'Not even my wife,' Hugh said.
'Good.'
Tonio's old recklessness seemed to have vanished, Hugh thought; in fact he was going to the other extreme. 'But you can't stay in hospital for the rest of your life to hide from street ruffians.'
'The people who attacked me were not just thieves, Pilaster.'
Hugh took off his hat and sat on the edge of the bed. He tried to ignore the intermittent groaning of the man in the next bed. 'Tell me what happened,' he said.
'It wasn't a routine theft. My key was taken and the thieves used it to get into my room. Nothing of value was stolen but all the papers pertaining to my article for The Times were taken, including the affidavits signed by the witnesses.'
Hugh was horrified. It chilled his heart to think that the immaculately respectable transactions taking place in the hushed halls of Pilasters should have any link with violent crime in the streets and the battered face in front of him. 'It almost sounds as if the bank is under suspicion!'
'Not the bank,' Tonio said. 'Pilasters is a powerful institution, but I don't believe it could organize murders in Cordova.'
'Murders?' This was getting worse and worse. 'Who has been murdered?'
'All the witnesses whose names and addresses were on the affidavits that were stolen from my hotel room.'
'I can hardly believe it.'
'I'm lucky to be alive myself. They would have killed me, I think, were it not that murders are investigated more thoroughly here in London than they are back at home, and they were afraid of the fuss.'
Hugh was still dazed and disgusted by the revelation that people had been murdered because of a bond issue by Pilasters Bank. 'But who is behind all this?'
'Micky Miranda.'
Hugh shook his head incredulously. 'I'm not fond of Micky, as you know, but I can't believe he would do this.'
'The Santamaria railroad is vital to him. It will make his family the second most powerful in the land.'
'I realize that, and I don't doubt that Micky would bend a lot of rules to achieve his aims. But he's not a killer.'
'Yes, he is,' Tonio said.
'Come on.'
'I know it for sure. I haven't always acted as if I knew--in fact I've been a damn fool about Miranda. But that's because he has a devilish charm. For a while he made me think he was my friend. The truth is that he's evil through and through and I've known it since school.'
'How could you?'
Tonio shifted in the bed. 'I know what really happened thirteen years ago, the afternoon Peter Middleton drowned in the swimming hole at Bishop's Wood.'
Hugh was electrified. He had been wondering about this for years. Peter Middleton had been a strong swimmer: it was most unlikely that he had died by accident. Hugh had long been convinced that there had been some kind of foul play. Perhaps at last he was going to learn the truth. 'Go on, man,' he said. 'I can't wait to hear this.'
Tonio hesitated. 'Could you give me a little wine?' he said. There was a bottle of Madeira on the floor beside the bed. Hugh poured some into a glass. While Tonio sipped it, Hugh recalled the heat of that day, the stillness of the air in Bishop's Wood, the scarred rock walls of the swimming hole, and the cold, cold water.
'The coroner was told that Peter was in difficulty in the pool. He was never told that Edward was ducking him repeatedly.'
'I knew that much,' Hugh interrupted. 'I had a letter from Hump Cammel in the Cape Colony. He was watching from the far side of the pool. But he didn't stay to see the end.'
'That's right. You escaped and Hump ran away. That left me, Peter, Edward and Micky.'
'What happened after I left?' Hugh said impatiently.
'I got out and threw a stone at Edward. It was a lucky shot: it hit him square in the middle of the forehead, and drew blood. It caused him to leave off tormenting Peter and come after me. I scrambled up the side of the quarry, trying to get away from him.'
'Edward was never light on his feet, even then,' Hugh observed.
'That's right. I got well ahead of him, then halfway up I looked back. Micky was continuing to bully Peter. Peter had swum to the side and was trying to get out of the water, but Micky kept pushing his head under. I only glanced at them for a moment, but I could see very clearly what was going on. Then I continued to climb.'
He took another sip of the wine. 'When I got to the rim of the quarry I looked back again. Edward was still coming after me but he was a long way behind and I had time to catch my breath.' Tonio paused, and an expression of revulsion crossed his scarred face. 'By this time Micky was in the water with Peter. What I saw--perfectly clearly, and I can see it in my memory now as if it were yesterday--was Micky holding Peter under the water. Peter was thrashing about, but Micky had Peter's head under his arm and Peter couldn't break the hold. Micky was drowning him. There is absolutely no doubt about it. It was straightforward murder.'
'Dear God,' Hugh breathed.
Tonio nodded. 'It makes me feel ill to think of it even now. I stared at them for I don't know how long. Edward almost caught me. Peter had stopped thrashing about, and was just struggling feebly, when Edward reached the rim of the quarry and I had to run away.'
'So that's how Peter died.' Hugh was stunned and horrified.
'Edward followed me through the woods a little way, but he was puffed out and I shook him off. Then I found you.'
Hugh remembered the thirteen-year-old Tonio wandering through Bishop's Wood, naked, wet, carrying his clothes and sobbing. The memory brought back the shock and pain he had suffered later that same day, when he learned that his father was dead. 'But why did you never tell anyone what you had seen?'
'I was afraid of Micky--afraid he'd do to me what he did to Peter. I'm still afraid of Micky--look at me now! You should be afraid of him too.'
'I am, don't worry.' Hugh was thoughtful. 'You know, I don't believe Edward and his mother know the truth about this.'
'What makes you say so?'
'They had no reason to cover up for Micky.'
Tonio looked dubious. 'Edward might have, out of friendship.'
'Perhaps--although I doubt he could have kept the secret more than a day or two. Anyway, Augusta knew that the story they told, about Edward trying to rescue Peter, was a lie.'
'How did she know that?'
'My mother told her, and I told my mother. Which means that Augusta was involved in
