A Plague of Zombies: An Outlander Novella Read Online Free

thoroughly.
    ‘And was there a superintendent before Captain Cresswell?’
    ‘Yes … in fact, there were two of them, were there not, Mr Dawes?’
    ‘Yes, sir. Captain Ludgate and Captain Perriman.’ Dawes was assiduously not meeting Grey’s eye.
    ‘I should like very much to speak with those gentlemen,’ Grey said pleasantly.
    Dawes jerked as though someone had run a hatpin into his buttock. The governor finished chewing a grape, swallowed, and said, ‘I’m so sorry, Colonel. Both Ludgate and Perriman have left their offices.’
    ‘Why?’ John Fettes asked bluntly. The governor hadn’t been expecting that, and blinked.
    ‘I expect Major Fettes wishes to know whether they were replaced in their offices because of some peculation or corruption,’ Bob Cherry put in chummily. ‘And if that be the case, were they allowed to leave the island rather than face prosecution? And if so—’
    ‘Why?’ Fettes put in neatly.
    Grey repressed a smile. Should peace break out on a wide scale and an army career fail them, Fettes and Cherry could easily make a living as a music-hall knockabout cross-talk act. As interrogators, they could reduce almost any suspect to incoherence, confusion, and confession in nothing flat.
    Governor Warren, though, appeared to be made of tougher stuff than the usual regimental miscreant. Either that or he had nothing to hide, Grey considered, listening to him explain with tired patience that Ludgate had retired because of ill health and that Perriman had inherited money and gone back to England.
    No
. He watched the governor’s hand twitch and hover indecisively over the fruit bowl.
He’s got something to hide. And so does Dawes. Is it the same thing, though? And has it got anything to do with the present trouble?
    The governor could easily be hiding some peculation or corruption of his own—and likely was, Grey thought dispassionately, taking in the lavish display of silver on the sideboard. Such corruption was—within limits—considered more or less a perquisite of office. But if that were the case, it was not Grey’s concern—unless it was in some way connected to the maroons and their rebellion.
    Entertaining as it was to watch Fettes and Cherry at their work, he cut them off with a brief nod and turned the conversation firmly back to the rebellion.
    ‘What communications have you had from the rebels, sir?’ he asked the governor. ‘For I believe that, in these cases, rebellion arises usually from some distinct source of grievance. What is it?’
    Warren looked at him, jaw agape. He closed his mouth, slowly, and hesitated for a moment before replying. Grey surmised he was considering how much Grey might discover from other avenues of inquiry.
    Everything I bloody can
, Grey thought, assuming an expression of neutral interest.
    ‘Why, as to that, sir … the incident that began the … um … the difficulties … was the arrest of two young maroons, accused of stealing from a warehouse in Kingston.’ The two had been whipped in the town square and committed to prison, after which—
    ‘Following a trial?’ Grey interrupted.
    The governor’s gaze rested on him, red-rimmed but cool. ‘No, Colonel. They had no right to a trial.’
    ‘You had them whipped and imprisoned on the word of … whom? The affronted merchant?’
    Warren drew himself up a little and lifted his chin. Grey saw that he had been shaved, but a patch of black whisker had been overlooked; it showed in the hollow of his cheek like a blemish, a hairy mole.
    ‘
I
did not, no, sir,’ he said coldly. ‘The sentence was imposed by the magistrate in Kingston.’
    ‘Who is?’
    Dawes had closed his eyes with a small grimace.
    ‘Judge Samuel Peters.’
    Grey nodded thanks.
    ‘Captain Cherry will visit Mr Judge Peters tomorrow,’ he said pleasantly. ‘And the prisoners, as well. I take it they are still in custody?’
    ‘No, they aren’t,’ Mr Dawes put in, suddenly emerging from his impersonation