The King's Evil

Amid the musty books and sheaves of paper in his office, Solomon Creech was bent over his desk, perusing a document with intense concentration. The tentative knock on the door went unheard. When it was repeated, it had marginally more authority. Clicking his tongue, he looked up with a mixture of annoyance and dread.

'Come in,' he snapped.

His clerk stepped into the room and closed the door behind him, keeping his back to it. He gave an apologetic smile.

'Well, Geoffrey?' said the other.

'You have a visitor, Mr Creech.'

'I told you that I would see nobody today.'

'The gentleman would not be turned away.'

'Who is he?'

'Mr Redmayne.'

'Henry Redmayne?'

'His brother.'

Creech gave a mild shudder. 'That is even worse. Tell him that I am far too busy and send him swiftly on his way.' The clerk hesitated. 'About it straight, man! What is keeping you?'

Geoffrey Anger gave a nervous laugh and swallowed hard. Fate had committed a libel when he was named for nobody was less capable of showing anger than the timid clerk. A shy, studious man in his thirties, he peered through spectacles which served as much as a protective screen as an aid to his poor vision. Thinning hair and a pinched face made him look considerably older than his years. He was a conscientious clerk who toiled for long hours without complaint but who was racked with guilt whenever he did anything as violent as swatting a fly off his desk. To expel an unwanted visitor was a Herculean labour to him.

'Go on, Geoffrey!' ordered Creech. 'Do as I tell you.'

'What if the gentleman will not leave?'

'Make him leave!'

The clerk let out a cry of alarm and brought a hand to his throat. He did not relish his task in the least. Mustering all of his resolve, he went back into the outer office to pass on the message to the visitor. It was not well-received. Brushing him aside, Christopher opened the door of Creech's office and went in to confront the lawyer. Geoffrey Anger was left bleating ineffectually in his wake.

Solomon Creech had ire enough for twenty men.

'What is the meaning of this?' he said, leaping to his feet.

'I wish to speak to you, Mr Creech.'

'This is my private domain, sir. You cannot come bursting in here like that. It is tantamount to trespass.'

'I was left with no alternative.' Christopher closed the door on the gaping figure of the clerk. 'I came here for some answers and I will not depart until I have them.'

'I am not available to clients today.'

'I did not come here as a client.'

'I am not ready to see anyone!’

'Then I will wait until you are.'

The visitor lowered himself on to a chair and folded his arms in a show of determination. Creech lost his temper completely, yelling wildly, waving his hands in the air and threatening to have him evicted. None of his imprecations had the slightest effect on Christopher who simply waited until the storm blew itself out. The lawyer eventually sat down in his chair and frothed with impotent rage.

'I went to Priestfield Place yesterday,' said Christopher at length.

'Indeed, sir?' growled the other.

'Lady Northcott was most unimpressed with your behaviour. She felt that it was your duty to pass on the sad news. You failed her miserably.'

'I was too caught up in events here, Mr Redmayne. In any case, why should I bother to send word when you were intent on travelling to Kent yourself? But,' he said defensively, 'I have not been idle. The body has at last been released by the coroner. I arranged for it to be transported to Priestfield Place so that burial can take place in the family vault. Even as we speak, Sir Ambrose is making his final journey.'

'He leaves many pertinent questions behind him.'

'I am struggling with some of them now, sir,' the lawyer said, pointing to the document before him. 'This is his will. Its provisions are highly complicated and it demands my full attention.'

'So do I,' insisted Christopher.

'Could we not postpone this discussion until tomorrow?'

'No, Mr Creech.'

'Until later on this afternoon, then?'

'Now, sir! I insist.'

'I will not be browbeaten, sir,' warned the other.

'Nor will I.'

Their eyes locked in a tussle but it did not last long. The lawyer soon saw the futility of trying to defy his visitor. Christopher Redmayne was no fearful and reticent clerk who could be brought to heel with a snarl. He was resolute and single-minded.

Creech resigned himself to the inevitable. He became curious.

'How did Lady Northcott receive the news?' he asked.

