Fitzgeoffrey was defiant. ‘I rejoice in the fact!’
‘Not if you wish to live,’ said Elias, prodding him with his weapon. ‘Giddy was a friend of mine. I was the one who found the body and I got a lump on the back of the head for my pains. The man you hired cudgelled me.’
‘I hired nobody.’
‘Then who caused that affray at the Queen’s Head?’ demanded Nicholas.
‘Some drunken ruffians.’
‘How much did you pay them for their ale?’
‘Not a penny.’
‘Someone set them on,’ said Nicholas, ‘in order to cause a distraction so that Fortunatus Hope could be killed. If you were not involved, what were you doing there? Why were you in London at all when your company needed you here in Kent?’
‘That’s a private matter,’ replied Fitzgeoffrey.
Elias prodded him again. ‘Then we’ll have to intrude on your privacy.’
‘Tell us,’ advised Nicholas. ‘Owen is getting impatient with his dagger.’
‘Very impatient.’
‘Stand off!’ said Fitzgeoffrey as a jab opened up a slit in his doublet. ‘Look what you’ve done, you Welsh idiot!’ Elias became even more menacing. ‘Yes, yes,’ said the actor, frightened of him, ‘I’ll tell what you wish to know, if only you’ll give me room to tell it.’ He turned to Nicholas. ‘Keep him away from me.’
‘We still await our answer,’ said Nicholas. ‘Understand that we have some intelligence of what went on. Giddy spoke to your book holder, Martin Ling. So did I when the fellow left your company in disgust.’
‘Martin was almost as much trouble as Giddy Mussett.’
‘According to your book holder, you returned from London in such a mood of contentment that you spread your money among the company. Is that true?’
‘I do not deny it.’
‘Then you must also admit you were celebrating our humiliation.’
‘It was a pleasure to behold.’
‘Your corpse would be a pleasure for me to behold, Master Fitzgeoffrey.’
‘Let him speak, Owen,’ said Nicholas. ‘Well?’
The actor took a deep breath. ‘I was summoned to London by a letter from a lawyer. An uncle had left a bequest to me. When I learnt how generous that bequest was, I was so pleased that I let a friend persuade me to bear him company to the Queen’s Head. And you were right,’ he confessed. ‘I did not come to enjoy the performance at all. I went to sneer at it and mock the arrogance of Lawrence Firethorn in setting himself up as some emperor of the boards. When the affray broke out, I took some real enjoyment from the occasion, after all. That is why I was in such high spirits.’
‘Can any of this be proved?’
‘I have the papers from the lawyer with me and I’ll gladly furnish you with his name so that my word can be upheld by him. Taking a theatre company around the shires is a labour of Hercules, as you well know. Rewards are few, hazards are many. When I had this sudden stroke of fortune,’ he went on, ‘I did what anybody would have done in my position. I shared it with my fellows.’
Nicholas could see that he was telling the truth. He became acutely aware that they were levelling their accusations at the wrong man. Tobias Fitzgeoffrey had some blatant defects of character and Nicholas could never bring himself to like him, but he was not part of a conspiracy to destroy Westfield’s Men. Elias, however, still clung to the belief that Fitzgeoffrey was guilty of the various crimes.
‘What have you done with Lawrence?’ he said, putting his face close to that of the other man. ‘Where is he being kept?’
‘How would I know?’
‘Tell us — or I’ll cut that doublet into a thousand pieces.’
‘No,’ said Nicholas, easing his friend a pace backward. ‘Sheath your dagger, Owen. We have no need of it here. Master Fitzgeoffrey has told us all we need to know.’
‘But he hasn’t, Nick. I swear that he’s hiding Lawrence somewhere.’
‘I think not. We must tender him an apology.’
‘That’s the least I expect,’ said Fitzgeoffrey huffily. ‘The pair of you should be locked up for your audacity. Now, be off with you, sirs!’
‘First, however,’ said Nicholas, ‘let me congratulate you on your good fortune in inheriting some money from your uncle. It means that you are now in a position to settle the debt you incurred in Maidstone. Pay the six shillings and fourpence that is owed to Pieter Hendrik and I’ll see it put into his hands.’
Fitzgeoffrey started to bluster until he saw the glint of determination in Nicholas’s eyes. Eventually, he capitulated. Opening his purse, he counted out the money and thrust the coins into the book holder’s palm.
‘Thank you,’ said Nicholas. ‘Come, Owen. We have stayed long enough.’
They collected their horses and rode quickly away. Elias was rueful.
‘I thought that we came here to solve some dreadful crimes,’ he said. ‘And all that we did was to secure payment for a weaver who was too dim-witted to ask for his money in advance.’
‘We did more than that,’ reasoned Nicholas. ‘We learnt the folly of reaching too many conclusions on too little evidence. I blame myself for that. Tobias Fitzgeoffrey was not involved in the crimes that have plagued us. Nor was his patron. They are too busy trying to keep that miserable troupe of theirs together. So our journey was not in vain. We did make some progress.’
‘I fail to see it.’
‘Since they’ve been cleared of blame, they will no longer divert us. We can now forget about them and search for Lawrence elsewhere. I know that he’s still alive.’
Hours of sitting in the same position, with his hands tied behind his back and his body encircled by rope, took their toll on Lawrence Firethorn. Limbs that once ached were now subject to cramp. Pain came in spasms but he did his best to withstand it so that his captors could not see his suffering. When he heard a candle being lit, he knew that darkness was starting to fall outside. Time oozed slowly by. The men said little but he hung on every word in the hope of learning who they were and why they had abducted him. One of them eventually left the room again and was gone for some while. On his return, he came to stand directly in front of the prisoner. A dagger was slipped in under the rope around his chest. Firethorn sensed that they were going to cut his bonds and he got ready to dive forward by way of attack. The opportunity never came. Before the dagger slit the rope, a cudgel struck him hard on the top of his head and he was too dazed even to move.
‘Cut him loose and put that sack over him,’ said a voice. ‘We move him now.’
Chapter Fifteen
It was dark by the time they got back to Dover and candlelight glowed in open windows. Lanterns were hanging in the stables at the Lion so that the ostlers could see to unsaddle the horses. Wearied by their ride in pursuit of a false scent, Nicholas and Elias joined the others in the taproom. The mood was sombre. Though they had searched the town until nightfall, the actors had found no clues as to the whereabouts of Lawrence Firethorn and they were convinced that he was dead. The arrival of the newcomers destroyed their last faint hopes. Nicholas and Elias had come back empty-handed. All was lost. The company grieved in silence and the taproom was uncannily quiet. Looking around the sad faces, Nicholas began to wonder if the actors would be able to summon up the strength and the dedication that was needed to stage a play in front of an audience. Elias tried to set a good example by retiring to a quiet corner with a tankard of ale and a copy of his scenes from A Trick To Catch A Chaste Lady. He was soon repeating lines to himself.
Nicholas sat beside Edmund Hoode, who was morose and withdrawn.
‘Where’s Barnaby?’ asked Nicholas.
‘He’s gone to his room,’ replied Hoode. ‘He prefers to be alone. George has been running hither and thither, fetching wine and food for him.’ He looked at his friend. ‘I begin to have doubts, Nick. Is it wise for us to go ahead without Lawrence?’