Chapter 6

Phileas listened in silence as Mrs. McTavish's calm broke. When she reached the part of her landlady's discovery, she could not continue. Her two friends sat silently with her, showing nothing but understanding and sympathy. Each was now close to her, giving support and comfort.

During the story, she had been looking down at the orange in her lap, fumbling with it with one hand while Sir Jonathan held the other. Now the orange lay at her side, abandoned, while she openly sobbed.

Sir Jonathan's reserve and heart broke at her distress. Holding her hand would not do anymore, so he took her into his arms and held her like a child. "It is all right, Katrina. It's over now. You are with friends and safe."

"No Jon, it is not over. He will keep his promise," she cried into his shoulder. "He will send me to prison. There's no stopping it." Katrina cried harder, louder. She struggled out of his hold. "Let me go, let me go, you should have let me die!"

The anguish in her voice was more than the men could bear. Her frantic screaming rose out of control.

Sir Jonathan tightened his hold as the doctor came to help him. They got her on her back on the pillows and held her there while a chloroform-soaked rag was prepared and placed over her face. She fought it, but the chemical did its work. She succumbed in moments. The doctor asked his visitors to leave the room while he called his sister, who was acting as his patient's nurse.

Back in the parlor, neither man felt like talking. Sir Jonathan deliberately kept his back to Phileas for a long time.

Phileas, despite being an unconcerned party in this, had been badly shaken by what he heard. He had never heard of a more contemptible thing in his life. This was a private matter between Chatsworth and his doctor friend. He had not been told what the three people's association was yet, but it was obviously close.

This could have nothing to do with the canceled assignment. It is not a matter for the Secret Service either, but for the police. Chatsworth should have had a police detective with him to hear that, not me.

The doctor came into the silent room. He waved the men to seats as he fell into a chair, deeply troubled. "Were you able to discover anything about this?"

Sir Jonathan turned away from the wall where he still stood to face his companions. His face was made of stone, a mask of control. He sat and answered.

"Isaac Jordan has made a habit of this," Chatsworth said. "I have looked over the man's business associations and have discovered four other women this has happened to: two wives, a sister, and the niece of a business associate. The method is very much the same. He becomes the family's business associate, and when the male protector is away for a prolonged period or is deceased; a debt is produced so large there is no possibility of repayment. The ladies usually beggar themselves to make partial payments and later Jordan offers to make them his mistress for a period to complete their obligation." In humility after accepting, most cut themselves off from other associations, which puts them even further at the man's mercy.

"His victims have all been respectable women," Chatsworth clarified. "They refuse initially but relent or are tricked into going to his country estate and forced to it. The niece I mentioned broke down the moment I introduced myself. She thought I had come to arrest her. Jordan had her making copies of foreign dispatches her uncle handled in his work at trade negotiations with France. She was badgered into acting as his thief and then terrorized for months with the threat of being turned in if she did not succumb to his advances. Those activities ended with her ravishment, but as it involved diplomatic espionage, Jordan put himself in my sphere. This will be a Secret Service investigation for crimes against the crown, not one handled by the police."

"I would think all you would have to do is arrest him with what you know already," Daniel said.

"One would think so, but no, that is not possible yet," Chatsworth said. "Katrina is in no state to be a witness, and his use of her was not of a political or state security nature. Nor was the information offered to him by two others. They gave him inside financial information, which was of questionable legality, but not a matter I could use against him."

"Will none of them witness against him?" The doctor said, almost pleading.

"No, they cannot. The niece is in a broken nervous condition, and her uncle refuses to allow her involvement. The two other women–one will not admit to her ordeal despite the evidence. The other made closer success where Katrina failed. She is interred in a sanitarium, barely verbal."

Dr. Tomlinson's face fell. "What can be done, then?"

"That is for me to handle, friend," Chatsworth said. "You concentrate on taking care of Katrina."

"We should go now, Fogg?"

Chatsworth stood, giving Phileas no choice but to stand and follow him. Outside, Sir Jonathan offered Phileas a ride home.

They rode in silence for a time. Both men were still feeling the effects of their uncomfortable interview. Phileas was outraged for the lady's sake, but Chatsworth's stone hard face showed more than anger, more than scandalized sensibilities. He was seething with rage.

Finally, Phileas had enough of his silence and spoke. "If this is to be a Secret Service investigation, why did you remove Rebecca from the job? I assure you she would be more than willing to deal with this blackguard."

"No doubt," Chatsworth said, "but it will not simply be a matter of having him take an interest in her. Jordan does not go after women in general, but specific women with associations to business partners. Rebecca and I have no close affiliation. Therefore, the cat and mouse games he plays in preliminary stages will not be possible. I called off the whole thing and am having the man watched instead. His victims have been progressively more politically connected. I suspect he will or has gone after another woman with such connections. When we see he has begun the cycle again, it will be dealt with."

