William Monk 05 - The Sins of the Wolf

He hesitated, a protest on his lips.
    The judge sighed. “Do you object, Mr. Gilfeather? It seems there is some question of embezzlement, real or imagined.”
    Argyll smiled. If Gilfeather gained the impression he was perfectly happy to be denied Kenneth, and leave doubt in the jury’s minds, or a question of appeal, so much the better.
    “No objection, my lord,” Gilfeather conceded. “It wouldbe advisable to clear up all doubts.” He shot a tight smile at Argyll.
    Argyll inclined his head in thanks.
    Kenneth Farraline was called and took the stand looking acutely unhappy. He could feel the brooding, almost violent tension in the court, and he saw Argyll advance on him like a bear closing in for the kill.
    “Mr. Farraline, your uncle, Major Hector Farraline, has told us that you keep the company books. Is that correct?”
    “Irrelevant, my lord,” Gilfeather objected.
    The judge hesitated.
    “My lord, if there is embezzlement from the company books, and the head of that family has been murdered, it can hardly be irrelevant,” Argyll reasoned. “It provides an excellent motive, unconnected with Miss Latterly.”
    The judge conceded the point, but with displeasure.
    “You have not proved it yet, sir. So far it is merely a suggestion, indeed the ramblings of a man the worse for drink. If you cannot show something more substantial, I shall disallow it next time Mr. Gilfeather objects.”
    “Thank you, my lord.” Argyll turned back to Kenneth. “Mr. Farraline, was your mother aware of Major Farraline’s beliefs that the books had been tampered with?”
    “I … I …” Kenneth looked wretched. He stared at Argyll with eyes unfocused, as if he longed to be looking elsewhere.
    “Sir?” Argyll prompted.
    “I’ve no idea,” Kenneth said abruptly. “It’s …” He swallowed. “Nonsense. Complete nonsense.” He faced Argyll with something like a challenge. “There is no money missing whatsoever.”
    “And you are the bookkeeper, so you would know?”
    “Precisely.”
    “And you would also be in the best position to conceal it, if there were?”
    “That …” Kenneth swallowed. “That is slanderous, sir, and quite unjust.”
    Argyll affected innocence.
    “You would not be in the best position?”
    “Yes … yes, of course I would. But there is nothing missing, nothing whatever.”
    “And your mother was quite satisfied on that point?”
    “I have said so!”
    There was a murmur of disbelief around the room.
    Gilfeather rose to his feet.
    Argyll smiled. Kenneth was a very poor witness. He looked as if he were lying even if he were not.
    “Very well, to another subject. Are you married, Mr. Farraline?”
    “Irrelevant, my lord!” Gilfeather protested.
    “Mr. Argyll,” the judge said wearily. “I will not tolerate any more of this meandering around. I have given you a great deal of latitude, but you have abused it.”
    “It is relevant, my lord, I assure you.”
    “I fail to see how.”
    “Are you married, Mr. Farraline?” Argyll repeated.
    “No.”
    “Are you courting, sir?”
    Kenneth hesitated, his face a dull red, sweat glistening on his lip. His eyes searched the gallery till they found Oonagh. He looked back at Argyll.
    “No … no …”
    “Have you then a mistress? One of which your family would not approve?”
    Gilfeather started to rise, then realized the futility of it. Everyone in the room was waiting upon the answer. A woman moved and her stays creaked in the silence. A coal settled in one of the fires.
    Kenneth gulped.
    “No.”
    “If I were to call Miss Adeline Barker to the stand, would she agree with you, Mr. Farraline?”
    Kenneth’s face was scarlet.
    “Yes … I mean, no. I … God damn it, it is none ofyour business. I did not kill my mother! She—” He stopped again just as suddenly.
    “Yes? She knew about it?” Argyll prompted. “She did not know about it?”
    “I have nothing else to say. I did not kill my mother, and the rest is none of your affair.”
    “A lady of expensive tastes,” Argyll went on. “Not easy to keep her satisfied—and generous, and loyal—on a bookkeeper’s salary, even when he works for the Farraline company.”
    “There is no money missing,” Kenneth said sullenly. “Count it for yourself.” There was confidence in his voice now, a ringing quality as if he knew he could not be proved wrong.
    Argyll heard it too.
    “I daresay there is none missing now, but was that always the case?”
    The confidence