A Conspiracy of Paper

TWENTY-THREE

I FOUND WILD’S MANEUVERINGS rough and barbaric, but for all his clumsiness, I could not see his game. There was no shortage of men pushing me toward the South Sea Company, and to suspect that they all conspired in this together was to say that my uncle was part of this conspiracy. That possibility filled me with dread, but in light of the information I had obtained, it was one I could not entirely dismiss. Why had my uncle wished to keep me clear of Bloathwait, whose involvement in these matters grew evident? Did Sarmento deal with Bloathwait with or without my uncle’s knowledge? And why did my uncle maintain a friendship with Adelman, a man so important to the South Sea Company, if it appeared that the Company’s hand in my father’s death was undeniable?

For the nonce, no question plagued me more than Wild’s interest. I could not imagine how a dandified pickpocket like Wild stood to gain from exposing the Company. Despite his claims about the importance of punishing murder, my success in these matters would perhaps be the greatest threat to Wild’s concerns, for many a man in London, as Sir Owen had shown by example, would pay more to have an honest man return his goods than pay a more moderate fee to the thief that took them in the first place. I could only conclude two probable explanations for Wild’s behavior: either he aimed somehow, through all his maneuverings, to remove me from his way; or, for reasons I could not yet guess, the South Sea Company was so dangerous to him that he would risk my injuring him in the future in order to expose the Company now. I could not even speculate on what the Company could have to do with an oily fiend like Wild, but if he did fear the South Sea, why did he not give me more information with which to do the Company harm?

Quite exhausted and hurting from the blows I’d taken of Wild’s men, I entered Mrs. Garrison’s house, now prepared at last to sleep. I could not say with any truthfulness that the pain had subsided much; if anything, it ached more acutely, though the sting of it had passed. I believed that I could tell from past experience when an injury was serious or no, and while I knew I should be in discomfort for some days ahead, I did not believe myself in any danger. I would think through these matters properly once I had rested, but rest was not to prove so easy to obtain. Mrs. Garrison awaited me in the hall, her hands red from her incessant wringing.

“Mr. Weaver, sir, are you unharmed?” She appeared something like concerned, even, I would venture, glad to see me, but I knew too well the meaning of her clucking her tongue. I had heard it many a time and often when my rent was past due.

“Yes, Mrs. Garrison,” I said with a soft voice, doing my best to put her at ease. She would not soon forget the horror of having those villainous men in her home. “There was no cause for alarm. These were some foolish men, but utterly harmless.”

“I am glad you are well,” she said. “I thought they had hurt you quite grievously.” There was a pause.

“You wish to add something, madam?”

“Mr. Weaver, I cannot have ruffians coming into my home. This is a respectable house I run, sir. I have looked the other way, with your being a Hebrew and such, sir. Many’s the folk who would not do so,” she added hastily. “But I can’t have these ruffians, armed with swords and guns and the Lord only knows what manner of weapons, come into my house and threaten me and frighten me and the servants, sir.”

“I quite understand, Mrs. Garrison,” I said soothingly. “It shan’t happen again. It was all an unfortunate misunderstanding that could have happened to any gentleman.”

“Any gentleman?” she asked. “Begging your pardon, sir, I am afraid I misbelieve you.” She paused. “Mr. Weaver, I must ask you to leave. I must. I cannot have such men in here to frighten me like to death and to do what mischief I know not to me and to my tenants. I’ll need you gone before sundown, Mr. Weaver.”

“Before sundown?” I almost shouted. “I quite understand your concern, Mrs. Garrison, and I do not resent it, but before sundown is hardly reasonable. I shall not have time to search for other lodgings. I might remind you that I am paid through the end of the quarter.”

“I’ll return your money. You needn’t worry on that score. But I must insist upon your departure, sir.” She stood there, continuing to wring her hands. I suppose I could have either charmed or frightened her into changing her mind, but I could not deny that my adventures had placed her in jeopardy. I had no great love for my landlady, but I should have been enraged had she been harmed by any enemy of mine. What she asked of me was an inconvenience, not an impossibility, and the right thing to do would be to comply.

“Very well, madam,” I said. “I shall not cause you further grief.”

She sighed with relief. “Thank you, Mr. Weaver. I am sorry to have to do this.”

I thought this might be the beginning of a protracted apology, and I held up my hand. “Enough, Mrs. Garrison. I quite understand. You must do justice to yourself.”

“Thank you, sir. Oh, and Mr. Weaver, sir, I think I should only tell you that there is another gentleman waiting for you upstairs. I told him I didn’t know if you wanted anyone up there and that there was no knowing when you was to be back, but he took me no mind and—”

Without another word I turned and ran upstairs as best I could, reaching, as I moved, for the pistol I had only recently replaced into my coat pocket. There was no way of knowing who it could be. Perhaps Wild’s deception had not yet run its full course. Perhaps now I was to contend with the South Sea Company or even an agent of Bloathwait’s. I stood outside my door for a moment, my pistol held high, and with a fluid movement, I pushed the door open and stepped forward boldly, aiming my firearm at the figure who sat facing me.