'Very bravely. In the circumstances.'

'What do you mean?'

'Well,' said Christopher, 'to begin with, she had to endure the shock of learning that her husband had been brutally murdered. That is ordeal enough for any loving wife. But I inadvertently inflicted another wound when I happened to mention the new house. Neither Lady Northcott nor her daughter had the slightest notion that it existed.'

'Indeed?' mumbled the other.

'You know that it is so, Mr Creech. And that is my first question. Why were they not told? What kind of husband keeps something as important as this from his wife?'

'It is not for me to speculate.'

'Sir Ambrose had a reason to conceal that house from them.'

'I suppose that he must have.'

'What was it, Mr Creech?'

'I can only guess,' said the other evasively. 'Sir Ambrose Northcott was a close man. He took nobody into his confidence.'

'Except his lawyer.'

'Only in respect of legal matters.'

'Building a new house is a legal matter,' Christopher reminded him. 'You drew up the contracts and visited the site while Sir Ambrose was away. That brings me to another point. Where did he go during those three weeks?'

'It is a private matter, Mr Redmayne.'

'I need to know.'

'Well, I am not able to tell you.'

'But it may have a bearing on his death. Something may have happened during that time while he was away which led to his murder.' He spread his arms questioningly. 'Do you not want this crime solved?'

'Of course.'

'Then give me some help. Where was Sir Ambrose?'

'I wish I knew.'

'Surely he confided in you?'

'I knew only that he was going away on business. He often did that. I never pressed him for details of his wherabouts.'

'But you must have had some inkling where he went.'

'No, sir.'

'I think you are lying.'

'You may think what you wish.'

'I am minded to shake the truth out of you.'

'If you do, my clerk will fetch a constable to arrest you.' , Christopher stood up abruptly and leaned across the desk.

'Who killed him, Mr Creech?'

'How should I know?'

'Because you were closer to him than anyone else. Sir Ambrose trusted you. He told me so himself. His business affairs must have brought in an enormous amount of contractual work for his lawyer.'

'That is true,' conceded the other.

'Then you were more aware of his activities and his movements than anyone else.' He remembered the look of surprise on the two faces at Priestfield Place. 'Far more aware, for instance, than his own family. They were kept wholly in the dark, it seems. Come, Mr Creech. You must have your suspicions about the identity of the killer. Reveal them. Who were Sir Ambrose's enemies? Who were his rivals?'

'Mr Redmayne—'

'With whom did Sir Ambrose do business?'

'That is confidential information.'

'Heavens, man! This is a murder investigation.'

'In which you have no rightful part.'

'Give me some names!'

'No!' howled Creech. 'I'll not be interrogated like this!'

'I need your help.'

'Well, you will not get it by forcing your way in here and trying to intimidate me. Nobody is more eager to have this crime solved than I am, believe me. The death of Sir Ambrose Northcott has left me with the most extraordinary amount of work to do on his behalf,' he said, waving a hand at his desk. 'I have to process his will, write countless letters to inform people of his demise and take over the running of his business affairs until someone else is appointed to do so. With all that pressing down on me, I do not have time to indulge in pointless guesswork with you.'

'It is not pointless. You know those names.'

'I know only what Sir Ambrose permitted me to know.'

'What was the motive for the murder?'

'Good day, Mr Redmayne.'

'Where should I start looking?'

'Anywhere but here!' affirmed Creech. 'The only legitimate business you have with me regards the house and I can assure you now that the contract will not be revoked. Though the house will not be built, you will not lose the entire fee. Compensation will be paid.'

'That is the least of my worries at this moment.'

'It is among the most immediate of mine. I like to keep things neat and tidy, sir. It is a rule of mine. Funds will soon be released to all the parties involved. Mr Littlejohn will get his money. So will you. And so will your brother.'

Christopher frowned. 'My brother?'

'Yes, Mr Redmayne'.

'Monies are due to him as well?'

'Did you not realise that?'

An unsettling thought came into Christopher's mind.

'Tell me more, Mr Creech,' he said.