Word of Honour (16 page)

He needed more information, and there was only one
way to find it.

Eyes down.

Some hours later darkness fell, putting a halt to any
further investigation of the site. Around the corner,
in the Incident Room set up in the vestry office of
St Olaf 's, he listened to each of the operatives report
their findings to Craddock. The operatives were packed
in, shoulder to shoulder. Craddock stood at a desk, his
hands behind his back. He had the manner of a man
who'd prepared himself for the worst, only to have his
expectations exceeded.

Aubrey sat against the wall and felt as if he'd been
hammered all over by gnomes with rolling pins. He knew
he'd have bruises in the morning. Caroline sat next to
him and listened carefully. He wondered where she'd
been while he was intent on his magical business. He
started to ask her, but she hushed him with a look.

The most interesting contribution came from the tree
raider, the operative who had fished the object from the
tree. It was placed on a table for all to examine. Aubrey
peered over shoulders to see that it was the remains of a
leather bag.

'No doubt that this contained the spell?' Craddock
asked.

'None,' the pole-wielding operative said. 'Feel the
residue. I'm surprised the bag lasted as long as it did.'

Craddock looked up. 'Fitzwilliam. You were there. Tell
us what you saw.'

The operatives drew back and allowed Aubrey space.
He took a deep breath, regretted it when a pulled
muscle tugged on his ribs, then reported on the events
leading up to the explosion. He went on to describe the
thundercloud's passage and disappearance. He began to
tell of Bloch's strange final words, but he held back.
He told himself that he wanted to clear up any possible
doubt that it was Dr Tremaine that Bloch had meant.
It was an excellent reason, he decided. 'Weather magic,'
he concluded.

'Obviously,' Craddock said.

Aubrey shuffled a little. 'The bag could have been put
there by anyone at the meeting.'

'Or it might have been placed there before the
meeting by persons unknown.'

The operatives – and Craddock – turned to see
Caroline standing. 'True,' Craddock said. 'But not very
helpful.'

'It's only helpful if it reminds us that our potential
suspects are not limited to those at the meeting,' Caroline
pointed out.

'And that the suspects need not be magicians,' Aubrey
put in.

'Go on,' Craddock said.

'Well,' Aubrey said, 'one of the uses of compression
spells is to allow non-magicians to use magic. They can
transport a spell, site it, then let it go off, provided the
original magician has limited the time variable accurately
enough.' Aubrey blinked.
Is that what happened on the
Electra?

'And that's a question,' Caroline said. 'Did the spell go
off when intended? Or was it too late? Or too early?'

'Did you two work this performance out beforehand?'
Craddock said, with chilly amusement.

Aubrey looked at Caroline. She looked at him. 'No,'
they said simultaneously.

'Pity.' Craddock moved on. 'It is as you say. Many
questions. Few answers.' He raised an eyebrow. 'Unless
you two have answers as well as questions?'

'No, nothing helpful,' Aubrey said. 'But you could ask
Rokeby-Taylor if he saw anything suspicious. He was
here right before the explosion.' Aubrey paused. Rokeby-Taylor was in the
Electra
, too, when it was magically
attacked. Unlucky, or . . .

Aubrey's train of thought was completely disrupted
when Craddock went on: 'Rokeby-Taylor? Good idea.
He's on Tallis's payroll so he's used to keeping an eye
open.'

Aubrey actually swayed a little at the unexpectedness
of the revelation. Rokeby-Taylor working for Special
Services? With his connections he could be a useful
source of information, however unlikely an operative he
seemed. And it could provide another reason for his
presence at St Olaf 's, other than generosity.

Or mayhem.

Craddock looked at the frowning faces of his operatives.
'Does anyone else have anything? No? Right, back
to Darnleigh House with the lot of you. Fitzwilliam, Miss
Hepworth, would you mind waiting behind a moment?'

Obediently, the operatives filed out.

'What is it, Commander?' Aubrey asked, but he was
stunned into silence by the figure who slipped into the
room.

