‘But that doesn’t prove anything,’ began Anne desperately. ‘I know they were discussing a very important financial transaction.’
‘In a small hotel on La Salle Street, at eight o’clock in the evening.’
Anne didn’t interrupt again.
‘On both occasions they were seen walking into the hotel, whispering and laughing. It’s not conclusive, of course, but we have photographs of them entering and leaving the hotel together.’
‘Destroy them,’ Anne said quietly.
Glen Ricardo blinked. ‘As you wish, Mrs Osborne. I’m afraid there’s more. My enquiries show that Mr Osborne was never at Harvard, nor was he an officer in the American Armed Forces. There was a Henry Osborne at Harvard who, it turns out, was five foot five, sandy-haired and came from Alabama. He was killed on the Somme in 1917. I’ve also discovered that your husband is considerably younger than he claims, that his real name is Vittorio Togna and that he has served—’
‘Stop. I don’t want to hear any more,’ said Anne, tears flooding down her cheeks. ‘I don’t want to hear any more.’
‘Of course, Mrs Osborne, I understand. I’m sorry my news is so distressing. In my job sometimes …’
Anne fought for a measure of self-control. ‘Thank you, Mr Ricardo. I appreciate all you have done. How much do I owe you?’
‘You have already paid for the two weeks in advance. My expenses came to seventy-three dollars.’
Anne passed over a hundred-dollar bill and rose from her chair.
‘Don’t forget your change, Mrs Osborne,’ Ricardo said as she turned to leave.
Anne didn’t seem to hear him.
‘Are you feeling all right, Mrs Osborne? You look a little pale. Can I get you a glass of water, or something stronger?’
‘No, thank you, I’m fine,’ lied Anne.
‘Perhaps you would allow me to drive you home?’
‘No, thank you, Mr Ricardo, I’ll be able to get myself home.’ She turned and smiled at the private detective. ‘It was kind of you to offer.’
Glen Ricardo closed the door quietly behind his client, walked slowly across to the window, bit the end off his last big cigar and spat it out. He cursed his job as he watched Mrs Osborne climb into a taxi. Such a nice lady.
Anne paused at the bottom of the litter-strewn staircase, clinging to the banister, almost fainting. The baby kicked inside her, making her feel nauseous. She found a cab on the corner of the block and fell into the back; she was unable to stop herself from sobbing, unsure of what to do next. As soon as she was dropped off at the Red House she went to her bedroom before any of the staff could see her distress. The telephone was ringing as she entered the room. She picked it up, more out of habit than from any curiosity as to who it might be.
‘Could I speak to Mrs Osborne, please?’
She recognized Alan’s clipped tones at once. Another tired, weary voice.
‘Hello, Alan. This is Anne.’
‘Anne, my dear, I was sorry to hear this morning’s news.’
‘How do you know about it, Alan? How can you possibly know? Who told you?’
‘City Hall phoned me and gave me the details soon after ten. I tried to call you, but your maid said you’d already left to do some shopping.’
‘Oh, my God,’ said Anne, ‘I’d completely forgotten about the contract.’ She sat down, breathing heavily.
‘Are you all right, Anne?’
‘Yes, I’m fine,’ she said, trying unsuccessfully to hide the sobbing in her voice. ‘What did City Hall have to say?’
‘The hospital contract was awarded to a firm called Kirkbride and Carter. Apparently Henry wasn’t even placed in the top three. I’ve been trying to reach him all morning, but it seems he left his office soon after ten, and he hasn’t been seen since. I don’t suppose you know where he is, Anne?’
‘No, I haven’t any idea.’
‘Do you want me to come around, my dear? I could be with you in a few minutes.’
‘No, thank you, Alan.’ Anne paused to draw a shaky breath. ‘Please forgive me for the way I’ve treated you these past few days. If Richard were still alive, he would never forgive me.’
‘Don’t be silly, Anne. Our friendship has lasted for far too many years for a little thing like that to be of any importance.’
The kindness of his words triggered off a fresh bout of weeping. Anne staggered to her feet.
‘I must go, Alan. I can hear someone at the front door - it may be Henry.’
‘Take care, Anne, and don’t worry. As long as I’m chairman, the bank will always support you. Don’t hesitate to call if there’s anything I can do.’
Anne put the telephone down. The effort of breathing became overwhelming, and the vigorous contractions made her feel sick. She sank to the floor.
A few moments later the maid knocked quietly on the door. She looked in to see her mistress lying on the floor. She rushed in, William by her side. It was the first time he had entered his mother’s bedroom since her marriage to Henry Osborne. Anne was shaking uncontrollably, unaware of their presence. Little flecks of foam spattered her lips. In a few seconds the attack passed, and she lay moaning quietly.
