Page 103 of The Clockmaker's Cottage
‘If it’s going to be splashed across the newspapers, we’re going to read all about it sooner rather than later,’ encouraged Theo. ‘Does it really matter what it was? We’re decades on now.’
Pippa knew that Theo was trying as gently as possible to coax them into talking, but she also knew that there was no way that Horace was ever going to admit to wrongdoing unless faced with irrefutable evidence. So she announced boldly, ‘Horace, we know that you and Agatha hid the commission, and framed Andrew for theft.’
‘Don’t be ridiculous. There is no truth to that accusation. None whatsoever. I don’t need to listen to all this.’
Pippa took the letter out of her bag. She took a sideward glance towards Theo, who looked amazed. ‘I brought it just in case we needed it.’
‘Needed what?’ Horace pulled out a pair of glasses from his jacket pocket and put them on. Pippa noticed he looked tired, and more than a little defeated.
‘It’s a letter from Agatha to you,’ said Theo, ‘claiming that Andrew Wetherby was going to talk and steps needed to be taken to save the reputation of the Vale Brothers. She also says that Walter couldn’t find out. What couldn’t you risk Walter finding out?’
‘Don’t be ridiculous.’ Horace leaned over and took the letter. ‘All this is nonsense. I’ve never seen this letter before. Where did it come from?’
‘Agatha Vale’s desk drawer. Also in the desk was the ledger, and the commission is marked as stolen. It was worth a hell of a lot of money.’
Horace waved the letter. ‘Oh, it was! But I have not seen this before. I never got rid of that commission. In fact, it was me who was set up. That’s why Walter and I fell out. Walter and Agatha stole that commission. They double-crossed me. And as for Andrew Wetherby, he was blackmailing me.’ Horace was shaking with anger.
‘I think we all need to calm down. This is no good for any of us, especially at our time of life,’ Pete intervened in a calm manner.
‘Why would Andrew be blackmailing you? If that was true, why didn’t you go to the police? Surely there would’ve been evidence?’ Pippa asked, her thoughts spilling out.
Horace shifted in his chair, but before he could reply, Arthur cut straight across him.
‘Because going to the police would have exposed Horace for what he really was,’ Arthur said sharply. ‘A fraud.’
Everyone froze.
Horace’s head snapped towards him.
Pete’s hand froze halfway to his teacup.
Theo shifted upright.
Pippa had to remind herself to breathe.
Arthur didn’t blink. He didn’t take it back. He let it sit there.
‘Don’t do this,’ Horace said quietly, his voice tight. ‘Arthur, don’t you dare.’
‘Oh, I’m doing it,’ Arthur replied, leaning forward. ‘You let Andrew Wetherby take the fall because you were fame-hungry. You liked being seen as the genius. Not only did you fool your own brother, you let Andrew rot while you took the praise for work he designed.’
Pippa’s eyes widened. Theo looked stunned, genuinely stunned.
Horace’s face flushed a deep red. ‘That is not how it happened.’
‘No?’ Arthur shot back. ‘Then tell them the truth. Tell them who really designed the commission sketches. Tell them whose ideas filled those notebooks.’
‘Andrew worked with us?—’
‘Andrew led the designs!’ Arthur snapped. ‘He was the main designer behind the Vale Brothers, and you know it. Everyone in the workshop knew it. He just didn’t have the name “Vale” to make it official.’
Pippa glanced at Theo, her stomach flipping over and over. They didn’t need words; she could see his thoughts written all over his face. Sebastian hadn’t been spinning lies. The messy, painful truth had been hidden for decades, and the cover-up had broken up a family.
Pippa swallowed hard. ‘Sebastian was right.’ She was unable to keep the shock out of her voice.
‘Andrew was no saint. As I said, he was blackmailing me!’
‘Only when he discovered the value of the commission. Most of that money should have been his. He should have got the credit. That money would have set him up for life,’ argued Arthur.
