As it was, Monk was now more firmly entrenched in his new position than was entirely comfortable for him, and Clacton was inexplicably subdued. He obviously loathed Monk, but something compelled him to treat his new commander with respect. Monk had yet to learn what this new element was.

"Argyll's guilty of murder," Monk insisted to Rathbone. "And more important than that, there is still the danger of the disaster in the tunnels that Havilland feared."

"But you can't tell me what it is!" Rathbone pointed out. "They are using the same engines as before, and nothing has happened."

"I know," Monk admitted. "I've searched everything I can find, but no one will talk to me. All the navvies are afraid for their jobs. They'd rather face a possible cave-in sometime in the future than certain starvation now."

"I'll do what I can," Rathbone promised. "But I have no idea yet how to disentangle the guilty Argyll from the relatively innocent Sixsmith. Not to mention Argyll's wife, who is no doubt afraid to face the truth about him, not to mention public disgrace and the loss of her home. Plus there's the M.P., Applegate, who gave Argyll the contract, and the totally innocent navvies who operate the machines. And there's also Superintendent Runcorn who conducted the original enquiry into Havilland's death. He will be blamed for having called it suicide and closing the case. Are you prepared for all of them to go down as well, tarred with the same brush? Guilty by association!"

"No," Monk said flatly. "No, I'm not." The thought was so ugly it twisted inside him.

"Well, it might be a choice between having them all, to be sure of getting the guilty one, or letting them all go, to be sure of saving the innocent," Rathbone told him.

"If it comes to that, then I'll let them go," Monk said harshly. "But not without damn well trying!"

Rathbone looked at him sadly. "Accusation without proof will damn the innocent and let the guilty go free."

Monk had no argument. What Rathbone said was true, and he understood it. "We're too late to back out now."

"I could drop the charge against Sixsmith."