The Amorous Nightingale (28 page)

    'Was
he a member of the company here?'

    'Yes.
Martin was a clever actor - he might even have been a great one if he'd had the
sense to apply himself, but he was too lazy. Too easily distracted. I'm a
tolerant man, Mr Redmayne,' Killigrew announced with an intolerant scowl, 'but
I'll not stand for wayward behaviour. I expect my actors to work at their
craft. Martin Eldridge failed to do that.'

    'What
is he doing now?'

    'What
all unemployed actors do. Either look for work elsewhere, which means
submitting themselves to that noseless monster who stalks The Duke's Theatre,
or sponge off rich women.'

    'How
would I find him?'

    'Talk
to Abigail Saunders. She may be able to help you.'

    'I
was going to ask your permission to speak to the lady, in any case,' said
Christopher. 'It crossed Henry's mind that she might somehow be involved in the
abduction of Harriet Gow.'

    'Abigail?'
Killigrew shook his head. 'She'd never sink to that.'

    'Miss
Saunders is the main beneficiary of her absence.'

    'But
she isn't.'

    'Then
who is?'

    'That
rotting old lecher, Sir William D'Avenant. Can you believe that Abigail once
granted him her favours? Well, yes,' he said with an oily grin, 'if you've the
slightest knowledge of actresses, you can believe anything of them, I daresay.
I certainly do. What a peculiar breed they are! Warrior queens with the faces
of harmless cherubs.'

    'Is
Miss Saunders a warrior queen?'

    'Decide
for yourself, Mr Redmayne. Abigail should be here any minute for another
rehearsal. She saved the day yesterday afternoon. And in view of what you've
told me,' he sighed, 'she may have to come to our rescue for quite some time.'

    The
man rode hard along the deserted road. By the time he reached the house, his
temper was up and his horse was lathered with sweat. The woman greeted him with
a token curtsey at the door. She had removed her mask to reveal plain features
lit by a pair of gimlet eyes. Storming past her, the visitor went straight into
the drawing room where the other guard was waiting for him, his own mask now
discarded. The newcomer was inches shorter and far slimmer in build but he was
not intimidated by the burly figure of Arthur Oscott before him. Snapping his
whip hard against his thigh, he glared accusingly at the man.

    'Why
did you let it happen?' he demanded.

    'I
was only following orders, sir.'

    'Your
orders were to keep both of them under lock and key.'

    'The
girl escaped,' Oscott said. 'We couldn't let her get away or she'd have raised
the alarm. She had to be stopped.'

    'Stopped
and brought back here. Not beaten to death.'

    'They
got carried away, sir.'

    'Carried
away!' fumed his employer.

    'When
they caught up with the girl, she screamed and fought back. Smeek said they had
to shut her up.'

    'So
they did - permanently.'

    'I'd
blame Froggatt, sir. Too eager with that cudgel. Ben Froggatt doesn't know his
own strength. He's the one who done her in. When they came back, I gave him the
sharp side of my tongue, I can tell you.'

    'If
I'd been here, he'd have had the point of my sword. Reckless fool! He could
have ruined the whole plan.' He pointed the whip. 'And whose idea was it to
deliver the body to the Palace?'

    'Mine,'
admitted Oscott. 'You told me I was to use my initiative.'

    'That
was when I thought you had a brain.'

    'We
had to frighten them, you said. Force them into paying the ransom. What better
way to show them we weren't to be trifled with than by sending a message like
that?' Oscott was unrepentant. 'I was trying to turn the situation to our advantage,
sir. Thanks to Froggatt, we suddenly had a dead body on our hands. We could
hardly keep it here. Smeek has his boat so I got him and Froggatt to row
downriver to the Palace under cover of darkness.'

    'Are
you sure they weren't seen?'

    'They
swear it.'

    'Where
did they leave her?'

    'By
the steps.'

    'And
they got away safely?'

    'Yes,
sir. They're well versed in their trade.'

    'I
was told that you were as well,' snarled the other, 'but you let me down,
Oscott. How on earth did that maidservant escape when two of you were guarding
her all day long?'

    'Knotted
bed linen. She lowered herself into the garden.'

    'Then
the girl showed more initiative than you've managed.'

    'It may
all turn out for the best, sir,' argued the other.

    'Mrs
Gow was not to be harmed. I stressed that.'

    'I
know.'

    'And
I didn't just mean physical harm, you dolt! Think how she'll feel when she
finds out what's happened to this Mary Hibbert. She'll be distraught. Keeping
her locked up here is punishment enough in itself. There was no need to kill
her maid.' 'It wasn't my fault,' said Oscott, thrown on the defensive.

    'Of
course it was! You hired Smeek and Froggatt - and that other bully boy who
helped us in the ambush. Choose reliable men, that was my instruction. Not
imbeciles.' He walked around the room to calm himself down, tapping the end of
his whip into the palm of his hand. 'Well, let's hope we can retrieve the
situation. Who knows? It might even serve our ends. It might just scare the
money out of His Majesty's purse.' He came to a sudden halt. 'Where is Mrs
Gow?'

    'Sealed
up in the bedchamber, sir.'

    'Safely?'

