Word of Honour

'We can't just go marching onto their battleship and demand to examine below decks,' Aubrey said. He straightened, feeling slightly stronger as a plan unfolded in front of him. 'Some tricky negotiation ahead, I'd say.'

Sir Darius nodded. 'Quite.'

'And you think you shot Dr Tremaine?' Tallis said to Caroline. 'How could you be sure? You said the vault was full of smoke.'

'I don't think I'd miss the man who killed my father.'

Tallis blinked, then suddenly found the papers on the table in front of him very interesting. 'Of course.'

'Besides,' George said. 'He had a broken wrist and a few cracked ribs to contend with. He wasn't at his most nimble.'

'It's remarkable then,' Tallis said, 'that we've found no trace of him.'

'You've sent operatives after him?' Aubrey wasn't optimistic.

'Of course,' Craddock said. 'We would have liked to examine the tunneller you spoke of, too. It sounded like a fascinating piece of machinery.'

'Would have?' Aubrey echoed. He knew congratulations had been premature.

'We couldn't find it,' Tallis said. 'At least, it wasn't where you said it was.'

If Tremaine had activated the tunneller, then there was no doubt he'd escaped.

'It might interest you to know,' Tallis went on, 'that a certain singer, an Arturo Spinetti, didn't appear for his show last night. According to the theatre manager, he's been abducted. The theatre district is in uproar. Although how anyone can tell the difference, I have no idea.'

'It's a flimsy excuse,' Craddock said, 'and this circumstance does tend to support your story that Spinetti could be Tremaine.'

'He is. Was.' Aubrey had mixed feelings. He felt vindicated, but also a touch guilty. If he'd raised more of a hue and cry, could Tremaine have been stopped earlier? In the pause, Pierce saw an opportunity to play some part in proceedings. 'You'll all have to come down to headquarters and make a statement, you understand.'

Tallis frowned. Craddock looked at the police officer as if he was a performing dog. 'I'm sure there's no need for that,' he said. 'The Prime Minister will make sure that these young people write everything down. It will get to you as soon as we've gone over it.'

Pierce frowned. His bushy eyebrows were two caterpillars muscling up to each other.

'Only if that is acceptable to you, Pierce,' Sir Darius said carefully. 'Otherwise, I'll bring them to your headquarters immediately.'

Pierce visibly chewed on this. He glanced at Tallis and Craddock. 'We have our processes.'

'Agreed,' Sir Darius said.

'But it's been a shock, no doubt. The statements can wait.'

Sir Darius stood. 'Very well then. But if you change your mind, we'll be at Barker Street promptly.'

Caroline stood, as did Aubrey and George. Aubrey rubbed his forehead, but a thought occurred to him. 'Commander Craddock, have you read the memo I sent you about Ravi's recent breakthroughs?'

'Go on.'

'It's just that I was thinking about the Law of Displacement. Perhaps.'

'Aubrey?' Sir Darius said. 'You're not speaking very clearly.'

'Sorry, sir. I'm still rather tired.' He cleared his throat. It was thick and cloggy. 'The fairy gold and the real gold. That's what I'm thinking of. With some careful spell construction, it should be possible to switch the two.'

'Ingenious,' Craddock said. Tallis sat back and wrinkled his brow.

'Circumstances won't get any better,' Aubrey went on. 'The fairy gold and the real gold share weight, dimensions, almost everything, really. The variables are kept to a minimum.' He warmed to his subject. 'Of course, distance is a factor, but we know where the Imperator is docked. I'm sure the fairy gold could be moved to a warehouse nearby to make the transference easier. I'm happy to help your people, if you like.'

'No need,' Craddock said. 'I have a squad of operatives ready to work on matters such as these.'

'You have? Oh.'

'Mr Ravi has been working with this special squad for some time. I'm sure they'll be able to swing onto this task.' He allowed himself a thin smile. 'The Holmlanders won't even know what happened. Not until the fairy gold disappears.'

Lanka Ravi was assisting the Magisterium now? That was news. Things must have moved apace after Aubrey's report.

And how did this fit with Tallis's revelation of the Magisterium doing original research? 'I'm sure you were going to tell me about this in due course,' Sir Darius said to Craddock, but his tone said otherwise.

'Naturally, sir. When matters were a little closer to resolution.'

'It changes the situation,' Sir Darius said. 'But it's even more reason for me to call Cabinet together. This is going to affect Defence, the Foreign Secretary, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Home Secretary.'

'Once the bullion reaches Holmland, it's bound to be put into circulation, eventually. Imagine the Holmland armament manufacturers when their gold evaporates,' Aubrey said. 'It's going to put a dent in their war effort if we can pull it off.'

'Which isn't a bad thing,' George said. 'Maybe your Holmlander friends might be able to make use of this, Aubrey. They could expose Dr Tremaine and his cronies as thieves or incompetents, ruining the Holmland economy. Brandt and his cohort could sail back into Fisherberg as saviours?'

Craddock shook his head. 'I don't think so. Manfred has reported that Brandt and his people are moving their plans forward in a different direction, with encouragement from their well-placed friends in Holmland.' He studied Aubrey. 'He still wants you to reconsider the offer to accompany him to Fisherberg. I told him that this was not feasible.'

'Sorry, Aubrey,' Sir Darius said. 'Not a wise idea, I'm afraid.'

Aubrey rubbed the back of his aching neck. He had no sense of this multiple-headed affair coming to a conclusion. It was like trying to cross a room scattered with ball-bearings that kept skating off in unexpected directions.

Or was he being steered in directions?

He nodded to his father. 'If it's all right, sir, I'd like to get some more rest.'

Sir Darius looked to the interrogation table. 'Gentlemen?'

At that moment, the door was flung open. Lady Rose stood there, hands on hips. 'What on earth is going on?'

WHILE SIR DARIUS SAW OUT THE THREE LAW ENFORCEMENT officials, Lady Rose ordered Aubrey, Caroline and George to her drawing room. Amid the tribal masks, bark paintings and dried-flower arrangements, she listened as Aubrey recounted the night's events all over again. He didn't even pause when his father slipped in and joined Lady Rose on the shot silk sofa.

'And so we saved Albion from financial ruin,' he finished. 'Have I missed anything?'

'Of course,' Caroline said. 'But I'm trying to decide how much of it was deliberate and how much is simple forgetfulness.'

'What about this Maggie and her Crew, Aubrey?'

George said. 'They're still missing.'