Page 7 of Triple Jeopardy (Daniel Pitt)

Kitteridge was looking far more interested now, but he did not interrupt.

“The intruder’s name is Philip Sidney and he ran—”

“Sidney?” Kitteridge said in surprise. “You mean that? Philip Sidney?”

“Yes. You know him?”

“Not personally. Hardly my social sphere.” There was rich amusement in Kitteridge’s face, but also a noticeable trace of regret.

“You think well of him?” Daniel leaped to the conclusion.

“I did,” Kitteridge admitted. “If this is true, that rather shatters it. Pity.”

“Tobias Thorwood, the father, swears the intruder was Sidney, and his daughter, Rebecca, bears it out, shaken as she was. He really knocked her about a bit, and ripped the necklace off her violently enough to tear her skin. He escaped back to the British Embassy and immediately claimed diplomatic immunity. Then he left the country.”

“Horrible,” Kitteridge said, pulling his face tight with distaste and unmistakable sadness. The disillusion clearly hurt him.

“I’m sorry…”

“So, what do you want to know?” Kitteridge said, suddenly more sharply. “What is there to say? He took diplomatic immunity and escaped. He was not charged, therefore not found guilty. You would be betraying him if you said anything, and you couldn’t possibly prove it, especially over here. Sorry, Pitt, but if he did it, he’s got away. To his shame and I suppose our embarrassment.”

“What if he committed a crime on British soil, and was charged with it?” Daniel asked.

Kitteridge’s eyes narrowed. “You mean after he arrived back here? How long ago did all this happen? He must be crazy!”

“No, not here, but technically on British soil, like at the embassy in Washington.”

“Is that very likely?” Kitteridge clearly did not believe it.

Actually, neither did Daniel. “Maybe not. But if he did?” he pressed.

“Connected to the assault and the theft of the diamond? Does he have the diamond? Has he tried to sell it? That would be pretty convenient.”

“No,” Daniel admitted. “I know he took it, but I don’t think anyone knows what he did with it.”

“You know he took it?” Kitteridge said with a lift of his eyebrows. “You mean you know, or that Mr. Thorwood told you?”

Daniel winced. “My brother-in-law told me that Tobias Thorwood told him that Sidney took it.”

Kitteridge blinked. “Your brother-in-law?” His eyes narrowed. “Daniel, what else have you left out? What exactly is this all about?”

Daniel realized how incoherent he had been, trying to draw Kitteridge in before telling him the more doubtful parts of the story. It had been instinctive rather than deliberate. Now he was annoyed with

himself for being so clumsy. “Sorry,” he said seriously, mostly sorry to have done this so badly. “Patrick and Jemima are visiting from Washington. He’s police out there. Irish-American.”

“Ah, I begin to see,” Kitteridge said, shaking his head. “And he is outraged.”

“Aren’t you?” Daniel challenged him.

“If it’s true, yes. And embarrassed.”

“Don’t we have to do something about it?” Daniel asked.

“No, I don’t think so. I don’t think there is anything you can do,” Kitteridge said with genuine regret. “I’d like to think the diplomatic service would get rid of him, and make sure that it becomes well known as to why.”

“Yes, so would I,” Daniel agreed fervently. “But Tobias Thorwood can’t accuse him without any proof, not publicly. It has to come out in court. Otherwise, no newspaper is going to publish it. Sidney would have him for libel. And who knows what he would say about Rebecca?”

“You have a point,” Kitteridge nodded. “So, what is left for you to ask me? You seem to have got it all thought out. It’s wretched. But you can’t bring the man to answer the law here, for a crime that he may or may not have committed in Washington, and for which he sought and got diplomatic immunity.”

---