“You’ve had a lively day, then?” Elias said calmly. “The old bird’s been having seizures. I mollified her a bit by taking some of her blood. Shall I send a bill to Mr. Balfour?” Elias paused. “You can put that pistol down, you know.”

I did as he suggested and threw myself into my armchair. “There’s no condition unbettered by the loss of blood,” I mumbled. “It’s a wonder men who have their limbs lopped off don’t stand healthier than we who still have all ours attached.”

“You laugh,” Elias said cheerfully, “but were I to bleed you now, you’d soon discover a vast improvement in your disposition. Shall you tell me what happened? You look dreadful.”

I briefly recounted my adventure with Wild, trying not to omit any detail that might be of value. Elias’s jaw hung open as he listened. “This is an impenetrable turn. Why should Wild wish to set you against the South Sea Company? What could a trading company be to a man like Wild?”

I shook my head, suddenly quite thirsty. I wished that I kept something such as drinking water around my rooms, but that was a luxury I rarely indulged in. “I don’t know.” I sighed such that my ribs ached. “He mentioned counterfeiting, but if Wild were involved in a scheme to falsify stock, why would he point me to the Company? My inquiry would only risk exposing the scheme.”

Elias nodded thoughtfully. “Maybe he wishes to put you off the Company?”

I could not follow his thinking, and my eyes became unfocused.

“Wild is devious,” Elias continued. “What if he tells you to look to the Company because he knows you mistrust him? Perhaps he claims the Company as his enemy precisely because it is his ally.”

I closed my eyes. “It is a strange business, but I cannot believe that even if the Company were ruthless enough to involve itself in the murder of two prominent businessmen, it would be so reckless as to risk dealings with Wild. These men may be villains, but they are not fools.”

“I have known several and found them as subject to buffoonery as men in any profession.”

“If Wild were connected with the Company, why should he expose himself now? Why should he involve me? Surely it is a risk to call upon me. I cannot see what he or the South Sea Company or Bloathwait or anyone else has to gain by handing me these minute pieces of information and asking me to proceed from them. If anything, such actions suggest that they do not work together—that each individual who provides me with information accounts at least one of the others as his enemy. I cannot claim to understand it all, Elias, but if this is an inquiry of probability rather than fact, I believe it likely that whoever killed my father and Balfour has other enemies, and that all of those enemies are attempting to use this inquiry to serve their own aims.”

“Perhaps these men were part of a cabal that has broken down. Perhaps the different elements have gone off in their own direction to manage their own affairs as they see best. I cannot say. What did you learn from your visit at the South Sea House?”

I told Elias about my encounter with the clerk, Cowper. “Until I hear what he has learned, I do not know that we can advance on that front. I wonder if it is not time for me to pay a visit to Mr. Balfour. After all, he is my employer. I ought to keep him informed.”

“Selectively, I should think,” Elias said.

“Oh, I quite agree. No one is above suspicion, Elias, and Balfour is a strange fish indeed. Perhaps if I apply a bit of pressure we shall see a crack in his edifice.”

“Splendid.”

“In the meantime, I have more immediate concerns, such as where I shall sleep tonight. Mrs. Garrison has sent me packing over the small matter of Wild’s ruffians forcing their way into her parlor.”

“That’s a nasty bit of news, isn’t it? Where shall you go?”

“Perhaps I’ll impose on my uncle for a while—until I have the time to search for a place. He has shown himself in favor of families helping one another out.” I said nothing to Elias about the uneasiness I had about my uncle. I can hardly explain why I found the very idea of villainy within my own family most embarrassing, but if my uncle had been less than forthright with me, what better way to uncover his deception than by moving in with him?

Elias then inspected the wounds inflicted by Wild’s soldiers, all the while indicating that my recovery would be speeded by the removal of a small quantity of my blood, but I would not have it. When he had finished his ministrations, I screwed up my resolve to face my pain and set off in search of my uncle. I found him at his warehouse, reviewing some ledgers in his closet, and I approached him with trepidation as I made my request, fearing that he would suspect me of taking advantage of his good nature. Such was not the case.

“You will have Aaron’s room,” he said after a moment of consideration. He then looked down at his ledgers, suggesting our business was complete.

“Thank you, Uncle,” I said after a moment.

He raised his eyes from his book. “I shall see you tonight, then.”

So, having had my favor granted in the style of a punishment meted out, I returned to Mrs. Garrison’s to put my effects in order, collect those things I could not wait upon her servant sending, and make my way out of her house.

This final departure took far longer than I had anticipated, and its taste was more bitter than I could have imagined. I suppose I had been foolish for not taking better care of it, for not locking it within a strongbox, or hiding it, or disguising its nature. Simply sliding it within a pile of papers on my writing desk had seemed sufficient, but I was proved wrong indeed. It was, therefore, with a kind of ignominious shame that I went forth to the generosity of my uncle’s lodgings to inform him that my father’s pamphlet, perhaps the most convincing evidence that his death had been orchestrated by the powers of ’Change Alley, had disappeared from my possession.