else. Baulked by his superior, he would have to find another way to secure her release.
‘Excuse me, sir,’ he said, politely. ‘I must continue the search.’
‘You can tear that letter up for a start.’
Ignoring the command, Colbeck went straight back to his office and he was delighted to see that Victor Leeming had finally returned. The Sergeant had the weary look of someone who had pushed himself to the limit. Before he allowed him to deliver his news, Colbeck told him about the kidnap and showed him the letter. Leeming’s response chimed in with his own. Even if they did not intend to release the prisoners, they should enter the negotiations so that they could purchase some time.
‘One other thing you should know,’ explained Colbeck. ‘Early yesterday morning, a cab driver reported the theft of his vehicle while he was having breakfast. Later the same day, it was returned.’
‘You think that it was involved in the kidnap?’
‘Yes, Victor. No self-respecting cab driver would have agreed to take part in a crime like that. And the fact that the cab was returned is significant. These people will destroy a steam locomotive but they will not harm a horse. But how did you get on?’ said Colbeck, wrinkling his nose. ‘You smell as if you’ve just come from a slaughterhouse.’
‘Several of them, sir. And they all stink like old blue buggery. Do you know how many slaughterhouses there
‘I’m only interested in one of them.’
‘Needless to say,’ complained Leeming, ‘it was the last that I visited. However,’ he went on, taking out his notebook and referring to a page, ‘they did remember Vernon Seymour and they had an address. He lived alone in a tenement near Seven Dials. The landlord there told me that Seymour had come into some money last week and moved out. I saw the room where he lodged — it still had a whiff of the slaughterhouse about it.’ He flicked over a page. ‘According to the landlord, Seymour received a visit from a tall, well-dressed man with a beard. Shortly after that, he left the place.’
‘What about his brother?’
‘Harry came there from time to time, apparently. That’s all I can tell you.’ Leeming turned over another page. ‘But I had more success with the regimental records. Mr Tallis gave me a list of possibilities and told me where to find the records. Arthur Jukes, Vernon Seymour and Harry Seymour all served in India in the 10th Queen’s Regiment.’
‘Infantry?’
‘Yes, Inspector. It’s the North Lincoln.’
‘Any officers listed as retiring?’
‘Quite a few,’ said Leeming, running his finger down the page. ‘I went back five years and wrote down all the names.’ He handed his notebook over. ‘It’s probably easier if you read them for yourself.’
‘Thank you.’
Colbeck ran his eye down the list. While he could never approve of Leeming’s scrawl, he had to admire his thoroughness. The names were listed alphabetically with their ranks, length of service and date of retirement noted alongside.
‘We can eliminate some of these men immediately,’ said Colbeck, reaching for the pen on his desk and dipping it in the inkwell.
‘Can we, sir?’
‘Yes, I refuse to believe that Colonel Fitzhammond is our man. He’s given a lifetime’s service to the army and will be steeped in its traditions.’
He scratched through the name then put a line through three more. ‘We can count these officers out as well. They’ll be too old. All that they will want is a quiet retirement.’
‘I know the feeling,’ said Leeming.
‘Two of these men left the army within the last few months,’ said Colbeck, pen poised over their names. ‘They would not have had the time to set up such a complicated crime as the train robbery. We can cross them off the list as well.’ The pen scratched away. ‘That leaves five names. No, it doesn’t, Victor,’ he added, as he spotted a detail. ‘I think that it leaves two whom we should look at more carefully.’
‘Why is that, Inspector?’
‘Because they retired from the army on the same day.’
‘Coincidence?’
‘Possibly — or they could be friends who joined at the same time.’
‘When did they return to civilian life?’
‘Almost five years ago,’ said Colbeck. ‘Of course, we may be barking up the wrong tree but I have the feeling that we may have found something important here. My belief is that one or both of these men was involved in that train robbery.’
‘What are their names?’
‘Major Sir Humphrey Gilzean and Captain Thomas Sholto.’
‘Mr Tallis will never accept that army officers are responsible for the crimes. In his book, they are above suspicion.’
‘Then let’s first try these two names on someone else,’ decided Colbeck. ‘Men who served under them.’
Standing in the hallway of Gilzean’s country house, Thomas Sholto stroked his beard and watched two servants bringing another trunk downstairs. He turned to his friend.
‘You do not believe in wasting time, Humphrey, do you?’
‘Forewarned is forearmed,’ said Gilzean.
‘What if Inspector Colbeck does not run us to ground?’
‘Then we have no need to implement our contingency plans. As you know, I’m a great believer in covering all eventualities. This luggage will be loaded into a carriage in readiness for a swift departure.’
‘Will our hostage be travelling with us?’ asked Sholto.
‘Only if we need to take her, Thomas.’
‘Given the opportunity, I’d have taken her already.’
‘Keep your hands off Miss Andrews.’
‘You should at least have let me share the same coach as her.’
‘No,’ said Gilzean. ‘The woman is frightened enough as it is. I do not wish to add to her distress by having you lusting after her. I prefer to encourage your virtues, not indulge your vices.’
Sholto laughed. ‘I didn’t know that I had any virtues.’
‘One or two.’
‘What are you going to do with this resourceful Inspector?’
‘Keep him guessing, Thomas.’
‘How will you contrive that?’
‘By pretending that we really do intend to hand over Madeleine Andrews for the three prisoners. A letter will be delivered by hand to him tomorrow, setting up a time and place for the exchange to be made, two days from hence. Only when they arrive at the designated spot will they realise that they’ve been hoodwinked. By that time,’ said Gilzean, leading his friend into the library, ‘I will have emptied my bank accounts and put all my affairs in order.’
‘Would you really be prepared to turn your back on this house?’
‘Yes. It holds too many unpleasant memories for me now.’
‘That was not always the case,’ Sholto reminded him.
‘No, I agree. When I grew up here, I loved it. After my army days were over, I could think of no finer existence than running the estate and keeping a stable of racehorses.’ His face hardened. ‘I reckoned without the railway, alas.’
‘It does not actually cross your land, Humphrey.’
‘Perhaps not but it skirts it for over a mile. It’s far too close for comfort. Trains from the Great Western Railway go past all the time. If the wind is in the right direction, I can hear the noise of that damned whistle whenever I am in my garden. Nothing makes my blood boil so much as that sound.’
‘I hope that you do not have to sacrifice this place,’ said Sholto, gazing fondly around the room. ‘It’s a splendid house. There are some things that you’ll miss a great deal about this estate.’ He raised an eyebrow. ‘One