    'There's
no way she can get out. The door is locked and the window has been boarded up.
I saw to it myself.'

    'Closing
the stable door after the horse had bolted.'

    'Mrs
Gow is still here. She's the important one, isn't she?'

    'Yes,'
agreed the other. 'Mrs Gow is the only important one. As long as we have her, we
can put pressure on them to hand over the money.' He looked upwards. 'What have
you told her about Mary Hibbert?'

    Oscott
looked uneasy. 'Nothing, sir.'

    'Are
you sure?'

    'We
just let her know that the girl had been caught.'

    'And
how did you do that?'

    'Mary
Hibbert was wearing a brooch. We left it on Mrs Gow's bed.'

    'Why
didn't you leave the dead body while you were at it!' roared the other,
charging back to him. 'You've as good as told her that the girl will have no
need for the brooch again. Was this another example of your famous initiative?'

    'It
was my wife's idea.'

    'Oh,
was it now?'

    'She
thought we should punish Mrs Gow.'

    'Whatever
for?'

    'Helping
her maid to escape.'

    'Your
wife's every bit as stupid as her husband.'

    'We've
done what we're paid for,' reasoned Oscott. 'We set up the ambush and brought
Mrs Gow here. That's what you wanted.'

    'Granted,'
said the visitor. 'What I didn't want was the taint of murder on our hands. It
was so unnecessary. Where are those two madmen now, Smeek and Froggatt?'

    'Gone
back to London.'

    'Can
they be trusted?'

    'Yes,
sir. They know how to keep their mouths shut.'

    'I
don't want any of this leading back to me.'

    'Smeek
and Froggatt don't even know your name, sir,' Oscott reminded him. 'No more do
I. That was your stipulation. You're safe, sir. None of this can be connected
with you.'

    'It
could if the trail led to this house.'

    'Only
the four of us know where it is.'

    'That's
two too many,' decided the other, rubbing his chin with the end of his whip.
'Smeek and Froggatt are liabilities. To be on the safe side, I think we'll move
Mrs Gow.'

    'Where
to, sir?'

    'Another
hiding place.'

    'But
why?'

    'They
worry me, Oscott, those two friends of yours with the over-zealous cudgels. If
they don't know where Mrs Gow is being kept, they won't be able to tell anyone
where it is.'

    'But
they wouldn't do that, anyway,' insisted Oscott loyally. 'Smeek served in the
Navy, sir. The man's as hard as teak and twice as reliable. Ben Froggatt's just
such another. He knows how to earn his money. Have no fears about Smeek and
Froggatt,' he said airily. 'They won't let you down.'

    The
Hope and Anchor was one of the many inns along the river that catered for
sailors. With so many ships moored nearby, it was doing brisk business and its
taproom was full. Smeek and Froggatt pushed their way through the crowd until
they found a corner where they could raise their tankards in celebration. Short
but powerful, Smeek had the weather- beaten complexion of a seafaring man.
Froggatt was bigger, broader and even more rugged in appearance.

    'We
done well,' he said, drinking deep.

    'Arthur
Oscott didn't think so, Ben.'

    'We
shut the girl up for good. Pity we didn't have time to get some fun out of her
before we did it, though. Pretty thing. I got a good feel of her body when we
kidnapped her. I'd have enjoyed riding that little filly.'

    'So
would I,' said Smeek. 'One thing, anyway.'

    'What's
that?'

    'She
got us to the Palace. Never thought I'd set foot there.'

    'Well,
we did,' said Froggatt, jingling coins in his hand. 'And we got our reward from
Arthur for doing it. He was pleased with us in the end. Leaving that body there
would be another warning, he said.'

    Smeek
looked down at the money in his friend's huge palm.

    'How
long will it take us to drink through that, Ben?'

    'Let's
see.'

    They
shared a laugh, bought more ale then joined in the general revelry. The raucous
atmosphere was home to them. Drinking heavily, they were quite unaware that
someone was spying on them from the doorway. It was Froggatt who peeled off
first to relieve himself. He made an obscene gesture to his companion then lurched
out of the inn and around to the alleyway at the rear. Undoing his breeches, he
broke wind violently then urinated against the wall.

    The
first blow was across the back of his neck. It made him double up in agony.
Before he could turn, other blows from a heavy object rained down on his head.
Froggatt flailed around madly, trying to grab his attacker, but his legs began
to buckle. A final relay of blows from the cudgel sent him dropping to the
ground in a pool of blood and urine.

    Roland
Trigg used a foot to turn the twitching carcass over.

    'Hello,
Ben,' he said with a grin. 'Remember me?'

    Abigail
Saunders was circumspect. Pleased to be introduced by Killigrew to a handsome young
man, she balked slightly when she realised that he was Henry Redmayne's
brother. The manager left the two of them alone in her dressing room so that
Christopher could try to talk his way past her obvious reservations.

    'I
heard what happened to your brother,' she said with a degree of concern. 'It
was dreadful. How is Henry?'

    'On
the mend, Miss Saunders.'

    'Good.'

    'I'm
sure he doesn't regret it.'

    'Regret
what?'

    'Coming
here yesterday afternoon,' said Christopher. 'Even if it cost him a beating, he
wouldn't have missed your performance as Aspatia.'