“I’m afraid so. What exactly is your family business?”
“Oil,” Declan muttered. “My father and his brother own the Garraway Oil Company. They’re getting ready to drill some wells in California near Los Angeles. They’re convinced there’s a vast quantity of oil in the ground, waiting to be pumped out. You can see the stuff seeping up from the floor of the ocean just offshore in some locations on the coast.”
Mrs. Hodges got to her feet, massaging her wrists.
“I’ll see to Mr. Hodges, sir,” she said.
“Thank you,” Benedict said. He turned back to Declan. “What does Garraway Oil want with a device designed to utilize the power of the sun?” But the answer came hard on the heels of the question. “Oh, right. They don’t want to steal the design for Foxcroft’s system in order to manufacture and sell it. Your father and uncle want to keep the engine and the battery off the market. Is that correct?”
“They say that if everyone can go to the local hardware store and purchase a solar system that can capture the free energy of the sun, the market for oil will collapse before there is an opportunity to prove how useful it is. My father and my uncle say the future is in oil. They want to make certain it stays that way.”
“Because they’ve invested heavily in that future.”
Declan shrugged.
Benedict looked at Hodges. “You’re certain you are unhurt?”
“Quite fit, thank you, sir,” Hodges said. “But it’s going to take some time to put your study to rights.”
“That young scalawag made a dreadful mess,” Mrs. Hodges said. She glared at Declan. “You should be ashamed of yourself, sir.”
Declan had the grace to hang his head.
Benedict angled himself on the corner of his desk and contemplated Declan. “Obviously you are not aware of the latest developments.”
“What are you talking about?” Declan asked.
“Someone stole the Foxcroft notebook. The good news for you is that, given the fact that you came here tonight to search for it, I must assume you are not the thief.”
“Son of a bitch.” Declan looked baffled. “It’s gone? But who took it?”
“An interesting question. I don’t know the answer. And as you don’t appear to have the answer, either, I don’t think there’s any reason to continue the conversation. Hodges, please summon the nearest constable.”
“With pleasure, sir,” Hodges said. He started toward the door.
Declan stiffened in fresh alarm. “You’re not going to call the police.”
“Why not?” Benedict asked pleasantly.
“Because we’re both after the same thing,” Declan said, exasperated. “Look, if you’re telling me the truth when you say the notebook has been stolen—”
“It’s the truth.”
“Then perhaps we can help each other. My father and my uncle will make it worth your while, I swear it. They are very rich.”
“I don’t doubt that,” Benedict said. “But, you see, here’s the thing—I’m rich, too. I don’t need their money.”
“Is that so?” Declan’s expression turned shrewd. “Then why did you travel all the way to St. Clare and then go on to meet with Foxcroft in Los Angeles? I know you went there, by the way. When I discovered that you had purchased a ticket on a train bound for California, I guessed where you were headed. But by the time I arrived you had already left with Foxcroft’s notebook.” Declan paused. “He’s dead, you know. The cancer took him less than forty-eight hours after he gave you his notebook.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Benedict said. “He was a brilliant engineer.”
“I don’t suppose you’d care to tell me exactly what happened on St. Clare? Everyone on board theNorthern Starsaid that you had been attacked by a thief, but I never believed that story. I think you were there for the same reason I sailed to the island—to examine Alden Cork’s solar cannon. But it was gone and Cork was dead by the time I found him.”
“When did you arrive at Cork’s laboratory?”
Declan looked grim. “Not long after you did, evidently. Cork’s body was still on the floor. But the local police had arrived and were starting to ask questions. It was obvious they had settled on the notion that Cork had been killed by a foreigner, someone off one of the ships that was in the harbor that day. I thought it best not to be seen so I immediately returned to theStar.”
“And took a shot at me along the way, perhaps?” Benedict asked.
