'The girl escaped,' Oscott said. 'We couldn't let her get away or she'd have raised the alarm. She had to be stopped.'
'Stopped and brought back here. Not beaten to death.'
'They got carried away, sir.'
'Carried away!' fumed his employer.
'When they caught up with the girl, she screamed and fought back. Smeek said they had to shut her up.'
'So they did - permanently.'
'I'd blame Froggatt, sir. Too eager with that cudgel. Ben Froggatt doesn't know his own strength. He's the one who done her in. When they came back, I gave him the sharp side of my tongue, I can tell you.'
'If I'd been here, he'd have had the point of my sword. Reckless fool! He could have ruined the whole plan.' He pointed the whip. 'And whose idea was it to deliver the body to the Palace?'
'Mine,' admitted Oscott. 'You told me I was to use my initiative.'
'That was when I thought you had a brain.'
'We had to frighten them, you said. Force them into paying the ransom. What better way to show them we weren't to be trifled with than by sending a message like that?' Oscott was unrepentant. 'I was trying to turn the situation to our advantage, sir. Thanks to Froggatt, we suddenly had a dead body on our hands. We could hardly keep it here. Smeek has his boat so I got him and Froggatt to row downriver to the Palace under cover of darkness.'
'Are you sure they weren't seen?'
'They swear it.'
'Where did they leave her?'
'By the steps.'
'And they got away safely?'
'Yes, sir. They're well versed in their trade.'
'I was told that you were as well,' snarled the other, 'but you let me down, Oscott. How on earth did that maidservant escape when two of you were guarding her all day long?'
'Knotted bed linen. She lowered herself into the garden.'
'Then the girl showed more initiative than you've managed.'
'It may all turn out for the best, sir,' argued the other.
'Mrs Gow was not to be harmed. I stressed that.'
'I know.'
'And I didn't just mean physical harm, you dolt! Think how she'll feel when she finds out what's happened to this Mary Hibbert. She'll be distraught. Keeping her locked up here is punishment enough in itself. There was no need to kill her maid.' 'It wasn't my fault,' said Oscott, thrown on the defensive.
'Of course it was! You hired Smeek and Froggatt - and that other bully boy who helped us in the ambush. Choose reliable men, that was my instruction. Not imbeciles.' He walked around the room to calm himself down, tapping the end of his whip into the palm of his hand. 'Well, let's hope we can retrieve the situation. Who knows? It might even serve our ends. It might just scare the money out of His Majesty's purse.' He came to a sudden halt. 'Where is Mrs Gow?'
'Sealed up in the bedchamber, sir.'
'Safely?'
'There's no way she can get out. The door is locked and the window has been boarded up. I saw to it myself.'
'Closing the stable door after the horse had bolted.'
'Mrs Gow is still here. She's the important one, isn't she?'
'Yes,' agreed the other. 'Mrs Gow is the only important one. As long as we have her, we can put pressure on them to hand over the money.' He looked upwards. 'What have you told her about Mary Hibbert?'
Oscott looked uneasy. 'Nothing, sir.'
'Are you sure?'
'We just let her know that the girl had been caught.'
'And how did you do that?'
'Mary Hibbert was wearing a brooch. We left it on Mrs Gow's bed.'
'Why didn't you leave the dead body while you were at it!' roared the other, charging back to him. 'You've as good as told her that the girl will have no need for the brooch again. Was this another example of your famous initiative?'
'It was my wife's idea.'
'Oh, was it now?'
'She thought we should punish Mrs Gow.'
'Whatever for?'
'Helping her maid to escape.'
'Your wife's every bit as stupid as her husband.'
'We've done what we're paid for,' reasoned Oscott. 'We set up the ambush and brought Mrs Gow here. That's what you wanted.'
'Granted,' said the visitor. 'What I didn't want was the taint of murder on our hands. It was so unnecessary. Where are those two madmen now, Smeek and Froggatt?'
'Gone back to London.'
'Can they be trusted?'
'Yes, sir. They know how to keep their mouths shut.'
'I don't want any of this leading back to me.'
'Smeek and Froggatt don't even know your name, sir,' Oscott reminded him. 'No more do I. That was your stipulation. You're safe, sir. None of this can be connected with you.'
'It could if the trail led to this house.'
'Only the four of us know where it is.'
'That's two too many,' decided the other, rubbing his chin with the end of his whip. 'Smeek and Froggatt are liabilities. To be on the safe side, I think we'll move Mrs Gow.'
'Where to, sir?'
'Another hiding place.'
'But why?'
'They worry me, Oscott, those two friends of yours with the over-zealous cudgels. If they don't know where Mrs Gow is being kept, they won't be able to tell anyone where it is.'
'But they wouldn't do that, anyway,' insisted Oscott loyally. 'Smeek served in the Navy, sir. The man's as hard as teak and twice as reliable. Ben Froggatt's just such another. He knows how to earn his money. Have no fears about Smeek and Froggatt,' he said airily. 'They won't let you down.'
The Hope and Anchor was one of the many inns along the river that catered for sailors. With so many ships moored nearby, it was doing brisk business and its taproom was full. Smeek and Froggatt pushed their way through the crowd until they found a corner where they could raise their tankards in celebration. Short but powerful, Smeek had the weather- beaten complexion of a seafaring man. Froggatt was bigger, broader and even more rugged in appearance.
'We done well,' he said, drinking deep.
'Arthur Oscott didn't think so, Ben.'
'We shut the girl up for good. Pity we didn't have time to get some fun out of her before we did it, though. Pretty thing. I got a good feel of her body when we kidnapped her. I'd have enjoyed riding that little filly.'
'So would I,' said Smeek. 'One thing, anyway.'
'What's that?'
'She got us to the Palace. Never thought I'd set foot there.'
'Well, we did,' said Froggatt, jingling coins in his hand. 'And we got our reward from Arthur for doing it. He was pleased with us in the end. Leaving that body there would be another warning, he said.'
