‘None, sir.’
‘How many people live in that tenement?’
‘Dozens.’
‘Yet not one of them saw or heard a stranger entering or leaving the premises? Is the place a home for the blind and deaf?’
‘People in the Devil’s Acre do not like assisting the police.’
‘So why did you rely on someone like Mulryne?’
‘Brendan is the exception to the rule.’
‘He’s a liability,’ said Tallis, acidly. ‘Whatever you do, make sure that the newspapers don’t get hold of the fact that you sought his help. I’ll have enough trouble keeping those reporters at bay when they ask me about the murder.’
‘Would you rather I spoke to them, sir?’
‘No, it’s my duty.’
‘Of course.’
‘Yours is to find these villains before they commit any more crimes. What’s your plan of campaign?’
‘Courtesy must come before anything else, Superintendent.’
‘In what way?’
‘Mrs Ings has a right to be informed of the death of her husband,’ said Colbeck. ‘It was far too late to call on her tonight. It would only have given her additional distress if she’d been hauled out of bed to be told that her husband had been murdered.’
‘While lying between foul sheets beside some pox-ridden whore.’
‘I’ll try to put it a little more diplomatically than that, sir.’
‘And then what?’
‘It seems that the driver of the train has recovered somewhat, sir, so I intend to visit him to see if he can give us any useful information.’ Colbeck remembered that he would be seeing Madeleine Andrews again. ‘I think that it’s very important for me to question the man.’
Tallis narrowed his eyes to peer at him through the cigar smoke.
‘We are dealing with armed robbery and brutal murder, Inspector,’ he reminded him. ‘What the devil are you
Caleb Andrews was well enough to sit up in bed and sip tea from the cup that his daughter had brought him. Still in pain, he moved his limbs very gingerly. His pugnacity, however, had been restored in full. Now that his mind had cleared, he had vivid memories of the moment when his train was ambushed, and he was anxious to confront the man who had knocked him down with a pistol butt. Madeleine came into the room to see how he was and, as they talked, she tidied the place up.
‘Why are you wearing your best dress?’ he wondered.
‘I always like to look smart, Father.’
‘But you usually save that one for church. Is it Sunday?’
‘You know that it isn’t,’ she said, repositioning the two china dogs on the mantelpiece. ‘Are you sure that you’re well enough to speak to Inspector Colbeck?’
‘Yes, I think so.’
‘I can always send word to Scotland Yard to ask him to postpone the visit. Would you like me to do that?’
‘No, Maddy. I want to see him today. Apart from anything, I want to know if he’s caught anybody yet. Those men deserve to be strung up for what they did to my locomotive.’
‘Frank Pike still has nightmares about that.’
‘I don’t hold it against him.’
‘His wife told me that he’s racked with guilt.’
‘Frank always was a sensitive lad,’ said Andrews, fondly. ‘None of us likes to go off the road like that. It’s the thing a driver hates most.’
‘You forget about your fireman,’ she said, adjusting his pillows to make him more comfortable. ‘All you have to worry about is getting better. Have you finished your tea?’
‘Yes, Maddy.’
‘Then I’ll take the cup downstairs with me.’
‘What time is Her Majesty due to arrive?’
Madeleine was baffled. ‘Her Majesty?’
‘That’s what all of this in aid of, isn’t it?’
‘All what?’
‘Your best dress, tidying up my room, clearing my cup away, putting on something of a show. At the very least, I expect a visit from Queen Victoria.’
‘Stop teasing me, Father.’
‘Then tell me why you’re making such an effort,’ he said with a lopsided grin. ‘You even changed the bandaging on my wounds so that I looked a little better. Why did you do that? Are you going to put me on display at the Great Exhibition?’
Seated in her armchair, Maud Ings received the news without flinching. It was almost as if she had expected it. Colbeck spoke as gently as he could be but he did not disguise any of the salient details from her. It was only when he told her the name of the other murder victim that she winced visibly.
‘And how old was this Kate Piercey?’ she asked.
‘Somewhat younger than your husband.’
‘Is that why he ran off with her?’
‘Does that matter, Mrs Ings?’
‘What was she like?’
‘I did not exactly see her at her best,’ he said.
Colbeck saw no point in telling her that the woman to whom William Ings had first gone was Polly Roach. The widow had enough to contend with as it was. To explain that he had abandoned one prostitute and immediately shared a bed with another would only be adding further to her misery. Bitter and bereaved, Maud Ings nevertheless had some sympathy for the man who had betrayed her. Colbeck did not wish to poison any last, lingering, pleasant memories of their marriage.
‘I’m sorry to be the bearer of such sad tidings,’ he said.
‘It was kind of you to come, Inspector.’
‘This has been a shock for you, Mrs Ings. Would you like me to ask one of the neighbours to come in and sit with you?’
‘No, no. I prefer to be alone. Besides,’ she said, ‘our neighbours were never fond of William. I don’t think many tears will be shed for him in this street.’
‘As long as you are not left alone to brood.’
‘I have the children. They are my life now.’
‘Family is so important at a time like this, Mrs Ings. Well,’ he said, relieved that there had been no outpouring of grief, ‘I’ll intrude no longer. You’ll be informed when the body is ready to be released.’
‘Wait!’ she said, getting up. ‘Before you go, Inspector, I need your advice. I can see that I’ve been living on false hope.’
‘False hope?’
‘Yes. Last night, before I went to bed, a package was put through my letterbox. Inside it was almost two hundred pounds.’
‘Really?’ Colbeck was curious. ‘Was there any note enclosed?’
‘No,’ she said, ‘but there was something written on the paper. I still have it, if you’d like to see it.’
‘I would, Mrs Ings.’ He waited as she lifted the cushion of her chair to take out the brown paper in which the money had been wrapped. When she handed it to him, he read the words on the front. ‘At what time did this arrive?’ he asked.
‘It must have been close to eleven o’clock,’ she replied. ‘I thought at first that William had brought it. But, by the time I had unbolted the door and opened it, there was nobody to be seen in the street. Having the money gave
