with the murder of Joel Heygate and we wish to know if you were party to it.’
Adeline paled. ‘No, I wasn’t,’ she said, genuinely scared for the first time. ‘I had nothing to do with it and neither did Bagsy.’
‘Then what was he doing at Mr Heygate’s funeral?’
‘I didn’t know he was there.’
‘The only reason he’d take such a risk is that he wanted to gloat over the burial of the man he’d battered to death.’
‘It couldn’t have been Bagsy,’ she argued. ‘It just couldn’t.’
‘He has no alibi for the night before Guy Fawkes Day.’
‘He wasn’t even in Exeter.’
‘Then why didn’t he say that?’
‘You’ve got the wrong man, Inspector. Bagsy is no saint, I admit, but there are some things he’d never do. Murder is one of them.’
‘He’s going to hang, Adeline,’ said Steel. ‘Why don’t you save your own skin and confess that you know he killed the stationmaster? You don’t want us to think that you were an accessory, do you?’
Adeline quailed. She was trapped.
Bagsy Browne paced up and down the tiny cell like a caged animal. When a policeman came to taunt him, he was driven back by a torrent of bad language. Browne’s predicament was frightening. He’d been arrested for a whole host of crimes, some of which carried long prison sentences. But it was the charge of murder that rattled him. There was no prison sentence for that — only an appointment with the hangman. What really rankled was the fact that Adeline might be inveigled into giving evidence against him. If she talked about his burning hatred for Joel Heygate and his determination to attend the funeral, she would be inadvertently helping to condemn him. He needed to school her, to rehearse all the answers she was to give to the police. But he had no chance to get anywhere near her. They would be working on Adeline in another part of the building. In any other circumstances, Browne would be fearless. When a meeting with the public executioner was a likely outcome, however, he discovered that he was only human, after all.
On his second trip to Dawlish, Leeming was struck afresh by its enchantment. Even on a dull autumn afternoon, its beach, its brook and its encircling hills were things of wonder. Far less appealing were the people on whom he’d come to call. Michael and Lavinia Heygate were even less welcoming than on his first visit but they invited him in and offered him refreshment. Ensconced in front of their fire, he drank a cup of tea and nibbled at a biscuit as he listened to Heygate’s description of the funeral.
‘It was an ordeal,’ said Heygate. ‘Frankly, I don’t know how I got through it. I kept remembering all the good times that Joel and I had shared — before we came to a parting of the ways.’
‘That’s what I wanted to ask about, sir,’ said Leeming. ‘If you and your brother didn’t speak to each other any more, why did you call at his house on the evening before Guy Fawkes Day?’
‘We went as a courtesy.’
‘Yet you told me that he was testy with you.’
‘Michael made the effort to bury their differences,’ said Lavinia, ‘but Joel was as frosty as ever.’
Heygate nodded. ‘We were both wounded by his attitude.’
They were still dressed in black but they were no longer using sepulchral voices and pretending that they were racked by grief. Leeming was aware of a muted note of victory and a deep satisfaction.
‘Tell me about the evening of November 4th,’ he invited.
‘We’ve already discussed it with you and with Superintendent Tallis,’ said Heygate. ‘There’s nothing we can add.’
‘Oh, I think there is, sir. Remind me where you stayed that night. It was with friends, I gather.’
‘That’s right.’
‘You didn’t stay at an inn, by any chance?’
‘Why pay for an inn when you can enjoy the hospitality of friends?’
‘We can’t afford to stay at an inn,’ added Lavinia. ‘At least, we couldn’t then. Things will be different in the future.’
‘Is that what you told Superintendent Tallis?’
‘Yes,’ replied Heygate. ‘We don’t understand why he sent you back here.’
‘It wasn’t him who sent me, sir. He’s not even in Exeter. I’m sure you’ll be distressed to hear that he’s back in London, nursing a wound inflicted by one of your former customers — this man named Bagsy Browne.’ They were both startled. ‘Don’t worry. We have the villain in custody. Inspector Colbeck and I arrested him at the railway station this morning. Apart from his many other crimes, he’ll be charged with the murder of your brother. Since we feel that he may have an accomplice,’ he went on, regarding each of them in turn, ‘we’ll be looking closely at anyone who’s been in touch with him recently.’
‘Well, you can exclude us,’ said Heygate, nervously. ‘It’s a long time since we’ve seen Bagsy. My wife will tell you.’
‘Yes, yes,’ she said. ‘It was a very long time ago.’
Leeming smiled. ‘We’ll have to ask him exactly when it was.’
‘Don’t accept the word of a rogue like that,’ warned Heygate.
‘You were ready to accept the money of a rogue, sir. You obviously made no distinction between good and bad customers.’
‘Business was slack, Sergeant. We couldn’t turn anyone away.’
‘I see.’ Leeming swallowed the last of the biscuit and washed it down with some tea. ‘What did you think of Superintendent Tallis?’
‘We were touched that the man in charge of the investigation took the trouble to keep us informed of its progress. It was very considerate of him.’
‘Yes, he can be considerate. He’s also very observant. He takes nothing on trust, you see. When you told him you’d stayed with friends in Exeter that night, he asked Superintendent Steel to deploy his men as detectives. And they made an interesting discovery that rather contradicts what you claimed. It seems,’ said Leeming, putting his cup on a side table, ‘that a Mr and Mrs Michael Heygate spent the night in question at the Crown Inn.’ He smiled benignly at them. ‘What do you both say to that?’
They were speechless, each looking desperately to the other for help.
At the end of her working day, Dorcas tried to slip away without being seen by Woodford but he was waiting to waylay her. Though he didn’t say anything, his eyes were full of menace. She read the message that they held for her. While he was in the city, Colbeck might be able to protect her but the inspector would leave before long. She would then be at the mercy of the new stationmaster and could expect no quarter.
Cowed into silence, she trotted all the way home and arrived there with her heart beating like a drum. The first thing that greeted her was the chirping of the canary and she brightened immediately. Dorcas went into the parlour and saw her mother, struggling to put a hand into the cage so that she could clean it. Peter watched from the comfort of his perch and kept up a cheerful commentary.
‘No, no, Mother,’ said Dorcas. ‘Leave that to me. You shouldn’t try to do that when you must be in pain.’
‘It has given me a few twinges,’ admitted Maud, withdrawing her hand and lowering herself gently into her chair. ‘Here — take this cloth, Dorcas.’
‘Wait a moment.’
Dorcas first removed her hat and coat. After hanging them up, she took the cloth from her mother and examined the cage. The base was covered in seeds and droppings. Peter cocked his head to one side and peered quizzically at her.
‘There’s a way of doing this properly,’ she said, going to the cage. ‘Now that it’s safe to let Peter out, he can fly around the room.’
The canary seemed to hear her and seized his chance of freedom, hopping on to the open door then flying out into the room and up to the picture rail. From that eminence, he looked down and regaled them with full-throated song. Dorcas lifted the cage up at a slight angle.
‘Mr Heygate had this specially made,’ she explained. ‘He wanted it very large and with this thick base in it.’
Maud was worried. ‘What are you trying to do?’