'Ah, Manfred,' Craddock said. Aubrey had thought that
Craddock had looked tired, but any sign of exhaustion
vanished at the entrance of the Holmland performer.
'Let me introduce Miss Hepworth and Mr Fitzwilliam.
You've been asking to meet them and here they are.'

The Great Manfred bowed. 'I am honoured to meet
both of you. Especially the son of the Prime Minister.'

He wore a dark grey topcoat over a dark suit. His black
gloves and bowler hat looked expensive. Aubrey decided
that the sleight-of-hand business must pay well.

Or perhaps it was the spying business.

'It's been Manfred's investigating that suggested all is
not well between Holmlander groups in this country,'
Craddock said.

'Indeed,' Manfred said. He seemed remarkably unaffected
by the attack. Aubrey wondered what he was
accustomed to. 'It would appear as if the obvious culprits
come from a rival group here. Count Brandt has made
few friends in the established Holmlander community.'

Aubrey frowned. 'So you don't think it's the work of
the Holmland espionage agencies?'

'Unlikely. My information does not support this
conclusion. I have made the recommendation that your
government may have to begin interning Holmlanders
who are in sensitive positions.'

'What?' Caroline said. 'How can such an action be
taken in good conscience? We're not at war.'

'Not yet,' Manfred said.

'But it's inevitable,' Aubrey said, 'isn't it?'

Manfred shook a finger at Aubrey. 'Mr Fitzwilliam, you
should come to our country, you know. Top members of
the Circle are eager to have you visit, so you could see
for yourself how strong the pro-Albion sentiment is.
There is a chance we can stop this war before it starts.'

'The Circle?'

'Bloch mentioned them,' Caroline said. 'Arguing with
Brandt.'

'Not all Holmlanders support the Chancellor and his
government,' Manfred said. 'The Circle is a secret group
of those against him. Powerful people. Influential people.
Come, meet them, you will see for yourself that there is
a chance to topple the Chancellor and stop this madness.'

It was appealing. Aubrey had never been to Holmland
and he was all in favour of forestalling a war.

'I don't think so,' Craddock said before Aubrey could
respond. 'The Prime Minister's son on a clandestine
mission to talk to chief opponents of the Chancellor's
government? The relations between our two countries
is much too delicate for that.'

'I beg you to reconsider, Craddock,' Manfred said.
'It could be important.'

'Perhaps. We will monitor the situation.'

Manfred bowed. 'I hope we can facilitate this. It
may be vital.' He adjusted his gloves. 'One more thing,
Craddock. Count Brandt needs twenty thousand pounds.
He has a chance to sow serious dissent in Fisherberg and
we can't miss it.'

Aubrey had trouble believing what he heard. Twenty
thousand pounds?

'It shouldn't be a problem,' Craddock said and
Aubrey's astonishment was redoubled.
Twenty thousand
pounds, just like that?
'See me at Darnleigh House
tomorrow.'

Manfred left. Aubrey felt as if he were a shop assistant
and he'd been handed another sale item to fit into an
already crowded window display. He stood, hesitated,
glanced at Caroline, then hesitated again. She nodded,
very slightly, and he knew they were partners in intrigue.

'Yes?' Craddock said. 'Is there something else?'

'No, no. Just trying to make sense of everything.'

Craddock laughed a little. It was a quiet, almost
noiseless, laugh, mostly in the intake of breath. Aubrey
couldn't imagine the man putting his heart into a laugh.
'If you can make sense of everything, let me know. It's a
grand aim.'

Aubrey paused, then decided that giving Craddock
something might deflect the man's natural suspicions.
'Bloch mentioned that Dr Tremaine is advising the
Chancellor now.'

'Bloch mentioned this, did he?' Craddock nodded.
'Of course, it's something we've known for a while, but
it's useful to hear it from another source. Well done.'

