‘I know that. I’ve said it to myself a thousand times.’
‘Then I won’t labour the point,’ said Peter. ‘We need to decide on a means of dealing with this new crisis. Let’s take the first demand in that letter. Are you able to raise that amount of money?’
‘I can’t just conjure it out of the air, Mr Skillen.’
‘The kidnappers seem to think that you can. My guess is that you were followed home at some point so that they could see where you lived. Do you have a large house, sir?’
‘It’s very large, as it happens. I inherited it from my father.’
‘Then they’d assume that you could borrow money against the property.’
‘That would take time and they don’t really give me any.’
‘They clearly think you are wealthier than perhaps you are.’
‘I’m not impoverished, Mr Skillen,’ said the other with a touch of indignation. ‘I managed to provide the full amount of the first demand from my savings. I was assured by you that I wouldn’t lose any of it because you would intervene. And what happened?’ he asked, fixing Peter with a stare. ‘I forfeited the whole amount and am now asked to pay twice as much.’
‘I’ve apologised for my misjudgement,’ said Peter, earnestly, ‘and will make amends next time.’
‘But that’s a stipulation made in the letter. I am to go alone. If they see any sign of a confederate, Mrs Horner will suffer as a result.’
‘She already is suffering, sir.’
‘Then how do we rescue her?’
‘I have a plan to do that, Mr Beyton,’ said Peter, ‘but I can’t put it into effect until we know the details of the exchange. Last time, they chose a busy park. The chances are that they’ll select somewhere less crowded next time so that anyone who comes in support of you will be spotted easily.’
‘Or to put it another way,’ said Beyton, dolefully, ‘they’ll get away scot free with the money and I’ll be financially ruined.’
‘That won’t happen, sir.’
‘There’s no way to prevent it.’
‘I believe that there is. We’ve had a setback and we must put it aside. Granted, we lost the ransom but the episode was not without a positive gain.’
‘We gained absolutely nothing.’
‘Then I must contradict you, sir. Involving my dear wife during the exchange has delivered a bonus for us. She recognised one of the kidnappers.’
Beyton sat up. ‘She did? Who is the man?’
‘It was the woman, sir, the one who walked away with your money.’
‘Do you know her name?’
‘We know the one that she gave at the shooting gallery,’ said Peter, ‘but it may have been an alias, of course. She took instruction there from Mr Ackford. I’ve never met the woman but my wife did so and has given me a description of her. I’m hoping that Mr Ackford may be able to tell us a little more about Jane Holdstock, as she was called. Shortly before you arrived, I sent a servant to the gallery with an urgent message.’
Paul Skillen was at the gallery when his brother’s message was delivered. He discussed it with Gully Ackford and Jem Huckvale.
‘Do you remember this woman?’ he asked.
‘I remember her very well,’ replied Ackford.
Paul chuckled. ‘I didn’t know that you trained people in abduction, Gully.’
‘All she learnt from me was how to use a bow and arrow.’
‘She became a useful archer very quickly,’ said Huckvale. ‘When I whitened the target she’d been using, I could see how many of her arrows had hit the mark. Mrs Holdstock was only aiming over a short distance, mind you, but she had real skill.’
‘I can endorse that,’ said Ackford. ‘As soon as she learnt to hold the bow properly, she got better and better. Each time she came, it was obvious that she’d been practising at home.’
‘Why did she come in the first place?’ asked Paul.
‘She said that she wanted to teach her nephew how to be like Robin Hood.’
‘Did you believe her?’
‘I did at the time. In view of what Peter says in his letter, however, I’ve become doubtful. This nephew could well be a figment of her imagination.’
‘So why did she bother to pay for lessons?’
‘I used to wonder that,’ said Huckvale. ‘What use is a bow and arrow to her? You would have thought that a respectable woman like that would have better things to do with their time.’
‘Perhaps she intends to murder her husband,’ joked Paul.
‘Then she should have learnt how to shoot a pistol. That would have been much easier and more effective.’