Information Received (11 page)

‘It's because I don't know and can't imagine that I'm telling you,' snapped Peter. ‘Also it seems two tickets for the same theatre were left at his City office the day before and two more tickets at his house the day before that.'

‘For the same theatre still – the Regency?'

‘Yes.'

‘That's where they always put on classical things, isn't it?' Bobby asked. ‘Shakespeare and so on.'

‘I believe that's the idea at present,' Peter answered, ‘and it's taking very well just now. The “Silver and Grey” production they call it, and I've heard people say it's the best
Hamlet
that's been seen for years.'

‘Two stalls left for him here yesterday,' Bobby repeated, ‘two more in the City the day before and two more at his house. Doesn't seem any sense to it, unless there's someone very keen on the production and keen on his seeing it, too.'

‘Three nights running,' Peter said. ‘Why should they be?'

‘It might be someone wanting to meet him privately,' Bobby remarked. ‘If his murder had been planned before, it might be that the theatre was thought a good place to get him, and only because he wouldn't go was the murder carried out where it was. But that seems a bit far-fetched. Possibly it was only that someone wanted to talk to him privately. It's a trick played sometimes when people want to see each other without attracting attention. Both go to the same theatre and then they get a chance to talk during the intervals. It may have been something like that.'

‘If so, it was someone Sir Christopher had no wish to meet,' Peter said. ‘He didn't go, he seemed upset at the idea, worried, indeed. In any case, he wouldn't have gone for pleasure, his taste in the theatre didn't run to Shakespeare, he always said he liked something tuney and leggy, or a good farce. But not Shakespeare.'

‘It does seem a bit rummy,' Bobby agreed. ‘I'll report to Mr Mitchell, but I can't see myself that it can have anything to do with what's happened. Of course, you can never tell, any trifle may give the clue you're looking for and clear up everything, only there are so many trifles and only one that hides the clue.'

The managing clerk himself put his head in at the door, though that was a little below his dignity. But, though a managing clerk, he was also human, and was burning with curiosity.

‘Gentleman from Scotland Yard wants to see you, Mr Peter,' he said. ‘Says his name is Mitchell.'

‘Ask him to come in,' said Peter, and Mitchell accordingly appeared, and lifted his eyebrows at the sight of Bobby.

‘I was told you might be here, sir,' Bobby explained, ‘and so I came with the transcript of the shorthand notes you said you wished to see. Mr Carsley said he wished to give some information for me to report to you.'

‘What information?' Mitchell asked.

Peter repeated his story whereto Mitchell listened with interest.

‘Bear looking into,' Mitchell decided when Peter had finished. ‘Don't see any sense to it, don't see what it can mean, but it'll bear looking into. May I use your phone?'

He picked it up as he spoke, and, calling Scotland Yard, gave instructions for inquiries to be made at the Regency to find out if possible who had bought the tickets, if they had been used, and if Sir Christopher's name had been mentioned.

‘Another long report that'll mean,' he sighed. ‘Nearly a foot high in this case already. I don't know how many men we haven't working on it and they all send in reports and I have to read them all – what a life. Well, Mr Carsley, heard anything about your partner – Mr Marsden's the name, isn't it? Any fresh developments?'

‘Only that I went round to the Public Prosecutor's office before I came here,' Peter answered. ‘They are sending round two men to go through the books and find out how things stand. I shan't touch a thing myself. Excuse me.'

The phone had just rung. He answered it, listened, and then said:

‘That's all nonsense. I can't say any more at present, except that we hold Sir Christopher Clarke's receipt for all papers connected with the Belfort Trust as handed over to him in good order yesterday. You can tell your client that from me, but he'll have to be a bit patient for the present. Scotland Yard has the case in hand. Of course, you will be informed of anything fresh. Mr Belfort was to have dined with Sir Christopher last night. Did he go?... oh, I see. Well, he needn't worry, but I can't say anything more at present.'

