‘I intend to open a soup kitchen for the poor and destitute,’ Kate said firmly. She waited, watching his reaction carefully. She half expected him to laugh and dismiss her plan as being ridiculous, but he appeared to be considering her proposition.

‘A soup kitchen. What could be a better front than that?’

‘What do you mean?’ Kate asked nervously. Harry Trader had succeeded in dismissing all her preconceived ideas of what a gangster looked like and how one behaved. This man might have been a sea captain on leave from his vessel, or a well-to-do merchant. He was well spoken and clean-cut, not at all the sort of person she might have imagined running a criminal gang.

‘What did that scoundrel ask for? I mean how much rent did he quote?’

‘Ten shillings a month, Mr Trader. I told him it was too much and I intend to run the place as a charity.’

‘Ten shillings – the old crook. I’m supposed to be a villain but he is the bad fellow in this. Spears would cheat us both. I’ve no doubt he would take ten shillings from you and hand me five, which is what I charged the last tenant.’

‘What happened to that person?’

Trader threw back his head and laughed. ‘He tried to cheat me, too. He’s inspecting the Thames bed as we speak, although I doubt if he’ll find much to interest him in the river mud.’

‘You mean you drowned him?’

‘Heaven forbid! No, I pay others to do my dirty work, as you might call it. Remember that, Miss Martin. I am a very bad man, so beware.’ The laughter lines deepened at the corners of his eyes, even though his tone was serious.

Kate put her head on one side, regarding him with a candid gaze. She suspected that he was laughing at her, and it made her wary. ‘I’ll remember that, Mr Trader.’

‘Now you know exactly who I am and what you might expect if you rent the front room and the kitchen, do you still want to pay me five shillings a month rent?’

‘Yes, I do,’ Kate said simply. ‘But only if you promise to keep away from my clients. They will come here because they are facing starvation – I don’t want them to be recruited to your gang.’

‘You drive a hard bargain, Miss Martin.’ Trader moved towards her, holding out his hand. ‘Do we have a deal?’

Kate opened her reticule and took out five shillings, which she placed on his palm. ‘A month in advance, Mr Trader.’

‘It’s usual to shake on a business agreement,’ he said, smiling. ‘I can see I’ll have to give you lessons in bargaining.’

‘I doubt if you could teach me anything of value.’ Kate hesitated. ‘But I will require a door key.’