Read Online The Parliament House by Edward Marston - Free Book Online Page A

Jonathan?' said the architect.
        'An exhausting one,' replied Bale.
        'Did you find out anything of value?'
        'No, Mr Redmayne. I've walked far but learned little.' 'Where exactly did you go?'
        Bale told him about the three people whose names had been given to him by Francis Polegate, and how none of them recalled passing on the information to anyone else that Bernard Everett would be at the house in Knightrider Street on the previous day. Christopher felt a twinge of guilt.
        'I owe you an apology, Jonathan,' he said.
        'Why?'
        'I may, unwittingly, have sent you on a wild goose chase.'
        'But it's crucial for us to find out who was aware of the fact that Mr Everett would be at that address. That's why I tracked down those three friends of Mr Polegate.'
        'You asked them the wrong question.'
        'Did I, Mr Redmayne?'
        'I think so,' said Christopher. 'Having made some inquiries on my own behalf, I'm not at all sure that the man at that window shot the person he was really after. My feeling is that he was there to kill Sir Julius Cheever.'
        Bale blinked in surprised. 'Sir Julius?'
        'He's the man who has caused such a stir in parliament, not Bernard Everett. If, as I believe, this murder has a political dimension, then Mr Everett was killed by mistake.'
        He gave his reason for thinking so and told him of the conversation with his brother. Bale was sceptical. He found it difficult to place much reliance on the word of Henry Redmayne. Having met him a number of times, and being aware of the decadent existence that he led, he had the gravest reservations about Christopher's elder brother. In the constable's opinion, Henry symbolised all that was wrong with the Restoration, an event that Bale would never be able to accept as either necessary or in any way advantageous to his fellow-countrymen.
        'Who were these other men you spoke to?' he asked.
        'Roland Askray and Ninian Teale. Both have been Members of Parliament for several years.'
        'And are they are close friends of your brother?'
        Christopher smiled. 'If you mean that they are amongst Henry's many drinking companions,' he said, 'then I must concede that they are. But that does not disqualify them as shrewd judges of the political scene. Mr Askray has been talked of as a future Secretary to the Treasury and Mr Seal is part of the Duke of Buckingham's entourage.'
        Bale was surprised. 'The Duke?'
        'Yes, Jonathan, so he is close to the seat of power. Nobody has more influence over the King's councils than Buckingham.' He grinned as the other man gave a sniff of disapproval. 'Yes, I know that he would never win plaudits from you, Jonathan, but perhaps you should remember that he married the daughter of a Parliamentary general.'
        'It's the Duke of Buckingham who needs to remember that,' said Bale, censoriously. 'Lord Fairfax's daughter deserves more respect from her husband. By all accounts, he leads the kind of life that makes a mockery of the marriage vows.'
        Christopher did not contradict him. It was common knowledge that Buckingham was a notorious voluptuary, acquainted with every vice in a city where it flourished in abundance. But it was the way that he flouted the law that outraged Bale. In the previous year, Buckingham had killed the Earl of Shrewsbury in an illegal six-man duel, a scandal that was heightened by the fact that, before and after the event, the Countess of Shrewsbury was Buckingham's mistress. It worried Christopher that so much power had been vested into the hands of such a man. It appalled Bale. In his codex, Buckingham was Henry Redmayne writ large.
        'I'm not asking you to admire Roland Askray or Ninian Teale,' said Christopher. 'Neither man is a saint. But you must accept that their experience of political matters commands attention.'
        'Yes, Mr Redmayne.'
        'They both told