Watchers Of Time Part 35

The logs on the hearth crackled and sent sparks flying, but no one noticed. A gust of rain rattled against the windows. May Trent waited.

Rutledge forced himself not to look at her. But Lord Sedgwick and Edwin were staring at her with an almost malevolent expression, as if she had called them liars. And she had.

"My dear lady," Sedgwick said. "Virginia was a wretched sailor-it's very doubtful that she ever left her stateroom!"

May Trent answered, "But I'd have known that, too. Women gossip on s.h.i.+pboard, Lord Sedgwick, just as they do at a garden party. We knew who was a.s.signed to our table, to our lifeboat stations. Who was available for bridge, who had been confined to bed. Her name wasn't there." She looked at Arthur and her face wisted with disgust. "How could you callously use that tragedy for "How could you callously use that tragedy for your own ends? I find it appalling!" your own ends? I find it appalling!"

Arthur's mouth tensed, but he said nothing. His reflection in the dark gla.s.s of the French doors was a study in control. Yet his hands, locked behind his back, clenched until the knuckles were white.

Rutledge turned to Lord Sedgwick. "And as Herbert Baker lay dying, he couldn't face the prospect that he was taking with him the one bit of knowledge that might clear up the mystery of what really happened to your daughter-in-law. Trying to set his soul in order, he sent for Father James, not because he was a priest, but because this man because this man cared as much about Virginia Sedgwick's fate as Baker cared as much about Virginia Sedgwick's fate as Baker had had. The one man in Osterley who could be counted on to use the information wisely! And that's why Father James had to die-there was no way of knowing whether what Baker confided to the priest was under the seal of Confession or had been told man to man, with a simple promise binding the priest."

There was the shock of truth in Lord Sedgwick's face now. Arthur and Edwin swung around to look at their father. And he gave them no sign.

Rutledge frowned at Arthur. "I was convinced you killed Father James. I was coming here to break the news to your father. Until today, when I discovered two witnesses who placed not you but your father at the rectory that night. And I realized then that he'd been the killer." Facing Sedgwick, he said, intent on angering the man, "It was quite clever to empty the tin box, to leave a false trail. Certainly Inspector Blevins was convinced by it. You have a flair for planning murder."

Lord Sedgwick met Rutledge's eyes with arrogance. "It doesn't matter if you have a dozen witnesses. I think it's time you left this house."

There was an uneasy moment in the room. Edwin, leaning over the back of a chair, his hands lightly gripping the wood frame, was watching the fire. Arthur started toward a chair and then changed his mind, toying with the photographs on the table.

Hamish said, "Watch your back!"

Indeed, there was an odd intensity in their postures. These three men had spent a lifetime with no leavening to counteract the ferocious ambition that had driven them since the day they were born. It was what their character was all about: the paramount importance of a goal set in the first generation.

Rutledge rose, as if preparing to leave. He wasn't comfortable sitting any longer. He said to Sedgwick, "When Walsh escaped, you sent your sons to search for him, and then borrowed old Tom Randal's mare, and went after him yourself. You found him because you know the land around here better than anyone else-you'd grown up on it, with an old sheepman training your eye. And you killed Walsh-with a hammer-or the shoe Honey had cast. Using it with a polo swing and the full weight of the galloping horse behind your arm. And the Sedgwick luck held-you caught him just right. The police inquiry into the death of a priest was closed."

"Don't be ridiculous! How could I have got to this Randal's farm, without my motorcar being seen as I drove through Osterley? Besides, Arthur was using it, in the search! And there's my gout-" Sedgwick was on his feet. "If you won't leave of your own accord, I'll have my sons throw you out. I won't stand for this in my own house."

"Yes, you've taken every opportunity to remind me of your gout. Your son Edwin rides Arthur's motorcycle. I wouldn't be surprised if you do as well." He turned to the sons.

"If you try to cover up what your father has done, if you refuse to help me, you'll be tarred by the same brush. It will be the end of your family-"

He read cold calculation in hard eyes, an uncompromising facade of unity. They were ranged between him and the door, a solid phalanx of enmity.

