Читаем A Dangerous Fortune (1994) полностью

Mystified and concerned, Hugh went straight to the hospital. He found Tonio in a dark, bare ward of thirty close-packed beds. His ginger hair had been shaved and his face and head were scarred. "Dear God!" Hugh said. "Have you been run over?"

"Beaten up," said Tonio.

"What happened?"

"I was attacked in the street outside the Hotel Russe a couple of months ago."

"You were robbed, I suppose."

"Yes."

"You're a mess!"

"It's not quite as bad as it looks. I had a broken finger and a cracked ankle, but otherwise it was only cuts and bruises--although rather a lot of them. However, I'm almost better now."

"You should have contacted me before. We must get you out of here. I'll send my doctor to you, and arrange a nurse--"

"No, thanks, old boy. I appreciate your generosity. But money isn't the only reason I stayed here. It's also safer. Other than you, only one person knows where I am: a trusted colleague who brings me beefsteak pies and brandy and messages from Cordova. I hope you didn't tell anyone you were coming."

"Not even my wife," Hugh said.

"Good."

Tonio's old recklessness seemed to have vanished, Hugh thought; in fact he was going to the other extreme. "But you can't stay in hospital for the rest of your life to hide from street ruffians."

"The people who attacked me were not just thieves, Pilaster."

Hugh took off his hat and sat on the edge of the bed. He tried to ignore the intermittent groaning of the man in the next bed. "Tell me what happened," he said.

"It wasn't a routine theft. My key was taken and the thieves used it to get into my room. Nothing of value was stolen but all the papers pertaining to my article for The Times were taken, including the affidavits signed by the witnesses."

Hugh was horrified. It chilled his heart to think that the immaculately respectable transactions taking place in the hushed halls of Pilasters should have any link with violent crime in the streets and the battered face in front of him. "It almost sounds as if the bank is under suspicion!"

"Not the bank," Tonio said. "Pilasters is a powerful institution, but I don't believe it could organize murders in Cordova."

"Murders?" This was getting worse and worse. "Who has been murdered?"

"All the witnesses whose names and addresses were on the affidavits that were stolen from my hotel room."

"I can hardly believe it."