William Monk 13 - Death of a Stranger

impossible one. “Thank you,” he said instead.
    Rathbone smiled slightly, like a moment’s sun on a winter landscape. “Then let us begin. If Dalgarno did not kill her, and you did not, then who did? Do you have any idea at all?”
    “No,” Monk said simply. It was the bare truth. He realized how very little he knew about Katrina Harcus. He could have described her to the minutest detail—her hair, her face, her remarkable eyes, the way she moved, the inflections of her voice. He could have told Rathbone what she had worn almost every time he had seen her. But until the day of her death he had not even known where she lived, let alone where she came from or anything of her daily life, her family or her past.
    Rathbone tightened his lips for a second, then with an effort forbore from making any comment on Monk’s gullibility. Perhaps if he considered it, he knew as little about some of his own clients. “Well then, the first thing you can do is find out everything else you can about her, and as rapidly as possible,” he said bleakly. “Go wherever it takes you, but report to me every day.” He knew he did not need to emphasize that.
    Monk stood up. Rathbone had been light in his condemnation, saying nothing of criticism or blame, but Monk knew him well enough to be aware of his thoughts. He felt as crushed by the mere fact of them as if they all had been put into speech.
    Rathbone handed him the funds he would need.
    “Thank you,” Monk accepted, hating it. Whether Rathbone would get any of it back from Dalgarno was still an open question, but Monk could not afford to refuse. He had no idea where his search would take him. Not only would Dalgarno’s life depend on it, but his own conscience, his identity, and if things came to the worst, his life too. If it seemed Dalgarno would be convicted, then he would have to tell the court of the paper he had found at Katrina’s rooms, and destroyed, and show them that the coat button was his. Then how could even Rathbone save him from the rope?
    And yet he was innocent. Perhaps Dalgarno was also.
    “I need to start with Dalgarno himself,” he said aloud. “Get me an interview with him.”

    The clock had struck nine by the time Monk stood in the Newgate cell, Rathbone sitting to the side in the only chair. Dalgarno, pale and unshaven, paced back and forth restlessly, his face already haggard from the shock of realization that ahead of him lay the possibility of the gallows.
    “I didn’t kill her!” he said desperately, his voice rising, close to breaking.
    Monk kept his own emotions icily under control. It was the only way to approach thinking with any clarity.
    “Then someone else did, Mr. Dalgarno,” he replied. “No jury will acquit you unless you provide them with an alternative.”
    “I don’t know who did, for God’s sake!” Dalgarno cried out wildly. “Do you think I’d be standing here in prison if I did?” He stared at Monk as if he were a complete fool.
    Monk felt a pity for him, and a guilt for his own part in it, but he also could not like the man. He had treated Katrina Harcus badly, whether he had killed her or not.
    “Hysteria won’t help,” he said with chill. “Logic is the only thing that may. What do you know about her? And please tell me everything, and the truth, whether it is flattering to you or not. Your life may depend upon it. It is no time for protecting your reputation or your vanity.”
    Dalgarno glared at him, then at Rathbone.
    Rathbone nodded almost imperceptibly.
    “I met her at a garden party,” Dalgarno began, his tone now subdued. “She was charming, full of life. I thought she was the most interesting woman I had ever seen. But I knew nothing of her social background, except that she was obviously well-bred and had sufficient means to dress in the height of fashion.”
    “Who were her friends?” Monk asked.
    Dalgarno rattled off half a dozen names. They meant nothing to Monk, but he saw Rathbone register recognition.
    “Maybe one of them killed her,” Dalgarno said desperately. “I can’t think why, but God knows I didn’t. Why would I? I didn’t want to marry her, and she seems to think I did.” He colored faintly. “But there was no fraud—I swear!” He waved his hands jerkily. “We may have shaved a little here and there, but everyone does.”
    Monk did not comment on that. It was irrelevant now. “That is precisely why I need to know more about her, Mr. Dalgarno. Someone killed her.