Anne, I have not read the book in a couple of years, so I am not clear on the relationships, but I got the impression that the London business was a fence operation and pawnbroker, something like that. An upscale Fagin, sort of.

Anne, Bulstrode knew a Mr. and Mrs. Dunkirk as a young man. Bulstrode becmae a clerk in Dunkirk's pawnbroking business. He noticed some shady activity, but learned to keep his mouth shut. Their daughter, Sarah ran away after finding out her father's dishonesty. Dunkirk then died. His widow began to depend on Bulstrode more and more. Bulstrode propsed and she accepted after he convinced her that the daughter could not be found. Raffles knew the daughter had been found, and was paid for his silence. The widow died and left Bulstrode more than 100,000 pounds. Apparantly, this daughter was Will's mother. Will puts two and two together after being questioned by Raffles. Bulstrode offers Will money to sooth his guilty conscience, but Will refuses. Will is worried about how this situation might affect any futher relationship with Dorothea if it comes out he cane from a dishonest family. I hope this helps, Anne. I do not understnad why most of this was left out of the Davies production.