‘No. To start a new life. Then Dillie said she remembered a third ring. A little gold one, shape of an arrow. That would ensure … but she had misplaced it. She sent me to search for it. Across town.’

‘To her room above the Cross and Anchor pub?’

‘Yes. That is the place.’

‘Did anyone see you there?’

The boy had shut his eyes again. ‘I didn’t find that ring. I looked and looked.’

‘Mr Buttons. Again, did anyone see you at the Cross and Anchor?’

‘No. No one was about.’

‘So you returned empty-handed?’

There was a long silence.

It struck me then that all three young men who had loved Dillie had been in some altercation the night of her murder. Had this volatile girl been attracted to young men of similar temperament? Or did she drive them to it? Someone had beaten that girl in his room. I glanced again at Buttons’ bandaged hand. ‘This is our man, I think,’ I whispered.

Holmes sighed.

‘What happened to your hand, Mr Buttons?’ asked Holmes.

The boy looked at it like he had forgotten its existence. ‘I hit the wall with my fist.’

‘Did you leave a dent?’

The boy looked confused. ‘Yes. Why, yes, I did.’

‘I saw no such mark in your room.’

‘I didn’t hit the wall of my room. I hit the wall just outside. To the left of my door.’

‘Mr Buttons, I have just come from a thorough inspection of your room. In spite of its apparent normal state, it had been cleaned up hurriedly. I found clear evidence of a mighty battle. Drops of blood. A chip on your water-jug, and two dents in the furniture. Dillie put up a valiant fight. That was very like her.’

‘No.’ The boy was inching away from us. ‘No.’

‘Holmes,’ I warned.

‘A smear of blood on the windowsill showed where you pushed her body out before bringing it here, to the river. But the girl received her fatal blow … in your room.’

‘No!’ said the boy, now ghostly pale, his eyes wild. A young madman?

Holmes stepped forward and held out his hand. ‘You realize, of course, that I must present this evidence to the police. And that you will be arrested for murder. There may be a faint ray of hope for you. It is possible the Church will come to your defence. They have been known to rally mighty forces. And there could be mitigating factors. Did Dillie attack you? Were you hurt? Was anyone else present during this altercation?’

I knew better than to voice my thoughts, which were that it was damnably clear that the young man was Dillie’s murderer and that no ‘mitigating factors’ or Church interference would save him. Dillie had been a provocative young woman and sometimes a cruel one. But no provocation justifies murder. Offering a lifeline to a killer was a tactic Holmes had used before to extract a confession.