do with him, then? I was hoping the winter might have claimed him.’
    â€˜He says Graves was good to him long ago.’ He’d never explained to the deputy that his mother and Worthy had been lovers once; it was a history he needed to keep private.
    â€˜And?’
    â€˜And he wants to help us catch the murderer.’
    Sedgwick glanced out of the barred window at people moving along Kirkgate, the sounds of the morning rising.
    â€˜I’d be wondering what’s in it for him.’
    â€˜That was my first thought, too,’ Nottingham agreed quietly.
    â€˜I’ve never seen him do owt that didn’t benefit him or his purse.’
    â€˜Hard to believe, but I think he might be sincere this time. I can’t see any way he can use this to his advantage. And the more people we have looking, the sooner we’ll catch Wyatt. Agreed?’
    â€˜Maybe,’ Sedgwick conceded cautiously.
    â€˜People will say things to Worthy’s men they wouldn’t say to us.’
    â€˜Rather than face a beating, you mean?’
    â€˜Not always, John.’
    He waited as Sedgwick considered.
    â€˜You’re going to use him, aren’t you?’
    â€˜If Rushworth hadn’t gone, I wouldn’t have,’ Nottingham replied reasonably. ‘It’s urgent now. And we’ve got sod all so far. You know that.’
    The deputy let out a loud, slow breath.
    â€˜Aye, that’s true.’
    â€˜So we’ve got nothing to lose.’
    He wasn’t sure if he was trying to justify the decision to himself or to the deputy.
    â€˜If we can save Rushworth,’ Sedgwick warned. ‘It might already be too late. And what about the Mayor? Or the Corporation?’
    â€˜We don’t tell them.’ His eyes flashed for a moment. ‘They only ask that I do my job, not how I do it.’
    â€˜It’s dangerous, boss.’
    The Constable nodded slowly. He knew that well enough. He just had to make sure he kept control of everything.
    â€˜I’ll be back in a while.’
    His coat warm around him, Nottingham walked through the drizzle down Briggate. His mind was a jumble of thoughts, of Rushworth, of Worthy, of Graves, of Mary, of Rose.
    Just before the bridge he turned on to Swinegate. With the thaw there was plenty of life on the street, the squall of families, shopkeepers setting out their