Susanna Gregory: The Piccadilly Plot

‘Has there been any activity?’ asked Fitzgerald, cutting across him impatiently.

Lydcott shook his head. ‘Williamson came past, pretending to be drunk as he surveyed us, but he did not linger. No one suspects anything — although that might change if Thurloe thinks Chaloner is taking too long. They are friends, and he will come to find out what has happened to him.’

‘Let him,’ said Fitzgerald. ‘Come with us, Lydcott. Yorke can stand guard now.’

‘Come where?’ asked Lydcott uneasily.

‘To view Jane ’s holds,’ replied Fitzgerald smoothly. ‘They are quite a sight.’

He led the way to one of the hatches, with Lydcott following and Chaloner behind them. Then came Brinkes, Lester and three henchmen. Chaloner hesitated, aware that once he stepped off the open deck he might never escape, but Brinkes fingered his dagger, and Chaloner sensed there was nothing he would like more than to use it. Reluctantly, he did as he was told.

‘I should have known you were a villain,’ he said to Lydcott as they went. He spoke softly, so Fitzgerald would not hear; the pirate was humming to himself, which helped. ‘At the Banqueting House, you pretended to laugh at the way Pratt was monitoring Meneses. But the reality was that it was you who was minding him — as Fitzgerald had no doubt ordered you to do.’

‘He did ask me to ensure that Meneses stayed out of mischief,’ acknowledged Lydcott.

‘And then you killed him. Thurloe and Pratt both praised your skill with horses, and Meneses was trampled by one. You knew exactly how to arrange an “accident” without risk to yourself.’

Lydcott shrugged. ‘He was selling our secrets to the Adventurers. Fitzgerald had no choice but to order his execution.’

Chaloner wondered what it was about Fitzgerald that compelled people to do what he asked — Lydcott committing murder and betraying a kinsman who had never been anything but kind to him; Brinkes to look the other way while Harley was clubbed to death; all manner of people to join the Piccadilly Company. He could only suppose it was the promise of riches to come.

‘Did you kill Pratt, too?’ he asked. ‘At St Paul’s?’

‘I lied,’ said Lydcott, rather proudly. ‘I was not summoned to St Paul’s, and neither was Pratt. I came straight here instead. And you and Thurloe did not suspect a thing!’

‘No, but we should have done.’ Chaloner was as disgusted with himself as with Lydcott. ‘The clues were there to identify you as a villain. For example, you told Thurloe that the Piccadilly Company would not meet until next week, but there was a gathering on Sunday. You were there, but in disguise — I recognised your voice. You were sitting with your back to the window.’

Lydcott’s jaw dropped. ‘You spied on us? My God! I was right to warn Fitzgerald: you are a danger! Just wait until I tell him! He will be sure to give me the little bonus I requested now.’

‘You are demanding a bigger share of the profits?’ asked Chaloner. ‘Then you will die tonight, too. I wondered why he wanted you below decks, but it is obvious now.’

‘You understand nothing!’ said Lydcott, loudly and angrily. ‘He appreciates my skills.’

Fitzgerald whipped around. ‘No talking, or I will cut out your tongues. Both of you.’

Chaloner could see he meant it, and thought that while Lydcott was not quite the empty-headed fool he had assumed, he was still unspeakably stupid.

It was dark inside Jane , and the lamp Fitzgerald lit was the kind that was used during storms at sea — one that would not break if it fell over, spilling fuel that would cause a fire. The odd aroma was much stronger, but there was no time to analyse it as they were ordered to descend a series of stairs. Then all that could be smelled was bad water and rotting wood.

‘They have not kept her seaworthy,’ murmured Lester. ‘She is taking on water, and will sink in the next serious blow. No wonder she looks heavy in the bows.’

He was proven right when they reached a flooded hold. Brinkes jumped in, and indicated that Chaloner and Lester were to follow, while Fitzgerald, Lydcott and the three henchmen watched from the ladder. The waist-deep water was bitingly cold, and as they waded forwards, Chaloner felt something crunching under his feet: gravel. When they reached a post, Brinkes secured them to it.

‘It will be over soon,’ called Lydcott sympathetically. ‘You do not have long to suffer.’

Fitzgerald moved fast, and before Chaloner could shout a warning he had brought the butt of his gun down hard on Lydcott’s head. Lydcott swayed for a moment, then plummeted into the water.

‘Another risk eliminated,’ announced Fitzgerald with chilling blandness. He began to hum again.

It was completely silent in Jane ’s hold, and not even the carousing from the Adventurers could be heard. Lydcott floated face down in the water, his arms out to the side, and Fitzgerald and his men watched Brinkes finish tying Chaloner and Lester to the post. When it was done, the henchmen moved away, but Fitzgerald lingered, nodding approvingly from his dry perch on the stairs as Brinkes gave his knots a final check.

‘You will be next, Brinkes,’ whispered Lester. ‘Fitzgerald is singing, and he always does that before dispatching someone. You-’

‘Let him go, Lester,’ said Chaloner. He tried to sound calm, but his stomach churned with agitation. ‘We have nothing to say to the likes of him.’

‘Fitzgerald will kill you, Brinkes,’ Lester went on, ignoring him. ‘You are a risk, too, no matter what he tells you now.’

‘Lies,’ whispered Brinkes. ‘You do not know what you are talking-’

‘What are you muttering about down there?’ called Fitzgerald, causing Brinkes to leap away from the prisoners in alarm and begin to wade back towards the steps.

‘If we are going to die, then at least tell us the name of the man who is behind all this,’ shouted Lester, boldly defiant as he glared at the pirate. ‘We know it is not you.’

‘Do you indeed?’ Fitzgerald sounded amused. ‘How?’

‘Do not answer him,’ warned Chaloner. ‘Or he will race down the ladder and beat your brains out.’

‘Better that than whatever else he has planned,’ Lester muttered back. ‘Besides, I want answers.’

‘We do not need them,’ said Chaloner, wanting Fitzgerald gone from the hold so he could think about how to escape while there was still time. ‘It is-’

‘Because you are not clever enough, you damned pirate,’ yelled Lester. ‘Or rich enough. And do not say that Lydcott’s glassware venture gives you funds, because we all know that is untrue.’

Chaloner tensed, expecting swift and brutal retaliation, but Fitzgerald only laughed. ‘Then you will die in ignorance, because I am not inclined to confide in you. And I am not a pirate, by the way, I am a privateer.’

‘Tell us what you plan to do,’ shouted Lester, as Brinkes reached the ladder and began to ascend. ‘It involves alcohol and something else …’

‘For God’s sake, Lester!’ hissed Chaloner urgently. ‘Just let them go, so we can turn our minds to escape. You are wasting time with your banter.’

‘Poor Jane ,’ said Fitzgerald, leaning down to give a beam an affectionate pat. ‘She has served me well, but her timbers are rotten, and it is time to put her to another use.’

‘Gunpowder!’ yelled Lester in sudden understanding, although Chaloner had grasped the significance of what he had smelled the moment they stepped aboard — along with the fact that Fitzgerald was willing to sacrifice a ship that was a virtual wreck anyway.

‘Yes, he intends to blow her up,’ Chaloner snarled. ‘And I imagine there are enough explosives on board to destroy Jane, Katherine , and half of Queenhithe. Now just shut up and let him-’