Free The Detective and the Devil by Lloyd Shepherd Page A

given time off,’ Horton said.
    Putnam’s face changed, became colder and a good deal more careful, and Horton saw for the first time that he had information he was not expected to have.
    ‘Why, ah, yes. Yes, he was.’
    ‘Was he given many days off?’
    ‘A week, that was all.’
    ‘For what purpose?’
    ‘To visit his wife and daughter. I understand they were taken ill.’
    ‘Is the Company in the habit of being so charitable with its time?’
    From one of the clerks – Lamb, perhaps – came a noise that sounded almost like a chuckle.
    ‘It is in the gift of the chief section clerk,’ said Putnam.
    ‘Meaning yourself.’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘When was Johnson expected to return?’
    ‘I’m afraid I do not recall.’
    ‘And yet this only happened last week.’
    ‘Well, then, of course, he was to return this week. But then these terrible events transpired.’
    Putnam looked angry.
    ‘Well, then, my thanks to you. I shall disturb you no longer.’
    ‘Will that be all?’ asked Putnam, though his voice had adopted a newly sarcastic tone. The helpful heron-like clerk was gone. Horton wondered if he was now gazing on the true face of
John Company. ‘You have no further questions?’
    ‘I certainly don’t think it would be fruitful to consume any more of your time. My thanks for your cooperation.’
    ‘Well?’ asked Harriott, after they had made their way out of East India House and back into a carriage, two Jonahs escaping from their cetacean prison.
    ‘I learned only this, sir: that they are hiding something,’ said Horton. ‘A new clerk had been placed next to Johnson’s desk. This clerk clearly knew nothing of him or
his work. They were supposed to have been working together on St Helena business, among other matters, but I mentioned a fictitious town on that island, and the clerk did not notice. Putnam, the
manager, had been told not to reveal anything, but he was forced to confirm that Johnson had recently taken a week off, as Amy Beavis indicated.’
    ‘Hmm. I fail to see the relevance of this time off.’
    ‘As do I, at present. And I must be careful not to pursue a wild goose all the way to Leadenhall Street. But their care to cover up whatever Johnson was looking into is itself interesting.
He may have been up to something.’
    ‘Or he may simply have been involved in commercial matters they wish to remain secret. It is a private company, Horton. Secrets are its stock in trade.’
    ‘Yes, sir. But what if those secrets lead to the deaths of its clerks?’
    ‘Hmm. No evidence for that, now, is there?’
    Harriott sounded aggrieved, and Horton could detect the man’s lingering loyalty to his old employer. He decided to change the subject.
    ‘The alderman, Burroughs. What is his trade?’
    ‘He is one of the more powerful men in the City. A broker in gold and silver bullion; there are only two in the whole City, him and Moccatta, and Burroughs makes much play of being the
only
Gentile
broker. Unfortunately, he is also one of those who police these streets. The aldermen are the justices of the City peace, and yet Burroughs acts like an advocate for the
HEIC.’
    ‘It is an odd arrangement.’
    ‘That it is, Horton. That it is. The City aldermen are required to have paternal relationships with London’s trading firms. They know how their bread is buttered, after all. But this
is worse – he is a Proprietor.’
    ‘And what does that mean, sir?’
    ‘It means he is a joint-stock owner, and a large one; he holds four votes at the court of proprietors, which is the most any one individual is allowed. If Johnson’s death is related
to East India matters, Burroughs’s involvement will be damnably irritating.’
    ‘The inquest tomorrow may raise some further lines of inquiry,’ Horton said. ‘Also, there were some books in Johnson’s house which may relate to all this. I am looking
into those. I would talk to the neighbours again, and Amy Beavis. I would also like to know more about