‘Mother,’ William said urgently, ‘what’s the matter?’
Anne opened her eyes and stared wildly at her son. ‘Richard,’ she said, ‘thank God you’ve come.’
‘It’s William, Mother.’
Her gaze faltered. ‘I have no more strength left, Richard. I must pay for my mistake. Forgive …’
Her voice trailed off to a groan as another spasm overcame her.
‘What’s happening?’ said William helplessly.
‘I think it must be the baby,’ the maid said, ‘though it isn’t due for two months.’
‘Get Dr MacKenzie on the phone immediately,’ said William as he ran to the bedroom door. ‘Matthew!’ he shouted. ‘Come up quickly.’
Matthew bounded up the stairs and joined William in the bedroom.
‘Help me get my mother down to the car.’
The two boys picked Anne up and carried her gently downstairs and out to the car. She was panting and groaning, clearly in considerable pain. William ran back into the house and grabbed the phone from the maid while Matthew waited in the car.
‘Dr MacKenzie.’
‘Yes, who’s this?’
‘My name is William Kane - you won’t know me, sir.’
‘Don’t know you, young man? I delivered you. What can I do for you?’
‘I think my mother is in labour. I’m driving her to the hospital immediately. We should be there in a few minutes.’
Dr MacKenzie’s tone changed. ‘All right, William, don’t worry. I’ll be waiting for you, and everything will be prepared and ready by the time you arrive.’
‘Thank you, sir.’ William hesitated. ‘She seemed to have had some sort of a fit. Is that normal?’
William’s words chilled the doctor. He too hesitated.
‘Well, not quite normal. But your mother will be just fine once she’s had the baby. Get her here as quickly as you can.’
William put down the phone, ran out of the house and jumped into the Rolls-Royce. Matthew, having only had one lesson on his father’s Rolls, drove the car in fits and starts, never once getting out of first gear. He didn’t stop for anything until they reached the hospital entrance. The two boys lifted Anne gently out of the car and placed her on a waiting stretcher. A nurse quickly guided them through to the maternity unit, where Dr MacKenzie was standing in the doorway of one of the delivery rooms. He took over, and asked them to remain outside.
William and Matthew sat in silence on a small bench in the corridor and waited. Frightening cries and screams, unlike any sound they had ever heard before, came from the delivery room - to be succeeded by an even more frightening silence. For the first time in his life William felt totally helpless. The two boys sat on the bench for over an hour, not a word passing between them. Eventually a tired Dr MacKenzie emerged. When they rose the doctor looked at Matthew. ‘William?’ he asked.
‘No, sir, I’m Matthew Lester. This is William.’ The doctor turned and put a hand on William’s shoulder. ‘William, I’m so sorry. Your mother died a few minutes ago … and the child, a little girl, was stillborn.’
William’s legs gave way and he sank back onto the bench.
‘We did everything in our power to save them, but it was too late.’ He shook his head wearily.
William sat in silence. At last he whispered, ‘How could she die? How could you let her die?’
The doctor sat down on the bench beside him. ‘She wouldn’t listen,’ he said. ‘I warned her repeatedly after her miscarriage not to have another child, but after she married again, she and your stepfather never took my warnings seriously. When you brought her in today, for no apparent reason her blood pressure had soared to the level where eclampsia ensues.’
‘Eclampsia?’
‘Convulsions. Sometimes patients can survive several attacks. Sometimes they simply - stop breathing.’
William began to cry and let his head fall into his hands. No one spoke for several minutes. William eventually stood up and Matthew guided him gently along the corridor. The doctor followed them. When they reached the entrance, he looked at William.
‘Her blood pressure went up so suddenly. That’s most unusual, and she didn’t put up a real fight, almost as if she no longer cared. Strange - had something been troubling her lately?’
William raised his tear-streaked face. ‘Not something,’ he said with passion. ‘Someone.’
Alan Lloyd was sitting in a corner of the drawing room when the two boys arrived back at the Red House. He rose as they entered.
‘William,’ he said immediately. ‘I blame myself for authorizing the loan.’
William stared at him, not taking in his words.
Matthew stepped into the silence. ‘I don’t think that’s important any longer, sir,’ he said quietly. ‘William’s mother has just died giving birth to a stillborn child.’
Alan Lloyd turned ashen, steadied himself by grasping the mantelpiece and turned away. It was the first time either of them had seen a grown man weep.
