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Exeter leaned forward a little in the witness stand. “There are at least three ways in, two by sea and one or two by land. They all could lead in several different directions. Imagine a large house, joined to another, with certain walls at least partially washed away and beams rotted.”
“Sounds appalling!” Ravenswood shuddered. “But you describe it very well. In fact, rather better than Mr. Monk does.”
Exeter smiled. Did he not realize how well he had described a place he purported not to know?
Ravenswood smiled back. “And one of Monk’s men betrayed to the waiting kidnappers which way you were going to come in, so you could be ambushed?”
“Yes…” Exeter’s face showed that he sensed there was something wrong, without knowing exactly what it was.
Ravenswood did not strike yet.
“Did he ever find out which of his men it was?”
Exeter was surprised. “Not that he told me.”
“And you did not know?”
Again, Exeter hesitated. He glanced sideways at Rathbone and then back at Ravenswood. “I…suspected.”
“Whom did you suspect? Mr. Exeter, you must have hated this man very much indeed. You would hardly be human if you did not hold him accountable for the terrible death of your wife and all the grief that has followed.” He waited with his eyebrows slightly raised, as if it were a question.
Rathbone started to object and then changed his mind. It was clear from his face that this was not going according to his plan or foresight. The trial was over. What was Ravenswood doing?
Monk averted his eyes and kept them from meeting Rathbone’s.
“And why did you suspect whichever one of Monk’s men that you did, Mr. Exeter? Did you tell Monk? Challenge him to clear the man? It is a very serious charge. In a way, it is akin to murder. If he was guilty, then he is directly responsible for your wife’s appalling death, is he not?”
Monk felt Hester’s grip tighten on his hand again. Ravenswood was playing a dangerous game, but he was playing it to win. Monk felt a certain warmth toward the man.
“Yes,” Exeter agreed. “He was.” He let the emotions show again.
Monk hated him with a sudden fury. He had taken them all in, Monk included. Now he was getting ready to throw Hooper to the wolves. There was a dreadful inevitability to this. Please God they had made the right choice!
“Don’t play this for drama, Mr. Exeter,” Ravenswood said with dignified disapproval. “This is a court of law, not a theater.”
A tide of color washed up Exeter’s face, which was surprisingly unflattering.
Rathbone looked confused. He had been in complete control until a few minutes ago. Acquittal was within his grasp. Now something had radically changed, and he did not yet understand what it was.
Exeter started to speak, leaning forward over the railing, then abruptly changed his mind.
“If you did not want to tell Monk before,” Ravenswood went on, “tell him now. Doesn’t he need to know? Don’t we all? Whether it is you, or Doyle, or whoever else, that man is responsible for your wife’s death! Who betrayed her? Why? How do you know?”
“It was Hooper!” Exeter’s voice was shrill. “John Hooper.” All the ease, the charm, vanished out of his face.
“Indeed. How do you know this?”
“Because I know what sort of a man he is, and maybe Doyle, or whoever it was who killed Kate, knew it, too. Blackmail is a powerful weapon when you know a secret that will send a man to the gallows.”
“Indeed, it is,” Ravenswood said, his voice touched by sadness. He hesitated, clearly making a major decision. He looked down for a moment and then looked up again, directly at Exeter. “And is that secret that he was a merchant seaman before he joined the police? In fact, first mate on the Mary Grace when she hit a gale off the coast of Africa and very nearly ran aground because the captain had misread, or miscalculated, their position? All the men knew and tried to persuade him to alter course, further out to sea, to ride out the storm. But it was Hooper, the second in command, who faced him down. The captain attacked him, was struck by a boom as the ship veered, and was knocked to the side rail. Hooper dived after him, hung on to him for agonizing seconds, but the captain was a big man, heavy, and he slipped from Hooper’s grasp.”
There was a silence so tense each man could hear his own breath.
“You wonder how I knew that?” Ravenswood asked calmly. “My dear ma
n, it is my job. I heard it from Captain Ledburn’s family, just as you did. And the basis of what actually happened from another member of the crew, who works for Superintendent Runcorn. I shall call him as a witness, if his lordship will permit me. A rebuttal witness, you understand, because regrettably I need to prove that Miss Celia Darwin’s testimony was given under duress by you, on the threat of sending Mr. Hooper to the gallows.” He was interrupted by a gasp from the gallery, a wave of shock like the first murmur of a breaking storm.
In the stand Exeter was rigid, his face mottled with purple.
