Chapter 7
THE RIVER THAMES, LONDON
SATURDAY MAY 3rd, 1887 5-30AM
TOFFER HOXTON EASED HIS WHERRY UP TOWARDS THE PIERS of Westminster Bridge, hugging close to the right hand bank; the south side of the river. Cast into sudden gloom beneath the bridge he felt temporarily blinded before the boat slid out again into the sunshine on the upriver side of the bridge. A brewer’s dray plodded solidly over the bridge, the rumbling of the heavy iron shod wheels echoing like an imminent thunderstorm whilst the ponderous clop of the shire horses hooves rang out like gunfire. A Hansom cab, followed by a four in hand then quickly trotted across, clattering like kettledrums or a heavy hailstorm.
But Toffer bore them no mind. To the people of the city, river men like himself were all but invisible, occup
