Depths of Deceit (20 page)

‘I don’t, sir,’ Box replied. ‘I thought all along that Ainsworth took fright, and went to the Mithraeum on Saturday in order to destroy the evidence of his fraud. He must have arranged some kind of apparatus to weaken the structure. I wondered, too, whether he’d planned to start a fire – we’ll never know for certain. But I believe he was there for malign intent, and that either
something
went wrong with his apparatus, or events simply took their course, and the whole rotten site collapsed. It was an act of fate, sir, or Providence, to my way of thinking.’

‘He fell into the pit that he had digged for others, as the Good Book says,’ said Mackharness. ‘Well, whatever the cause, Professor Roderick Ainsworth is dead, and beyond our earthly justice. He also remains unaccused in law. All this business of his frauds will cause an enormous public scandal. Do you think that side of the affair could be quietly forgotten?’

‘No, sir, I don’t,’ said Box hotly. ‘You and I know well enough that Ainsworth cruelly murdered two innocent men, and tricked out their slaughters to look like ritual sacrifice. That truth, sir, must not be suppressed, and therefore his frauds – the cause of those murders – must not be suppressed either. Let all be known!’

‘Well done, Box!’ cried Mackharness. ‘I admit I was tempting you there, in order to see what you’d say, though I knew what your answer would be. You’re right, of course. Yes, let all be known.’

‘Thank you, sir,’ said Box. ‘There’s a gaggle of reporters
outside, with Billy Fiske holding court among them. I’ll go out to them now, sir, and make a brief statement. Then I’ll meet them all in the Clarence Vaults in Victoria Street at two o’clock, and tell them the whole wicked story.’

‘Tell them the
facts
,
Box,’ said Superintendent Mackharness, wagging a finger at Box, but smiling at the same time, ‘no
tripe
, do you hear?’

‘No tripe, sir!’ said Inspector Box. He and Sergeant Knollys left their master’s office, and made their way downstairs and out on to the steps, in front of which a crowd of eager reporters,
notebooks
and pencils at the ready, had assembled on the cobbles facing 2 King James’s Rents.

The Dried-Up Man

The Dark Kingdom

The Devereaux Inheritance

The Haunted Governess

The Advocate’s Wife

The Hansa Protocol

The Ancaster Demons

Web of Discord

Evil Holds the Key

The Gold Masters

The Unquiet Sleeper

The Aquila Project