“No. I’m inclined to regard the array of ironmongery pointing at me as a character witness for Pastern. Although if it’s still pointing at me in twenty seconds’ time, I shall come to regard it as a personal affront and react accordingly. Or rather, Merrick will do so on my behalf.”
“Right up your arse,” Merrick added, sotto voce, eyes on Bill Penrose.
“Weapons down, everyone, please,” Ben said, loudly. “Now. Please.”
Crane nodded graciously as there was a general movement away. “Thank you. Now, I want privacy, and calm. That means clearing this room, everyone, please. You need not fear for your, ah, imp for the moment, we’re going to talk. I will have Spenser, Pastern and Mr. Day at this table now, without any further displays from anyone. And I should be most grateful for coffee.”
Dora sniffed. “You won’t find any here.”
“No, I dare say we won’t,” Crane said, with weary resignation. “Which is one more reason to resolve this business promptly.”
The bar emptied of defenders, they sat round the table. Jonah’s arms were folded, eyes flickering from man to man. Mrs. Merrick watched him, her silver-blue gaze impossible to interpret. Day, Merrick and Crane were mostly scowling at each other.
Crane had demanded a full account of their last months from Ben, to which Day had added, “Only if I can make him tell the truth.”
“Rot you,” Jonah spat. “He’s not a liar and you’re not fluencing him.”
“Yes, God forfend anyone should use fluence on the unskilled,” Crane said. “Do shut up, Pastern.”
“I don’t mind,” Ben said. “We’ve nothing to hide.”
“Let’s see.” Day put an electric finger on Ben’s skin. “Now, listen to me…”
The experience was not unpleasant, compared to other interrogations. Ben felt a certain lightheadedness, nothing more, and an astonishing ease in speech. Lying would have been difficult, he suspected, but he had no need. He found it effortless to recount their flight, and what happened in Reading.
“Right,” Day said as Ben concluded his account of the encounter on the bridge. “Did either of you stop to consider how much trouble that caused?”
“I didn’t,” Ben admitted, with the dizzy frankness of the enchanted. “And I’m sure Jay didn’t. Was it a lot?”
Day put a hand over his face. “It was, rather. Go on.”
Ben went on, talking about their arrival in Pellore, the inn, the night of the storm.
“You walked in a gale?” Mrs. Merrick interrupted at that point. Jonah gave a one-shouldered shrug of agreement. “And through water?”
“Spenser’s just told us that you were attempting to live undiscovered,” Crane remarked. “Performing a sea rescue sounds fairly blatant.”
Jonah scowled. “Harry Penrose was drowning, and Aaron had taken a knock to his head on a foundering ship. What was I supposed to do? Be discreet and let them drown?”
“You let men die before,” Day said.
“There was nothing I could do about that!” Jonah shouted, slamming his hand on the table. “And if you—”
“And was there nothing you could do about Lord Crane either?” Day demanded over him, surprisingly loud. “When you decided to experiment with killing him?”
“He can take his chances like the rest of us, and if you’d put aside your bloody superior attitude for five minutes—”
“For God’s sake, stop it!” Ben was slightly startled at his own volume.
“Yes.” Crane was watching Ben’s face, the grey eyes unreadable and rather unnerving. “I’ve heard—with the greatest respect—enough from both of you. Carry on, Spenser.”
“Well, the villagers saw Jonah windwalk and they didn’t mind. They think he’s some kind of lucky charm or spirit or something, and they don’t want him to vanish. They’re not gossiping.”
“They obviously are, though, aren’t they?” Jonah gave a tight smile. “Of course they talked, of course word spread. If I’d let Harry and Aaron drown, Day’d never have found us. Ironic, isn’t it? One attempt to do something decent—”
“That would indeed be an irony,” Crane put in, “but actually, we traced you through my fob watch.”
“What?”
“The extremely expensive watch you stole from me in December. I had a description circulated to pawn shops with a reward for information.” He slanted an eyebrow at Jonah. “I did tell you you’d regret stealing from me.”
“You did, didn’t you?” Jonah shut his eyes. “Well…bugger.”
“In fact, nobody has been talking about windwalkers in Cornwall,” Day remarked. “No word reached London at all. It seems your neighbours are close-mouthed.”
“Or possibly they like him,” Crane said. “Go on, Spenser.”
“There’s not much more to tell. We’ve stayed here since. We work in the inn. Jonah’s learning to sail. I’m playing scrum half for the Looe team. We’ve friends here. No stealing, no running, no trouble. We just wanted to live quietly, that’s all.”