AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Rathbone looked one way and then the other. Then his dismay melted into a dazed realization.
The crowd subsided, utterly silent now, waiting.
Ravenswood continued, “As Mr. Doyle would have been, if convicted of the crime with which he would be charged.”
Monk felt poised on the edge of victory, appallingly guilty of what he had done to Rathbone, and yet he could see no way out of it. In the stand, Exeter was almost frozen in disbelief.
The judge looked at Rathbone. “Sir Oliver, do you need time to consult with your client? Do you wish to call Mr….er…Fisk, is it?”
Rathbone rose to his feet. “Yes, my lord. Thank you. I think perhaps it is best we leave no doubt in the jury’s mind as to who is telling the truth. Mr. Fisk may say something entirely different under oath. Either way, my client has the right to face his accuser and rebut his accusations.” He did not look up at Exeter in the stand.
Monk had known Rathbone well for years. They had won all sorts of cases together. Rathbone would not give up, whatever vortex whirled around his mind at this moment. Could he possibly still believe Exeter innocent? He had to fight anyway. He was sworn to take part on Exeter’s side, whatever his private opinion of the man—unless he knew something both certain and provable to the contrary. He would take care not to put himself in that position.
Exeter was temporarily excused. Stiffly fumbling his way down the steps, his face contorted with rage, he was escorted back to the dock.
Fisk was duly called. As Ravenswood had said, he was in court, and it took only a few moments for the usher to find him outside.
He walked down the aisle of the gallery in such silence that one could hear the creak of corsets as a woman turned to look at him. He took the witness stand and swore to his identity and present occupation in the Metropolitan Police, stationed at Greenwich.
“Thank you, Mr. Fisk,” Ravenswood addressed him. “Were you previously in the Merchant Navy?”
“Yes, sir.”
“And some twenty years ago, you were on board the Mary Grace, off the coast of Africa, under the command of Captain Ledburn?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Will you please give this court a brief account of the events, as you know them from your own observations, leading up to the storm and the death of Captain Ledburn? Friendship and loyalty are both important to any decent man, Mr. Fisk, but without integrity, you have little to give anyone.”
“Yes, sir.” Fisk stood straight-backed and faced Ravenswood without any apparent awe. He did not waste words. “Captain Ledburn made a wrong reading, or calculation, as to our position. Mr. Hooper told him he was incorrect, but the captain wouldn’t listen.”
“Do you know for yourself it was incorrect?” Ravenswood interrupted him. “Or are you taking Mr. Hooper’s word for it?”
“At the time, I took Mr. Hooper’s word for it, but later events proved him right. By then, we were much too close to the coast, and when the storm came, we were in danger of being driven onto the reefs, and—”
“How do you know that?” Again, Ravenswood interrupted him. “Most of us here are landsmen. On the open sea, we would have no idea of where we were.”
“You can see the white water, sir. And if the wind is offshore, you can hear the roar of it.”
“I see. I can only imagine the fear that must cause a man. Would you survive such a wreck?”
“I never knew anyone as did.”
“What happened?”
“The captain realized what he’d done and gave the order to shorten sail. But you couldn’t send a man up the mast in weather like that. Mr. Hooper gave the order to come about and go before the wind. It was the only chance we had.”
“Clearly, you survived.”
“Yes, sir. But the captain was angry because he was scared, and confused. There was no time for an argument. Rain and wind and water…there was little chance of hearing what anyone said, anyhow. She came about hard, and one of the sheets snapped loose and—”
“Sheets?”
“Ropes, sir. One of them snapped under the strain, the weight of the ship against the wind, and the end of it caught the captain. Swept him over to the side, but he clung on. Mr. Hooper went to haul him back, but Captain Ledburn was a heavy man, and Hooper couldn’t hold on to him long enough to prevent him going over.”
“Into the sea,” Ravenswood confirmed.
“Yes, sir. We reported him lost at sea when we came back to London. For his family’s sake, we didn’t tell everyone it was his own miscalculation that near lost us all our lives. The ship’s owners wrote it as a mutiny, sir, but it wasn’t. We went against a wrong order that would have killed the captain and lost the ship, too.”
