The Testimony of the Hanged Man (Lizzie Martin 5) by Granger Ann Page A

tone of his owner that we would shortly be off. He threw up his head and looked alert. Bessie picked up the small basket containing apples to sustain us, and we climbed into the growler.
    I had been worried that the friendly porter might not be on duty. But there he was at his station and greeted me like an old acquaintance.
    ‘Pleased to see you again, ma’am. I knew you’d be back and I haven’t let you down! I told my wife all about it last night. She was very happy during her time in service in Putney when she was a young girl, and it got her reminiscing right off. I told her about the house with the weathervane as you described it, a running fox.’
    ‘And she knew the house?’ I asked eagerly.
    ‘Well, she remembers a house with a weathervane like that,’ the porter replied cautiously. ‘Not to say it’s the same one, of course! But it was near the Portsmouth road, as you said. It belonged to a gentleman name of Spelton or Shelton, she cannot be sure which, and she knows no more about it than that. It was not a household that was on friendly terms with the people my wife worked for. By that I mean they didn’t go visiting back and forth, so she never saw any of the people who lived there. The only thing she has in her mind is that Mr Spelton (or Shelton) was an elderly gent and something of an invalid. The reason she knows that is because the doctor used to call regular on a member of the family in her house. Quite often when he arrived he would say, as he was taking off his hat and coat, that he was coming from Mr Spelton (or Shelton). Or, when he was leaving, he would say, “I must be off to see Mr Spelton,” (or Shelton).’
    ‘I am extremely obliged to you, Mr – I am afraid I don’t know your name,’ I told him.
    ‘Hogget, madam.’
    ‘Then I am very obliged both to you and to Mrs Hogget. I wonder if I might trouble you to ask her one more thing. Can she remember the name of the doctor?’
    ‘I’ll ask her,’ he promised. ‘Let me know how you get on.’
    I returned and conveyed what I’d learned to Bessie, who became thoughtful. ‘You know what, missis, you may have started a hare, that’s what. Hogget will go home and tell his wife that you’re really interested and now you want the name of the doctor! If Mrs Hogget is still friendly with anyone from her days in service out at Putney, she’ll be sure to mention it. You’ve set a rumour going, that’s what.’
    Mindful that this was exactly what Ben had feared, I said firmly, ‘I am only making a general inquiry.’
    ‘People going to all the trouble you’re going to,’ retorted Bessie, ‘aren’t making general inquiries. They’ve got a very particular interest, that’s what. Begging your pardon for speaking out, missis,’ she added belatedly.
    Well, she was probably right but what was done was done. I settled back and let Victor take us all to Putney.
    I need have had no fears about locating St Mary’s church for it was just across Putney Bridge, standing by the river, and we saw its ancient square tower from the far side. We clattered over the wooden bridge, which echoed hollowly beneath us, and found ourselves in the High Street. Bessie and I descended from the growler and Wally clambered down from his perch.
    ‘Seeing as,’ Wally pointed up at the clock on the solid stone tower, ‘it is past twelve, Victor will be wanting his oats, to stay nothing of a rest. I suggest to you, Mrs Ross, that I take Victor somewhere suitable, that has a stable yard with a water trough, and I can see to him and to myself there.’
    ‘You mean to a public house,’ said Bessie.
    ‘Yus, Miss Sharp-as-a-razor, I do.’ Wally turned back to me. ‘Public houses is also very good places to get into conversations. You can find out a deal from a bit of chat over a pint of ale.’
    ‘You will be careful, Mr Slater,’ I begged.
    ‘Don’t you fret,’ he assured me. ‘People looking at me can see what I am; and there will be Victor outside