The Circle of Sappho (19 page)

‘Through his several visits to Crete, my husband had become acquainted with Daskaloyiannis and they had become friends. When my husband found out that the Russian fleet were never intending to come to Crete to support his friend, he immediately set sail for the island to inform him. He could not entrust such vital information to anyone else and so had carried out the journey into the mountains himself, to deliver the message. This information cost him his life.'

‘So was it actually the Russians who killed him?' asked Swann.

‘No, or at least if they were involved, it was not directly. They benefited from my husband's death, of course, as the planned uprising in Crete went ahead and created the diversion they were hoping for to carry out their attack on the Greek mainland. The person who actually pushed my husband off that path was a local, a Cretan who had been bribed. Although he did not live long enough to benefit from his own pieces of silver, as he was one of those found in a gorge with his throat slit the following day. No, ultimately the order for my husband to be killed came from someone in the British camp. It was in their interests that the rebellion should take place and Daskaloyiannis, the leader of the rebellion, seen to have been betrayed, as it gave them leverage in any future negotiations with leaders that might have formerly conducted business with Russia. The British could say, therefore, that the Russians could not be trusted. Any conflict is good for government dealings, if it adds to your cause, which this one did: this is why my husband was betrayed and killed by his own countrymen.'

‘So do you know who gave the order?'

Harriet nodded. ‘I believe so.'

‘So why are you still alive?' asked Swann.

‘The person does not know I am aware of their role in my husband's death. As you point out, if they did, I would be dead.'

‘Who is it?'

Harriet smiled.

‘My dear Swann, I am not about to disclose the person's identity. For a start, I do not want to endanger your life unnecessarily.'

‘I would suggest the fact you have even told me this story, Lady Harriet, is enough to do that.'

‘You are right and I am sorry. Only two other people knew the truth and they are both dead. I am the only one left. And now, of course, you Swann. It would therefore be better for both of us if you did not breathe a word of this to anyone.'

‘Your secret is safe with me, Lady Harriet. But can I ask you a question? If you know who was behind your husband's murder, why do you not seek to kill him now?'

Harriet looked into the fire and prodded some dying embers with a poker.

‘I have only recently discovered this person's identity and I do not believe it would be appropriate to kill them at this time,' she replied. ‘At least not in the present climate. As I said earlier, there are greater issues at stake than seeking revenge for a death so many years ago. Do not be mistaken, there is not a day goes by when I do not think of my husband, mourn his loss and wish to seek retribution for what was done to him: having to live these past thirty-four years without the one true love of my life has been a kind of hell. But we are all mere players in a greater game, and to have this knowledge is enough. I will bide my time and one day will exact my vengeance. It is the same with your quest, Swann, I am certain. There are wider consequences to be considered in both our cases.'

‘What do you mean? Do you have information about my father's killers?'

‘If I knew anything, and I do not, I could not divulge it to you even if I wanted to. There are things you cannot possibly be aware of and it is in your best interests that it stays that way.'

‘What if you die before this man?'

‘That is a good point, but I have prepared for that eventuality.'

Harriet stood up and went over to a bookshelf. Here she retrieved a key which was hidden inside a panel and then moved across to a small table near a far wall. She unlocked a drawer in the table, removed an envelope, and then returned to again sit opposite Swann. She held up the envelope.

‘All the evidence I have discovered over the years is gathered together in a folder and deposited in the vault of my legal representatives in London. Their name and address is written on a sheet of paper in this envelope, along with special instructions that will allow the folder to be handed over to the possessor of this envelope in the event of my death.'

‘What is to stop anyone finding this envelope and retrieving the folder now?'

‘My legal firm have been given strict instructions that the folder is only to be given to the person with this envelope after they have definite confirmation of my death. So, in the event of my death, you know where the envelope is, if you so wish to retrieve it.'

Swann nodded.

‘Consider it done, Lady Harriet.'

‘Thank you, Swann. This is partly why I have told you the story. I was hoping to find someone I could rely on and the opportunity presented itself tonight.'

‘One thing I do not understand though …' began Swann but before he could continue there was a loud knocking on the library door. Lady Harriet stood up and went over to open it; outside stood one of her male servants.

‘I am sorry to trouble you Lady Harriet, but I believe you would wish to know the news immediately. We have been informed that one of your dinner guests has been killed.'

Bath, Wednesday 28th March, 1804

The events of tonight have left me as shaken as those of yesterday evening and the encounter with Kirby, perhaps even more so; the announcement of a wedding date for Mary and Lockhart, the conversation with Huntley, Harriet's story surrounding her husband's death and, of course, another murder. I have a strong feeling that everything that happened tonight is in some way connected.

I will focus on Huntley and his unguarded comment first. He talked with authority at having seen Mary's portraiture work and yet to my knowledge has not met her before tonight – despite what I said at the dinner to Harriet, I did not actually introduce them at the exhibition – and there is no feasible way he would have visited our house to view her sketchbook. I can only think, therefore, that it is the portrait of the Scarred Man that he has seen as this is the only portrait Mary has completed which is in the ‘public domain'. But where and when?

Given this is the case then, where would he have seen it? Possibly when George and Bridges were showing it around, as part of my investigation. But then how would he link it to Mary? Even if he was told the portrait had been given to them by me, he has never met her or seen any of her other work. It must be assumed therefore that Huntley has seen the portrait of the Scarred Man elsewhere: but how? I have never shown the original to anyone and the only copy Mary made of it is the one I gave to George and Bridges.