Hamish warned, "It's no' what you think-"

Rutledge felt shock. Like cold water thrown in his face.

How could he have got it so wrong?

He said, "May. Will you wait for me in the car, please? I'll be out in five minutes." His voice was pleasant, but there was command in it.

She started to protest, then stood up. The atmosphere had changed subtly, and his order had frightened her.

"If you don't come, I'll drive back to town, shall I?"

"Yes. By all means."

She nodded and walked into the hall, drawing her coat back around her shoulders. They could hear the outer door open-and then shut behind her.

Rutledge walked to the windows, and stood there with his back to them. He could feel the draft coming through the gla.s.s, cold and damp. It felt like hope.

"I was wrong," he said, into the waiting silence. "I realize my mistake now."

Sedgwick said, "You won't be able to pursue this. And your career will be destroyed. I have that power. You know I do. If you leave now, I'll undertake to guarantee that your silence will protect that young woman who just left. You would be wise to heed me."

Rutledge said wearily, "Arthur killed his wife, didn't he? And you, Lord Sedgwick, killed Father James. But it was Edwin who killed Walsh. Arthur's back won't allow him to ride that strenuously. And you were busy ordering your staff to search the house and grounds, the outbuildings and the sheepfolds." He paused. He'd blended conjecture and experience and intuition in a unholy weave of truth. But he didn't want to hear the answer to his last question. "In G.o.d's name-why!"

"She was a pretty ninny who charmed the men around her," Lord Sedgwick replied, "but couldn't hold a fiveminute conversation with anyone. Much less conduct a household properly. She had the attention span of a ten-year-old. She had no idea that she could conceive a child just as half-witted as she was." He shook his head. "Her mother swore to Arthur after the wedding that she'd had a fever as a child. I discovered later that there had been a cousin and an aunt who were also mentally deficient. It was a trick from the start-and Arthur here thought he'd discovered Guinevere! discovered Guinevere!" Sedgwick's voice was sour with anger. "Do you have any idea what it's like, living every day of every year with someone as stupid as she was? The endless repet.i.tions. The tantrums. The constant refrain of 'But why can't I?' as if G.o.d had given her the keys to the b.l.o.o.d.y universe! Edwin or I kept an eye on her when Arthur was abroad. But even that was getting to be difficult. Arthur drew the short straw, as it were. He'd married her, after all. We never asked how or where it happened."

"And," said Edwin for the first time, "Baker didn't know either. Only that she wouldn't be going all the way. The day we buried that d.a.m.ned empty coffin, he promised my father he'd never speak of what happened. We expected him to carry whatever he thought thought he knew to his grave. Instead he made himself the laughingstock of Osterley when he died shriven by two clergymen! Too many people began to wonder why." he knew to his grave. Instead he made himself the laughingstock of Osterley when he died shriven by two clergymen! Too many people began to wonder why."

Rutledge said, his mind working at speed, "When you were playing night games outside the vicarage windows, to keep Sims silent, did you see Walsh dragging his chains to the garden shed?"

"Why should I frighten Sims?" Edwin demanded. "I reserved that for Holston, who knew Father James too well. It was very likely Peter Henderson who hung about the vicarage, not me. But yes, I was coming back from Cley on my motorcycle when I saw Walsh hurrying toward the church." He glanced at his watch. "Your time is up. It doesn't matter to us what you do with the knowledge you have. The risk is yours. Your medical history might be of interest in certain quarters. And prospects for publication of Miss Trent's ma.n.u.script may be unexpectedly limited. What else lurks in your future is, of course, unforeseeable."

"I spent four years in the trenches," Rutledge answered contemptuously. "I daresay I shall survive the Sedgwick family. I'd set my house in order if I were you."

He turned to look one last time through the rain-streaked panes of the French doors and across the wet lawns of the lovely unseen gardens. Then he walked unmolested between Edwin and Arthur and over the threshold.

CHAPTER 29.

