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He went to the theater, but to Shakespeare, never anything modern. It substantiated the nature of a lonely man, trapped in progress in a job he did well, but always an outsider to the life his major clients enjoyed, which he could view only from a distance; see, but never taste.
Was he vulnerable enough to temptation to fall for it? Had it somehow gone beyond his grasp, out of his control, into a violence he never intended?
Hooper considered attempting to meet him without saying who he was but realized how difficult that would be, and how awkward. He could not pass himself off as a man who earned the kind of money to bank at Nicholson’s. And if Doyle were involved in the embezzlement, either by mischance of being drawn in or by inattention, then he was guilty from the beginning. If Hooper made the slightest error, it would warn him. Possibly Doyle even knew Monk’s men by sight. If one of them had betrayed the rest to him, he certainly would.
Instead, he decided to go speak with Harry Exeter himself, to see if he could reveal a side that he did not show when Monk was there. Monk understood the adventurer in him, and the man who had adored his wife. Perhaps Hooper would see something different.
To go at lunchtime would be clumsy. In the middle of the afternoon was more appropriate, and if Exeter was not in, Hooper would wait until he was.
That proved not to be necessary. Exeter was at home and seemed quite happy to see Hooper. He ushered him in and offered him a drink.
“No, thank you, sir,” Hooper declined as he thought he was meant to. It was a gesture of hospitality, not intended to be taken up.
“So, what can I do for you, Mr. Hooper? Have you any further news?” Exeter frowned slightly. He expected Monk himself to bring any, if there were, and his tone implied as much.
“No, sir, just a few further inquiries.”
Exeter could not conceal his interest. “What about?”
Hooper had the feeling he was stepping into dead water. Exeter had an air of power. He did not want to show it, except by casually exposing the things he had earned, his possession of more money than he needed to count. He asked for things as if he were accustomed to people being eager to please him, and he accepted them with grace, but no surprise. He still looked tired, as if his emotions were further beneath the surface but still just as consuming as the evening of Kate’s death.
How could it be anything else? He must still forget at times, and then remember again with all the weight of new grief. How long did it take a man to realize his wife was gone for the rest of his life? Did Exeter have any religious faith? Did most people, when it was tested to the breaking point? Probably, in some form or other. But in the dark, alone, in the middle of the night, when perhaps he would have turned to her, and there was only an emptines
s there, a cold sheet.
Hooper had always slept alone or with other ship’s crew. But it was not by choice. He could not involve a woman with the ghosts of his life and the probability that they would return. He could not ask anyone he loved to share that.
Exeter was waiting.
“We think the bank manager, Mr. Doyle, may have more information than he is aware of.” He watched Exeter’s face intently. He saw the tightening of the muscles, minutely, and the slow intake of breath.
“Really?” Exeter raised his eyebrows. “In what way?”
“Quite unintentionally,” Hooper said, choosing his words carefully. “I believe.”
Exeter sat quite still, not moving at all except for the slow intake of breath, and then the exhalation. “Unintentionally? Are you sure?”
“I have no reason to suspect otherwise. It is only a possibility to follow up. I am assuming this case is about money, sir. You have assured us that Mrs. Exeter had no personal enemies. Nothing more than perhaps the odd bit of envy because she was beautiful, charming, rich, and married to one of the…best catches in London, if I may put it so bluntly.” Again, he used exactly the words he meant and watched Exeter’s expression pass through awareness, amusement, apprehension, and then a moment of thoughtfulness.
“I believe that to be true, yes,” he said. “I…I hate the thought, but I have to face it, that my wife might have been murdered to get at me. I have enemies.” He waited, as if to see what Hooper would make of that.
Hooper must keep it impersonal, always with the proper respect, the little bit of distance that showed he never presumed to be equal. “Of course, sir,” he said gravely. “Many men must envy you, and envy is sometimes the beginning of hatred.”
“What are you suspecting Doyle of, exactly?” Exeter asked.
“I hope nothing. But he is your banker. He could be the person you might turn to in order to raise such a large sum quickly, in treasury notes rather than something less negotiable, such as deeds.”
Exeter appeared to consider it for some time. “Of course,” he said at last. “You are quite right. I went to Doyle. I’ve known him for years. Always found him…reliable. But I suppose the poor man has never faced a situation like this before. Thank God, there are not many kidnappings in London. At least not for that kind of sum.” He nodded with a shadow of a smile. “He raised it for me. He liquidated certain assets immediately. Used his influence, and his word, to get the money very quickly. I…I thought we had met their demands…” He blinked quickly and turned away, avoiding Hooper’s eyes. His voice was thick with emotion as he continued. “We did exactly what they said! And still…”
“I know, sir. You were not at fault,” Hooper said quickly, to save Exeter from having to repeat again the dreadful events. “If something went wrong, then it was at their end.”
“Good God, man!” Exeter said furiously. “If…if something went wrong?”
Hooper stayed perfectly steady. “It is possible, sir, that they never intended to give her back to you.”
Exeter looked as if Hooper had struck him.
“I’m sorry, sir, but that is a possibility. The other possibility, perhaps more likely, is that Mrs. Exeter recognized one of the men, and either he killed her to save himself, or one of the others killed her to save all of them. The person she knew could have implicated all of them, sooner or later.”