The most likely answer is very disagreeable though, as it can only be assumed that Mary, at some time, made a second copy and gave it to a third party – a person she trusted and who also knows Huntley. Given Harriet's reaction to Huntley's unguarded comment, I am inclined to think that she is this person. But why would Mary do this? One can only surmise that Harriet requested it, but then how did she know about the portrait in the first place? Did Mary tell her, or did she somehow discover it through her network of spies on the city streets, in the same way that Wicks found out about it? Whatever the truth is, and given what I have deduced, I will assume there exists another copy of the portrait of which Harriet is in possession.

But to what end would Harriet request a copy of the Scarred Man's portrait? Given what she said this evening about the search for my father's killers – ‘It is the same with your quest, Swann. There are wider consequences to be considered in both our cases,' – it must be assumed she was lying when she said she did not know anything. And given this, it can be assumed that Harriet knows the whereabouts of the Scarred Man and that he therefore must be under surveillance. But why? Is he somehow involved in issues of national security? And after what Huntley whispered to me as we were about to go into the card room, it seems likely that, along with Harriet, Huntley is also working for the Alien Office, or is somehow otherwise connected to my aunt's network of spies.

I do not intend to ask Mary about the second copy of the portrait immediately. Instead I will act on Huntley's information regarding the Scarred Man and will search the back streets of the Avon Street district for him on Saturday night and all of Sunday, if necessary. I will also inform George and Bridges so they can report back with any relevant information.

At this point I have to ask where Lockhart fits in to all this? From what I understand from Harriet, the wedding date has been set because of ‘something greater'; but can I trust Harriet when she says her intention is to stop the wedding going ahead? If she has lied to me about not knowing anything with regard to my father's killers and has requested a copy of the Scarred Man's portrait from Mary behind my back, then I have to tread carefully in any future dealings with her. And the story she told me about her husband's death, is this true? Was someone connected to the British Government ultimately responsible for his death? And what of the envelope she showed me, did it really contain her legal firm's address?

I realise that I have not even thought of the school deaths and the latest developments in the case. I am also aware I still have to conduct my research into Sappho before my visit with Anne tomorrow. With regard to my visit to Frome, it was good to meet Thomas Bunn and I have learnt several things about the town that I did not know beforehand, but Miss Leigh's sister did not have much to offer in terms of information relating to the case; if anything, it was her husband who contributed the greater share; implying Miss Leigh was attracted to her own sex. I will bear this revelation in mind when I am at the school tomorrow, although given the latest death this evening – that of John Bolton – the reason for going there again may now be obsolete. If Bolton was the murderer, then the case is closed. Am I supposed to believe that it was by sheer coincidence that he was attacked and killed by highwaymen on his way to Harriet's dinner party tonight? But still, there is something about him which plays on my mind, a familiarity to his name, although I am certain I have not met him previously. If the Sappho research does not take too much of my time, I will look back through my notebooks to see if there is anything in them that will shed light on the mystery of John Bolton.

The events of this evening, however, have thankfully distracted me from Kirby's challenge and my unacceptable behaviour yesterday night. I hope Fitzpatrick received my informal apology and I intend to pass by his office tomorrow to do so in person.

Swann stepped into the small wooden boat and pushed off from its mooring. He began rowing himself across the lake towards the island, his mind trying to make sense of the events of the previous few days.

He had returned to the school with the intention of talking to Anne, the pupil he believed had surreptitiously placed the ‘Circle of Sappho' message inside his pocket. On reaching the school, however, he had been informed by a rather shaken Miss Jennings that the girl was dead; having committed suicide by jumping off the roof of the main building, not less than thirty minutes before Swann had arrived. The body had now been removed to the chapel – where the bodies of Miss Leigh and Grace had been laid out only a few days earlier – and the girls allowed back out of their dormitories. Swann had been shown the roof by Miss Jennings and head girl Elsa – the key to which Anne had somehow acquired – and then her dormitory, where Swann had been only a few days previously searching for clues regarding Grace's murder. There was nothing in her belongings that was of any use to Swann's investigation, although a disturbance of the ground up on the roof suggested the possibility of a struggle.

Swann spoke briefly with Miss Jennings afterwards and she informed him of the events leading up to his arrival. ‘I arrived at the school in Lady Harriet's carriage this morning, at approximately eight-thirty,' she told him. ‘After I had spoken to my deputy, to find out if anything eventful had happened in my absence – nothing had – I went to locate Anne. She was with the rest of her year, along with a few of the older girls, so I beckoned to her. I told her you wished to talk to her and that she should make herself available in the common room at ten o'clock. Not twenty minutes later there was screaming from outside and on looking out from my window, I saw her body on the ground.'

Anne had not appeared anxious about talking to Swann, or so Miss Jennings said. If anything, she seemed happy about his imminent arrival, which made her subsequent action even more mysterious. Swann had then requested to go across to the island, this time by himself, to which Miss Jennings had agreed.

So, if the first two deaths had been at the hands of a third party, then the murderer had struck again, which ruled out Bolton as the killer, given that he himself had been killed the night before. Having checked his case notes, Swann had discovered why his name was familiar. During an investigation a few months earlier, he had chanced upon a discussion concerning Napoleon and his extensive network of agents in this country. Someone had mentioned the aliases French agents assumed while in England and how they differed from county to county. He was not sure of them all, this person said, but knew several of them. In the home counties, for instance, the name ‘John Brown' was used, in Devon and Cornwall it was ‘John Smith' and ‘John Thomas' respectively, and in Somerset, that of ‘John Bolton'.

In Swann's list of suspects this now left Tom, the gardener. There was definitely something that he was not telling him, something he was hiding, but was it that he was the murderer? The fact that Tom had swum to the island to find the bodies meant he could have swum over earlier, perhaps after discovering the boat was gone.