Free The Hawk by Peter Smalley

Lieutenant Hayter. I know why you have come, I
think.'
    The Third Secretary Mr Soames rose from his desk, but
did not come forward, nor proffer his hand in greeting. He
remained where he was, his hand extended merely to indicate
a chair.
    'I must thank you for receiving me so prompt, Mr Soames.'
James sat down on the very plain chair, and put his hat
beneath it.
    'Under the circumstances I could hardly do otherwise.' Mr
Soames resumed his seat, and tucked a fine linen handkerchief
into his sleeve. A waft of cologne on the slightly stale air.
'The death of Captain Marles has been wretched inconvenient
to us – and to you, I am in no doubt.'
    'Inconvenient?' The word came rushing out, harsher and
more hostile than he had intended.
    'More than inconvenient, indeed.' A brief puckering of the
mouth. 'A great nuisance.'
    James opened his mouth, then shut it again before angry
remonstrance could crash out into the room. He counted
to five.
    'I – I have come because I need to have replaced the
instructions Captain Marles brought to me at Portsmouth,
but did not give to me.'
    'You never saw them?' Surprised.
    'I did see them, but they – that is, Captain Marles did not
give them into my possession.'
    'Then it's true that they was removed from his coat at the
time of the attack?'
    'We believe so, yes.'
    'We?'
    'Lieutenant-Colonel Macklin of the Marines, that is
inquiring into the captain's death – his murder.'
    'Murder, yes.' Another brief puckering, and the trace of a
grimace. 'Yes, an ugly word.'
    'I do not know a better one. A more convenient one.'
    'You have not considered, I expect, that this was not
deliberate murder?'
    'Not delib— . . . Christ's blood, his throat was cut!'
    'Was it? Was it? That I did not know.' He lifted the
handkerchief to his nose a moment, then returned it to his
sleeve. 'Yes, what I had meant to suggest to you, Lieutenant,
was that the assault – though murderous – was merely one of
opportunity, not design. You frown.'
    'Surely it is obvious, Mr Soames! I beg your pardon, I did
not mean to shout. But surely it is absolutely clear, ain't it?
The inner pocket of his coat was torn out, the packet
removed and torn apart, and the papers took.'
    'Yes?'
    'Yes!'
    'Mm, yes. It had not occurred to you that the footpad, in
such a place as the Point – notorious, I think, at Portsmouth
– was merely seeking money? He saw a gentleman alone at
night in an alley, supposed that the gentleman had gold
money upon his person, and made his assault.'
    'In truth that explication had not occurred to me, no. I find
it, with respect, entirely improbable.'
    'Do you? Ah.' Mr Soames sat impassive, and allowed a
moment to pass. 'In course you are entitled to your view.'
    'My view! I beg your pardon. Sir, my very strong sense of the
thing is that Captain Ward was behind it, that he is now in
possession of our plan of capture, and that we must devise a
new stratagem. That is why I have come, for new instructions.'
    'Sedley Ward, d'y'mean?'
    'Aye, Captain Sedley Ward, of the Lark cutter.'
    'Not Ward, I think.' Shaking his head. 'Word has reached
us from Barbados that Sedley Ward died there two month
ago, of the fever. He was second officer of a schooner there,
thought to be a slaver. He had not been master of the Lark for
a twelvemonth.'
    'When did this intelligence come?'
    'Yesternight, in a letter. The papers took from Captain
Marles have been destroyed, to a certainty. Torn up, or flung
into the harbour, or burned – as worthless. Sedley Ward is
dead, and we do not know who commands the Lark . But
whoever he is, he does not know of our plan. Fair copies were
made of your instructions. You shall have those, when further
copies have been done. Come here at noon tomorrow, and
the papers will be ready for you.'
    'I – very good, sir.'
    'The impediment is the loss of Captain Marles. He is not
easily replaced as your immediate superior. You will have to
proceed on your own initiative, for the moment.'
    'May I prevail upon you,