Bedford Square - Anne Perry [102]
“It could be the latter,” he replied. “Are you sure that is not the connection between you … a case in which you both have some part?”
“But if it is, then where are the others involved?” Cornwallis asked. “Is it political? Stanley is already ruined. His part hardly matters now … or does it? Was it always part of this plan to destroy his power, to prevent him from obtaining the position he sought?” He jerked his hands wide. “And Cadell? Is there a foreign power involved? Tannifer’s bank certainly deals with many European banks. Enormous amounts of money could be concerned. Balantyne fought in Africa. Could that be it?” His voice rose a tone, suddenly an edge of eagerness in it. “Could it be to do with the financing of diamonds or gold in South Africa? Or simply land, perhaps expeditions inland to claim whole new tracts, like Mashonaland or Matabeleland? Or some discovery we know nothing of.”
“Balantyne served most of his time in India,” Pitt said thoughtfully, turning it over in his mind. “His only African experience that I know of was Abyssinia, and that’s the other end of the continent.”
Cornwallis pulled his chair around and sat on it, staring at Pitt, leaning forward. “A Cape-to-Cairo railroad. Think of the money involved. It would be the biggest thing of the coming century. The African continent is an entire new world.”
Pitt caught a glimpse of the vision, but it stayed on the edge of his mind, just beyond clarity. But certainly it was a fortune, a power for which many men would kill, let alone blackmail.
Cornwallis was staring at him, his face dark with the enormity of what he perceived. His voice was urgent when he spoke.
“Pitt, we have to solve this … not just for me or for any of the individual men it may ruin. This could be far more widely reaching than a few lives made or lost; it could be a corruption which could alter the course of history for … God knows how many.” He leaned farther forward, his eyes intense. “Once any of us yields to the threat and does something that really is wrong, perhaps criminal, perhaps even treasonous, then his hold is complete and he could ask anything and we would have no escape … except death.”
“Yes, I know,” Pitt agreed, seeing an abyss of corruption open up in front of him, every man suffering alone, driven by fear, exhaustion, suspicion on every hand, until he could bear the pressure no longer. Simple murder would have been less cruel.
But rage was a waste of energy, possibly exactly what the blackmailer wanted; useless, time-consuming, clouding the mind.
Pitt composed himself with an effort. “I’ll look into all Dunraithe White’s cases over the last year or so, and all those scheduled to come before him as far in the future as is known.”
“Tell me!” Cornwallis demanded sharply. “You had better report every day, so we can compare what we know. At the moment we are in the dark. We don’t even know in which direction to begin. It could be fraud or embezzlement, or a simple murder that appears domestic. There must be money, or it wouldn’t involve Tannifer, and some foreign interest for Cadell, and possibly Balantyne …” His voice sharpened, and he raised his hand, banging his forefinger on the desk. “Mercenaries? A private army? Perhaps Balantyne knows the man who would recruit for it., or lead it? He might have knowledge he does not even realize … and some criminal case that White and I are both concerned with. Or that I may become concerned with. Perhaps we are beginning to understand something, Pitt?” There was hope in his eyes. “I could have asked White myself, but he’s resigned from the Jessop, and I don’t have the opportunity to speak to him casually anymore. And Balantyne only comes for the committee meetings. I think he hates it as much as I do. The man looks as if he hasn’t had a decent night’s sleep in weeks.”
Pitt forbore from saying that Cornwallis looked the same.
“Cadell less so,” Cornwallis added, rising to his feet