‘It’s my fault,’ said the banker. ‘I’ll never forgive myself. I didn’t tell her everything I knew. I loved her so much that I never wanted her to be distressed.’
His anguish enabled William to be calm.
‘It wasn’t your fault, Alan,’ he said firmly. ‘You did everything in your power, I know that, and now it’s me who’s going to need your help.’
Alan Lloyd braced himself. ‘Has Osborne been informed about your mother’s death?’
‘I neither know nor care.’
‘I’ve been trying to reach him all day about the hospital contract. He left his office soon after ten this morning and he hasn’t been seen since.’
‘He’ll turn up sooner or later,’ William said grimly.
After Alan Lloyd had left, William and Matthew sat together in the drawing room for most of the night, dozing off and on, rarely speaking. At four o’clock in the morning, as William counted the chimes of the grandfather clock, he thought he heard a noise in the street. He looked up to see Matthew staring out of the window, and walked stiffly across to join him. They both watched Henry Osborne stagger across Louisburg Square, a bottle in one hand, a bunch of keys in the other. He fumbled with his keys for some time and finally stepped into the hallway, blinking dazedly at the two boys.
‘I want Anne, not you. Why aren’t you at school? I don’t want you,’ he said, his voice thick and slurred, as he pushed past William and walked into the drawing room. Where’s Anne?’
‘My mother is dead,’ said William quietly.
Osborne looked at him, disbelief etched on his face. He walked across to the sideboard and poured himself a whiskey, which caused William to lose his self-control.
‘Where were you when she needed a husband?’ he shouted.
Osborne didn’t let go of the bottle. ‘What about the baby?’
‘Stillborn, a little girl.’
Osborne slumped into a chair, drunken tears starting to run down his face. ‘She lost my little baby?’
William was nearly incoherent with rage. ‘Your baby? Stop thinking about yourself for a change!’ he shouted. ‘You know Dr MacKenzie advised her against becoming pregnant again.’
‘Expert in that as well, are we, like everything else? If you’d minded your own fucking business, I could have taken care of my own wife without your interference.’
‘And her money, it seems.’
‘Money. You tightfisted little bastard. I bet losing that hurts you more than losing your mother.’
‘Get up!’ William shouted at him.
Osborne dragged himself up and smashed the bottle on the edge of a table, splashing whiskey onto the carpet. He swayed towards William, the broken bottle in his raised hand. William stood his ground. Matthew came between them and easily removed the bottle from the drunken man’s grasp.
‘William pushed his friend aside and advanced until his face was only inches away from Osborne’s.
‘Now, you listen to me, and listen carefully. I want you out of this house immediately. If I ever hear from you again I shall instigate a full legal inquiry into what has happened to my mother’s half-million dollar investment in your firm, and I shall reopen my enquiries about who you really are and your past activities in Chicago. If, on the other hand, I do not hear from you again, ever, I shall consider the matter closed. Now get out before I do something I’ll regret.’
Osborne staggered out of the room. Neither of them heard his threat as the door slammed.
The next morning William visited the bank. He was immediately shown into the chairman’s office. Alan Lloyd was placing some documents into a briefcase. He handed a piece of paper to William without speaking. It was a short letter to all board members tendering his resignation as chairman of the bank.
‘Could you ask your secretary to join us?’ asked William quietly.
‘As you wish.’
Alan pressed a button on the side of his desk, and a middle-aged, conservatively dressed woman entered the room.
‘Good morning, Mr Kane,’ she said when she saw William. ‘I was so sorry to hear about your mother.’
‘Thank you,’ said William. ‘Has anyone else seen this letter?’
‘No, sir,’ said the secretary. ‘I was about to type twelve copies for Mr Lloyd to sign.’
‘Well, don’t,’ said William, ‘and please forget that it ever existed.’
She stared into the blue eyes of the sixteen-year-old boy. So like his father, she thought. ‘Yes, Mr Kane.’ She left, closing the door. Alan Lloyd looked puzzled.
‘Kane and Cabot does not need a new chairman at the moment, Alan,’ said William. ‘You did nothing my father would not have done in the same circumstances.’
‘It’s not as easy as that,’ Alan said.
‘It is as easy as that,’ said William. We can discuss this again when I’m twenty-one, and not before. Until then I would be obliged if you would run my bank with your usual prudence and wisdom. I want nothing of what has happened to be discussed outside this office. You will destroy any information you have on Henry Osborne, and consider the matter closed.’
William tore up the letter of resignation and dropped the pieces into the fire. He put his arm around Alan’s shoulders.
‘I have no family now, Alan, only you. For God’s sake, don’t desert me.’
