The Dark Assassin by Anne Perry Read Free Book Online Page B

of the ordinary in his manner? Even with the wisdom of
knowing now what happened?"
    "I have
considered it, naturally, wondering if there was something I should have
seen," Cardman admitted. He had the air of a man who has lived through a
nightmare. "He seemed preoccupied, as if he was expecting something to
happen, but in all honesty, I thought then that it was an irritation that
plagued him, not a despair."
    "Irritation?"
Monk pressed. "Anger?"
    Cardman frowned.
"I would not have put it as strongly as that, sir. Rather more as if an
old friend had disappointed him, or something was wearisome. I formed the
opinion it was a familiar problem rather than a new one. He certainly did not
seem afraid or desperate."
    "So you
were shocked the next morning?"
    "Yes,
sir."
    "And Miss
Mary?"
    Cardman's face
was pinched and his eyes were bright with tears he could not allow himself to
shed. "I've never seen anyone more deeply hurt, sir. Mrs. Kittredge, the
housekeeper, feared Miss Mary might meet her own death, she was so beside
herself with grief. She refused to believe that he could have done it himself."
    Monk refused to
picture Mary Havilland's face. What in heaven's name had driven Havilland to do
this to his daughter? At least with Hester's father it was the only way for him
to answer the shame that had been placed upon him, through his own goodness of
heart. He had been deceived, like so many others. He had considered death the
only act left to an honorable man. What had Havilland feared or despaired of
that had driven him to such an act?
    "Why did
she find it so hard to believe?" he said, more sharply than he had meant
to.
    Cardman started
with surprise at the emotion in Monk's voice. "There was no reason,"
he said gravely. "That is why Miss Mary believed he had been murdered.
More and more she became convinced that either he had found something in the
tunneling works or he was about to, and for that he had been killed."
    "What made
her more convinced?" Monk said quickly. "Did something happen, or was
it simply her need to clear her father of suicide?"
    "If I knew,
sir, I'd tell you," Cardman replied, looking directly into Monk's eyes.
There was a kind of desperation in him, as if he was clinging to a last thread
of hope too delicate to name. "Miss Mary read all through her father's
papers, sat all day and up half the night. Over and over she searched them.
Many's the time I'd go to his study and find her there at his desk, or fallen
asleep in the big chair, one of his books open in her hands."
    "What kind
of book?" Monk did not know what he was looking for, but Cardman's emotion
caught him also.
    "Engineering,"
Cardman said, as if Monk should have understood.
    Monk was
puzzled. "Engineering, did you say?"
    "Mr.
Havilland was a senior engineer and surveyor for Mr. Argyll's company, until
the day of his death. That's why they quarrelled. Mr. Argyll's company has
never had a bad accident-in fact, they're better than most for safety-but Mr.
Havilland believed it would happen."
    "And he
told Mr. Argyll?"
    Cardman shifted
position slightly.
    "Yes, of
course. But Mr. Argyll said it was just his feelings about being underground,
closed in, as it were. Mr. Havilland was embarrassed to admit to them. Argyll
as much as called him a coward, albeit politely. Of course he never used that
word."
    "Was that
what Miss Havilland was doing also, enquiring into engineering, as regards the
tunnels?"
    "Yes, sir.
I'm certain of it."
    "But she
found nothing, either?"
    Cardman looked
chagrined. "No, sir, not so far as I am aware."
    "Did she
continue to see Mr. Toby Argyll?"
    "She broke
off their agreement, but of course she still saw him socially now and then. She
could hardly help it, since he was Miss Jennifer's brother-in-law, and the
Argyll brothers were very close."
    "Do you
know Mrs. Argyll's feelings on the subject?" Monk asked. "She was
surely caught in the middle of a most unfortunate