"How was the attack made on the merchant ship, and what was the merchantman's name?"
"The ship was the Topaz. The privateer came up from astern, following the line of ships, and went alongside the Topaz and attacked her."
"Was there any chance," Goddard asked, "of the privateer being seen from the Lion!"
"None," Croucher said. "It was a dark night and she was a mile or so away, and hidden against all the ships on the northern side of the convoy."
"Was a ship responsible for that section of the convoy?"
"Yes, the Triton."
"Did she prevent the attempt?"
"She eventually fired from a distance."
"At what distance, and from what bearing?"
"From perhaps a mile. From the starboard bow of the convoy."
Ramage wondered if he would remember all the discrepancies.
"For how long did the Triton engage the privateer - or, at least, fire on her?"
"For perhaps a quarter of an hour."
Napier said: "Can you be more precise?"
"For a quarter of an hour."
"Did the privateer capture the Topaz!" Goddard asked.
"No, the Topaz drove her off with her own guns, and the Greyhound frigate came up and captured her."
"What, to the best of your knowledge and belief, would you have expected the Triton to have done?"
"Hauled her wind and come up to the privateer before she reached the Topaz"
Captain Robinson raised his hand.
"Are you aware of any reason why she did not do so?" he asked.
"None. Nor did the prisoner subsequently give any."
"Answer only the question you are asked," Napier said. "Strike the last part of that answer from the minutes."
Goddard wriggled impatiently and, at a gesture from Napier, continued the questioning.
"From your long experience as an officer and from your knowledge of the circumstances, did the action of the prisoner lead you to any conclusions?"
Hmm, thought Ramage, very neat. It's probably phrased illegally but none of us knows enough of the law to challenge it. Napier is frowning but obviously not sure of his ground.
"Yes," Croucher said, almost whispering, "he fell under the tenth, twelfth and seventeenth Articles of War."
"Can you be more specific?"
Croucher shifted from one foot to the other as though Goddard was forcing him to give the required answers.
"He kept back from the fight; he did not engage the ship he should have engaged; he did not do his utmost. He did not defend the ships of the convoy."
Captain Innes, sitting nearest to Ramage, turned to Croucher.
"You have deposed that the Triton did open fire."
"Yes," Croucher said.
Goddard asked: "In the time available - from the time of sighting the privateer - could she have closed the range?"
"Stop!" Napier said crisply. "Strike out that question."
Ramage stood up. "With respect, sir, I don't object to it."
"Good heavens!" Napier exclaimed. "Very well, carry on."
Croucher said: "Yes, she could have closed the range."
"No more questions," Goddard said.
"The court has some questions before the prisoner examines the witness. You said the Lion was a mile ahead of the convoy?"
"About a mile, to the best of my knowledge."
"And ahead of the centre?"
"Yes."
"How many columns of ships were there in the convoy, and how far apart?"
"Seven, and two cables apart."
"So the front of the convoy extended two thousand four hundred yards?"
"That is correct."
"And the Triton was 'perhaps a mile' on the starboard bow of the convoy?"
"That is correct."
"Thank you," Napier said.
Napier's spotted a discrepancy, Ramage thought, cursing his mathematics. As Syme began reading back the evidence, Ramage pencilled a right-angled triangle on a piece of paper, wrote in "Lion" at the apex, "centre ship" at the right angle, and "Topaz" at the other end of the base line. One mile from the Lion to the centre ship; twelve hundred yards from the centre ship to the Topaz. The hypotenuse would be the distance from the Lion to the Topaz.
He drew a second triangle, substituting the Triton for the Topaz, so the base was the distance from the centre ship to the Triton. The hypotenuse was the distance from the Lion to the Triton. Bully for Pythagoras. A mile and a quarter from the Lion to the Topaz; roughly two miles to the Triton. Two? He checked his figures again. A few yards short of two.
"The prisoner may examine the witness," Napier said.
Ramage stood up.
"Could you tell the court the position assigned to the Triton!"
"Abreast the Topaz and two cables off."
"If the Triton was as far out of position as a mile off, why did you not make a signal to her?"
"I could not see her in the darkness!"
"So you did not know she was there?"
"No," Croucher said indignantly, not noticing the infuriated look on Goddard's face.
"But you have already told the court where the Triton was. How did you see her and estimate the distance?"
"From the flash of the guns when she opened fire."
"Would you agree that the distances," Ramage asked, glancing at his notes, "were from the Lion to the Topaz roughly a mile and a quarter, and from the Lion to the Triton, about two miles?"
"Without pencil and paper, I cannot."
Napier said: "If the witness will accept the court's mathematics, those distances agree approximately with the evidence the witness has already given."
"I'm grateful," Croucher said.
"When the Triton opened fire on the privateer, what was her rate of fire?"
"Slow and sporadic," Croucher said uncertainly. "Single guns."
"How slow, would you estimate?"
"Two or three guns a minute. Less, perhaps."
"But you saw the flashes and you knew they were the Triton's guns?"
"Of course."
"Can you, under oath," Ramage said deliberately, emphasizing each word, "explain how you estimated the distance of two miles in the dark with such certainty when you only had 'slow and sporadic' flashes to go by?"
"Experience, of course. I have served at sea for many years," Croucher said stiffly.
"Would you care to describe your previous experience in estimating distances under such circumstances, and what proof you subsequently had that such estimates were correct?"
Goddard leapt to his feet.
"Impertinence," he shouted. "Sheer damn'd impertinence. The accused is impugning the honour of one of the most experienced-"
"Order!" Napier snapped. "You will not make further interruptions of that nature. The question is perfectly in order. It is a very important point, and the court is trying to get at the truth of this matter."
The seven captains round the table looked at Croucher.
"One can never subsequently check one's estimates; that's absurd. But after being in action many times ..."
Ramage waited, but when Croucher said no more he knew there was no need to labour the point.
"You referred to a privateer," he said. "Could you tell the court the nature of this vessel?"