Murder on the Brighton Express

some black-hearted devil caused that crash,’ he went on with sudden rage, ‘then he should be hanged, drawn and quartered. And I’d volunteer to do it.’

Madeleine was shocked. ‘That’s a terrible thing to say!’

‘It’s a terrible thing to do, Maddy. Can you think of anything worse than derailing a train like that? Supposing it had happened on the LNWR,’ he said, hauling himself to his feet. ‘Supposing that I was driving an express when it came off the line and was hit by another train. Rose Pike would have been here to comfort you then.’

‘Perish the thought!’

‘This monster must be caught and put to death.’

‘It’s not even certain that someone did cause the crash,’ she said, trying to calm him down. ‘I think you should wait until we know the truth.’

‘I already know it,’ he asserted. ‘I feel it in my bones.’

‘It’s only a rumour.’

‘Look at the facts. Trains come off the track for three main reasons – the driver makes a bad mistake, there’s a landslip or a stray animal on the rails, or someone sets out to cause a disaster. You can forget the first reason,’ he said, dismissively, ‘because Frank Pike never made mistakes. As for the second, Inspector Colbeck made no mention of an obstruction on the line. In other words, this simply has to be the work of some villain.’

‘That’s a frightening thought.’

‘It’s one we’re going to have to get used to, Maddy.’

‘Well, I hope, for Rose’s sake, that you’re wrong,’ she said, concerned for the stricken widow. ‘If she found out that Frank and the others had been deliberately killed, Rose would be in despair.’

Andrews was disgusted. ‘I can’t think of any crime worse than this,’ he said with vehemence. ‘As long as this man is at large, we’re all in danger. He could strike anywhere on the railway. Doesn’t he have a conscience? Doesn’t he have any human decency?’

‘There’s no point in getting yourself worked up, Father.’

‘There’s every point. What he did was pure evil.’

‘Then leave the police to deal with it,’ she urged. ‘If there’s even a suspicion of a crime, Robert will investigate it thoroughly. He loves the railway as much as you do. You could see how troubled he was about this crash.’

‘Every railwayman in the country is troubled.’

‘Our job is to help Rose Pike through her torment. She doted on her husband. Now that he’s gone, Rose is in a dreadful state.’

‘We owe it to Frank to find his killer.’

‘There were other people on that train,’ she reminded him, ‘and some of them died horrible deaths in the crash.’

‘Frank is the only one that matters to me.’

Madeleine was roused. ‘Then you should be ashamed of yourself, Father. Have you no sympathy for the families and friends of the other victims? And what about all those who were badly injured? Some have been maimed for life,’ she said, reproachfully, ‘yet you don’t care a jot about them.’

‘Of course, I do, Maddy,’ he said, apologetically.

‘As for the person who may or may not have been responsible for the crash, leave Robert to worry about that. He’s a detective. He knows what to do. If the crash was deliberate,’ she assured him, ‘then Robert will be searching for the man who caused it right this minute.’

Crime had no respect for the Sabbath. Since villains continued unabated, the Metropolitan Police could not afford to take a day off and let it thrive unchecked. Robert Colbeck had long ago learnt that, if an investigation demanded it, he would be required to work on the Lord’s Day with the same application as in the rest of the week. It was an aspect of his job that he had accepted without complaint. Victor Leeming, by contrast, never ceased to moan about it.

‘I should be taking my family to church,’ he grumbled.

‘I’m sure they’ll say a prayer on your behalf, Victor.’

‘It’s not the same, Inspector. They want me there.’

‘Given the importance of this case,’ said Colbeck, ‘I’m certain that they’ll understand your absence. And in the fullness of time, your wife and children will be very proud of you for helping to catch a ruthless criminal. With luck, he should be in custody before too long, allowing you to have next Sunday free.’

‘I hope so,’ said Leeming. ‘It’s Estelle’s birthday.’

‘Then I’ll do everything in my power to make sure that you’ll be able to share it with her. A word of warning, however,’ Colbeck went on with a twinkle in his eye. ‘It might be more tactful not to mention the forthcoming event to the superintendent. He doesn’t believe in family celebrations.’

‘But he must have a birthday of his own, sir.’

‘Must he?’ asked Colbeck with a wicked smile. ‘To tell you the truth, Victor, I have grave doubts about that. Superintendent Tallis was not born by natural means. I fancy that he was issued like a military regulation.’ Leeming burst out laughing. ‘I trust you to keep that idea to yourself.’

It was early in the morning and the two men were in Colbeck’s office at Scotland Yard. The aggrieved sergeant had just arrived to get his instructions. A full day’s work lay ahead of them. Having read his colleague’s report of the interview with Matthew Shanklin, Colbeck pressed for more detail. As Leeming gave him an account of what had transpired, he interrupted with pertinent questions. At the end of it all, there was only one thing he wanted to know.

‘Should we regard him as a suspect?’ asked Colbeck.

‘Yes and no, sir.’

‘The two are quite different, Victor.’

‘Let me explain,’ said Leeming. ‘Yes, Mr Shanklin despises Horace Bardwell enough to want him dead but no, he did not lever that rail out of position. He never left his office on Friday. I made a point of checking that. If he did plan the collision, then he employed a confederate to do his dirty work.’

‘So we should keep an eye on Matthew Shanklin?’

‘Most definitely.’

‘Then we’ll do so,’ said Colbeck. ‘We may, of course, be barking up the wrong tree altogether.’

‘What do you mean, Inspector?’

‘It seems that Mr Bardwell was not the only man aboard that train to provoke extreme hatred. Someone travelling, coincidentally, in the same carriage had actually received death threats.’

‘Who was that?’

‘Mr Giles Thornhill.’

Leeming’s brow creased. ‘That name sounds familiar.’

‘It should do, Victor. It often appears in the newspapers. Mr Thornhill is a Member of Parliament and a fairly outspoken one at that. He’s always championing causes of one kind or another.’

‘You know my view of politicians, sir. They’re all as bad as each other. If ever I’m allowed to vote, I’ll try my best to put an honest man into Parliament for a change.’

‘That’s what those of us who do have a vote attempt to do,’ said Colbeck. ‘But I agree that the system might work better if it were truly democratic instead of being based simply on property.’

‘We arrested two politicians for embezzlement last year and one for assault. That shows you the kind of people who get elected.’’

‘Don’t forget Lord Hendry. When his horse lost the Derby at Epsom earlier this year, he not only shot one of his rivals dead, he committed suicide on the spot. That’s not something you expect of a peer of the realm.’

‘Guy Fawkes had the right idea,’ said Leeming with a rare mutinous glint. ‘The Houses of Parliament ought to be blown up.’

‘Not with Her Majesty, the Queen inside it, I trust?’

‘No, no, sir – it’s the politicians I loathe.’

‘That’s a rather unchristian thought for a Sunday, Victor. I don’t think I’ll bother to share it with Mr Thornhill.