"No, sir," she said.
"All right. You may leave this." She nodded and left. Defoe turned back
to me. "I have some news for you, Thomas. Hammond has been located."
"That's good," I said. "Not too badly hung over, I hope."
He gave me an arctic smile. "Hardly. He was found by a couple of
peasants who were picking grapes. He's dead."
V
Hammond dead! He had had his faults, but he was an officer of the
Company and a man I had met. Dead!