The Westminster Poisoner by Susanna Gregory Read Free Book Online Page B

execution, we must assume a single
     culprit: Greene. Besides, while George may be delighted to lose his sire, he has no reason to want Chetwynd dead.’
    ‘Perhaps that is what he hopes you will think. Chetwynd might be a decoy victim.’
    ‘Why must you always look for overly complex solutions?’ demanded the Earl. ‘
Greene
killed Chetwynd, as I have told you dozens of times. And now he has attacked Vine.’
    ‘But I was watching his house when Vine was killed. He cannot be—’
    ‘He hired an accomplice. He can afford it, because his job pays him a handsome salary. But I fail to understand why you cannot
     see his guilt. He “discovered” Chetwynd’s body, and you once told me yourself that the discoverer of a murdered corpse should
     always be considered a suspect until he can prove his innocence. Moreover, Greene and Chetwynd worked in adjoining buildings
     and were acquaintances, if not friends. I know Chetwynd ranked higher than Greene, but that is irrelevant.’
    ‘Irrelevant?’ Chaloner was unable to stop himself frompointing out an inconsistency. ‘But when we caught Greene running away from Chetwynd’s body, you said it
was
relevant, because it was Greene’s motive for murder: jealousy.’
    The Earl glared at him. ‘You really are an insolent dog! But you should watch your tongue from now on, because if Turner transpires
     to be better than you, I shall appoint him in your place and dispense with your services. There are those who think I am
     rash to employ a man who was a member of Cromwell’s secret service, and I am beginning to think they may have a point.’
    ‘You mean Williamson?’ The government’s most recent spymaster held Chaloner responsible for the death of a friend earlier
     that year, and hated him intensely. It was unfortunate, because Chaloner had hoped to continue spying in Holland after the
     Restoration – the King needed experienced men to watch the Dutch just as much as Cromwell had, and his record was impeccable.
     Moreover, he had only ever provided reports on alien nations, never on the exiled King. But he would never be sent to the
     Netherlands as long as Williamson was in charge of intelligence.
    The Earl nodded. ‘He says that hiring ex-Parliamentarian agents may make folk question my loyalty to the King. And he is right
     – I have many enemies at Court, and one might well use my employing of you to harm me.’
    ‘But none of them know about my past,’ objected Chaloner. ‘Unless you have told them?’
    ‘I have not,’ said the Earl firmly. ‘Do you think me a fool, to provide them with ammunition? And Williamson knows better
     than to tell them, too, because he is afraid of your mentor. Cromwell’s old spymaster may have lost his government posts and
     a good slice of his wealth when the Royalists returned, but he still wields enough power to make him dangerous.’
    Unfortunately, though, the fear in which men had once held Thurloe was beginning to wane as time passed. Chaloner was not
     worried about what that meant for himself, although the prospect of an unleashed Williamson was not something he relished,
     but about the repercussions for his friend. There were those who thought Cromwell’s chief advisor had no right to be living
     in peaceful retirement, and should suffer a traitor’s death.
    ‘Greene, sir,’ Chaloner prompted, supposing he would have to prove his loyalty yet again to the Earl and the new government
     – and keep proving it until he was fully trusted. It was a miserable situation, because there was little about the Earl
or
the work that he liked, but he needed to earn a crust, and no one else was lining up to hire him.
    The Earl pursed his lips. ‘When Greene came slithering out of the Painted Chamber, just as you and I happened to be walking
     past, he behaved very suspiciously.’
    ‘He was frightened,’ said Chaloner reasonably. ‘He had just found a dead senior official, and then the Lord Chancellor accused
     him of