Lessons in Solving the Wrong Problem - Charlie Cochrane Page 0,48
weight and showing that degree of blossoming which comes with expecting a child?”
“My wits must be failing me. Or I’ve been too busy coursing one hare to have noticed all the others frolicking in the field.” Why hadn’t Henry’s father had the decency to mention Christine, because that would have made everyone’s life easier? The question was rhetorical, Orlando knowing perfectly well that it had been decency which had made him keep his mouth shut. “Her bearing a child would also explain why she kept herself hidden away in the country. If the son bore such a notable resemblance to his father or his half-siblings, he’d have had to be kept out of society, too.”
“Yes. There might also be a link to Christine suddenly going off travelling, despite having settled to country life. The child started to wander off, just as his half-sibling liked to. Word got around that he’d been seen and mistaken for Edward’s ghost. He might have been taught to run off if he saw anyone from the big house, but you know what little boys are like. This is excellent beer, by the way.”
“It is. I think it’s acting as a restorative to my mental faculties.” They both took another draft. “The godson who inherited Five Oaks and whose family went abroad when he was a child. So you think he’s actually Saggers’s nephew?”
“I’d have said so. There’s all the business with the Byrds not being invited to Saggers’s funeral, too. Easily explained if Christine wanted to keep her head down. We need to get a name for that godson from Henry, because while he told me what it was, I don’t remember. We can then put Papa on the trail of a birth certificate.”
“I think I can guess his Christian name. William. Like his uncle. That would make more sense of the plea to look after William.” It also made sense of those dying words. It’s not the boy’s fault. My own stupidity. Were it not for him, I’d be alive. “Perhaps his lordship hadn’t simply been visiting his mistress when he’d visited the Saggers’s household. He might have been visiting the child, too.”
“I wonder if he showed more affection to his by-blow than his legitimate offspring? If people want to hide this kind of indiscretion, they generally—or so I’m told—pack the mother off half-way across the country. A risk to have the boy so close to home, unless the understanding was that he must never show his face. Which he continues not to do, according to Henry.” Jonty contemplated what was left in his glass, then polished it off. “If the birth certificate is a job for Papa, then this is one for Mama. She can charm some information out of her new friend Mrs Billings.”
“So, one mystery has a possible solution. I think I can present a viable explanation for another one.”
“Excellent. I think this calls for another half a pint.” Jonty scooped up their glasses, went to get the drinks, then returned ready to listen.
“Thank you.” Orlando raised his glass to the light, admiring the colour of the brew. Excellent indeed. “Mary pretends to nap and sees exactly where the treasure gets dug up. Tells her brother Jude about it, perhaps to get him off her back. He’d been a labourer on the estate so had the strength and skill with a spade to dig it up.”
“There’s nothing new in that.”
“No,” Orlando sipped his beer, savouring both the brew and the build-up to sharing his thoughts, “but consider this. Henry’s father opened some trenches on the estate, without success. Applecross mentioned them and the fact he wasn’t sure where they had been. If Mary’s brother had helped to dig them, even if it was merely a matter of removing the turf and the upper layers of soil, he’d have known exactly where they were.”
“Go on. I think I see at last where this is heading, but don’t let me deprive you of your moment of triumph.”
“I’m pleased to hear it. Jude lifts the treasure, stuffs some of it in a convenient sack or a deep pocket, then deposits the rest where one of the old trenches had been put in. The ground would surely be easier to turn over, especially if the digging had happened relatively recently. He never returns to get it, because he’s killed by the train after spending his newly and ill-gotten money.”
“Orlando, that’s brilliant. I like theories that cover all the facts. I raise my glass to you.”