Page 13 of With Good Grace
Olivia sighed. ‘I can identify a few of the initials but I don’t suppose that will help much.’
‘What would be really useful would be a list of all his clients.’ Jake shrugged. ‘But I suppose that would be too much to hope for.’
‘Perhaps Mr Barber has a list.’
‘Possibly.’
‘Parker is here, madam,’ Green said from the doorway.
‘Show him in, Green,’ Olivia replied, brushing dust from her hands. ‘Hopefully he has been more successful than we have.’
‘I had not realised that so much time had passed,’ Jake said, glancing at the clock in the corner of the room. ‘Over two hours and nothing to show for it.’
‘Good morning, ma’am.’ Parker stood in the doorway and inclined his head towards Olivia.
‘Good morning, Parker. I hear you have had a busy morning.’
‘But was it a successful one, Parker?’ Jake asked. ‘You would not need to have learned much to be more successful than us,’ he added, waving a hand at the piles of papers and diaries now adorning the surface of the table.
‘Barber was perfectly willing to talk to me, once I mentioned your family’s name, ma’am. The place was a right mess and he was, as you can imagine, upset.’
‘Anything missing?’ Jake asked.
‘Not that he could tell. The thieves had targeted the records he kept of his clients. Papers were strewn all over the place and he’s worried that their personal particulars could have fallen into the wrong hands.’
Jake rubbed his chin. ‘You suppose their intention was to find one person in particular? I don’t see it myself. Actors are easy enough to get close to, if one so wishes. Indeed, they thrive on being in demand.’
Olivia muttered something under her breath, presumably thinking of Verity Aspin’s particular brand of demands.
‘Even so,’ Parker said. ‘If personal particulars of the actors and their contracts fell into the wrong hands…’
‘Hardly worth killing for,’ Jake replied. ‘And if we are right, then not one but two murders are directly connected to Grantley’s agency.’
‘Has Mr Barber had any dealings with Sir Hubert?’ Olivia asked.
‘In the early days, shortly after you sold the agency to him, Sir Hubert turned up in all the same places of Barber. He tried to convince him that he was intimately acquainted with all your late husband’s clients and that Barber needed him to keep them contented. But Barber tells me he has a long connection with the theatre; grew up treading the boards himself. He has all the right contacts and knows Madame Céleste well. Very well, if my impressions are correct. Suffice it to say, he needed no help from Sir Hubert and although he did not actually say so, I feel persuaded that he didn’t have a high opinion of him.’
‘How very sensible of Mr Barber,’ Olivia said.
‘Has Barber seen Sir Hubert over the past few weeks?’ Jake asked.
‘He mentioned seeing him at a production of Hamlet at the Old Vic about a month ago. He was there with a large party of friends but Barber did not actually speak to him.’
‘How many of Grantley’s clients stayed with the agency?’ Jake asked.
‘All of them.’
‘Even Miss Aspin?’ Jake asked, surprised. ‘I would imagine she was a prime target for Barber’s competitors; especially Sir Hubert.’
‘I have a feeling she’s awake on all suits, that one,’ Parker said. Olivia nodded in vigorous agreement. ‘She wants to remain centre stage at the Adelphiandhave an agent, begging your pardon, Mrs Grantley, whom she can bend to her will.’
‘No need to apologise for telling the truth, Parker,’ Olivia replied. ‘Did Mr Barber give you a list of the clients he inherited from my husband?’
‘That he did.’
‘How very obliging of him,’ Jake said, taking the list from Parker’s outstretched hand. ‘Good work, Parker,’ he added, studying the list of mostly well-known names which more or less corresponded with those that Olivia recalled from memory.
‘Don’t praise me too much. Drake turned up while I was there. He wasn’t best pleased to see me and wanted to know why I was there. I told him I was auditioning for a part.’
