An Experiment in Treason (16 page)

“On what charge should he be arrested? Consorting with one who consorts with known criminals?”

Next morning Sir John announced to me in his chambers that we should now turn, in our investigation, to Albert Calder. I was delighted to know that the investigation would continue, yet couldn’t, for the life of me, remember who he might be.

“Who is Albert Calder?” I asked in all innocence.

“So quickly forgotten is he?”

“I fear he has been by me.”

“Well then,” said Sir John, “just as a reminder, Albert Calder was the poor fellow stretched out upon Lord Hillsborough’s floor with the back of his head bashed in.”

“Oh, certainly I do remember him,” said I, “but what more can he tell us? He’s dead, after all. We know how he was killed and have a good idea of why.”

“Ah, but do we know why? There is, after all, a possibility that he did not surprise the burglars, that he was in league with them.”

“Their man on the inside? Is that it?”

“Why yes, let us bear in mind that Skinner and Ferguson knew exactly where to go. They went into the correct room and began ransacking the desk. They must have had an exact map, or been led there.”

“Sir John,” said I, “it could be just as you say, but would it not be reasonable to suppose that Dr. Franklin had oft been inside the study doing business there with Lord Hillsborough?”

“Perhaps … yes, I would call that reasonable.”

“Then why not question Dr. Franklin in that matter?”

“Because I have done with him for the time being. Had they not set me like some hound upon Franklin, I would have begun to find out all I could about Albert Calder. I simply look at this as resuming our investigation at the point where it was interrupted. Do I make that clear, Jeremy?”

“Perfectly clear, Sir John.”

“Good, because I wish you now to pursue that part of the investigation. Go to the residence of Lord Hillsborough and talk first of all to Carruthers, the butler, and then to Will Lambert, as well.”

“Will Lambert?” I echoed. “He was the other footman, was he not? It was he who found the body in the study.”

“Correct. And find out what they know about Albert Calder. Carruthers must have hired him, so he, no doubt, knows something. And as for Lambert, he and Calder worked together, so presumably he would have been as close to him as any. If they have any suggestions as to others on the staff you might talk with, then talk with them, too. You can attend to all of that in a morning, can’t you?”

“Well, perhaps, why?”

“I’d like you back here for my court session.”

“I understand,” said I — but, of course, I did not. I simply perceived from the tone of his voice and the little he said that he wished not to be questioned further. “Good-bye then.”

By the time I reached the door to the long hall, he had something more to add:

“Try to find out what the footmen were guarding there. It strikes me as odd to have armed guards walking about in the night. When did it start? What was it about?”

“As you will. Sir John.”

As I hurried down the Strand toward Craig’s Court, I passed Craven Street, of course, and noted with interest how close was Benjamin Franklin’s residence to Lord Hillsborough’s. Could he have chosen that location so as to be nearest to the man in government with whom he dealt most frequently? They were practically near neighbors.

Then did my mind go from Franklin to Sir John. It seemed to me that the magistrate was behaving both oddly and obstinately in this matter of Franklin. I could scarce believe my ears when he had said to me that he would rather lose Franklin as a suspect than conduct an improper investigation. Was that not putting the form of law over its intent? Sir John was forever telling me that I must learn to think as a lawyer. I asked myself if he, in this case, was thinking as a lawyer. That usually meant — to me, at least — thinking more realistically, even perhaps cold-bloodedly. Was he now exalting principle at the expense of all else?

Luckily, Lord Hillsborough had left for the day by the time I arrived. As for Lady Hillsborough, I never saw her once during this entire episode and later discovered she was ever in their castle in Ireland with their three children.

Naturally, it was Carruthers, the butler, who opened to my knock, and it was to him that I talked first. He was a tall man of rather advanced years, self-contained in the manner of some who work in service to the very rich. Though he never, I’m sure, put it into words, his attitude seemed to be: “I may be a servant, nevertheless I am my own man.” I admired him for it. He recognized me and invited me in.

“What may I do for you, young sir?”

“Sir John has sent me here that I might ask a few more questions of you and Will Lambert, and perhaps of any others whose answers you would deem likely to be pertinent.”

“Very well,” said he most agreeably. “Why don’t we go sit in the drawing room? It’s much more comfortable there.”

He led me a bit down the long hall and into a room, which, though dark, was restfully so. The curtains were pulled, yet sufficient daylight sifted in round them to brighten the room a bit. A small fire burned in the fireplace, adding more light. He poked at the fire and managed to get it to burn a bit better.

“I find that as I get older, I prefer darkened rooms.” He gestured at a chair opposite the fireplace and, as I sat down, seated himself in one near it. “I hope you don’t mind the dark.”

I assured him I did not.

“Such a nice room,” said Carruthers, looking about. “It gets little use by Lord Hillsborough.” He paused. “Well now, what can I tell you that you and Sir John don’t already know?”

“As much as possible about Albert Calder. For instance, you are the head of the household staff, I assume?”

“Yes, oh yes.”

“Then I take it you are in charge of hiring and firing,” said I. “When did you hire Mr. Calder? How long, in other words, had he worked here?”

“Nearly five years, I should say. I have been with Lord Hillsborough for a bit more than that, and Albert was one of the first I hired — if not the first.”

“You called him by his Christian name, I note. Was he so well known to you? Was he a friend?”

“Oh,” said Carruthers, “I’m not sure what that means in a large staff as we have here. A friend? Possibly. He was certainly a fine fellow. He kept everyone round the kitchen table well-entertained. There was that about him which begged familiarity. You could not think of him as any sort of Mister.” Yet having said what he had said, the butler fell silent, as if for a moment reconsidering. “But I must say,” he resumed, “it was not quite so with him during the past few weeks.”