He rang off and turning to Mitchell said:

‘That was Mayne and Mayne, who are acting for Mr Belfort, the new trustee. He seems to have got it into his head that there's something wrong with the Trust. Whatever's wrong anywhere else, Belfort's all right. Sir Christopher's estate will be responsible and there won't be any attempt to dodge responsibility either.'

‘Did they say why Mr Belfort did not keep his dinner engagement?' Mitchell asked. ‘I heard you ask.'

‘They say he did keep it, but when he arrived he found police in charge and was told Sir Christopher had been found shot dead. So not unnaturally he went away again – apparently convinced it was a case of suicide and that the Trust money had all been embezzled. I am inclined to think now,' Peter went on, ‘that there must have been rumours in circulation about Marsden – about us, the firm, I should say. What the real situation is we shan't know till they've been here from the Public Prosecutor's office – no one knows at present but Marsden, and he's cleared out for good, I suppose.'

The door opened and Marsden himself came in. Neither Mitchell nor Bobby had any idea who he was, but Peter jumped up with an astonished cry:

‘Good Lord, Marsden, you – you, after what you told me last night?'

‘Is this gentleman Mr Marsden?' Mitchell asked, and added in an undertone: ‘Bear looking into.'

‘My name is Marsden,' that gentleman agreed. ‘I suppose you are from Scotland Yard from what they tell me in the office? Sorry you've been troubled. It's what comes of having the biggest fool in the country for a partner. Carsley, what cursed piece of idiocy have you been up to?'

‘You told me last night,' said Peter, ‘you had embezzled moneys belonging to our clients. The Public Prosecutor is sending two of his staff round to investigate things at once.'

‘Well, they can trot away back again,' said Marsden, ‘and you can trot off with them if you like. I rather gathered you had been making an even more priceless fool of yourself than usual. Of course, this is the end of our connexion. You've ruined the firm nearly as thoroughly as I thought you had last night by offending old Clarke. Now he's dead, and that doesn't matter, and so you make yourself even a more disgusting fool in another way. What I told you, you blighted young idiot, was that in making Sir Christopher our enemy you had ruined the firm as thoroughly as embezzling clients' money would have done. It was only afterwards I realized that you are the kind of thick-headed young Pharisee who might have misunderstood what I meant.'

Mitchell was the first to break the silence that followed, for Peter was far too bewildered, first by Marsden's unexpected return, and then by this astonishing announcement, to be able to get out a word. Following on the strain of recent events, it was too much for him altogether, and one could almost see him struggling to get his mind adjusted to this new development and to make out what it meant. Marsden was watching him with a kind of fury of contempt and rage he made no effort to conceal, that it seemed probable might find fresh vent at any moment. Bobby, looking on with interest, absorbed in the drama of the scene, imagined too that he could detect a strain of uneasiness, of terror, perhaps, in Marsden's manner, and he supposed this was not unnatural in such circumstances. But none of the three of them spoke till Mitchell murmured, half to himself apparently:

‘Bear looking into, bear looking into.'

Then Peter said, looking straight and hard at Marsden: ‘There was no misunderstanding. I know what you said.'

‘You mean you know what you think I said,' retorted Marsden. He turned to Mitchell, ‘You are from Scotland Yard, you are Mr Mitchell, aren't you? I've seen you in the courts, I think.'

‘Marsden,' Peter burst out suddenly, ‘do you mean that all clients' money is all right?'

‘I mean this,' Marsden snarled, his sharp, dark eyes small points of blazing anger. ‘I'm not going to have anything more to do with you. You're not only a fool, you're a mischievous fool. I would sooner have a mad dog for a partner than you. I've done with you for good and all. Our partnership's dissolved; if I have to bring an action for damages for malicious slander or something like that to get rid of you, I'll do it. Any communication I have to make to you for the future will be in writing or before witnesses.' He turned to Mitchell. ‘This is what happened,' he said. ‘Sir Christopher Clarke was our most important and influential client. He has a daughter. My precious partner here started making love to the girl; not a bad idea for a penniless young lawyer to make up to the only daughter of an extremely rich man. Naturally, Sir Christopher objected. Any man in his position would. Carsley's no standing, no brains, no money, nothing except impudence. Most men in Sir Christopher's position would have done what Sir Christopher did – kicked him out and told the girl to have more sense. Of course, it was obvious the money was the attraction, and Sir Christopher took steps to settle that part of it. He instructed me to draw up a new will by which his daughter was to get nothing if she married Carsley. Well, that was a good idea all right, and I've no doubt Carsley would have dropped the girl like a hot potato–'

