He stared at me and nodded very slowly. “You may yet serve,” he said.
I ignored his reserved praise. Did he think me a dog he might pat upon the head?
“You know where you may call upon me should you require anything further,” Bloathwait said. He then entered his carriage, and his horses slowly trotted off, leaving me and Elias perhaps more confused than ever.
ELIAS MET WITH ME the next morning. The hesitation in his walk suggested that pain still hindered his movements, but he appeared otherwise quite well. He informed me that he had pressing business at the theatre, but he was happy to lend me such time as he had. We sat in my uncle’s parlor, sipping tea, trying not to think of the disasters we had narrowly escaped the previous night.
“I cannot think of how to continue,” I said. “There are so many men involved, and I have so many suspicions. I know not how to sort it out, who to visit, nor what questions to ask.”
Elias laughed. “I believe you have struck upon the problems of conspiracies. There are men who wish to keep you from uncovering the truth about this particular matter, but there are others who are only privately villainous and have their own little truths to hide. When you confront a conspiracy it becomes monstrous hard to distinguish between wretched villainy and ordinary, common lies.”
I nodded. “Last night Bloathwait confirmed my suspicion that Rochester, whoever he might be, is the vendor of the false stock. Several men have suggested that it was Rochester who had my father run down, which would certainly make sense if my father threatened the false-stock trade. It is therefore likely that Rochester is responsible for the various assaults upon my person, and indeed now your person.”
“Soundly argued,” Elias agreed.
“We further know that Rochester will go to seemingly any length to stay hidden, but our greatest chance of concluding this inquiry is in bringing Rochester to light. If we cannot locate him, as indeed it seems we cannot, perhaps we can locate his other victims.”
Elias clapped his hands. “I believe you may be on the verge of striking a very sound blow.”
I smiled. “Is it not probable that we might find some of his enemies—the holders of false stock, or those who have had violent dealings with him? When I attempted to deliver my false message at Jonathan’s, many a man looked up when the boy cried out the name of Rochester.”
“I hardly think you can question every broker upon the ’Change,” Elias observed.
“Not the brokers, but what about his buyers? As you say, the ones who have no idea that they have been wronged. They are the ones, Elias, because not knowing they have been wronged, they know not that they have something to fear.” My heart began to race. I saw at last a solution. “We must find them. They will lead me to Rochester.”
I could not tell if Elias was more excited by the idea or by my enthusiasm. “Good Gad, Weaver. That look upon your face is one of inspiration. I hardly know you any longer.”
I told him of my idea, and Elias helped me work out the details. We then traveled to the offices of the
To Any and All Persons
Who have bought stock from, or sold stock to,
You are asked to attend
this
at which time you will receive compensation
for your time
After conducting our business, we returned to the street to make our way home. Elias and I both covered our noses with handkerchiefs as we passed a pauper pushing a cart of spoiled mutton. “It is an audacious stroke,” I mumbled, as we hurried past this foulness.
“Rather,” Elias agreed, “but I believe it cannot fail. Your enemies, sir, know who you are and what you are about. They have been able to make you come to them, and they have been able to find you. Now you, sir, must expose their weaknesses. This rascal Rochester has gone to great lengths to protect his identity, but no one can be so careful as to be undetectable. He has made mistakes, and we shall find them soon enough.”
“It cannot but be otherwise,” I agreed, fired by the thrill of decisive action. “I suspect this false identity of his was never meant to withstand the degree of scrutiny we shall unleash upon him.”
Elias nodded. “You begin to understand the theory of probability,” he said. “From the general necessity of the existence of victims, you will find the particular of the villain.”
“If only we still had my father’s pamphlet.” I could not easily estimate the loss of that document. “If we still had it in hand, I imagine we might have done some pushing here and there with a very powerful tool.”
“I believe you did,” Elias pointed out. “Is that not why the document was stolen?”
He was quite correct. I would have to learn to think more as he did if I was to outwit these villains.
THE IDEA OF THE advertisement filled me with a glowing pleasure in my own ingenuity, and I longed to inform my uncle of what I had done. The door to my uncle’s study sat ajar, and I approached in the hope of finding him unoccupied, but I soon saw my mistake. Several voices came from within, and I should have turned away, thinking only to return at a more convenient time, but I discovered something that sat ill with me. One of the men who spoke was Noah Sarmento, and while I had no love for the man, I could feel no surprise to find him in my uncle’s presence. No, it was a second voice that struck me, for it belonged to none other than Abraham Mendes, Jonathan Wild’s man.
I quickly retreated—too quickly, for I heard hardly more than a word or two of their conversation, but I dared not linger where I might be caught spying so boldly upon my own kinsman.
Instead I walked outside and waited upon the street, pacing up and down for the better part of an hour until I saw Sarmento and Mendes leave the house together. Perhaps I should say they left simultaneously, for there was nothing cooperative, or even congenial, about the way these two men acted with each other. They merely departed from the same place at the same time.
I stepped forward before they could part, however. “Ho, gentlemen,” I said with affected gaiety. “How good to see you both. Especially you, Mr. Mendes, emerging so unexpectedly from my uncle’s house.”
“What do you want, Weaver?” Sarmento asked sourly.
“And you,” I continued, now driven by nothing but bluster. “You, my good friend, Mr. Sarmento. I have hardly seen you since—when was it now?—ah, yes. It was after the masquerade where you lurked in the crowd just after a failed effort to assassinate my person. How do you do, sir?”
Sarmento clucked disgustedly, as though I had mentioned something ribald in polite company. “I neither understand you nor wish to,” he said, “nor shall I spend any more time with a man who speaks nonsensical stuff.” He spun sharply and affected to walk off with dignity, but he repeatedly turned to see if I pursued, and did not stop straining his neck until he rounded the corner and disappeared from sight.
I thought to give chase, but Mendes went nowhere, as though he dared me to inquire into his business. I had no doubt I should be able to break Sarmento at the time of my choosing, but Mendes was quite another matter.
“I am pleased to see you in so fine a mood, sir,” he said to me. “I hope your inquiry treats you well.”
“Yes,” I said, though my good spirits had now dissipated. “At this moment I inquire into a very curious matter indeed. I inquire into your presence in my uncle’s house.”
“Nothing simpler,” he told me. “I had a matter of business to resolve.”
“But the details, Mr. Mendes, the details. What matter of business might that be?”
“Merely some fashionable cloth that Mr. Lienzo found upon his hands and that a sometimes too-zealous government would not let him easily dispose of. He entrusted me with these goods some months ago, and having found a buyer, I only wished to pay your uncle what he was owed.”
“And Sarmento’s role in all of this?”
“He is your uncle’s factor. You know that. He was with your uncle when I arrived. Surely,” he added with a grin, “you do not suspect your uncle of some mischief, do you? I should hate to see you break with him as you broke with your father.”
I stiffened at these words, which I knew he meant most provocatively. “I should be careful, sir. Do you in truth wish to test whether or no I am a match for you?”
