‘I’ve no idea,’ he said, swaying slightly.
‘You said that you’d be home early.’
‘I got talking to Dirk Sowerby and the time flew past.’
‘You promised that you’d be home by nine o’clock,’ she said.
‘I’m sorry I’m late, Maddy. Why didn’t you go to bed?’
‘You forgot to take your key with you — that’s why.’
‘Oh,’ he said, chortling. ‘That was stupid of me.’
‘It’s no laughing matter. I should have left you out in the cold all night, sleeping on the doorstep. That would have taught you.’
He took off his hat and scarf. ‘You’d never do that to me, Maddy,’ he said, jocularly. ‘You’re my daughter. You’d never let your dear old father down.’
‘Then don’t tempt me.’
Her tone was stern but they both knew that her threat would never be put into action. Madeleine loved him too much. She was an attractive woman in her twenties with a vitality and sense of independence that had caught Colbeck’s attention when they first met. Now that she was on the verge of marriage to him, she could not have been happier. After looking after her widowed father for so long, it would be a wrench to leave him but she felt that it was time to go. Her life would be transformed. Madeleine would be exchanging a small house in Camden for a large one in Westminster. Instead of having to make all the major decisions relating to the household economy, she’d have servants to whom she could delegate a range of tasks.
When she helped her father off with his coat, she could smell the beer on his breath. Madeleine didn’t begrudge him his pleasures. He’d earned them.
‘Have you had any word from the inspector?’ he asked.
She clicked her tongue. ‘Don’t you think it’s high time you started calling him Robert? In less than a month he’s going to be your son-in-law.’
‘I don’t like to be too familiar.’
‘That’s ridiculous, Father,’ she said. ‘And the answer to your question is that I’ve had nothing beyond the letter he sent this morning. He must be in Exeter now.’
‘Well, I hope he doesn’t stay there too long, Maddy. I’ll be leading you down the aisle at the end of the month. I don’t want to reach the altar to be told that the bridegroom is still hunting a killer in Devon.’
‘Robert will solve the crime in plenty of time — I hope so, anyway.’
He put a consoling arm around her and led her across to a chair. Lowering her into it, he sat opposite and loosened his collar. Andrews was almost bashful.
‘There’s something I must tell you, Maddy.’
‘What is it?’
‘There’s a reason that I was later than usual.’
‘Yes,’ she said, ‘you got drunk and lost track of the time.’
He stiffened. ‘I’m never drunk,’ he insisted. ‘I simply get merry. That’s very different.’ He ran his tongue over dry lips. ‘What I need to tell you is this. Before too long, I may have a new friend — a lady friend.’
She was surprised. ‘Is it someone I know?’
‘I don’t think so. Binnie is Dirk Sowerby’s aunt, you see. That’s why I fell into conversation with him this evening. It turns out that she’s admired me for years. Her husband was a guard on my train in the old days but he died of smallpox. Mrs Langton — Binnie, that is — has been alone ever since.’
‘Have you seen much of her?’
‘That’s the odd thing, Maddy — I haven’t. We barely know each other. But I’ve bumped into her a few times at Euston and we’ve exchanged a word or two. She’s a handsome woman and you’d never guess she was almost my age.’
Madeleine was cautious. She had no objection in principle to her father having a female friend or, indeed, to his marrying again. But she had a protective instinct and reserved the right to approve of the woman in question. The fact that Mrs Langton was Sowerby’s aunt was reassuring. She knew and liked Dirk Sowerby, her father’s most recent fireman. What troubled her was the fact that there’d been apparently accidental meetings near Euston. If she spoke to her nephew, Binnie Langton could easily find out when Andrews was likely to be near the station. Had the meetings been contrived? Could it be that she was setting her cap at him? The thought was worrying.
‘You’ve done this before, you know,’ she said.
‘What do you mean?’
‘Well, you’ve claimed that this woman or that has a soft spot for you but nothing ever came of it.’
‘This time it’s different.’
‘But you hardly know the lady.’
‘I hardly knew your mother when I fell in love with her, Maddy, but I was determined to marry her one day and I did. I’m a lot older and wiser now. It’s not something I’ve rushed into,’ he went on. ‘I just feel that I’m ready now.’
‘Ready?’
‘Yes — ready to take things a stage further. Dirk has invited me to tea on his day off and Binnie will be there as well. It’ll be a chance to get to know her.’
‘Then I’m all in favour of it,’ said Madeleine, getting up to kiss him on the forehead. ‘You must make new friends now that you’re retired. I hope that Mrs Langton turns out to be one of them.’
Though she smiled lovingly at him, her doubts remained.
After an early breakfast at the Acland Tavern, they repaired to the morgue. The coroner admitted them and took them into the room where the corpse lay on a table under a shroud. The icily cold weather had delayed decomposition but the stench was in any case offset by the herbs that had been scattered to sweeten the atmosphere. When Colbeck gave a nod, the coroner drew back the shroud so that the whole cadaver was displayed. Leeming gulped in disgust. What remained of the body was hideously blackened, the face mutilated and the skull cracked wide open. It reminded him of a roast pig he’d once seen turning on a spit. Colbeck examined the body in more detail before turning to the coroner, a lugubrious man in his seventies with wispy white hair and a goatee beard.
‘Thank you,’ said Colbeck, indicating that the shroud could be drawn back into position. ‘Were there any effects found?’
‘Every stitch of clothing was consumed by the fire, Inspector.’
‘I was thinking about a watch, a ring or some other item that might have helped to identify him. I know that a lot of heat would have been generated but they might have survived the blaze.’
‘There was nothing at all on or beside him,’ said the coroner. ‘Mr Michael Heygate commented on it. He said that his brother would never have removed his wedding ring and that he’d possessed a large silver pocket watch.’
‘The killer was also a thief, then,’ suggested Leeming. ‘He took anything of value before he hid the body under the bonfire.’
‘That was a mistake,’ said Colbeck. ‘If we catch him with stolen goods, they’ll give him away.’ He looked at the coroner. ‘Did you know Mr Heygate?’
‘Everyone knew him,’ replied the other. ‘As it happened, I attended the inquest for his wife and daughter. They were killed on the railway line in Plymouth. It was a terrible ordeal for him but he bore up well. Mr Heygate had such dignity.’
‘Tell us about his brother — assuming that this
The coroner frowned. ‘The less said about the brother, the better.’
‘Why is that?’
‘They were not close, Inspector, even though Michael lives not far away in Dawlish. They were like chalk and cheese. Joel Heygate was a delightful man and his brother, I fear, is not.’
‘What’s wrong with him?’ asked Leeming.
‘That’s all I’m prepared to say, Sergeant.’
‘Were there any other close relatives?’
‘None at all, as far as I know.’
‘So who would stand to inherit his worldly goods?’
