We had to use two, three, sometimes four locomotives to pull a heavy train. If there were steep gradients to go up, we might need as many as six to give us enough traction power.’
‘The mail train that you were taking to Birmingham was pulled by a Crampton locomotive — at least, that’s what it looked like to me.’
‘It was very similar to a Crampton, I agree, but it was designed by Mr Allan at the Crewe Works. He’s the foreman there and assistant to Mr Trevithick. Allan locomotives have double frames that extend the whole length of the engine with the cylinders located between the inside and outside frames.’
‘Inspector Colbeck does not want a lecture,’ warned Madeleine.
‘I’m always ready to learn from an expert,’ said Colbeck.
‘There you are, Maddy,’ said Andrews, happily. ‘The Inspector is really interested in the railways.’ He turned to Colbeck. ‘When we used inside cylinders, we were always having crank-axle breakages. Mr Allan was one of the men who began to develop horizontal outside cylinders. He may not be as famous as Mr Bury or Mr Crampton but I’d drive any locomotive that Alexander Allan built.’
‘Why is that?’ prompted Colbeck.
Caleb Andrews was in his element. He got so carried away describing the technicalities of locomotive construction that he forgot all about the nagging pain in his broken leg and the dull ache in one shoulder. Colbeck’s interest was genuine but that was not the only reason he had asked for instruction. He wanted the driver to relax, to feel at ease with him, to trust him. Watching from the other side of the room, Madeleine was struck by the way that the detective gently guided her father around to the subject of the train robbery and coaxed far more detail out of him about the event than she had managed to do. During the interview, Colbeck jotted down a few things in his notebook.
‘Would you recognise the man who attacked you?’ asked Colbeck.
‘I’ll never forget that face of his,’ replied Andrews.
‘Mr Pike gave us a good description.’
‘If my daughter were not present, Inspector, then I’d give you a good description of him — in one word.’
‘We do not wish to hear it, Father,’ scolded Madeleine.
‘That’s what he was, Maddy.’
‘Forgive him, Inspector.’
‘There’s nothing to forgive, Miss Andrews,’ said Colbeck, getting up and putting his notebook away. ‘In view of what happened, your father has been remarkably restrained. He’s also added some new details for me and that was very useful. One last question,’ he said, looking at the driver once more. ‘Is the London and North Western Railway a good company to work for, Mr Andrews?’
‘The best, Inspector.’
‘Are you saying that out of loyalty?’
‘No, Inspector Colbeck — I speak from experience. I hope to see out my time working for the London and North Western. And my link with the company will not end there.’
‘Oh?’
‘I have every hope that my son-in-law will be a driver one day.’
Madeleine blushed instantly. ‘Father!’ she cried.
‘Gideon would make a good husband.’
‘This is not the place to bring up the subject.’
‘The two of you were made for each other.’
‘That is not true at all,’ she asserted, ‘and you know it.’
‘Gideon loves you.’
‘Perhaps I ought to withdraw,’ volunteered Colbeck, seeing Madeleine’s patent discomfort. ‘Thank you for talking to me, Mr Andrews. Meeting you has been an education.’
‘Let me know when you catch up with those villains.’
‘I will, I promise you.’ He moved to the door. ‘Goodbye, Miss Andrews. I can see myself out.’
‘Wait,’ she said. ‘Let me come to the front door with you.’
‘But you clearly have something to discuss with your father.’
‘High time that she discussed it with Gideon Little,’ said Andrews.
Madeleine shot him a look of reproof and followed Colbeck down the stairs. Before she could apologise to him, the detective retrieved his silk hat from the table and opened the front door.
‘Goodbye, Miss Andrews,’ he said, masking his disappointment behind a smile. ‘Allow me congratulate you on your forthcoming engagement.’
It was Victor Leeming’s turn to face the wrath of Superintendent Tallis once more. A night’s sleep had not improved the older man’s temper. He was pacing up and down his room like a caged animal. When Leeming came in, Tallis rounded on him accusingly.
‘Where have you been, man?’ he demanded.
‘Making inquiries, sir.’
‘That is exactly what those jackals from the press have been doing. They almost drove me insane by making their damned inquiries. I had a dozen of them in here this morning,’ he complained, ‘wanting to know why we had made no progress with our investigation into the robbery, and why Inspector Colbeck was also in charge of this latest murder case.’
‘The two crimes are connected, Superintendent.’
‘They could not understand how.’
‘Why not let the Inspector deal with the newspapers in future?’
‘I’d never countenance that,’ affirmed Tallis. ‘My seniority obliges me to take on that particular duty and I have never been one to shun the cares of office. Besides, I want you and the Inspector out there, solving the crime, not getting distracted by a bevy of reporters.’
‘What did you tell them?’ asked Leeming.
‘Enough to give them a story but no more. The information we feed to the press has to be carefully controlled. Give too much away and we alert the very people we are trying to apprehend.’
‘I agree with you there, sir.’
‘The main thing was,’ said Tallis, ‘to ensure that they did not get wind of Mulryne’s role in this whole sorry affair. It was reckless of Inspector Colbeck to use that Irish blockhead in the way that he did.’ He confronted the Sergeant. ‘I presume that you condoned his decision.’
‘Not entirely,’ admitted Leeming, uneasily.
Tallis blenched. ‘You mean that he did not even have the grace to tell you what he was proposing? That is unpardonable.’
‘The Inspector did raise the matter,’ said the other, lying to protect his colleague, ‘and I could see the advantage of using Brendan Mulryne.’
‘What advantage?’
‘He knew where to look for William Ings.’
‘So did the killer.’
‘That’s why we’re making efforts to track down the other suspect, sir. Inspector Colbeck gave me an address that was passed on to him at the Chubb factory in Wolverhampton. It was a locksmith’s where a man called Daniel Slender was supposed to have worked.’ He put a hand in his pocket. ‘I have just returned from the factory.’
‘But this Daniel Slender was not employed there?’
‘No, sir.’
‘I daresay that they never heard of him.’
‘That’s not true,’ said Leeming, taking out a letter to pass to him. ‘When they advertised a post, Daniel Slender was among those who applied for it, as you will see from that letter.’ Tallis began to read the missive. ‘His qualifications are good and he could have expected a strong recommendation from the Chubb factory. Mr Slender was invited to come for an interview.’
‘But?’
‘He never turned up.’
‘Then why apply for the post?’
‘So that he would have written evidence to show to his employers that the position he was after did exist.
