[John Grey 04] - Fire by L. C. Tyler

Author:L. C. Tyler [Tyler, L. C.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Crime, Mystery & Detective, General
ISBN: 9781472122896
Google: MA1sDQAAQBAJ
Publisher: Constable
Published: 2017-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

‘Lord Ashley wishes to question Mr Hubert again,’ I say. ‘That will not be necessary,’ snaps Arlington. ‘I am satisfied that Hubert is blameless – mad, just as you report, but blameless for all that. It is scarcely surprising that he knew where the fire started. Everyone in London knows where the fire started – Pudding Lane. And, if he hadn’t heard before, this Smith person will doubtless have informed him. The story of arriving by ship is patently invented. Why should Peidloe have taken him to Sweden anyway? What was his purpose? It does not lie on his route from Paris to London – not by a thousand miles. It is not even a Catholic country. Hubert cannot tell us what he did there. Why? Because he never went there. And Lowman proved that no such ship had docked. It’s all a lie. A madman’s lie. As for his claim that he is a murderer, we still have no good evidence that the body we have is even Peidloe’s or, if it is, that he was murdered by Hubert. In the end we just have a handful of coins that anyone could have planted in his pocket before you arrived – the man you saw crouching over the body, for example. What was he doing if not that? Hubert can’t even remember how many conspirators there were – three or twenty-three – and doesn’t seem to think it matters very much. And he’s right. It doesn’t matter.’

‘And Mr Graunt?’ I say.

‘I have your report. It was very clear. He forgot to return the key after inspecting the taps. Taps that, by oversight, had been left turned off. There is no need to delve further into that.’

We look at each other. I know that Sir Thomas Clifford had a role in appointing Graunt. I cannot reveal that now without also revealing the source of my information and Sir Felix’s own indiscretion. But everything that Arlington says suggests he knows what happened as well as I do.

‘Even so, perhaps I should speak to Mr Graunt again,’ I say.

‘Mr Grey, when I asked you to help me, my wish was that you should interview Mr Graunt and Mr Hubert. You have now done this. As I say, your reports are quite clear, to me at least – there is no good reason to suspect either man of treason. I am grateful to you and shall ensure that the King sees them and that you are paid for your time. But I do not need you to speak to Mr Graunt again – he has told us all he can. I do not need you to speak to Mr Hubert again – I do not need to know that the number of conspirators is now thirteen or thirty-three or that he reached Sweden via Virginia or Constantinople. I do not need you to chase after Mr Smith. Above all, I do not need you to accuse me of withholding information from you. Your role in this matter is over.

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