Only Time Will Tell (The Clifton Chronicles 1)

Another long silence followed.

'Go to your room, and don't even think about coming back down until I say so.'

'Yes, sir,' said Giles. He turned to leave.

'And whatever you do, don't discuss this with anyone, especially not in front of the servants.'

'Yes, Papa,' said Giles, who ran out of the room, nearly colliding with Jenkins as he shot past him on the stairs.

Hugo leant forward in his chair, trying to think if there might be some way to turn the situation around before he had to face an inevitable call from the headmaster. He placed his elbows on the desk and his head in his hands, but it was some time before his eyes focused on the cheque.

A smile crossed his lips as he added an extra nought before signing it.

25

MITCHELL WAS SEATED in the far corner of the waiting room, reading the Bristol Evening Post when Hugo walked across and sat down beside him. It was so draughty that Hugo kept his hands in his pockets.

'The subject,' said Mitchell, still looking at his newspaper, 'is trying to raise five hundred pounds for a business venture.'

'What sort of business venture could she possibly be interested in?'

'Tilly's tea shop,' replied Mitchell. 'It seems the subject worked there before she moved to the Palm Court room at the Royal. Miss Tilly has recently had an offer of five hundred pounds for the business from a Mr Edward Atkins. Miss Tilly doesn't care for Atkins and has made it clear to the subject that if she were able to raise the same amount, she would prefer her to take over the business.'

'Where could she possibly hope to get hold of that much money?'

'Perhaps from someone who wished to have financial control over her, which might at a later date prove advantageous?'

Hugo remained silent. Mitchell's eyes never left his paper.

'Has she approached anyone to try and raise the money?' Hugo eventually asked.

'She's currently taking advice from a Mr Patrick Casey, who represents Dillon and Co., a finance company based in Dublin. They specialize in raising loans for private clients.'

'How do I get in touch with Casey?'

'I wouldn't advise that,' said Mitchell.

'Why not?'

'He visits Bristol about once a month, and always stays at the Royal.'

'We wouldn't have to meet at the Royal.'

'He has struck up a close personal relationship with the subject. Whenever he's in town he takes her to dinner or the theatre, and recently she's been seen returning with him to the hotel, where they spend the night together in room 371.'

'Fascinating,' said Hugo. 'Anything else?'

'It may also interest you to know that the subject banks with the National Provincial, 49 Corn Street. The manager is a Mr Prendergast. Her current account is showing a balance of twelve pounds and nine shillings.'

Hugo would like to have asked how Mitchell had come across that particular piece of information, but satisfied himself with saying, 'Excellent. The moment you come up with anything else, however insignificant, ring me.' He took a bulky envelope from his overcoat pocket and slipped it across to Mitchell.

'The train now arriving at platform nine is the seven twenty-two from Taunton.'

Mitchell pocketed the envelope, folded his newspaper and walked out of the waiting room. He'd never once looked at his employer.

Hugo had been unable to hide his anger when he discovered the real reason Giles had failed to be offered a place at Eton. He'd phoned the headmaster, who refused to take his calls, his prospective housemaster, who sympathized but offered no hope of redemption, and even the provost, who said he'd call back, but didn't. Although Elizabeth and the girls had no idea what had caused Hugo to so regularly lose his temper of late, and for no apparent reason, they continued to bear the brunt of Giles's misdemeanours with equanimity.

Hugo reluctantly accompanied Giles to Bristol Grammar School on his first day of term, although he wouldn't allow either Emma or Grace to join them, despite Emma bursting into tears and sulking.

When Hugo brought the car to a halt in College Street, the first person he saw standing outside the school gates was Harry Clifton. Even before he pulled on the brake, Giles had leapt out and run across to greet his friend.

Hugo avoided mingling with the other parents, whom Elizabeth seemed quite happy to chat to, and when he inadvertently came across Clifton, he made a point of not shaking hands with him.

On the journey back to the Manor House, Elizabeth asked her husband why he treated Giles's best friend with such disdain. Hugo reminded his wife that their son should have gone to Eton, where he would have mixed with other gentlemen and not with the sons of local tradesmen and, in Clifton's case, far worse. Elizabeth retreated into the comparative safety of silence, as she had so often done recently.

26

'LOCAL TEA SHOP burnt to the ground! Arson suspected!' hollered the paperboy standing on the corner of the Broad.

Hugo threw on the brakes, leapt out of his car and handed the lad a ha'penny. He began reading the front page as he walked back to his car.

Tilly's Tea Shop, a Bristol landmark, much frequented by local citizens, was razed to the ground in the early hours of the morning. Police have arrested a local man in his early thirties and charged him with arson. Miss Tilly, who now lives in Cornwall ...

Hugo smiled when he saw the photograph of Maisie Clifton and her staff standing on the pavement, grimly surveying the burnt-out remains of Tilly's. The gods were clearly on his side.

He climbed back into his car, placed the newspaper on the passenger seat and continued on his journey to Bristol Zoo. He would need to make an early appointment to see Mr Prendergast.

Mitchell had advised him that if he hoped to keep the fact that he was the subject's backer confidential, any meetings with Prendergast should be held in Barrington's offices, and preferably after Miss Potts had gone home for the night. Hugo didn't attempt to explain to Mitchell that he wasn't sure if Miss Potts did go home at night. He was looking forward to the meeting with Prendergast, when he would administer the last rites, but there was someone else he needed to see before he could do that.

Mitchell was feeding Rosie when he arrived.

Hugo walked slowly across, leant on the railing and pretended to take an interest in the Indian elephant that Bristol Zoo had recently acquired from Uttar Pradesh, and was already attracting a large number of visitors. Mitchell tossed up a lump of bread, which Rosie caught in her trunk and transferred to her mouth in one fluid movement.

'The subject has returned to work at the Royal Hotel,' said Mitchell as if he was addressing the elephant. 'She's doing the late shift in the Palm Court from ten at night until six the following morning. She's paid three pounds a week, plus whatever she can make in tips, which, as there are so few customers at that time of night, doesn't add up to much.' He threw another crust at the elephant, and continued, 'A Bob Burrows has been arrested and charged with arson. Burrows was her patisserie supplier before the subject sacked him. He's made a full confession, even admitting that he had planned to propose to the subject and had purchased an engagement ring, but she'd spurned him; or at least that's his story.'

A smile crossed Hugo's lips. 'And who's in charge of the case?' he asked.

'A Detective Inspector Blakemore,' said Mitchell. Hugo's smile was replaced by a frown. 'Although Blakemore initially thought the subject might be an accomplice of Burrows,' continued Mitchell, 'he has since informed the Bristol and West of England Insurance Company that she is no longer a suspect.'