They believed that he went for that interview,’ said Leeming, ‘and secured the appointment. It meant that his departure aroused no suspicion.’
‘Where is Daniel Slender now?’
‘Here in London, sir.’
‘How do you know that?’
‘Because he had always had an ambition to work here. According to the manager at the Chubb factory, he talked of little else. But he was tied to the Midlands by the need to look after his sick mother.’
‘If the woman had stayed alive,’ moaned Tallis, ‘her son would never have got drawn into this conspiracy.’ He waved the letter in front of Leeming. ‘Look at the fellow’s work record. It is admirable.’
‘Those who bribed him must have caught him at a weak moment.’
‘We need to get to him while he is still alive.’
‘Inspector Colbeck feels that we should put out a wanted poster. He came back from Wolverhampton with a good description of Daniel Slender. We should circulate it at once.’
‘Yes,’ agreed Tallis. ‘Have the poster drawn up, Sergeant Leeming. And — quickly! The last thing we need is for this man to finish up on a slab next to William Ings.’
The dog made the discovery. Scampering along the river-bank with his master, he went sniffing at a heap that lay up against a wall. It was covered with sacking and most people had walked past without even noticing it. The little terrier made sure that nobody would ignore it now. With the sacking gripped in his teeth, he pulled hard and exposed a pair of legs, then a body, then a head that was split grotesquely open and crowned with dried blood.
When she saw the corpse, a female passer-by screamed and clutched at her chest, the dog’s owner ran to put the animal on his lead and another man went off in search of help. By the time that he returned, with two policemen in tow, he saw that a small crowd was standing around the body with ghoulish curiosity. The policemen ordered everyone to stand back while they checked for vital signs and, finding none, felt in the dead man’s pockets for clues as to his identity.
The pockets of his immaculate suit were empty but that did not matter. Sewn into the silk lining of the jacket was the owner’s name.
‘Daniel Slender,’ noted one of the policemen. ‘Poor man!’
Inspector Robert Colbeck responded swiftly. The moment he heard about the second murder, he visited the scene of the crime, examined the body and gave permission for it to be moved. Half an hour later, Daniel Slender had been deprived of his new suit, as well as the remainder of his apparel, washed and laid out, beneath a shroud, on a cold slab at the morgue. Victor Leeming joined his colleague to look down at the corpse.
‘Those wanted posters will not be needed now,’ he said.
‘No, Victor.’
‘They closed his mouth for good.’
‘Mr Slender will never enjoy wearing that new suit of his.’
Leeming was thoroughly perplexed. ‘How did they know where to find him, Inspector?’ he asked. ‘That’s what I fail to see. And how did they know where to get hold of William Ings, for that matter?’
‘By using an insurance policy.’
‘Insurance policy?’
‘Yes,’ said Colbeck. ‘The person behind the robbery realised from the start that both these men would have to be killed. They knew too much and, in the event of arrest, lacked the guile to conceal their secrets. My guess is that he paid them some of the money for services rendered, and promised to give them the balance when the crime was successfully committed. To do that,’ he pointed out, ‘Mr Ings and Mr Slender would have had to disclose their whereabouts.’
‘What if there’s a third accomplice?’
‘Then he, too, is likely to be silenced.’
‘My feeling is that he works for the Royal Mint.’
‘Yet there’s no breath of suspicion against anyone there.’
‘Someone told the robbers when gold coin was being moved by train. The only person outside the Mint who knew the relevant date was Mr Shipperley at the Post Office and, as we found out when we spoke to him, he is certainly not involved.’ Leeming gave a mirthless laugh. ‘He’d sooner sell his grandmother to a brothel-keeper.’
‘You have a point, Victor.’
‘The information must have originated from the Royal Mint.’
‘Perhaps you should pay a second visit there.’
‘Yes, Inspector.’
‘I, meanwhile, will visit Bond Street to speak to Daniel Slender’s tailor. He will be able to tell me precisely when the suit was ordered and give me some idea of what manner of man his customer was.’
‘A foolish one.’
‘Mr Slender was offered a large amount of money to create a new life for himself,’ said Colbeck, tolerantly. ‘That would be a temptation for anyone in his position. It was too much for William Ings to resist as well.’
‘Did you speak to his wife, sir?’
‘First thing this morning.’
‘How did she receive the news that she was now a widow?’
‘Very bravely,’ replied Colbeck. ‘Mark you, Mrs Ings does have something to console her in her bereavement.’
‘And what’s that?’
‘The best part of two hundred pounds, Victor. The money was put through her letterbox last night by an anonymous hand.’
‘Two hundred pounds?’ said Leeming in astonishment. ‘That’s a substantial amount. Who is her benefactor?’
‘William Ings.’
‘Her husband?’
‘Indirectly,’ said Colbeck. ‘My feeling is that the money paid to him for providing information was given to his wife after his death. The man who authorised payment clearly knew that Maud Ings would be left destitute by her husband’s demise. He sought to help her.’
‘Murdering her husband is hardly a way to help.’
‘Perhaps he is trying to make amends. Do you see what we have here, Victor? A ruthless killer with a conscience. That’s a weakness.’
‘What about the money paid to Daniel Slender?’
‘That has doubtless been repossessed,’ said Colbeck, ‘because he had no family to whom it could be left. Mr Ings did. However, when I told her where her gift came from, his wife was not at all sure that she should keep it.’
‘Why not?’
‘She thought that it was tainted money.’
‘It could not have come from the proceeds of the robbery.’
‘That’s what I said to her. In the end, I persuaded her that she had every right to keep the money. Incidentally,’ he went on, lowering his voice, ‘this is not something that needs to come to the ears of Mr Tallis. He would be certain to misunderstand and might even argue that the money should be taken from the widow.’
‘That would be unfair.’
‘Then say nothing, Victor. I speak to you in confidence.’
‘It would have been very helpful had you done that before,’ said Leeming, as he recalled his bruising encounter with the Superintendent. ‘You should have told me that you were thinking of employing Mulryne.’
‘You would only have tried to talk me out of it.’
‘I would, Inspector. No question about that.’
‘Brendan has his uses.’
‘With respect, sir, that’s beside the point. You kept me ignorant.’
‘Only as a means of defending you from Mr Tallis.’
‘You did the opposite,’ protested Leeming. ‘You exposed me to his anger. He demanded to know if you’d