"So you would let him pick his own victim?" Phileas said. "Some respectable lady, as you say, whom you will ask to play along, or allow her to be harassed in ignorance until you have the evidence to take action? Not a very appealing or gentlemanly idea," Phileas's voice dripped disapproval. "And what if she refuses or her family refuses to cooperate? What if she tips Jordan off? You are better going back to using Rebecca. She is trained and far better able to handle herself."

"But we still have the same problem," Chatsworth said. "And before you make offers you cannot follow through with, I have checked on allowing you to work with her on this as you have before, and it will not work. Your volatile temper is a well-known quantity. I believe the last time someone made an ill-conceived remark to you concerning Rebecca, he ended up with a broken arm and several missing teeth. That cannot happen in this instance."

Phileas had a vague remembrance of the occasion. That had been years ago when Rebecca was still a girl in white muslin. How Chatsworth had found out about it, he had no idea. "I am much older and more controlled in my handling of such things. The fact you only know of that instance attests to my more restrained handling. You really think that was the only fool who asked me for an introduction with less than respectable intentions? As far as the debts go, I suppose I could lose a game or two on purpose to give him something to show her."

"That will not be necessary, Fogg," Sir Jonathan said. "He does not work that way. It is all sham and deceit."

Phileas turned, frowning. "Explain."

"Robert McTavish, Katrina's husband, was a doctor." Chatsworth said. "He left a profitable practice to go into disease research. Jordan told Katrina he was the backer of her husband's endeavors. As far as I can tell, that was a complete lie. He helped broker a grant from the Royal Medical Academy and was paid for the service; that was all. The papers he produced after Robert's death were likely legitimate accountings to the Medical Academy of expenses. Jordan must have added a cover sheet, implying that he was the source of the income. I am presently attempting to verify with the Royal Academy that the funds were a true grant and not a loan. If what I suspect truly happened, he has been extorting funds from her on fraudulent documentation. That alone could put him in prison, but there is no direct material evidence of it."

"No," Phileas said? "Surly there is something… Copies of contracts?"

"This swine covers himself well," Sir Jonathan said. "Katrina and the other ladies paid him in cash, gaining no receipts. They themselves had no real knowledge of business, therefore, did not question the papers he produced and never obtained copies. They sold all they possessed, turned over dowries and titles of property on Jordan's word alone. It makes one wonder at the wisdom of the general way of things. Katrina had always been kept completely ignorant of her husband's business matters, yet she had been his nurse, laboratory assistant, and appointment secretary. Jordan used that against her."

Chatsworth shook his head. "Daniel has been setting her up with private nursing positions for the last two years since she sold everything to pay this sham debt. It is her only source of income. Yet he has done all the contracting involved in it for her, explaining none of it. He does it in innocent friendship, of course. All she has ever done is sign the agreements. Daniel admits to never even reading them to her. He has just given her an overview of her duties and sent her on her way." Chatsworth's voice was level, but his amazement at the naivete crept through. "If he were other than the honest man he is, Daniel could be cheating her too, without her ever knowing it."

Phileas accepted the indictment of his society and himself. In a way, he was just as guilty. When his father died, he had taken over not only his inheritance but the stewardship of Rebecca's inheritance and properties as her guardian. She had long since passed the age of adulthood, yet the stewardship had never been dissolved. He could conceivably gamble it all away without Rebecca knowing it.

A statement from the family man of business came at the end of each year, which Fogg gave to Rebecca to sign as acknowledgement that her affairs were being dealt with. He had never explained to her what any of it meant.

Phileas wondered whether his father had taught her anything about her legacy. If I hadn't, most likely he didn't either. I have never even thought to ask if she understood.

If I die before her, Rebecca will be my principal heir. Would she have any idea what my holdings really are and how to handle them? Very uncomfortable questions, considering this situation.

"Tell me what you have in mind?"

"Possibly more than you will give," Sir Jonathan said. "If Rebecca is to be involved, she must be seen as vulnerable, exploitable. Jordan must see her as a suitable candidate for victimization. We both know that she is anything but, and I took her off the mission because I believe Jordan will recognize that, too. Yet, I must have her if the mission is to move forward. I am going to ask you plainly, Fogg; do you think the qualities of trust and openness and innocence are possible to fake?"

Phileas considered the question. Faking trustworthiness was the stock in trade of spy craft. But being trusting and open was a little more difficult. Those traits came with innocence and were usually lost with maturity.

Innocence?

