“Ah, I see,” Corbyn said.
“May I ask what happened?”
Corbyn threaded his fingers together and placed them on the desk. “An attacker managed to overpower two of my agents, sneak into the townhouse, and attempt to smother my father with a pillow.”
“It’s a good thing you were there then, wasn’t it?”
“It was.”
“Would you care for me to pull some strings and gain access for you to interrogate the man?” Lord Daniel asked.
Corbyn nodded. “If you wouldn’t mind.”
“I would not.”
“Thank you.”
Lord Daniel rose from his chair and tugged down on his ivory waistcoat. “If you will excuse me, I have a meeting I must attend.”
“I appreciate you stopping by. It saves me the time of writing a missive.”
“As usual, I have enjoyed our chat, but I hope our next one proves to be much more useful.”
“It will.”
“See that it does,” Lord Daniel said firmly. “It would be a shame if the Home Secretary asked for your resignation.”
Rising, Corbyn assured him, “It won’t come to that.”
“I truly hope not.”
Corbyn slowly lowered himself back onto the chair as Lord Daniel left his office. He was not one to be cowed by threats, but he couldn’t help but wonder if Lord Daniel was right. So far, they hadn’t really found anything to lead them to Kerley’s operation.
As he reached for a correspondence from one of the piles, a knock came at his window. He glanced over at it and, to his great surprise, he saw Stewart standing there.
He rose, walked over to the window, and opened it. “What are you doing here?”
“I followed Lord Daniel to your office,” Stewart announced.
“I see, but why not come by the main door?”
“I knew I wouldn’t be granted an audience with you.”
“You would be correct.” Corbyn stepped back from the window. “You might as well come in, since you are already here.”
Stewart climbed through the window and closed it behind him. “I wanted to speak to you, but you left your townhouse early this morning.”
“That is not unusual for me.”
“I assumed as much, but I wanted to tell you at once what I discovered.”
Corbyn gestured towards a chair. “Would you care to sit?”
“I would,” Stewart said, accepting the proffered seat. “I think I might have found a lead on Kerley’s operation.”
“You have?”
“One of my informants told me that a man has been asking a bunch of questions about forged banknotes.”