Carrie Bebris - The Deception At Lyme

“Sir Laurence has kept at least some of the artifacts for himself. I have seen only one—a turtle figurine he gave to his sister. But he told me he has an extensive collection of art from around the world, and after all I have heard this morning, I am supposing it includes numerous relics from Central America. However, he is not given to excess—at least, not from what I have seen. He could not possibly intend to keep the entire hoard for himself once it is transported to England, could he? It sounds as if there is too much of it for any one person to enjoy simply for its aesthetic or historic value.”

“Yet he cannot give it away to the British Museum as Lord Elgin has done,” Elizabeth said, “or attempt to sell it to the government, without exposing the illegal means by which he acquired it.”

“No, but he could quietly sell pieces to individuals who share his appreciation and discretion,” Darcy said.

“Private collectors.” St. Clair took the pendant from Georgiana and released her hand. “Of course. Sir Laurence doubtless has friends with the same interests he does, and has had time to develop an underground market of collectors eager to acquire the artifacts.” One could see the rapidity with which his mind was working through this newest possibility. “In fact, now that construction of the Black Cormorant is finished and the war is over, the ship can transport the objects to buyers not only in England but also in countries and ports previously inaccessible. He will easily earn back his investment and profit quite handsomely, even after Mr. Elliot and all the other participants are paid off.”

“Not if we have anything to say about it,” Admiral Croft declared.

St. Clair turned to Georgiana. “Thank you, Miss Darcy. I had been unable to physically connect Sir Laurence with the artifacts, and one cannot level accusations against a baronet—the Governor of Jamaica’s godson, no less—without evidence that cannot be dismissed or minimized. But if you have seen one of the artifacts among his possessions—”

“Among his sister’s possessions,” she corrected. “At their house here in Lyme. The majority of his collection, however, is at Thornberry, his country house in Somerset.”

“Admiral, is this enough for a search warrant to be issued?” St. Clair asked.

“When combined with your testimony about Captain Tourner’s murder, I should certainly hope so. We shall want his Somerset estate searched, as well. Even then, the artifacts might be hidden.”

“Is this the final bit of evidence you needed to proceed with all of the arrests?” Darcy asked.

“There is one other main conspirator whom we have been unable to identify: the man who initiates contact with the high-level naval officers whose ships they have been using,” St. Clair said. “We know of individual corrupt officers, such as Tourner, who are part of the ring, but not the liaison.”

“It is not Mr. Elliot?” Darcy asked.

“Mr. Elliot does not have naval connections of his own, so I am unsure how he and Mr. Smith recruited new captains and other officers to their conspiracy—at least, not initially; once some were on board, those individuals might have made their own recommendations. Nor am I sure how Mr. Elliot or Mr. Smith came to learn of the cache of gold in the first place.”

“Perhaps we should ask Mrs. Smith about other associates Mr. Elliot might have,” Mrs. Wentworth suggested. “She is not here now; she is on the Cobb—I heard the chair arrive for her—but she knows more about Mr. Elliot’s past than does anybody else, and when she learns he has been stealing from her all these years, I expect she will be more than happy to assist this investigation in whatever way she can.”

Thinking back upon the information Mrs. Smith had already shared, it seemed to Elizabeth that one of Mr. Elliot’s most significant past associates had been missing entirely from this discussion.

“Could the liaison have been Mr. Clay?” she asked. “The Smiths, the Elliots, and the Clays were very close friends. If two of the gentlemen were conspiring in a fortune-making scheme, would not all three? Mr. Smith owned the plantation, Mr. Elliot attended to the details … did Mr. Clay possess naval connexions?”

“Not to my knowledge.” Mrs. Wentworth thought a moment, then added, “But I recall Mrs. Clay once saying that she had known a great deal of the profession.”

She did, Elizabeth thought. Biblically. And then another thought struck her.

“Perhaps, Captain St. Clair, you have been unable to identify the man who acted as the conspirators’ naval liaison because that individual is not a man.”

His brows rose. “I confess, that notion never occurred to me.”

“According to Mrs. Smith, Mrs. Clay had affairs with numerous naval officers, before and after Mr. Clay’s death,” Elizabeth said. “What if one of them told Mrs. Clay of the treasure hoard? And what if she, in turn, told Mr. Elliot?”

“Why Mr. Elliot?”

“Of her closest friends, he was the one who possessed both the cleverness and the means to do something with the information.”

“She also might have recognized in him a kindred scheming nature,” Mrs. Wentworth added.

St. Clair nodded. “All right. Would she have confided her source to Mr. Elliot?”

“Apparently, the only person among their set who did not know about her extramarital affairs was Mr. Clay, and even he might have been turning a blind eye,” Elizabeth said. “So, yes, for the purposes of our present discussion, let us assume she told Mr. Elliot. He definitely became aware of her naval paramours at some point, for he mentioned them in a quarrel that I overheard the night before Mrs. Clay died, and which I am certain was between the two of them. She was accusing him of unfaithfulness, and he—”

Elizabeth stopped as parts of the argument suddenly returned to her mind. I saw you leave the Sheet Anchor with one of them, and later walking on the Cobb with the other … I thought the business had ended, but you have been carrying on behind my back.… never would have begun had I not been so foolish as to introduce you.… Where is my share of what they have received all these years?

“The business” … Mrs. Clay’s “share” … a meeting at the Sheet Anchor—a pub frequented by sailors and Captain Tourner in particular. And Mr. Elliot’s response: You are hardly guiltless yourself. Unless you are an utter fool, you will keep your mouth shut.

She gasped. All this while, she had assumed that Mrs. Clay and Mr. Elliot had argued about sexual infidelity.

“I thought that Mr. Elliot’s assignations had been with other women.” She looked at Darcy. “But now, after learning of his smuggling enterprise—”

She saw in Darcy’s eyes that he followed her reasoning. “I believe you are right. She was in fact referring to meetings with other members of the conspiracy.”

Elizabeth turned to St. Clair and Admiral Croft. “Mrs. Clay was furious that ‘business’ she thought was over had continued without her knowledge. She said that she had made the introductions, and she wanted her share of the money they had received. I wonder if, when Mr. Smith died, Mr. Elliot told Mrs. Clay a similar lie to the one he told Mrs. Smith—that legal issues surrounding the West Indian plantation had forced them to stop or suspend the smuggling.”

“What did Mr. Elliot have to say in his defense?” St. Clair asked.

“That his recent meetings were none of her concern. But then she threatened to tell what she knew. Mr. Elliot warned her to keep silent, lest she incriminate herself along with him.”

From somewhere in the house, a clock chimed. The hour was later than Elizabeth realized. Admiral Croft rose. “Time and tide waiteth for no man, and neither will the smugglers.” He began to slowly pace around the table again. “The course of our discussion has led us here: Mrs. Clay learned of the treasure from one of her naval acquaintances, and told Mr. Elliot about it. Mr. Elliot rigged up a plan to use Mr. Smith’s plantation to hide the treasure in sugar casks headed for England, and with Mrs. Clay’s help, he recruited officers to transport the treasure aboard their ships. Once the gold reaches England, it goes to Sir Laurence, who keeps some of it for himself and sells the rest to other collectors. The baronet has also financed the construction of the Black Cormorant, which is ready to set sail.”