Lord Darcy bowed. “I shall, my lord.
“I first began to suspect Ashley when I saw that, according to the register, he had come into the hotel at 8:48 on Wednesday, giving as his business there the delivery of a message for Master Sean — and yet he had not even attempted to locate Master Sean until 9:25, when he spoke to Lord Bontriomphe. But that is neither here nor there, my lord. Here is what happened.
“As he told us, Ashley needed money. I will explain why in a few moments. He attempted to sell a secret he did not have and could not prove he had. Finally he was reduced to accepting a payment of one hundred golden sovereigns from Georges Barbour merely to identify himself.
“On Monday night when he arrived in Cherbourg, he went to Barbour to identify himself and was told that he would be paid the following morning. Then, Tuesday morning, Commander Ashley was told to take the hundred sovereigns to Goodman Georges.
“At that point, he panicked — not as you or I might think of panic, but cold, frightened panic, for that is the way Ashley’s mind works.
“He knew that once he took the money to Barbour in his own persona, Barbour would recognize him. Besides, he knew that his scheme had fallen through, since Barbour was a double agent. So he went up to Barbour’s room, and, when Barbour opened the door, Ashley stabbed him, using a cheap knife he had bought for the purpose.
“Then he reported the murder, assisted by the fact that the concierge of Barbour’s rooming house had, fortunately for him, been out for a few minutes before Lord Ashley arrived. But he also found that, in the meantime, the information as to his identity had already been sent to Zed. Therefore, he had to cut off that information; he had to prevent it from reaching the Admiralty.”
Lord Darcy took a deep breath. “In a way,” he said, “you might say that I assisted him. Naturally, I did not know at that time that Ashley was a killer. Therefore, I made a request that he transmit a message to Master Sean. That enabled him to get into the Royal Steward Hotel.
“At 6:30 Wednesday morning, the mail from Cherbourg was delivered to the Royal Steward. Master Sir James picked up his at 7:00. Then, having decoded the messages he received, he went down to the desk and asked a man whom he trusted, Goodman Paul Nichols, to hold an envelope for an Admiralty courier, and at the same time he sent one of the hotel boys to the Admiralty with a message for Smollett to pick up the packet.
“Sir James returned to his room, followed by the Damoselle Tia. There followed the discussion and argument which all of you have heard of. When Tia left, Master Sir James locked his door for the last time. At 8:48 Lord Ashley arrived, ostensibly looking for Master Sean. He walked up to the registration desk and started to ask for Master Sean. But Paul Nichols immediately assumed that he was the courier from the Admiralty.”
Lord Darcy gestured with an open hand. “This can’t be proved, of course, but it fits in precisely. Nichols must have said something like this: ‘Ah, Commander, you are the courier from the Admiralty to pick up Sir James’ packet? And what could Lord Ashley do? He said, ‘Yes.’ He took the packet. Sir James’ room number was on the outside of that envelope, and Lord Ashley went directly to that room.
“Then he and Sir James played out some version of the little act that Master Sean and I enacted.”
He made a slight gesture with one hand. “And there I should like to point out a peculiar thing. Murderers are quite often — more often than we like to think — very lucky. It is quite possible that sheer luck could have allowed an ordinary person to kill Sir James in the precise manner in which he was killed. An ordinary person, if luck were with him, could have made that thrust through the door after having decoyed Sir James into just the right position, and the results would have been the same as they actually were.
“But that was not the way that Commander Ashley operated. The Commander has one advantage: Occasionally, in times of emotional stress, he is able to see a short time into the future.
“I call your attention again to that keyhole. The door is thick. The keyhole, though large enough to admit the blade of a Naval sword, allows very little play for it. There is no way to aim that blade except in the direction the keyhole guides it.
“Even when Sir James was maneuvered into position by the Commander’s use of the letter under the door, the odds against Sir James being in precisely the right position were formidable.
“Just think of the positions it is possible to take to pull a piece of paper from under a door.
“The attitude which Sir James actually assumed is the most likely one, but would any reasonably intelligent murderer depend upon it? I think not.
“This, then, was another of the many clues which led me to identify Commander Lord Ashley as the murderer. Because of the emotional tension he was undergoing, his prophetic ability allowed him to know — know beyond any shadow of a doubt — precisely where Sir James would be and when he would be there. And he knew exactly what he would have to do to get Sir James into that position.
“Sir James would not allow Commander Ashley in the room; he would not unlock the door for him. Therefore, Ashley had to kill him by the only means available. And because of his touch of the Talent, he was able to do so.
“The sword went through the keyhole in a straight line. A single drop of blood fell — half of it on the carpet, the other half on the envelope.
“I think that is perfectly clear. Lord Ashley then returned the envelope to his pocket and his sword to his sheath. That is why I asked him to leave both jacket and scabbard.”
He gestured toward the chair where the Commander had left his sword belt and jacket. Master Sean had already looked the jacket over.
“You were right, my lord,” he said, “there’s a smear on the inside of his jacket pocket, and I have no doubt that there’ll be another inside the scabbard.”
“Nor do I,” agreed Lord Darcy. “Let me continue. At that point, Lord Ashley realized something else. He realized that one man — and one man only — knew that he had picked up that packet.
“I don’t know exactly how Paul Nichols died, but I respectfully suggest to the Court that it was something like this:
“Commander Lord Ashley arrived back in the lobby just at 9:00 and saw Nichols leaving. The hallway toward the back door is easily visible from the lobby; he must have seen Nichols leaving his own office.
“He went back and told Nichols some kind of story, and lured him into the furniture room. A quick blow to the head and a rope around the neck” — Lord Darcy snapped his fingers — “and Goodman Paul Nichols was eliminated as a witness.
“Then, I think, panic must have struck Lord Ashley again. Standing there in that closet, over the body of a man he had just strangled, he wanted to see what was in that packet. He tore it open, scattering pieces of blue sealing wax over the body of the man he had just killed.
“And, of course, he saw nothing, for the papers came out a total blank. I presume he burnt those papers later. It would have been the intelligent thing to do.
“But he still had one more thing to do. He had to relay my message to Master Sean.
“He found Lord Bontriomphe in the lobby and — well, you all know what happened after that.
“However, I’d like to point out in passing that Lord Ashley actually returned to the lobby around 9:10, although he did not speak to Bontriomphe until 9:25. The obvious assumption is that he was afraid to speak to any sorcerer for fear that his emotional state would give him away, and that not until he saw Lord Bontriomphe could he find the courage to speak to anyone.”
Captain Smollett raised his right hand and the golden stripes of rank at his cuff gleamed in the gaslight. “A question, m’lud, if I may.” His normal hearty complexion now seemed somewhat grayed. It is not easy for the head of an Intelligence operation to discover that one of his most trusted men has betrayed him.