Stone's Fall

'John Stone, First Baron Ravenscliff. Chairman of the Rialto Investment Trust, with holdings in the Gosport Torpedo Company, Gleeson's Steel, Beswick Shipyards, Northcote Rifle and Machine Gun. Chemical works. Explosives. Mines. Now even an aircraft company, although I doubt those will ever amount to much. You name it. Very secretive man. When he travelled on the Orient Express he had his own private coach that no one but he used. No one really knows what he owned or controlled.'

'Not even you?'

'Not even me. We did begin an investigation on behalf of a foreign client about a year ago, but stopped.'

'Why?'

'Ah, well. Why indeed? All I know is that one day I was called in by young Seyd – the son, that is, and you know how rarely he ever comes near the place – and asked if we were looking at Rialto. He took the papers and told us not to continue.'

'Does that often happen?'

'Never. Mr Seyd junior is not like his father, and is not known for his backbone. He prefers life in the country, saving souls and living off his dividends. But he's an amiable enough man, and never interferes. This was the first and last time.'

'So what caused this?'

Wilf shrugged. 'I cannot say. I don't know that a biography would interest many people, except me,' he went on with a slight sniff of disapproval. 'Ravenscliff was money. It's all he did. All he ever did. From the standpoint of someone like you, obsessed with the tawdry details of humanity's failings, he was an utter bore. You couldn't even justify a paragraph on him. Which was why his death was so little reported, I suppose. He got up in the morning. He worked. He went to bed. As far as I am aware, he was a faithful husband—'

'Was he?' I asked quickly, hoping that my interest wouldn't seem suspicious. Wilf, however, put it down to natural squalor.

'Yes, I fear so. He might have owned a brothel and have patronised it on a regular basis, of course, but it never came to my attention. What I mean is, that he never had any notable alliances, if you get my meaning. With People.'

Now, by 'People' Wilf meant the sort of folk he was interested in. The rich and the powerful – and, in this case, their wives and daughters. Shopgirls and women of that sort never came to his attention. 'People' had money. Everyone else was merely scenery.

'He had no time, and no interest in anything so frivolous, I believe. As far as I could discern the companies were collectively highly profitable. Do you know anything about his companies?'

I shook my head.

'Very well then. One thing you should keep in the back of your mind is this: why were you asked to write about a subject for which you are perfectly unsuited? Even if you were presented with a full set of accounts for a company, you wouldn't even be able to understand them. So why you? Why not someone who stands a chance of doing a decent job?'

That irritated me. 'Perhaps Lady Ravenscliff has a high opinion of my intelligence and ability to learn. But for £350 a year, why should I care?'

'Oh, you should. You should. These are tricky people, young man. The rich believe they are allowed anything, and they are right. Be careful of what you are getting involved in.'

He sounded just like George Short. Normally, Wilf spoke with the detachment of the scientific observer; now he was in earnest.

'You like me,' I said in astonishment. 'I am touched.'

'I see you as a little mouse trying to steal an egg from an eagle's nest, thinking it is so lucky to have found such a feast,' he said severely.

I thought about this for a second, then shrugged his warning aside. 'You still haven't told me where I might begin.'

'That depends,' he replied.

'On?'

'On what I get in return. I don't want to be too commercial here, but we deal in information and information has a price. You know that.'

'I thought you liked me.'

'Not that much.'

'I have promised to be absolutely discreet on the matter of Ravenscliff's companies. It's in my contract.'

'Good for you. But since when has discretion involved not telling me things? I will make sure nothing is ever traced back to you.'

'I can't break my word so swiftly.'

'You could promise to break it after a decent interval, then.'

'You know perfectly well what I mean.'

'I do. I don't want tittle-tattle. Mistresses, wild parties, Lady Ravenscliff's lovers . . .'

'She has lovers?'

'I would imagine so. Ravenscliff was hardly a romantic figure, and she, so I understand, is foreign. But I have no idea. I was merely saying that I am not interested in such things. I am interested in money, that is all.'

'I've noticed that. You must tell me why one day.'

'If you don't understand it will be pointless to try and explain. A bit like trying to explain Mozart to someone who is tone deaf.'

'But you are so poor yourself.'