"Innocence was defined as a lack of knowledge, some would say, because of either ignorance or immaturity," Chatsworth said as Phileas's silence lengthened. "One could also add heavy sheltering as a contributing factor, as has been the case with most of his victims. Rebecca is neither immature nor has she been heavily sheltered. So, my only option is to have her act in ignorance."

Phileas started at that. An automatic emphatic no tried to force its way past his lips.

"We would have to make some extra arrangements to make Rebecca look more dependent and less self-sufficient than she is. I would want you to act as a watch over her, and over the operation. In fact, I want you to return to service to oversee her portion of the operation. I do not want Rebecca to be on her own in this matter. Mostly because the man might change his tactics while dealing with her, which would require close monitoring to detect. I suspect she is as unprepared to deal with financial matters as any other lady of her class and circumstances. So, her assets will need to be carefully monitored too. Has she any training in financial matters?"

Chatsworth asked Fogg that question, looking for confirmation.

Phileas's earlier soul searching had already convinced him she did not, and she would likely be as good a victim as any in such a scam.

"I cannot agree to keeping her in the dark," he said. "Innocence or no, Rebecca should be informed from the start. She is a talented actress, Chatsworth. She can act the naïve lady. It would also help in protecting her from missteps should he attempt some accounting fraud. I have seen her in action. She plays the retiring miss with excellence."

"I have explained to you why that will not do," Chatsworth said, losing patience. "Rebecca cannot know her participation until Jordan sinks his claws in. She must react in a normal innocent fashion with no show of suspicion or anticipation of his actions. The man has a long history of this. He knows his marks and will detect duplicity."

Chatsworth then looked out into the dark streets and sighed. "Rebecca is going to be as different as night and day from his previous victims. We cannot know he will even take the bait. Honestly, my only hope hangs on whether she is beautiful enough to make him ignore the fact that she is not his usual fare. No, there will be no forewarning."

"And if I do not agree with that?"

Chatsworth looked at his companion with lips compressed in determination. He needed Rebecca, and he needed Fogg, but he would not negotiate his authority over service operations to get them. He was also not going to chance this scoundrel going after anyone else. Especially as he knew who the next targets might be.

"If you refuse to follow my plan and act under my authority in this matter, Fogg, then the mission will not happen. I go back to playing the waiting game and let Jordan prey on someone not as self-possessed or well trained in dealing with such situations. Someone I have no means to protect from potential harm. And if she or her family refuses to cooperate with an investigation, I will be forced to wait for him to strike again and take the chance that he will be tipped off by the family I first contacted. And if that happens, he may alter his methods and become impossible to track or catch. So, you see, either you follow the rules and my authority in this, or the scoundrel will continue to prey on women to his heart's content."

"Who knows?" Chatsworth continued, venting his fury. "He may go after a peer's wife next. To my knowledge, he has a few suitable candidates who are wives of his business clients. All could be ripe for the picking. Lord Ashley, who works in foreign affairs, is in poor health, as I understand it. His wife is…"

"I know Lord Ashley's wife," Phileas said. The woman, the elderly lord's third wife, who was in her early twenties, was a goose. Rumor had it theirs was a marriage of convenience to give the old man a companion in his last years. She doted on the old lord, had become an excellent hostess and had championed many charitable causes. Nonetheless, she was a perfect example of a pampered, spoiled aristocrat who had never had a serious worry in her life. For a moment, Fogg's mind put the young hostess in the doctor's guest room in the nurse's place. The vision made him sick to his stomach.

"Lady Townsend's husband, who works with the Minister of Finance, is also one of Jordan's clients," Chatsworth said. "The man already has such a terrible reputation as a gambler. She would not think twice about someone coming to her door claiming an enormous debt. And he will be on his way to India on business in another month. The trip is expected to last six months or more if one includes travel time. I have a watch on both these women, just in case. Do you know Lady Townsend, Fogg?"

"Yes, I have met Lady Townsend," Phileas said, tight-lipped. "A sweeter woman married to a more pathetic fool one could not find in all the British Empire."

Phileas knew where Chatsworth was going with this and why. He also knew it was going to work. When one considered either of the two women mentioned as this scoundrel's next prey, one could not help but want to do anything possible to protect them. Chivalry would not allow him to put those other women in danger.

Rebecca, on the other hand… She was a competent agent and could protect herself in ways other women could not. And when the time came to tell her what her place in this investigation was, she would agree with that assessment whole-heartedly.

But will I live long enough to hear her say it if I agree to this?

The coach made a turn. They were only a block away from his home. Phileas had run out of time to consider the situation. He closed his eyes and sent up a silent prayer that all would work out properly, because if it did not, there would be hell to pay.

He accepted the mission.