Marc went through the motions of confusingthe baronet about the time of his departure, asked him why hehadn’t mentioned the “hatless” business to Cobb when interviewed bythe constable, and pressed him moderately on the corpse being“invisible” in the Bard’s moonlight. That was all he could do – forthe moment. But in his own mind he knew that Shuttleworth could belying about not following Crenshaw out immediately and, if so,could not only have seen Brodie fleeing but noticed the unconsciousbody as well, after which he could have gone out to have a look,discovered Duggan just coming to (Brodie had left him on his back,but he had been found face-down), somehow engaged him in a briefdialogue, figured out who he was, and killed him. And while Budge’stestimony seemed to pin down the time of the actual clubbing,Budge’s grasp of what he saw and when was the least reliable of thefive “possibles,” as he had staggered around in a dark wine-cellarmuttering to himself about imperious wives and their suspicions.And, of course, he himself could be the murderer.
Kingsley Thornton announced that the Crownnow rested its case, and the judge adjourned proceedings until teno’clock Monday morning. Thornton smiled at Marc in a way thatsuggested a certain amount of sympathy for his rival’s unenviableposition (and just a touch of apprehension?). Apparently he had notconcluded that Marc’s ineffective cross-examination was entirelythe result of inexperience. Permission to recall the Crown’s keywitnesses was either a sign of desperation or a cunning stratagemnot yet fathomable.
It was the latter that Marc now felt he hadno choice but to implement. He could see no way to shake thecredibility of the Crown’s version of events. Convincing the jurythat Brodie’s “confession” was an elaborate ruse would not bedifficult for Thornton in his summation because its substantivedetails jibed flawlessly with the eye-witness accounts and becauseBrodie had been caught in a “lie” (omitting reference to the secondnote). Character-witnesses alone would not suffice. That left Marcwith his alternative-theory defense. However distasteful it mightbe, he would have to grill and badger and accuse. Moreover, withNestor Peck’s return, Marc now had a good chance of identifyingsome or all of Duggan’s blackmail victims for certain. If Nestorwas not recovered enough today to be interrogated, then he wouldsurely be well enough before Monday morning. That Nestor knew afair amount about his cousin’s activities was not in doubt. Ifnecessary, Marc could call Nestor to testify to what he did know,and thus would not have to rely upon the ambiguities of atarget-list scrawled on the inside of an envelope. It was alsopossible that Nestor had more than hearsay evidence of theparticular indiscretions of the victims, though Marc was not sure -even now – that he could bring himself to use such destructiveevidence in open court. Being a barrister, as he had discoveredabout everything else of importance in life, was not asstraightforward as it first seemed.
***
As Marc had now taken the decision to use thealternative-theory defense, he felt it was time to run the detailspast Robert Baldwin. After saying goodbye to Beth and Diana Ramsaybefore they headed across to the jail to visit and comfort Brodie,Marc walked the two-and-a-half blocks over to Baldwin House, hopingthat he might catch Robert there before he went off to theLegislature for the afternoon to witness the debate on the Toryamendments to the Union Bill. But he found only Clement Peachey inchambers. Peachey told him that Robert, Hincks and Dr. Baldwin wereexpected to go out to Spadina, the country residence, for theweekend, where a number of politicians would no doubt be invitedfor tea and manipulation. Robert had told Peachey, however, that hewould be back in chambers briefly later in the day to pick up somepapers and visit with his children for an hour. Marc decided tosketch out his defense in writing and leave it in a sealed envelopeon Robert’s desk. Peachey said he would make sure that Robert gotit.
With that, Marc went up Bay Street to TheCock and Bull, where, it being lunch-time, he found Cobb taking anoon meal in his “office.” Marc ordered a meat-pie and a flagon ofale, and briefed Cobb on the morning’s events.
“You ain’t asked me about Nestor,” Cobb said,polishing off his ale and drawing his sleeve across his lips.
“How did you find him this morning?”
“Out like a light, but snorin’ like a hog. Ifigure he’ll be ready to talk to us before the day’s out.”
“Could you get off your shift by suppertime?Say, six o’clock?”
Cobb looked amused. “Any time you say,major.”
“I’ll be at your place at six, then.”
“An’ won’t Nestor be pleased to see us!”
***
Marc spent a half-hour with Brodie to bring him upto date on the defense he had decided to use and the hopes he hadfor Nestor’s contribution to it. Having seen and heard for himselfthe near-impervious case laid out against him by Kingsley Thorntonin the courtroom, Brodie was resigned to accepting Marc’s strategy.Marc turned the talk towards happier topics, like Diana Ramsay andthe unwavering support she had offered her lover.
“When you get me acquitted,” Brodie said toMarc as he was leaving, “Diana wishes us to announce ourengagement.” The look of boyish hope that Brodie gave him as hemade this remark cut Marc to the quick.
***
“He’s ready to talk alright,” Dora said to Marc andher husband as she led them towards the spare-room. “He ain’tstopped tellin’ me about the awful days he spent in some shack upin the bush, fendin’ off bedbugs an’ ants an’ eatin’ food unfit ferhumans, even of the lowly variety.”
“That’s good news, then,” Marc said. “You’vedone wonders for him – and us.”
“An’ he’s startin’ to eat us outta house an’home,” Dora carried on, as she usually did when she latched onto atopic of interest to her. “I give him a coupla cups of soup when hewoke up, an’ by noon he was onto ham an’ eggs. If he keeps this up,we’ll haveta hire us another rooster to keep the hens happy.”
Nestor now looked quite comical, sitting onthe bed swathed in one of Cobb’s generous nightshirts. His facialfeatures had returned to their customary shrivelled condition, andthe tiny, shifty eyes were once again restless and wary in theirbony sockets.
“I know what you fellas want,” Nestor said asMarc and Cobb pulled up stools and sat opposite him.
“An’ we’re gonna get it, ain’t we,Nestor?”
“What’s in it fer me?” Nestor said.
“Savin’ yer miserable, good-fer-nothin’ hide,that’s what’s in it, you ungrateful – ”
“It’s okay, Cobb,” Marc said. “I believe thatNestor’s going to cooperate fully with us, in view of the fact thathe himself might be liable to criminal prosecution unless he canconvince us of his innocence by telling us the absolute truth.”
Nestor tried defiance briefly, then said witha sigh of resignation, “I guess I ain’t got much choice, haveI?”
“Not really,” Marc said. “Tell us first ofall why you ran away.”
Nestor stifled a sob, reached up to touch awell-salved wasp-bite on his chin, and said, “It wasn’t ‘cause Iwas scared the police would think I killed Albert. I was reallyscared the killer would think I was Albert’s partner an’ comelookin’ fer me, too.”
“That makes sense,” Marc said. “The questionnow is: were you in fact your cousin’s associate?”
“No!” Nestor cried, now truly frightened. “Iain’t never been one to break the law! You know that, don’t ya,Cobb?”
“We all give way to temptation sooner orlater,” Cobb said sententiously.
“What were you, then?” Marc said. “Didyou know, for example, that Albert was a multiple blackmailer?”
Nestor stared down at the inflamed wounds onthe back of his hands, in a plea for sympathy perhaps, and withoutlooking up, said, “I didn’t know at first. Honest, Cobb. You gottabelieve me.”
Cobb said nothing.
“Albert give me money when he first come hereto help us rent the stone-cottage, an’ told me it was an instalmenton his legacy from some dead uncle in Montreal. Every once in awhile he’d come up with some cash, an’ I figured it was from thedead uncle. But most of the time he said he was broke, an’ cadgedmoney offa me.”