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too high a standard here. I’m afraid the only one of the commandments we are able to enforce among actors is the one about killing. I’ll not concern myself overmuch about Ramsay and some jewels belonging to women who have entirely too much money in any case.”
    Daniel again shrugged. He appeared not to care much about anything, as was his habit. His uncaring façade was an immature attitude he’d never outgrown, and at his age it made him appear shallow. Perhaps he was shallow; Suzanne had never had a glimpse beneath the mask. “As you wish.”
    “He is an extremely talented fellow, and handsome in the bargain. He’ll be an enormous draw once the play opens and word of mouth spreads. And besides, if he were this Gordon fellow, then why on earth would he hop up on stage where all of London might see his face and remember him from somewhere else?”
    “You said yourself that people become actors to hide themselves.”
    “Even so, I should think that with so many powerful Lowlanders after his hide, that Gordon fellow would seek a passport to France in the most discreet manner possible, particularly if he had several pieces of highly valued jewelry in his possession.”
    “Again, as you wish. I’ll not press further.”
    “Besides, as you’re well aware, I’ve got no jewelry for him to steal.” Daniel had never given her anything to treasure other than Piers, and in any case, if he had she would have sold it long ago to support her son when they were destitute.
    “So you’re safe from all harm. Nothing to lose.”
    She looked over at him, wondering whether he meant that ironically or was truly ignorant of what a struggle her life had been. He couldn’t possibly believe she had ever felt safe.
    He said, changing the subject and with a tone suggesting a lighter one, “They’ve learned the name of the fellow who was stabbed outside the Goat and Boar, you might be interested to know.”
    “Anyone prominent?”
    Daniel shook his head. “Not even an Englishman, so far as anyone can tell. He was a Spaniard, born in the Caribbean, by all the evidence.”
    Suzanne’s knowledge of geography suffered from her father’s reluctance to educate his female children, and her interest in it had always been quite overshadowed by her far greater interest in keeping herself and Piers from starving, so she asked, “The Caribbean . . . near India?”
    “The Americas. It lies more or less between North and South America. Full of islands covered in jungle.”
    “Ah.” She’d never seen a jungle, but understood it was a sort of thick forest.
    “It’s rumored he was a pirate, though the truth of that is anyone’s guess. From what I hear of the free-for-all in the Americas, I’m of the opinion we will eventually have to do something to protect our interests in that area.”
    “Send ships of our own?”
    “Costly. Charles hasn’t got the cash for it, and Parliament has no interest.”
    “If this dead fellow was a Spanish pirate, then what was he doing here, in the very heart of English territory? He might as well have had a sign on his back saying, ‘Please kill me.’”
    Daniel shrugged, this time appearing truly puzzled. “It is certainly a mystery. They say he was gutted like a fish, just outside the entrance to the public house. Men inside heard one loud cry, though none of them could discern any word. Then it went silent, and everyone inside returned to their amusements. There was nothing more until one of them ventured out on his way home. There he discovered the dead man, his entrails spilled onto the cobbling and a rag stuffed into his mouth. He wasn’t quite dead yet, but he’d only a minute or so left on earth. Too far gone to name his killer.”
    “Unfortunate,” said Suzanne. “Constable Pepper is too lazy to have any interest in a Spanish pirate, no matter how mysterious his presence in London, and so there will be a murderer loose in the city.”
    “There have always been murderers loose in London;