thought that the trained mind of the Scholar…oh, bother.”
The entire floor space of the waiting room being at present occupied by piles of books, the accommodation provided for visitors consisted of two rather uncomfortable chairs in the corridor outside the Clerks’ Room. One of these was occupied by Edgar Albany, who rose, however, on observing our presence, or rather on observing Selena’s — mine he seemed content to ignore.
“Ah, Miss Jardine. I want a word with you, young lady.”
“Good afternoon, Mr. Albany. I’m afraid I can’t discuss anything with you until Sir Robert arrives — he should be here very shortly.”
“Now look here, that just isn’t good enough, you know. I get a telephone call from the Chairman telling me to drop everything and be here straight after lunch because he has ‘a very grave matter’ to discuss with me and when I get here I’m kept hanging around in this bloody corridor like some bloody fourth-former outside the headmaster’s study being given time to think about what’s coming to him.”
“I’m sure,” said Selena, “that Sir Robert had no deliberate intention of keeping you waiting. As I understand it he asked you to be here at half past two. Naturally, I am extremely sorry that we can’t offer you a more comfortable place to sit, but our refurbishments—”
“I don’t give a damn about your bloody refurbishments. I just want to know what’s going on, and if the Chairman’s got a bone to pick with me about something why he has to do it in some damned lawyer’s office instead of back in his office at Renfrews’. And don’t tell me you don’t know, because I bloody well shan’t believe you.”
“I have no intention of telling you anything of the kind. Sir Robert has a matter which he wishes to discuss with you and feels it desirable to do so in the presence of his lawyers — that is to say, Mr. Vavasour and myself. If, having heard what he has to say, you feel that you don’t wish to make any comment until you can instruct lawyers on your own behalf…”
“Christ Almighty, you sound like a policeman saying anything I say may be taken down and used in evidence. Anyone would think I’d done something criminal. Well, let me tell you—”
He broke off suddenly, making a curious noise which was not precisely a gasp nor exactly a groan nor strictly speaking a rattle but somehow participating in the qualities of all these, and stood staring with an expression of alarm at the doorway behind us, as if some hideous spectre had appeared there.
Upon following the direction of his gaze, I saw nothing more alarming than the graceful figure of Ragwort.
Sir Robert and his solicitor were mounting the steps behind him. Becoming aware of this, Ragwort stood courteously aside to allow them to precede him through the doorway.
Selena greeted them with perceptible relief and proposed that they should all now proceed to her room.
“I’m not going anywhere,” said Albany, “until I know what’s going on. And what that man is doing here. And what lies he’s been telling about me.”
Sir Robert gazed at him with astonishment and a measure of disapproval.
“What man? My dear Edgar, you seem to be overwrought.”
“I’m not going another step till you tell me what this is all about.”
“Well, Edgar, if you insist on my telling you in this not very private place, then I have to tell you that it is my painful task to enquire into an incident which occurred on the morning of the twenty-first of December. When, as you may recall, you and Geoffrey Bolton were visiting me in Cannes.”
Albany’s response to this was to lunge forward and attempt to strike Ragwort on the nose. Ragwort moved adroitly aside. Albany overbalanced and fell to the ground. He appeared, having done so, unable or disinclined to rise.
“Edgar,” said Sir Robert, “have you gone quite mad?”
“I don’t know what he’s told you, but whatever it is I deny it. He’s a liar and a blackguard.”
Though I felt little inclination to sympathise with Albany, the duty of the Scholar is to the Truth. I felt it my duty to intervene.
“Mr. Albany,” I said, “before you deny what Mr. Ragwort has to say, do you not think it prudent to find out what it is?”
“I know damn well what it is, and it’s all lies. And who the hell are you?”
“My name,” I said, “is Hilary Tamar. Professor Hilary Tamar, of St. George’s College, Oxford. I am a friend of Miss Jardine and Mr. Ragwort, with whom I have been lunching. I do, however, have some knowledge of legal matters, and I would strongly advise you to find out what you are accused of before you attempt to rebut the accusation.”
“Get stuffed,” said Albany.
“Sir Robert,” I said, unsurprised by Albany’s ingratitude, “I believe that Mr. Albany may be labouring under a misapprehension. I suggest that you tell him the precise nature of your accusation.”
“Professor Tamar,” said Mr. Vavasour icily, “I am sure that you mean well. But Sir Robert is not in the habit of taking the advice of total strangers on the conduct of his affairs.”
Sir Robert’s reaction to this was rather curious. He stood as if struck by some sudden revelation and a gentle smile spread over his chubby features.
“No,” he said at last. “No, as Mr. Vavasour says, I do not usually do that. And yet…really, how extraordinary. Yes, in spite of that, Professor Tamar, I shall take your advice. Edgar, on the morning of the twenty-first of December, a purchase was made of shares in a certain company. The evidence compels me to ask you whether you were the purchaser.”
“What evidence? What shares? I’m sorry, Uncle Robert, but I haven’t the faintest idea what you’re talking about.”
“A significant number of shares in the company which we discussed the evening before over dinner at El Maroc. I’m sure you will realize how unlikely it would be for anyone to have bought those shares, by pure coincidence, who was unaware of the decision reached during that discussion.”
“Oh, I get it.” Albany pulled himself up to a sitting position and sat with his back to the wall, staring at Sir Robert with an expression of bitterness in his round blue eyes. “Oh yes, now I get it — someone’s done a spot of insider dealing and I’m the main suspect. Just as a matter of interest — I mean, I know you’ve only known me since I was born, I know I’m only the great-grandson of one of the Bank’s founders, I know I only went to a decent school and a decent University instead of going to evening classes, so I quite see I’m the number-one suspect — but just as a matter of interest, do you mind telling me why that little bounder Bolton isn’t even in the frame?”
“The purchase took place at twenty to eleven, which means, as you know, that instructions must have been given immediately before that time. Geoffrey Bolton was with me throughout the morning, and almost continuously engaged in making telephone calls in connection with the proposed takeover, all of which were recorded. It would not have been possible for him to have given instructions for any private purchase without my knowledge. You, on the other hand, went out at about ten o’clock, saying that you didn’t feel you had anything to contribute to the proceedings, and after that …”
“Well, I didn’t, did I? Bolton obviously thought he could handle the whole thing on his own, and you obviously agreed with him, so there wasn’t much point in me hanging around, was there?”
“I’m not criticising you for going out. I am saying merely that your movements during the morning are unknown to me. Miss Tavistock happened to be doing some shopping in the square and she has told me that you were sitting in a cafe there until about quarter past ten. After that she unfortunately lost sight of you and you did not return to the villa until after twelve. Are you prepared to tell us what you were doing during that time?”
“I …” Albany was plainly having difficulty in deciding whether Sir Robert would disapprove more of his exchange with Mlle. Natasha than of insider dealing. “I … I was walking about.”
“In an area,” said Mr. Vavasour, “where it would not be difficult to find a public telephone? I’m afraid, Mr. Albany, that that is not a very satisfactory alibi.”
“I didn’t make any telephone call — I couldn’t have made a telephone call. Why can’t you just take my word for it?”
“I’m afraid,” said Sir Robert, “that in the circumstances …”
“He knows,” said Albany, suddenly pointing at Ragwort. “That man — he knows I couldn’t.”
“My dear Edgar, you seem to be under some extraordinary delusion about this young man — I have no reason to think that he knows anything whatever about the matter.”
Ragwort had for some minutes taken no apparent interest in the conversation, but had stood smiling gently
