some other pursuit, perhaps out of reach of the tentacles of the Inner Circle and its oppressive, insatiable secret demands. Or if it were all really to do with Eleanor Byam. After the scandal if Drummond were to marry her, he would no longer be able to maintain the social position he now held, and very probably not the professional position either. Pitt felt powerful and conflicting emotions. He was sorry for Drummond, and yet he was surprised how much he found he wanted the post. His pulse was beating faster. There was a new energy inside him.
“That’s a judgment I could not make until I reached that situation.” Pitt chose his words very carefully. He must not betray himself. “And that is not so today.” He made an effort to keep his voice level. “I’ll go back to the Stafford case. Thank you for your advice.” And before Drummond could say any more, he excused himself and went out.
In spite of having agreed with Drummond about Adolphus Pryce, Pitt still chose to go and see the other judges in Aaron Godman’s appeal and the Farriers’ Lane murder. Livesey he had seen already, Oswyn was out of London for the time being, but it was not difficult to find the address of Mr. Justice Edgar Boothroyd, even though he had now retired from the bench.
It took Pitt all morning on the train and then an open dog cart ride in the blustery wind before he finally arrived at the quiet, rambling old house just outside Guildford. An aged housekeeper showed him into a wood-paneled sitting room which in better weather would have opened onto a terrace and then a lawn. Now the wind was blowing dead leaves across the unkempt grass, fading chrysanthemum heads hung shaggy in the flower beds, and starlings squabbled on the stone path, snatching up pieces of bread someone had left for them.
Judge Boothroyd sat in a large armchair by the window, his back to the light, and blinked uncertainly at Pitt. He was a lean man gone to paunchiness, his waistcoat creased over his stomach, his narrow shoulders hunched forward.
“Pitt, did you say?” he asked, clearing his throat almost before he had finished speaking. “Perfectly willing to oblige, of course, but I doubt there’s anything I can do. Retired, you know. Didn’t they tell you that? Nothing to do with the bench anymore. Don’t know anything about it now. Just attend to the garden, and a spot of reading. Nothing much.”
Pitt regarded him with a sense of unhappiness. The room had a stale feeling about it, as if in some way it had been abandoned. It was fairly tidy, but the order in it was sterile, placed by an unloving hand. There was a silver tray with three decanters on the table by the window, all of which were close to empty, and there were smudges on the salver as of a fumbling hand. The curtains were drawn back crookedly and one tie was missing. There was no sweetness in the air.
“It is not a current case, sir.” Pitt added the title to give the man a respect he wanted to feel for him, and could not. “It goes back some five years.”
Boothroyd did not look at him. “I’ve been retired about that long,” he replied. “And my memory is not particularly clear anymore.”
Pitt sat down without being invited. Closer to him, he could see Boothroyd’s face more clearly. The eyes were watery, the features blurred not by age but by drink. He was a profoundly unhappy man, and the darkness inside him permeated the room.
“The Farriers’ Lane case,” Pitt said aloud. “You were one of the judges of appeal.”
“Oh.” Boothroyd sighed. “Yes—yes, but I cannot recall much of it now. Nasty case, but not—not much to argue about. Had to go through the motions, that’s all.” He sniffed. “I really don’t have anything to say on the matter.” He did not ask why Pitt wanted to know, and it was a curious omission.
“Do you remember the point on which the appeal was raised, sir?”
“No—no, I don’t, not now. Sat on a lot of appeals, you know. Can’t remember them all.” Boothroyd peered at him, frowning. For the first time his attention was focused, and there was a crease of anxiety across his brow.
“It must have been one of your last cases.” Pitt tried to bring back his recollection, but even as he said it, he knew he had little chance. Not only was Boothroyd’s mind dimmed, fuddled by time and unhappiness and, Pitt suspected, drink, but he had the powerful impression that he did not want to remember. What had happened to the man? He must have been learned, his bearing commanding, his mind incisive once. He must have been able to weigh the evidence, the points of law, and make fine decisions. Now he looked as if all interest in life had gone, his self-respect, his dignity, his ability to reason impersonally. Yet Pitt doubted he was more than sixty-five at the most.
“Possibly,” Boothroyd said, shaking his head. “Possibly it was. Still don’t remember it. A medical point, I think, but I can’t tell you more than that. Or it might have been something to do with a coat—or a bracelet or something. Don’t know. Don’t recall it.”
“Did Judge Stafford come out to visit you lately, sir?”
“Stafford?” Boothroyd’s face fell oddly slack, his eyes staring at Pitt, something close to fear in their shallow watery gaze. He swallowed. “Why do you ask?”
“I am afraid he was killed,” Pitt replied, unexpectedly brutal. The words slipped out before he weighed them. “I’m sorry.”
“Killed?” Boothroyd breathed in deeply. Something in his face eased out, a shadow left it, as if some fear had mercilessly been removed. “Traffic accident, was it? Getting worse in town all the time. Saw some poor devil run over by a bolting carriage just last month. Dogs got into a fight, horse reared. Fearful mess. Lucky it was only one person killed.”
“No, I am afraid not. He was murdered.” Pitt watched Boothroyd’s face. He saw him swallow convulsively and his mouth gape. He struggled for breath. Pitt felt a compassion that was inextricably touched with revulsion. He must at least try to probe Boothroyd’s bemused memory, however little he believed in success. “Did he come out here to see you recently, sir? I am afraid I need to know.”
“I—er—” Boothroyd stared at Pitt helplessly, seeking escape, and eventually realizing there was none. “Er— yes—yes, he did come out. Colleagues, you know. Very civil of him.”
“Did he say anything about the Farriers’ Lane case, sir?” Again he watched Boothroyd’s face, the evasion and the misery in his eyes.
“Think he mentioned it. Natural. It was the last appeal we sat on together. Old memories, you know? No, I don’t suppose you do. Too young.” His eyes slid sideways. “Would you like a glass of whiskey?”
“No, thank you, sir.”
“Don’t mind if I do?” He stood up and lumbered over towards the three decanters on the table. He was not a heavy man, nothing like the weight of Livesey, and yet his movement was labored, as if he found difficulty with it.
