So, I hadn’t been the only one to see that terrifying apparition. I could no longer assume it was an hallucination caused by my jangled nerves. Someone did push Maloney over the side, or at the very least wrestled with him before he fell. That was what saved the Earl’s life, at the cost of Maloney’s. And now his enemies intended to use the fact against the Earl.
The conclusion was also unavoidable that there was indeed an informer in the house, someone who knew everything down to the finest detail. But who could it be?
“I see from the letter that someone else witnessed Maloney’s accident. In fact they seem to have seen rather more than I did. Why don’t you use their evidence?”
“You’re too nosy. I’m the only one here in a position to ask questions. But to the business in hand. If I get the witness statement from you, then you get the manuscript from me.”
“Excellent. But would you explain what this manuscript is to me, János Bátky? It’s not my fault that it was stolen. If I don’t get it back, I’ll return to Llanvygan tomorrow and leave the rest to the police. After this little interview I can at least give them a detailed description of you.”
“Fine. But don’t you think their first action might be to arrest you?”
“Me? Whatever for? The Earl knows me, and knows how innocent I am.”
“Are you so sure?” the loathsome stranger asked. And he laughed quietly to himself, very unpleasantly.
“I’m absolutely sure,” I replied heatedly. “The Earl told me so himself. Otherwise he would never have sent me for the manuscript.”
“That was the day before yesterday. Since then, things have changed. You might well be innocent, but appearances are now against you.”
“How?”
“Thanks to your wonderful naivety. I find it delightful that there are still such innocent souls in the world. Look, before you’d even arrived in London the Earl wrote to his solicitor, Alexander Seton, to inform him of your business. I’ve had dealings with Seton. He’s the most canny Scot who ever left the Highlands. You can be quite sure he’s had you tailed ever since you arrived. His man is probably here in the room as we speak. You began your series of blunders by not calling on him. But actually, you did well not to. If you’d gone in a taxi, the taxi would have had a very nasty accident … But you didn’t call on him. Instead you did everything you could to bring suspicion on yourself.”
“For example?”
“The moment you got hold of the manuscript, the first thing you did was to contact Mrs Roscoe. Moreover, you were her guest for the night.”
“Mrs Roscoe? … But I’ve never had the pleasure of meeting the lady.”
“Of course, you could claim that you didn’t know Eileen St Claire was Roscoe’s widow. But who would believe you, when every shoeblack in Mayfair knows it?”
I grabbed at the table, and succeeded in tipping my coffee cup over. Luckily it was empty.
My friend with the green face ordered two brandies from a passing waiter. I certainly needed a lift after this thunderbolt. So Eileen St Claire was the mysterious Roscoe heiress on whose person all these threads converged. And I … well, well, well …
“Better now?” he asked. “Anyway, if for nothing else than Mrs Roscoe’s … er … hospitality, the noble lord will hate you for the rest of his life. For sentimental reasons. I don’t know whether he is still in love with his former fiancée, but in any case this is his Achilles’ heel. He’s destroyed the career of a great many men who got too friendly with her. My own among them.”
Lines of unexpected bitterness appeared on his coldly evil face. This must have been his Achilles’ heel too …
“But it occurs to me that I’ve forgotten to introduce myself. James Morvin, physician, family doctor to the Roscoes. The same Morvin the Earl believes killed William Roscoe with an artificially induced tropical disease. You see the connection.”
“Yes,” I agreed. I felt sick. How had I come to the point where a murderer bought me brandies? Anyway, I ordered another two, if only to get on level terms.
“Now,” he continued. “If Seton is having you watched, he’ll supply evidence that you spent this evening in my company. I reckon it would take divine forbearance not to find that suspicious. Since you arrived in town, the only people you’ve spoken to are the Earl’s enemies.”
“The truth has triumphed over worse appearances,” I proclaimed grandly, without conviction.
“But it’s not all over yet. The manuscript has of course disappeared, and you can give no explanation where it might be. However, one fine day, the Earl will get it back, together with a nice friendly letter from me. In the letter I shall specify the sum for which you sold it to me.”
“I don’t think he’d believe you.”
“Sir, even the most palpably false libel will leave a stain on a person’s character. But that’s not all. Prior to that, the Earl will learn, from someone in whom he has total confidence, that you put it about the length and breadth of London that Maloney was murdered.”
I had a sudden idea.
“Don’t forget that I’ve written proof in my hands. The letter I got this morning. In that letter you clearly state that the manuscript is in your possession.”
For some minutes he was unable to speak for laughing.
“What could you prove with that? With an anonymous letter, typewritten and produced on your own Royal portable. People will say you wrote it yourself.”
By now I was so distressed I could hardly stay in my seat.
“Sir, if you propose a campaign of lies and slanders against me, you could say even more fantastic things about me. That, for example, at the age of three I impaled my grandmother. Or that I’ve sworn to cut off the King’s beard. But tell me, for God’s sake, what good it will do you to start persecuting me? What have I, János Bátky of Budapest, got to do with this? I think I’ll leave the country tomorrow.”
“Relax. Pull yourself together. It’s all very simple. All I wanted was to show you that your standing with the Earl has been destroyed, once and for all. There’ll be no red carpet rolled out for you at Llanvygan. I really don’t know what you were after. Did you expect the Earl to pay money for your services? — though I’m aware you don’t specially need it. Did you plan to run off with the little blue-stocking Cynthia, or do you fancy young Osborne …? But it’s all one. Whatever your plan was, you must say goodbye to it. On the other hand, things could open up very nicely for you, if you’re clever, and listen to what I have to say.”
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t know whether you’ve any idea of Mrs Roscoe’s wealth and influence. The mind of gentleman scholars such as yourself isn’t usually capable of imagining it. I don’t want to list the companies, the mines, the real estate … but, to give you a rough idea, her wealth accumulates at the rate of fifty pounds a minute, even when she’s sleeping.”
“That’s obscene!”
“Now it depends entirely on you whether you connect yourself with this vast fortune, in whatever way you prefer. If you were of an active, outgoing nature, you might become the managing director of a major company … ”
“I’d rather not.”
“No, I didn’t think that would fit in with your inclinations. But give it some thought, and tell me what you’d like. If you have academic ambitions, let me know at which British university you’d like to be a reader. If it’s literature you fancy, we can create a journal from which you can demolish every other literary periodical in the country. Or, you might like to become a great landowner in Hungary, on the Great Plain. If you like travelling, you could have a yacht and all expenses paid for a year … two years … three? Well?”
“ … ”