It was time to interrupt. But before Pitt spoke, Gillivray cut in.
'We'll do that, sir. I think there's every chance we shall discover something. You may well have found the answer already.'
41
Wayboume let out his breath slowly. The muscle in his face calmed.
'Yes. Yes, I suppose you'd better. Most unpleasant, but if ii cannot be avoided . . .'
'We'll be discreet, sir,' Gillivray promised.
Pitt felt irritation wash over him. 'We'll investigate everything,' he said a little sharply. 'Until we have either discovered the truth or exhausted every possibility.'
Way bourne looked at him with disapproval, his eyes sharp under the sweeping, fair lashes.
'Indeed! Then you may return tomorrow and begin with the groom and Mr. Jerome. Now I think I have said everything that I have to say to you. I will instruct the appropriate servants for your convenience tomorrow. Good day to you.'
'Good day, gentlemen.' Pitt accepted dismissal this time. He had much to consider before he spoke to the groom, Jerome, or anyone else. There was already an ugliness in it beyond the tragedy of death itself. Tentacles of the compulsions that had led to the death were beginning to surface, assaulting his senses.
42
I he Waybourne family doctor had asked to see the body and make an examination; he came away silent, shaking his head, his face drawn. Pitt did not know what he said to Waybourne, but there was never any further suggestion of incompetence by the police surgeon, and no other explanation for the symptoms was put forward. In fact, they were not mentioned.
Pitt and Gillivray returned at ten o'clock in the morning; they interviewed the grooms and the footmen, which proved fruitless. Arthur's tastes had been more sophisticated than anything the stables or the mews had to offer. He had liked to be well driven, and admired a handsome rig, but he had never shown the least desire to take the reins himself. Even good bloodstock moved him to no more than a passing appreciation, like good boots or a well-tailored coat.
'This is all a waste of time,' Gillivray said, poking his hands in his pockets and stepping up into the areaway. 'He probably fell into bad company with some older boy-a single experience-and then he reverted to quite natural relationships. After all; he was sixteen! I daresay he contracted the disease from a street woman or some other miserable initiation. Perhaps someone gave him a little too much to drink-you know how these things can end up. I don't suppose he had the least idea, poor little devil. And we certainly won't do any good pursuing it.' He raised his eyebrows and gave Pitt a warning glance. 'None of those men,' he said, jerking his head back toward the stables, 'would dare touch the son of the house! And I don't imagine they'd want to. They'd stick to their own
43
class-more fun and less dangerous. We could probably find out about that from the maids, if it matters. A groom would have to be insane to risk his livelihood. He'd probably never get another place with a decent family anywhere in the country if he was caught! No man in his right mind is going to risk that for a bit of foolery.'
Pitt had no argument; he had already thought the same things himself. Added to which, by all accounts so far, neither Arthur nor his brother had been in the habit of visiting the stables. Carriages were brought to the front door and there was no occasion for them to go to the mews except from personal interest. And that, apparently, had not existed.
'No,' Pitt agreed tersely, cleaning his feet against the iron boot-scraper at the back door. 'Now we'd better try the rest of the staff to see what they can tell us.'
'Oh, come on!' Gillivray protested. 'Boys like that don't spend their spare time-or their affection-in the servants' hall!'
'Clean your boots,' Pitt ordered. 'Anyway, it was you who wanted to check on the grooms,' he added spitefully. 'Just ask them. The butler or the valet may know where the boys went visiting, other houses they stayed at. Families go