He nodded to Caroline, then left, and Aubrey
felt guilty at not telling him everything, but also irritated
that Craddock hadn't shared his information
about Dr Tremaine with him.

'Can I walk you home?' he said to Caroline.

'Why didn't you tell him what Bloch said about
Dr Tremaine's plot?'

'I was just wondering that myself.' Aubrey shrugged.
'I thought we could investigate a bit more, first. Clear
things up.'

'Good. That's what I thought too.'

'We're holding a live grenade here,' Aubrey said. 'This
information could be vital.'

'I know. Let's not drop it.'

O
NCE THEY WERE AWAY FROM THE VICINITY OF THE
attack, Aubrey saw that the streets were themselves again.
In the north, toward the river, was the great brewery of
Rawlinson and Sons. A soupy, yeasty smell hung over
the whole neighbourhood. Various industrial yards were
strung out, silent in the darkness. A derelict pumping
station stood forlornly outlined against the night sky.

Aubrey thought of catching the underground, but the
stations were few and far between south of the river.
Instead he and Caroline walked, side by side, silently for
a time, making their way towards Earlchester Bridge.

'You want to catch Dr Tremaine by yourself, don't
you?' Caroline said. They were passing an old cable car
terminus. Aubrey wondered if they would ever rebuild it.

'I'm not the only one, I'm sure. But I'd like to be the
successful one.'

'I don't suppose I could interest you in something else?
Something perhaps more immediate?'

'Ah. You've been withholding information from
Craddock, too?'

'I made myself useful while you were busy. I talked to
people.'

'Information gathering. Commander Tallis would be
pleased.' He looked sharply at her. 'You didn't tell Craddock
what you found because you're going to tell Tallis,
is that it?'

'I haven't told anyone yet. I'm about to tell you.
Then we'll see what we'll do.'

'Excellent.'

'I wasn't just gossiping. We had injured among the
Holmlanders who hadn't left the area. I helped your
Dr Wells, from the Broad Street Clinic, tend to them,
and assisted those who seemed to know what they were
doing. A number of the Holmlanders were doctors, you
know, and one was a surgeon.'

Aubrey nodded. 'I thought they seemed well-educated.'

'I did notice one young woman who wasn't doing
anything. She was on the edges of the crowd, observing,
it seemed.'

'Holmlander?'

'Oh yes. A Holmlander suffragist – apparently a very
difficult thing to be. After some prompting, she was quite
scornful of Brandt's people.'

'Brandt's people aren't her people?'

'What she told me supports Manfred's story. Brandt's
group is only one of several Holmland ex-patriate communities
in Trinovant. Not all of them are friendly
toward each other.'

'Why should they be?'

'It's not just unfriendliness. My suffragist friend was
downright suspicious of Brandt's group. Too aristocratic,
she said. Couldn't understand what they were
doing here.'

'Things move quickly in politics. People fall out of
favour. Alliances shift.'

'But my informant was adamant that Count Brandt is
great friends with the Elektor's younger brother. They
hunted together, and my young friend worked in the
kitchens and as a serving maid. She said they were thick
as thieves.'

'So why did Brandt leave the country?' Aubrey
wondered. Then he remembered something. 'And last
night . . . he was on his way to see Spinetti, you said.'

'What does that mean?'

'It could mean the Holmlanders simply enjoy his
singing. Or it could mean something much more sinister,
if Spinetti is Dr Tremaine.'

'But how does this explain the attack today?'

Aubrey shrugged. 'It doesn't. But once I apprehend
Dr Tremaine, then his web will be revealed.'

'I see. As easy as that?'

Aubrey stopped. They'd reached the bridge. Traffic
clattered across it, while a steam barge chuffed its
way underneath, smoke easing its way from under
the vaults. 'Apprehending Dr Tremaine easy? I don't
think so.'

'Then why are you so determined to do it? And do it
alone?'

Because the greatest magician of our time might have the
answer to my condition.

'Does it have something to do with your condition?'
Caroline said suddenly.