A Dangerous Fortune(39)
He said: “I saw Samuel leaving—has he got something to do with this?”
Augusta spoke quietly, and Micky leaned close to hear her, so close she could have kissed him almost without moving. “He came to tell me he will not seek the position of Senior Partner.”
“Good news!”
“Yes. It means that the post will certainly go to my husband.”
“And Papa can have his rifles.”
“As soon as Seth retires.”
“It’s maddening the way old Seth hangs on!” Micky exclaimed. “Papa keeps asking me when it will happen.”
Augusta knew why Micky was so worried: he was afraid his father would send him back to Cordova. “I can’t imagine Seth will last much longer,” she said to comfort him.
He looked into her eyes. “But that’s not what has upset you.”
“No. It’s that wretched boy who drowned at your school—Peter Middleton. Samuel told me that Peter’s brother, a lawyer, has started asking questions.”
Micky’s fine face darkened. “After all these years?”
“Apparently he kept quiet for his parents’ sake, but now they’re dead.”
Micky frowned. “How much of a problem is this?”
“You may know better than I.” Augusta hesitated. There was a question she had to ask, but she was afraid of the answer. She screwed up her nerve. “Micky … do you think it was Edward’s fault the boy died?”
“Well….”
“Say yes or no!” she commanded.
Micky paused, then at last said: “Yes.”
Augusta closed her eyes. Darling Teddy, she thought, why did you do it?
Micky said quietly: “Peter was a poor swimmer. Edward didn’t drown him, but he did exhaust him. Peter was alive when Edward left him to chase after Tonio. But I believe he was too weak to swim to the side, and he drowned while no one was watching.”
“Teddy didn’t want to kill him.”
“Of course not.”
“It was just schoolboy horseplay.”
“Edward meant no real harm.”
“So it’s not murder.”
“I’m afraid it is,” Micky said gravely, and Augusta’s heart missed a beat. “If a thief throws a man to the ground, intending only to rob him, but the man suffers a heart attack and dies, the thief is guilty of murder, even though he did not intend to kill.”
“How do you know this?”
“I checked with a lawyer, years ago.”
“Why?”
“I wanted to know Edward’s position.”
Augusta buried her face in her hands. It was worse than she had imagined.
Micky prised her hands away from her face and kissed each hand in turn. The gesture was so tender that it made her want to cry. He continued to hold her hands as he said: “No sensible person would persecute Edward over something that happened when he was a child.”
“But is David Middleton a sensible person?” Augusta cried.
“Perhaps not. He appears to have nursed his obsession through the years. God forbid that his persistence should lead him to the truth.”
Augusta shuddered as she imagined the consequences. There would be a scandal; the gutter press would say SHAMEFUL SECRET OF BANKING HEIR; the police would be brought in; poor dear Teddy might have to go on trial; and if he should be found guilty—
“Micky, it’s too awful to contemplate!” she whispered.
“Then we must do something.”
Augusta squeezed his hands, then released them and took stock. She had faced the magnitude of the problem. She had seen the shadow of the gallows fall on her only son. It was time to stop agonizing and take action. Thank God, Edward had a true friend in Micky. “We must make sure David Middleton’s inquiries lead nowhere. How many people know the truth?”
“Six,” Micky said immediately. “Edward, you and me make three, but we aren’t going to tell him anything. Then there is Hugh.”
“He wasn’t there when the boy died.”
“No, but he saw enough to know that the story we told the coroner was false. And the fact that we lied makes us look guilty.”
“Hugh is a problem, then. The others?”
“Tonio Silva saw it all.”
“He never said anything at the time.”
“He was too frightened of me then. But I’m not sure he is now.”
“And the sixth?”
“We never found out who that was. I didn’t see his face at the time, and he has never come forward. I’m afraid there’s nothing we can do about him. However, if nobody knows who he is I don’t suppose he’s any danger to us.”
Augusta felt a fresh tremor of fear: she was not sure about that. There was always a danger the unknown witness might reveal himself. But Micky was right to say there was nothing they could do. “Two people we can deal with, then: Hugh and Tonio.”
There was a thoughtful silence.
Hugh could no longer be regarded as a minor nuisance, Augusta reflected. His pushy ways were gaining him credit at the bank, and Teddy looked plodding by comparison. Augusta had managed to sabotage the romance between Hugh and Lady Florence Stalworthy. But now Hugh was threatening Teddy in a much more dangerous way. Something had to be done about him. But what? He was a Pilaster, albeit a bad one. She racked her brains and came up with nothing.