Page 41 of The Lyon Whisperer
Chase understood. The man knew well he had no compunction with replacing an overseer when necessary. However, Briggs was not responsible for the recent disasters, whereas Dodd, the last man to hold Briggs’s position, had been an outright thief.
Still, two significant fires in less than a month, one eating up nearly the entire shipment owed to the Liverpool shipyard Chase had contacted with, did not bode well for business.
“I’m sure you do, Mr. Briggs. Mr. Bender assured me you appear to run a tight ship, here. I merely came to apprise myself of the situation. Damages must be assessed, a plan put in action to prevent further accidents, if indeed the fires resulted from a natural occurrence and not sabotage.”
Chase turned and started for his tethered horse. “I’ve seen enough here. Tomorrow I’ll visit the northern perimeter and site of the second fire.”
Briggs followed close on Chase’s heels. “I’m happy to ride out with you, m’lord.”
“I appreciate it.”
The two men mounted up and headed for the main road into town.
Briggs eyed him. “Mr. Bender told me he suspected foul play.”
“And you, Briggs?”
Briggs glanced around, as if he feared an eavesdropper lurked nearby despite the remote location.
They spotted no one. Still, he lowered his voice. “It’s hard to imagine how the logs would have caught fire on their own. Maybe a bolt of lightning struck true. Maybe. But at the time of the first blaze, there weren’t no storm, least not one shooting bolts from the sky. More like a drizzle.”
“As Bender informed me.”
“Then there’s the fire what happened on the perimeter. Seems convenient it sprung up in an area so far out of sight of anyone—and in the wee hours, no less. Again, no storm nor lightning strikes. Where could fire have come from, I ask ye’.”
“I agree,” Chase said.
“Rest assured, m’lord, I’ve assembled patrols, operating on shifts ’round the clock, to keep watch. If anotheraccidentalfire should happen, I mean to deal with it before it gets out of hand, and hopefully catch whoever’s behind the shenanigans.”
Chase nodded. “Good man. I also have an idea I’d like you to implement, involving cutting swaths in the forest itself, to prevent a runaway fire.”
“Aye m’lord. I’ll see to it.”
He considered the man standing before him. “Briggs, if—as it appears—an arsonist started the fires, do you have a suspect in mind?” Chase had one—the man he’d fired several months ago when he’d returned from the peninsula to find his uncle’s profits lagging.
It hadn’t taken him much digging to find where the books had been doctored. Meanwhile, investigating Dodd’s finances had showed he’d made several purchases his income did not support. Upon questioning, he’d denied any wrongdoing but had no answer as to where the missing funds had gone, or how the ledger had been so mismanaged.
“Maybe a prank, gone out of hand?” Briggs sounded doubtful.
Chase made no reply, but when they reached the road, fixed Briggs with a steady eye.
The brawny man shifted in his saddle. “It’s no secret Dodd bears a grudge against ye’, m’lord, for letting him go, and again’ me for taking his place.”
Chase snorted. “The ones who bring trouble on themselves rarely see it that way.”
“Truer words, m’lord.”
Chase gestured for them to continue their journey.
“The thing is,” Briggs said in a contemplative tone, “I have a hard time seeing Dodd as behind this.”
“Why’s that?”
“He’s got the smarts to plan the thing, but, not the drive, if you take my meaning.”
He did, all too well. In point of fact, Chase himself had come up against the same stumbling block when considering whether Dodd might be the culprit. “Nevertheless, I plan to have a word with him before leaving town.”
Amelia picked upthe carafe of wine centered on the rolling cart situated between her and Chase and poured the ruby liquid into twin crystal goblets. Her hand did not tremble in the slightest, despite the flurry of tangled emotions swirling inside her.
