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“More or less. I don’t remember his exact words.”
“It’s what you understood?”
“Yes.”
“Is that what you did, when your own wife was kidnapped?” Ravenswood asked quietly, even gently.
For a moment, Monk was speechless. How on earth did Ravenswood know that? Runcorn, of course. Suddenly, Monk felt vulnerable, as if the man had caught him unexpectedly naked—not different, just without the camouflage for emotions that one habitually wore.
Ravenswood was waiting for an answer. Should Monk say that he had not even thought of it? Whether it was a lie or not, it would sound like one. He would not get another chance to create a good first impression.
“If I had the money, yes, of course I would pay it,” he answered.
“Of course,” Ravenswood agreed. “Most of us would. It is the only thing a civilized man could do.”
Monk was about to reply. Then he realized how oblique the second remark was, how double-edged. Of course, any man would say that was what he would do! Whatever his feelings were. “He raised the money,” he pointed out to the court. “All he wanted from the police was guidance in a strange and dangerous place.”
“Very natural,” Ravenswood smiled slightly. There was no sneer hidden in it. “So, you agreed to go with him, either for his sake or for Sir Oliver’s.”
“And for Mrs. Exeter’s,” Monk added.
“Quite. Who knew of your plans?”
“The men I took with me.” Already they were approaching the wound that still hurt, still bled. Monk could see Ravenswood’s awareness of it in his face, in the care with which he chose his words. He might not like to poke it, but he would.
“I imagine you told the men to tell no one else?”
“Yes.”
“So before you went, it was only you, Mr. Exeter, and your own men who knew?”
“Yes. And before you say so, I will admit we made one or two last-minute adjustments, so when it came to the point, even if someone else had known of the original plan, they would not have known the changes.”
“So, Mr. Exeter could not have told anyone?”
“No.”
“What happened, Commander Monk? Tell me how events transpired, to the best of your knowledge.”
Monk had been rehearsing this over and over in his mind ever since it had occurred, and he still hated it. He could smell the stench of the river water in enclosed spaces as he spoke of it.
“We went downriver just before slack tide. It was the only time the lowest point was accessible. We took two boats, one for each entrance, to comply with the instructions. Left a man in each boat—Bathurst and Walcott. Laker, Exeter, and I went in the south way. It was already early dusk.” He could remember it vividly, the sour odor of the water, the drips off the sodden beams, the movement that could have been tide, or rats, or just rubbish bumping against a fallen beam.
“We went into the first tunnel, really just a room whose walls were collapsed on two sides. We had an exact map, and we followed it. It was slow. If you dislodge something it could collapse on you. We were moving inland and upward—”
“You know the place well, Commander?” Ravenswood interrupted him.
“Only as well as I have to. It seems to change with every tide. A timber here and then gone, shifting mud and small stones,” he replied.
“A dangerous place?”
“Very.”
“Was that why Mr. Exeter needed someone of your experience to go with him?”
“Possibly. And also to make sure that he did not get lost in it, unable to find the place where the kidnappers had arranged they meet.” He could remember it as sharply as if it had been yesterday. The fear, the confusion in Exeter’s face, his eyes. And he could barely have imagined it would end in this tragedy, and that he would find himself blamed for it. Had any man enough courage to face that? If it had been Hester taken, he didn’t think he would have cared if he had been blamed or not. He would have been numb with grief. Of course, he would’ve had to stay sane, for Scuff and all the other people who cared for her. Exeter did not seem to have anyone who really supported him, needed him. Not even Celia Darwin! Was he so private a man he had refused all help? And refused also to give way, to Celia or to anyone else? He did not seem to think very highly of her.
Ravenswood was talking to him but he had not heard.