“Would you say that he changed?”

“I would say so, yes — but in a rather subtle way. He still joked and jollied with us, but it was as if he just tried to keep up appearances, as if he weren’t really behind it. I remember I caught him alone — why, in this very room! — and though he sat in its darkest corner, I perceived that he had been weeping. Now, it ain’t usual for a man to weep, especially one such as Calder.”

“What do you mean by that? One such as Calder?”

“Well, as I said, he was, in his way, a jolly sort, but more than that, he seemed ever the sort who could take care of himself. A great hulking fellow, he was. He feared none — or seemed not to till I found him so here in the drawing room.”

“Did he account for this? Did he say what burdened him so?”

“No,” said he with a judicious shake of his head. “He said naught but that it was money troubles.”

“Money troubles?”

“Yes, and no more than that. I sought to relieve him, cheer him a bit, saying that we all had those. But I did say that if ever he wanted to be more specific, I was there to listen, and maybe I could help. But he never did come to me. We never talked further of it.”

He ended with a gesture — open hands raised into the air — as if to signify that he had told all there was to tell. Yet I was not to be put off quite so easily.

“Why was it necessary for Lord Hillsborough to put the footmen on duty as guards? What was it of such value that it required that sort of protection?”

“That,” said Carruthers, “I fear I cannot answer. Perhaps only Lord Hillsborough can.”

“Or possibly Will Lambert?”

“Possibly. But you would have to pose such questions direct to him.”

“And may I do that now?”

“Unfortunately not. He is not here, nor is he likely to be for some time yet. It is the duty of driver and coachman to wait with the coach until such time as it may be required by Lord Hillsborough.”

“And where would they be waiting?” I asked.

“Well, if you wish to seek him out,” said he, “you would best look among the coaches in line at Middle Scotland Yard, for that is where Lord Hillsborough keeps his office.”

With that I rose and returned with him to the door which led to Craig’s Court without. There he paused and gave me more detailed instructions.

“I can tell you this,” said the butler to me, “if he is there at all awaiting the master, the coach will be in the second space in line.”

“How can you be certain?” I asked.

“There is a distinct order of rank maintained there. Nothing is done by chance, nor will it ever be.”

I bowed my thanks and took my leave of him.

He had given most explicit directions, sending me to Charing Cross Road and to its end, where it widened considerably into Whitehall. Middle Scotland Yard, I was to remember, would be the second building on my left. I was grateful for all this, for in truth I was not well acquainted Math these grand buildings of government and could easily have lost my way.

What went on there in Whitehall I had no exact idea, though had I been asked, I should have replied quickly enough that all matters pertaining to Britain and her colonies were handled there, in its many offices. Yes, but handled in what way? Could the price of bread be dictated from Whitehall? Were men such as Lord Hillsborough to preside over spaces and places which they had never even seen? It seemed to me that Sir John ruled his piece of London more truly and fairly than any such “secretary” or administrator who might happen to preside over this territory or that island. And he did so by virtue of his residence there in the heart of Covent Garden.

Ah, but there was no denying that the buildings which comprised this seat of governance were indeed impressive. Tall they were and of great dimension. Yet, in a way, the spaces between were just as impressive, for they were of such size that they might accommodate whole troops of men and regiments of soldiers. The rest of London — or the most of it, in any case — seemed narrow, dark, and constricted by contrast. Here, in Whitehall, a man could see the sky and feel the sun.

When I turned through the gate and into the great cobbled court of Middle Scotland Yard, I found all to be just as Carruthers the butler had described. To the right, just beyond the carriage entrance, was a line of coaches that seemed to stretch half the length of the great hall. There were more empty spaces in it, and so I assumed that the second coach in line must be that of Lord Hillsborough. I satisfied myself in that by approaching the two men who had taken places beside it and asking them which of them was Will Lambert.

“That would be me,” said the younger of the two. “What can I do for you, young sir?”

I explained who I was, where I had come from, and on whose authority I had been sent.

“I have some questions for you,” said I to him.

Lambert, who seemed increasingly concerned as I identified myself, wore a rather long face by the time I had done. He exchanged significant looks with the short, squat man whom I took to be the driver of the coach. In other words, reader, he took some time to respond.

“What say you,” said he to me, “if we take a little walk that we might talk a little easier and in private?”

I assented and saw most immediate that it was not away from his companion, the driver, that he wished to take me, but rather out of earshot of those coachmen and drivers round us who had moved perceptively closer to hear what might be said. Perhaps I had been a bit loud in pronouncing the Bow Street Court and the name of Sir John. I vowed to watch my tone.

“I have come, ” said I, “to learn more of Albert Calder.”

“Well, what is there to learn?” said he in little more than a whisper. “He was a footman, same as me. Not much to tell there.”

“But he was also a house guard — just as you are.”

“That’s right — but that hadn’t gone on long.”

“How long?”

“Oh … I don’t know, maybe a month.”

“And what was it you were guarding?”

“What were we guarding?” He became agitated. His voice rose. “Why, just like you said, we were guarding the house.”

“Come now,” said I, “you were both going on short sleep. There must have been some special reason, something special you were guarding.”

He hesitated, then blurted forth: “No, there wasn’t, least not what we were told about. All I can say is, we were to keep special watch on that one room.”

“What room?”

“You know what room, the one I found him in, the one where he met his end.”

“Lord Hillsborough’s study?”

“That’s right.”