BUT IT WAS ON THE THRESHOLD that Rutledge stopped, facing the elegant room and its three occupants. "Let me remind you, gentlemen, that there are many ways that a man can be judged. I leave you to the tender mercies of the Watchers out there in the dark. When you begin to feel them-and you will-you'll start to turn on each other. It will happen. It's only a matter of time."

A stolid wall of baneful resistance met him. Sedgwick was flushed now, a look of frustration and malevolence in his face. Arthur was resigned, his eyes on the carpet, but there was no remorse in his stance. Edwin, first looking from his father to his brother, turned on Rutledge a hungry glance. He was already bringing to bear a formidable determination.

For an instant, Rutledge thought Edwin might be the first to break ranks.

But the moment pa.s.sed.

Rutledge leaned against the closed door, feeling the cool rain, breathing in the damp, heavy air.

It wasn't finished yet.

Concerted murder. It was, as Monsignor Holston had claimed, violent and primeval. This family cared for nothing but their power, their will. It had made them implacable, cold-blooded. Virginia Sedgwick had been doomed from the day her husband discovered he'd been deceived. Her family was to blame, too-for their selfishness in pus.h.i.+ng a bewildered child into the ranks of Consuela Vanderbilt and Jennie Randolph: a fortune traded for a t.i.tle, nevermind happiness.

Hamish said, of the night, "I didna' think they would let you go."

Rutledge answered, "They haven't. They just didn't want to dirty the carpets."

A voice out of the rain called tentatively, "Inspector Rutledge?"

He had forgotten that May Trent was waiting in the motorcar.

He found her s.h.i.+vering in her coat. "I'm so very glad to see you!" she exclaimed. "It's been more than five minutes- I thought you weren't coming at all."

"I was safe enough."

She laughed nervously. "It's been frightful, out here in the dark. I've seen and heard all kinds of things! Mostly my overworked imagination, but that's small comfort."

He turned the crank, and when he took his place beside her, behind the wheel, she said, "Where's Peter? We aren't going to leave him, are we? It's a long, wet walk back to Osterley."

"Actually, he was outside the French windows. Just beyond the terrace. He knows where to meet me."

He waited. The rain dripped from the trees as the wind stirred them. And somewhere, they could hear what sounded like a woman crying. It was a peac.o.c.k, out on the grounds, but May Trent caught his arm. "I'm frightened. More frightened than I was in there!"

"You shouldn't be. That was a very brave thing to do in there. Facing your demons in front of the Sedgwicks."

"I didn't face any demons. I lied, for Father James's sake," she confessed. "Listening to what was being said, I suddenly realized what it was that he'd actually expected me to remember. I did it for him him. I think he'd already guessed that she wasn't on board. She couldn't have been, could she, if she was already dead? Father James had talked to Herbert Baker by that time, and he was nearly sure. But he hoped I could give him proof proof-"

Rutledge took out his watch, but couldn't see the face in the darkness.

"Shouldn't we return to Osterley soon?"

"It's barely been a quarter of an hour. Give it a little longer."

"Give what a little longer?" she said, her gloved hands snuggled into her coat pockets for warmth.

"I'm not sure."

It was nearly forty-five minutes later when Hamish, behind him, heard something. Rutledge stiffened, straining to catch the direction of the footfalls.

Then Peter Henderson walked swiftly around the corner of the house and climbed into the rear seat. "He's coming," Henderson said.

"Who's coming?" May Trent asked. "It's Edwin you're waiting for, isn't it?" coming?" May Trent asked. "It's Edwin you're waiting for, isn't it?"

Still they waited. And then the door of the house opened on a long rectangle of light that seemed to reach toward them. A man stepped out into the silvery path it made across the wet slate walk.

He seemed relieved to find Rutledge there. He came to stand beside the motorcar, looking in at Rutledge, the rain falling harder now, like tears on his face.

It was Arthur Sedgwick.

He handed Rutledge the umbrella he'd left by the door. "I don't want to hang," he said after a moment. "But I'm the one who'll die next. One way or another. My spine is wrecked; I won't live to old age. I'll never father a child. Edwin won't wait very long for the t.i.tle. He wants it too badly; he has for as far back as I can remember. And my father grieves for a man who raced like the wind, and never thought twice about danger and dying. That's gone, too."