‘Marsden,' said Peter quietly, ‘try not to be more offensive than you can help or I shall probably throw you out of the window.'

‘Now, now, Mr Carsley,' interposed Mitchell mildly.

‘Only unfortunately,' Marsden went on, giving Peter a look that meant he would be more offensive still if and when and as he got the chance, ‘like a prudent young man, Carsley had got round the girl and they were married already. Sir Christopher had instructed me to let Carsley know. I did so and in his rage and disappointment Carsley let out about the marriage having taken place. Well, of course, I saw at once that meant the end of everything for the firm, absolute and complete ruin. Sir Christopher wasn't the sort of man to sit down to that kind of thing. He would hit back, hard, and he wouldn't believe I hadn't known anything about it – wouldn't care either. So there was our most important client turned into our mortal enemy, with both the power and the will to smash us like a rotten tomato. It was a bit of a facer. I daresay I rather lost my self-control. I admit I talked a bit wildly. When a man comes and says to you: “Oh, I've just done something that ruins you absolutely and completely, you're done in for good and all”, you do get a bit excited.'

‘You said,' repeated Peter stubbornly, ‘you had embezzled clients' money, you talked about bankruptcy, fraud and bankruptcy.'

‘What I actually said,' explained Marsden, speaking to Mitchell again, ‘was that what he had done had ruined the firm as completely as if it had been found out that I had embezzled clients' money.'

‘I shall know what to believe,' Peter said, ‘when they've been here from the Public Prosecutor's office and carried out their investigation.'

‘Who cares what you believe?' retorted Marsden, ‘and no one, either the Public Prosecutor or anyone else, is going to be allowed to investigate our affairs, not likely.'

‘Don't you think,' suggested Mitchell, ‘I'm only making the suggestion, just a suggestion in a friendly way, because what has been said is pretty serious and would bear looking into – don't you think it would be as well to let anyone who comes from the Public Prosecutor have all the information they want, let them see everything. That would put an end to any chance of any gossip or talk.'

‘Just what it wouldn't do,' retorted Marsden, ‘it would only set every tongue wagging all round here. It would finish the firm's last chance of surviving if it were known we had had the Public Prosecutor sending to investigate our affairs. That's not going to happen. If any client, as a result of Carsley's incredible folly and mischief-making, doesn't care to trust us with the charge of his interests any longer, and that's pretty sure to happen in some cases at least, his connexion with us will be wound up at once and in every case, in every case, everything will be found in order. I answer for that. But,' he went on, speaking still directly to Mitchell, ‘I don't deny there are some transactions I've carried out – oh, quite proper, ordinary deals, the sort of thing every firm of even the highest standing does in the way of routine every day – that all the same I don't specially want to explain to people like members of the Public Prosecutor's staff. They have to take a very stiff, pedantic view of everything. Quite right for them. But you can't carry on business always like that. A little while ago I took a largish sum from one client's account and used it for another account. Quite all right. It was to save investments having to be sold out at a serious loss – the security was there all the time, you understand. I could have borrowed on that security from a bank, but you know the scandalous interest they charge. I didn't choose to pay it, not with the bank-rate down to one and a half. I could justify that transaction in any court, but Carsley here would be quite sure that I had put the money in my pocket – lost it going to the dogs, probably. There's going to be no investigation of this firm, except by clients, by agreement, or on behalf of clients whose claims we haven't met. And there won't be any of them. So long as we can meet all claims there's going to be no investigation of the affairs of this firm. I want to make that quite clear.'