“No. Presumably the same person who killed the inventor I went to see while I was on the island.”
“Good heavens, someone else was murdered on St. Clare? You never mentioned that.”
“I found his body in his laboratory,” Benedict said. “He had been killed shortly before I arrived.”
“Who was he?”
“Alden Cork. He was an eccentric but quite brilliant engineer who was working on a new weapon that certain parties in the government believed would revolutionize battleship armament. According to their sources, the Russians are also very keen to get their hands on the device.”
“What is so revolutionary about it?”
“Cork called it a solar cannon. It is designed to be powered by the energy of the sun.”
“Fascinating. Mr. Cork set up a laboratory on a Caribbean island?”
“He had a number of reasons for going to the Caribbean,” Benedict said. “The first was that he was trying to conceal his activities from the various interested governments until he could perfect his solar cannon. He had intended to sell it to the highest bidder when it was completed. In addition, for obvious reasons, he needed a sunny climate to carry out his experiments. He also required a destination that was on regular steamship routes so that he could obtain the supplies and equipment that he required.”
“Yes, of course, a Caribbean island would be an ideal location.”
“As I said, someone, presumably an agent in the pay of the Russians, got to Cork before I arrived. The laboratory had been ransacked. There was no sign of the plans relating to the development of the weapon. One of the servants who had assisted Cork from time to time told me that an important notebook containing Cork’s drawings and specifications was missing. I think that it was stolen by whoever killed him.”
“And that same person then tried to murder you?”
“I assume so.” Benedict paused. “I must have been one step behind him. But before I left Cork’s laboratory I found a letter.”
“The one you entrusted to me in the event you did not survive.”
“Yes,” Benedict said. “As soon as I read it I knew that it was far more valuable than Cork’s design for the weapon.”
“Why?”
“It was written to Cork by another inventor working in California, Elijah Foxcroft. When I read it, I immediately realized that the two men had been carrying on a correspondence for some time. It was clear that what made Cork’s weapon a potentially devastating battleship gun wasn’t the design of the solar cannon itself—that was fairly conventional—but rather the engine by which it was to be powered.”
“A solar engine?”
“Yes.”
She smiled. “Well, I suppose that does explain why we had so many interesting conversations about the potential of solar energy on board theNorthern Star.”
“The subject was on my mind,” he admitted.
Alarm spiked through her. “Wait a minute. You said Cork’s plans for the weapon were gone when you arrived. Does that mean that the Russians now possess them?”
“Presumably, for all the good it will do them.”
She beetled her brows at him. “Explain, sir.”
“The letter made it clear that Cork had been unsuccessful in creating a suitable engine for his cannon. Without a practical system capable of converting sunlight into energy in an efficient manner and a means of storing it for use when needed, his weapon was just another engineering fantasy.” Benedict looked out over the sunny garden. “Rather like da Vinci’s flying machines and his fantastical weapons.”
“But Elijah Foxcroft has designed such a solar engine and storage device?”
“Right. The letter made it plain that Cork believed that it was capable of powering his weapon. He and Foxcroft planned to work together on the project.”
She glanced at the leather case again. “You found Foxcroft, I take it?”
“I did.” Benedict exhaled deeply. “Sadly, he was near death.”
“Good heavens, someone murdered him, too?”
