Lessons in Solving the Wrong Problem - Charlie Cochrane Page 0,52
your profile surely confirms we’re on the right track—but it’s more than that. Lord Henry still bears his brother’s death and his mother’s sightings very heavily on his soul. He mentioned those to us long before he told us about the treasure, which I believe reflects his sub-conscious priorities. Presenting him with information about what happened to some old coins and jewellery is less important than his peace of mind.”
Their host leaned forward, fingers steepled to his lips. “I can’t tell you anything. I swore to my mother that I’d never reveal the story to another soul, not even my wife.”
Jonty glanced at Orlando. He would be the man to tackle this.
“That vow we would regard as sacred. I am myself sworn to keep somebody’s secret as part of our investigation.” Orlando’s dignity and solemnity proved, as always, an impressive combination. “Perhaps we should simply tell you what we believe and if we are wildly wrong you can laugh us out of the house. All I would wish is that we can tell Lord Henry, in truth, that his mother wasn’t delusional or going mad, but that she saw a real child who reminded her of her own. You need never speak to your half-brother of it, if half-brother he is, and he need never know of the connection. If he hasn’t worked it out by now, then likely he never will.”
Fitznagel hadn’t quite stood down from battle quarters but had discernibly relaxed at Orlando’s words. “Tell me your theory.”
“Your mother was Christine Saggers. William, while he may have been your godfather, was also your uncle. Your father was Lord Michael Byrd and you bore a remarkable resemblance to his son Edward, who was a similar age.” Orlando spoke without notes, keeping his gaze fixed on their hosts. “As you’ve already said, you were a sickly child so didn’t need to be kept hidden when very young, although once you’d begun to strengthen, that changed. You began to wander, or were perhaps taken to places like the old ruined chapel. Boys need exercise. You were probably seen there by Edward, which is why he didn’t like the place. He told his nurse he’d seen himself there.”
“Good God. I never knew.” Fitznagel put his hands to his head.
“We’ll pretend we didn’t hear that.” Orlando smiled and continued. “Your wandering led to you being seen by Lord Michael’s wife. Your mother took you abroad soon after, which would have been at least in part—one assumes—to eliminate the risk of your being seen. You carry on that tradition, by not becoming involved in county life.”
“I could not move from this house, no matter what common sense might say. I have long regarded it as the safest of safe havens and to eschew local society is not an unpleasant price to pay.” From the fact Fitznagel added no more, the conclusion had to be drawn that they’d been correct in what they’d deduced.
“The pull of one’s first home cannot be underestimated,” Jonty said, keen, while they appeared to have their host’s confidence, to press one final matter. “Lord Michael—we’ll refer to him merely as that—was killed in an accident. We have suspicious minds, probably with having been tasked with looking into so many different cases, none of which have been straightforward. It is possible, although there is no evidence for the fact, that the accident was deliberately caused by somebody wishing him harm.” Jonty noted Fitznagel’s signal to proceed. “If there is anything you can tell us, without breaking the vow you made to your mother, then we’d be very grateful. Again, we can promise that if we reach any conclusions about the matter, conclusions we then share with Lord Henry, nobody from the Saggers family will be mentioned in any way.”
“Let me think for a moment.” Fitznagel rose from the desk and moved to the study window, which looked out on a pleasing vista of lawn and trees. After a minute or so and still with his face to the glass, he said, “I believed you came here to extort money from me. That may be a strange conclusion to have leaped to, but my family have always had an abhorrence of such things. It would not be breaking a confidence to say that my mother believed the late Richard Fitznagel was being blackmailed because of me. You will no doubt understand my meaning.”
“We do.” Orlando gave Jonty a nod.
Further confirmation that they had guessed aright, not least because if Richard Fitznagel had