"Weren't Pagan's men still guarding you?" Richards asked.
Jade shook her head. "They were all needed to keep Caine safe. Besides, I had Nathan's butler, Hudson, and the other servants to assist me."
"And then what happened?" Lyon asked.
"It was too dark for the servants to go to the graves. It was decided to wait until morning. That night,
the house was pillaged," she continued. "I slept through, however, and never heard a sound. Even my bedchamber was turned upside down."
"You must have been drugged," Richards announced.
"I can't imagine how it was done if I was drugged," Jade said. "The following morning, I rode one of Nathan's mounts back to the graves to see if any evidence had been left. Nathan's butler, Hudson, was having a difficult time believing me, you see, and I wanted to convince him. As it turned out, I never made it to the graves. The villains were obviously waiting to intercept me. They killed Nathan's horse.
I went flying to the ground."
"Good Lord, you could have been killed by the fall," Richards said.
"I was most fortunate, as I only sustained a few bruises," she explained. "I went running back to the house, told Hudson what had happened. He sent men to chase after the villains. When they returned, they told me they couldn't find any evidence of foul play. The horse had vanished. I'm not certain how that was accomplished. Caine said it would take more than three men to lift it into a wagon and cart it away."
She paused to shrug, then continued. "1 decided to go to London with all possible haste and immediately ordered the carriage made ready. Yet, as soon as we'd traveled down the first hill, the coachman shouted that there was a fire. We could see the smoke. I returned to the house just in time to witness the full fire. Poor Nathan's house was gutted to the ground. I then ordered Hudson and the other servants to go to Nathan's London residence, then once again set out for my own destination."
"And where was that?" Lyon asked. "Were you also going to Nathan's town house?"
Jade smiled. "No, I was going to a tavern called the Ne'er Do Well. I had a plan, you see, to get Caine away from his hunt."
Lyon nodded.
"1 don't understand," Richards interjected. "What exactly was this plan? Caine isn't one to be easily fooled, my dear."
"I'll explain it all later," Caine interjected. "Let her finish with this now."
"On the way to London, the carriage was waylaid. I was hit on the side of my head. The blow made
me sleep, and when I awakened, I found that the carriage had been torn apart. I was able to squeeze through the window after I'd widened the frame with the heel of my boot."
"And then?" Richards asked-
"I walked."
"All the way to London?" Lyon asked.
"No," Jade answered. "Not all the way. I was able to… borrow a horse from a way station. It was unattended. The owner was probably inside having his supper."
Jade finished her accounting a few minutes later. She never mentioned the fact that she was Pagan,
and Caine assumed he would have to be the one to tell Sir Richards and Lyon.
Just what was her game? Lord, by the time she'd finished her recitation, she was dabbing at the corners
of her eyes with Richards' handkerchief.
The director was obviously shaken by her explanation. He leaned back in his chair and shook his head.
"Do you know who the other members of the Tribunal are?" Jade asked him.
"No."
"But you knew Hammond, didn't you?" she asked. "I understood that the two of you started out together."
"Yes, we started out together," Richards agreed. "Yet after a number of years, my dear, we were each given a different division within the War Department. Hammond had so many young men under his direction back then. He ran his own section. I met quite a few eager young saviors, but certainly not all
of them."
"We have several telling clues," Lyon interjected. "It shouldn't take us long to find out the truth."
"The first letter was signed by a man named William. They hadn't been assigned their operative names yet. Hell, that's the most common name in England," Caine added. "How many Williams work for the War Office?"
Jade answered his question. "Actually, there were only three in Hammond's files."
Everyone turned to look at her. "Pagan read the files," she whispered. She blushed, then added, "It was necessary. There's William Pryors, William Terrance, and William Clayhill. All three worked for your department, Sir Richards. Two are still alive, though retired from duty, but William Terrance died four years ago."
"You're certain of these facts?" Lyon asked.
"How did Pagan get to our files?" Richards was obviously disconcerted. "By God, no one can get through our security."
"Pagan did," Caine said. He took over the conversation then, explaining in more detail how the pirate
had set out to protect him. He told them about Colin's and Nathan's near miss with the sharks, too.
When he was finished, no one said a word for a long while.
Jade was gripping her hands together. It wasn't a pretense now, but the memory of the sharks that made her so agitated.
"Three eager young men, bent on saving the world," Richards whispered. "But the lust for power
became more important."
Jade nodded agreement. "Did you notice, sir, that the first letters were signed with the wording, 'for the good of England,' but as time went on, and they grew more and more bold, they changed the wording?"
"I noticed," Sir Richards muttered. " 'For the good of the Tribunal' was how they signed their notes,"
he added. "And that does say it all, doesn't it. There can be no misinterpretation here."
"Her father was killed by the two others when he refused to go along with their plans, and then Hammond was murdered," Caine said.
Richards nodded. "We must find the other two," he muttered. "Lord, there's so much to take in." He let out a weary sigh, then said, "Well, thank God Pagan seems to be on our side. When I think of all the damage he could do with those files, my blood runs cold."
"Oh, Pagan's very honorable," Jade rushed out. "Most thieves are, sir. You mustn't worry that the information will fall into the wrong hands."
"Did that bastard read my file?" Lyon demanded.
Caine didn't answer him. He didn't think there was any reason to share the truth with his friend. It would only upset him.
"The very fact that there were sharks in those waters," Richards whispered, changing the topic. "Do you realize the courage it must have taken…"
"Have you finished your questions?" Jade interrupted.
The director immediately reached out and patted her hands again. "We've exhausted you, haven't we,
my dear? I can tell how distressing this is for you."
"Thank you for your consideration," she whispered. She stood up and didn't protest at all when Richards embraced her.
"We'll find the culprits, I promise you," he said.