Page 30 of The Trick of the Treasure
Lloyd jerked his arm in an instinctive gesture of dismissal. “I assure you it is of no account.”
“From what I hear, they were all eager to see it. Were you teasing them? Or was there some other reason?”
“Oh, teasing them, of course,” Lloyd said with impatience. “It was my little joke, which rather turned against me—against all of us—when everything was stolen.”
“You must see that this throws up several possibilities.”
Lloyd scowled. “Such as?”
“Such as the treasure never left the ship, only the chest full of the rubbish you found in it the next morning. Such as one of your own family was irritated enough—or just as teasing in nature as yourself—to play a trick on you.”
“Oh for the love of—” Lloyd scrubbed at the back of his neck and dropped his hand, glaring at Solomon. “Of course it left the damned ship! The weight alone told my son, my seamen, and my servants that. Secondly, none of my family would ever do such a thing.”
“Why not?” Solomon pressed. “From what I have seen of them, all three of your children are spirited and intelligent and could easily learn from your example.”
“I have their respect, sir! They would not dare. Besides which, no one could have taken the strong room keys without waking me.”
“Why is that?” Solomon asked. “Did you not spend all night in your wife’s room?”
He was being deliberately provocative because it seemed the only way to get to the truth, but he more than half expected an explosion that would not only dismiss Silver and Grey from the case, but force him to defend himself.
Lloyd stared at him, as if flabbergasted. Then a boyishly proud grin spread over his face. “I might have done. I’d been away from home for a long time.”
Solomon took a slow breath. “So, in effect, any member of your household who knew where to look could have taken the keys from your bedside drawer, opened and closed the strong room, and returned the keys, all without your hearing a thing.”
Lloyd’s smile faded.
“You take my point about telling us the whole truth,” Solomon said. “It makes a difference.”
“Oh, pshaw! My family would not steal from me! It would be stealing from themselves.”
Solomon did not mention Sydney’s photographic ambitions or his daughter’s possible marital ones. “As I say, they might play a joke on you, although I’ll grant you, it has gone rather far for that. Whowouldsteal from you? Mark Terrance?”
Lloyd blinked. “Don’t be ridiculous. Silly old windbag hasn’t got it in him.”
Oddly, it didn’t sound like a compliment. “Then who? Who dislikes you enough, or is desperate enough to steal? It has to be someone acquainted with you or your family, who would know where the strong room and the keys were located.”
Lloyd did him the courtesy of appearing to think about it. “I honestly don’t know anyone that…ungentlemanly. If I had suspected anyone, I would have acted already without consulting you.”
“Whatdidlead you to consult us?” Solomon asked, genuinely curious.
“Impulse.”
Lloyd sounded so rueful that Solomon said, “Do you wish us to continue with the case?”
The client’s lip twitched, his eyes suddenly direct. “Would you end your inquiries if I did?”
“No,” Solomon admitted. “Once begun, I follow a puzzle to the end.”
“Then I am glad I employed you. Find my treasure, Grey. I need it, and so does the rest of my family.”
Solomon took Juliet’s list from his pocket once more. “Are you acquainted with any of these gentlemen? Or their families?”
Lloyd took the folded paper and cast his gaze down it. “We know the Graftons. Can’t think of the others.”
“Not Arthur Fenwick?” Solomon said, pointing to the name Sydney had picked out earlier.
“Not to my knowledge, no. Who is he?”
