Rat Race - By Dick Francis Page 0,65

water, gave me the glass and waved me to an armchair.

‘Now, my dear chap…?’

It suddenly seemed difficult, what I had come to ask him, and what to explain. He was so transparently honest, so incapable of double dealing: I wondered if he could comprehend villainy at all.

‘I was talking to Annie Villars about your horse Rudiments,’ I said.

A slight frown lowered his eyebrows. ‘She was annoyed with me for letting her friend Rupert Tyderman advise me… I do so dislike upsetting Annie, but I’d promised… Anyway, she has sorted it all out splendidly, I believe, and now that her friend has turned out to be so extraordinary, with that bomb, I mean, I don’t expect he will want to advise me about Rudiments any more.’

‘Did he, sir, introduce to you any friend of his?’

‘Do you mean Eric Goldenberg? Yes, he did. Can’t say I really liked the follow, though. Didn’t trust him, you know. Young Matthew didn’t like him, either.’

‘Did Goldenberg ever talk to you about insurance?’

‘Insurance?’ he repeated. ‘No, I can’t remember especially that he did.’

I frowned. It had to be insurance.

It had to be.

‘It was his other friend,’ said the Duke, ‘who arranged the insurance.’

I stared at him. ‘Which other friend?’

‘Charles Carthy-Todd.’

I blinked. ‘Who?’

‘Charles Carthy-Todd,’ he repeated patiently. ‘He was an acquaintance of Rupert Tyderman. Tyderman introduced us one day. At Newmarket races, I think it was. Anyway, it was Charles who suggested the insurance. Very good scheme, I thought it was. Sound. Very much needed. An absolute boon to a great many people.’

‘The Racegoers’ Accident Fund,’ I said. ‘Of which you are Patron.’

‘That’s right.’ He smiled contentedy. ‘So many people have complimented me on giving it my name. A splendid undertaking altogether.’

‘Could you tell me a little more about how it was set up?’

‘Are you interested in insurance, my dear chap? I could get you an introduction at Lloyd’s… but…’

I smiled. To become an underwriter at Lloyd’s one had to think of a stake of a hundred thousand pounds as loose change. The Duke, in his quiet good natured way, was a very rich man indeed.

‘No sir. It’s just the Accident Fund I’m interested in. How it was set up, and how it is run.’

‘Charles sees to it all, my dear chap. I can’t seem to get the hang of these things at all, you know. Technicalities, and all that. Much prefer horses, don’t you see?’

‘Yes, sir, I do see. Could you perhaps, then, tell me about Mr Carthy-Todd? What he’s like, and so on.’

‘He’s about your height but much heavier and he has dark hair and wears spectacles. I think he has a moustache… yes, that’s right, a moustache.’

I was jolted. The Duke’s description of Charles Carthy-Todd fitted almost exactly the impression Nancy had had of Tyderman’s companion. Dozens of men around, though, with dark hair, moustache, glasses…

‘I really meant, sir, his… er… character.’

‘My dear chap. Sound. Very sound. A thoroughly good fellow. An expert in insurance, spent years with a big firm in the city.’

‘And… his background?’ I suggested.

‘Went to Rugby. Then straight into an office. Good family, of course.’

‘You’ve met them?’

He looked surprised at the question. ‘Not actually, no. Business connection, that’s what I have with Charles. His family came from Herefordshire, I think. There are photographs in our office… land, horses, dogs, wife and children, that sort of thing. Why do you ask?’

I hesitated. ‘Did he come to you with the Accident Scheme complete?’

He shook his fine head. ‘No, no, my dear chap. It arose out of conversation. We were saying how sad it was for the family of that small steeplechase trainer who was drowned on holiday and what a pity it was that there wasn’t some scheme which covered everyone engaged in racing, not just the jockeys. Then of course when we really went into it we broadened it to include the racing public as well. Charles explained that the more premiums we collected the more we could pay out in compensation.’

‘I see.’

‘We have done a great deal of good already.’ He smiled happily. ‘Charles was telling me the other day that we have settled three claims for injuries so far, and that those clients are so pleased that they are telling everyone else to join in.’

I nodded. ‘I’ve met one of them. He’d broken his ankle and received a thousand pounds.’

He beamed. ‘There you are, then.’

‘When did the scheme actually start?’

‘Let me see. In May, I should think. Towards the end of May. About two months ago. It took a