Rutledge said nothing.

Arthur Sedgwick said, "Can you protect me? If I agree to testify against them?"

"I can try."

"They tried to persuade me for the good of the family to take a pistol to my head. 'Driven by despair over my back.' Hush it up. Inspector Blevins doesn't want Walsh resurrected. He wouldn't dare to point a finger at us. My death would be a nine day wonder and then fade away."

He walked around the front of the motorcar and joined Henderson in the rear seat. Rutledge turned on the headlamps. The occupants of the car were ghostly in the reflected glow, after the pitch-black of the night.

As Rutledge turned the wheel and started down the drive, Arthur said, "I've always hated those d.a.m.ned baboons in the garden. They stare at me as if they can look through the flesh and blood into my very soul. I could see them tonight, watching. I always know they're there. I'd promised myself that when I inherited the t.i.tle, I'd destroy that d.a.m.ned stone. But my father has always had some sort of superst.i.tious regard for it, like the Chastains did."

They reached the gates and drove through.

May Trent asked Rutledge, as if it had suddenly occurred to her, "But what's going to happen now?"

"You'll see. I wish you'd stayed in Osterley. You wouldn't have been dragged through this."

"It was not your choice," she replied. "It was mine. I'd let Father James down once."

Rutledge pulled off the road in a wide patch of brush, the stiff dry fingers scratching against the paint, a shower of raindrops, dislodged from the branches, sprinkling down on the car. Then he drove deeper into the thickest shadows and switched off his headlamps. "Be very quiet."

In a few minutes a motorcar came flying down the road from the direction of the Sedgwick gates, roaring past them like a thunderbolt. It disappeared into the darkness. From what Rutledge could tell, there were two people in the front.

Arthur Sedgwick said, "They're hunting for me already." There was a mixture of resignation and despair in his voice. "There are weapons in the house. Shotguns-"

Rutledge said, "No, they're hunting me. But your turn will come. Where is your wife buried?"

"In the marshes. I killed her, but I couldn't bear to bury her there. Edwin did it for me. He goes out there in the boat from time to time, to be sure she's still there."

Beside Rutledge, May Trent gasped.

After a moment, Rutledge said, "Sedgwick, we're taking you straight to Norwich. Henderson, as soon as we reach Osterley, I'd like you to find Monsignor Holston at the hotel and tell him to come to Holy Trinity. We'll meet him there by the church. Ask Mrs. Barnett, if you will, to send my luggage on to London, and Miss Trent's as well. Then go to the vicarage and stay there out of sight. Will you do that?"

Henderson agreed.

"And thank you," Rutledge added. "For tonight's help."

There was unexpected pride in Peter Henderson's voice. "My pleasure. And I'll keep my mouth shut, you can be sure." He slipped out to crank the engine.

They waited by the church, its towers high and black against the sky. Arthur Sedgwick was morosely silent, Rutledge tense and watchful.

The bark of a fox was sharp and close. May Trent said quietly, "Are you sure this is the right thing to do?"

"There's no choice. The Yard has to make this arrest. If I leave it to Blevins, he'll lose another prisoner. Arthur Sedgwick will be safest in Norwich."

Rain was falling hard again by the time a very wet and somber Monsignor Holston climbed into the seat Peter Henderson had vacated not ten minutes before.

"You'd better get out of here," the priest warned. "As fast as you can! Edwin is searching the town. Peter told me a little of what has happened. He's already gone to ground. They'll never know he was protecting your back outside their windows tonight. He'll be safe enough."

The motor, rumbling quietly in the darkness, picked up a stronger note, and the motorcar drove down Trinity Lane to the main road and headed east, for the turning to Norwich.

But it was a very long time before Rutledge stopped listening for the echo of another vehicle behind him. . . .

If you enjoyed WATCHERS OF TIME, the fifth mystery in Charles Todd's mesmerizing series featuring Inspector Rutledge, you won't want to miss any of Todd's superb novels.