"I'm lucky to be alive myself. They would have killed me, I think, were it not that murders are investigated more thoroughly here in London than they are back at home, and they were afraid of the fuss."
Hugh was still dazed and disgusted by the revelation that people had been murdered because of a bond issue by Pilasters Bank. "But who is behind all this?"
"Micky Miranda."
Hugh shook his head incredulously. "I'm not fond of Micky, as you know, but I can't believe he would do this."
"The Santamaria railroad is vital to him. It will make his family the second most powerful in the land."
"I realize that, and I don't doubt that Micky would bend a lot of rules to achieve his aims. But he's not a killer."
"Yes, he is," Tonio said.
"Come on."
"I know it for sure. I haven't always acted as if I knew--in fact I've been a damn fool about Miranda. But that's because he has a devilish charm. For a while he made me think he was my friend. The truth is that he's evil through and through and I've known it since school."
"How could you?"
Tonio shifted in the bed. "I know what really happened thirteen years ago, the afternoon Peter Middleton drowned in the swimming hole at Bishop's Wood."
Hugh was electrified. He had been wondering about this for years. Peter Middleton had been a strong swimmer: it was most unlikely that he had died by accident. Hugh had long been convinced that there had been some kind of foul play. Perhaps at last he was going to learn the truth. "Go on, man," he said. "I can't wait to hear this."
Tonio hesitated. "Could you give me a little wine?" he said. There was a bottle of Madeira on the floor beside the bed. Hugh poured some into a glass. While Tonio sipped it, Hugh recalled the heat of that day, the stillness of the air in Bishop's Wood, the scarred rock walls of the swimming hole, and the cold, cold water.
"The coroner was told that Peter was in difficulty in the pool. He was never told that Edward was ducking him repeatedly."
"I knew that much," Hugh interrupted. "I had a letter from Hump Cammel in the Cape Colony. He was watching from the far side of the pool. But he didn't stay to see the end."
"That's right. You escaped and Hump ran away. That left me, Peter, Edward and Micky."
"What happened after I left?" Hugh said impatiently.
