The Railway Detective

‘You and the others are having a laugh at my expense.’

‘I’d never do that, Madeleine,’ said Pike, overcome with remorse, ‘and I’m sorry if I gave you that idea. No,’ he went on, ‘I promise you that nobody would dare to mock you.’

‘They’d have me to answer to, if they did,’ said Andrews.

‘Gideon is the only one they tease.’

‘Yes,’ she said. ‘About me.’

‘About…being the way that he is.’

‘Besotted with my daughter,’ observed Andrews. ‘You cannot stay single for ever, Maddy. Choose the right person and marriage is the most wonderful institution ever invented. Am I right, Frank?’

‘Yes, Caleb.’

‘Do you wish that you were still a bachelor?’

‘Not for a moment,’ said Pike, chuckling merrily. ‘Rose has made me very happy and she seems to be content with me.’

Andrews cackled. ‘Heaven knows why!’

‘Getting married changed my life for the better.’

‘You hear that, Maddy?’

‘I can recommend it,’ said Pike.

‘So can I,’ said Andrews. ‘How much longer do we have to wait?’

Madeleine did not trust herself to reply. She was fond of Frank Pike and did not wish to have a quarrel with her father in front of him. More to the point, she did not want to deal with an issue that, as far as she was concerned, had finally been settled. Hounded for a decision, Madeleine had told Gideon Little the painful truth. What she had not admitted was that her affections had been placed elsewhere. For a woman like her, Robert Colbeck might be unobtainable but that only served to increase his attraction.

‘I’ll make some tea,’ she said, and went out abruptly.

Since a window had been opened to admit fresh air, the office was free from the stink of cigar smoke for once yet the atmosphere remained unpleasant. Superintendent Edward Tallis was spoiling for a fight. He stood inches away from Inspector Colbeck.

‘Whatever did you think you were doing?’ he yelled.

‘Taking the necessary steps to achieve an objective, sir.’

‘Brendan Mulryne was supposed to be in custody.’

‘Arrangements were made,’ said Colbeck.

‘What sort of arrangements?’

‘I looked more closely at the charges against him, Superintendent. There are several witnesses at The Black Dog in the Devil’s Acre, who will swear that Mulryne did not start the affray. He was not even there when it flared up. Mulryne is paid to quell such outbursts. Those he knocked out during the brawl certainly have no complaint against him. They made the mistake of taking on a stronger man. As for the damage he caused to a window,’ he revealed, ‘nobody is prepared to bring a charge against him on that account.’

‘That Irish gorilla assaulted four policemen,’ said Tallis.

‘Only because they provoked him, sir,’ replied Colbeck, ‘and they now admit that. I spoke to the custody sergeant. Since he’s been behind bars, Mulryne has been a model prisoner. He’s even made his peace with the four men who tried to arrest him.’

‘Turning on that blarney of his no doubt!’

‘Mulryne was one of them, remember. In his heart, I suspect, he would still like to be.’

‘Not as long as I have anything to say about it!’

‘I raised the matter with Mr Mayne earlier on.’

Tallis was horrified. ‘You tried to get Mulryne reinstated?’

‘No,’ said Colbeck, ‘that would have been asking too much and, in any case, it’s too late for that. No, Superintendent, I wanted to discuss a point of law with him.’

‘When it comes to law, you only need to know one thing with regard to Brendan Mulryne. He’s on the wrong side of it.’

‘Technically, he’s not.’

‘He resisted arrest.’

‘The four officers involved see it rather differently now.’

‘They cannot change their minds about a thing like that.’

‘According to Mr Mayne,’ said Colbeck, levelly, ‘they can. If, on mature reflection, they feel that their report of the incident was slightly inaccurate, they can amend it when they give their statements in court. Like me, Mr Mayne agreed that Mulryne should get off with a small fine.’

‘A small fine!’ roared Tallis.

‘I will be happy to pay it on his behalf.’

‘Inspector, he attacked four policemen.’

‘I prefer to remember the two villains whom he took on last night, sir. Both were armed but Mulryne squared up to them nevertheless. All that Sergeant Leeming had to do was to snap on the handcuffs.’

‘Mulryne had no right to be there in the first place.’

‘You said that I had a free hand to choose my men.’

‘I assumed they would be from inside the police force.’

‘Nobody else could have done what Mulryne did last night.’

‘That does not exonerate him, Inspector,’ said Tallis, sourly. ‘Or you, for that matter.’

Colbeck met his glare. ‘Mr Mayne felt that it did, sir,’ he pointed out, calmly. ‘Since you feel so strongly about it, perhaps you should take it up with him.’

Tallis was halted in his tracks. Whatever else he did, he could not countermand the orders of his superior. Colbeck not only had the Police Commissioner on his side, he had, by effecting the three arrests at the Crystal Palace, earned the admiration of the whole department. A vital breakthrough had at last been made in the investigation. To harry him after such a triumph would be seen as sheer vindictiveness. Tallis retreated to the safety of his desk and took out a cigar from its case. Inhaling deeply as he ignited it, he watched Colbeck through the smoke.

‘I will remember this, Inspector,’ he said, sternly.

‘It is all a matter of record, Superintendent.’

‘What do you intend to do now?’

‘Question the three men in custody,’ said Colbeck. ‘They may not give us the name that we want but we can still squeeze some information out of them. Arthur Jukes is their leader. I’ll start with him. To be frank, I hoped that you might join me, sir.’

‘Me?’

‘You know how to speak to an army man.’

‘That’s true,’ said Tallis, slightly mollified, ‘though all three of them are a disgrace to their regiment. If they were still in uniform, they’d be court-martialled.’

‘Make that point to them,’ advised Colbeck. ‘If I introduce you as Major Tallis, it will increase your authority. Do you agree, sir?’

Tallis straightened his back. ‘Yes, Inspector. I think that I do.’

‘And we will need the services of an artist.’

‘An artist?’

‘To draw sketches of the three men,’ explained Colbeck. ‘I want to see if Caleb Andrews recognises any of them. Since he is unable to come here to identify the prisoners, we will have to take a likeness of them to him. He might pick out the man who assaulted him.’

‘The fireman can do that — what was his name?’

‘Frank Pike.’

‘Arrange for him to call here.’

‘I will, sir,’ said Colbeck, smoothly, ‘but I think that Mr Andrews is entitled to have a first look at these three men. After all, he was the real victim.’

‘True enough.’