The Railway Detective

of them, in particular.’

‘All that has been taken into consideration,’ said Gilzean, knowing what he meant. ‘Whatever happens, I will return somehow from time to time to pay my respects. Nobody will prevent me from doing that. It’s a sacred duty. Besides,’ he went on, his face brightening, ‘I have another good reason to come back.’

‘Do you?’

‘Yes, Thomas. I simply have to be at Epsom on the first Wednesday in June. I intend to watch my colt win the Derby.’

‘What if he loses?’

‘That option does not even arise,’ said the other, brimming with confidence. ‘Starlight is a Gilzean — we never lose.’

‘Sir Humphrey Gilzean?’ asked Superintendent Tallis, eyes bulging.

‘Yes,’ replied Colbeck. ‘I’m certain of it, sir.’

‘Then I am equally certain that you have the wrong man.’

‘Why do you say that?’

‘Do you know who Sir Humphrey is — and what he is?’

‘If my guess is right, he’s a man with blood on his hands. He not only organised the train robbery, he sanctioned two murders and ordered the kidnap of Miss Andrews.’

‘Do you have any other far-fetched claims to offer, Inspector?’ said Tallis, incredulously. ‘Are you going to tell me, for instance, that Sir Humphrey is about to assassinate the Queen or steal the Crown Jewels?’

‘No, Superintendent.’

‘Then do not plague me with your ridiculous notions.’

‘Sir Humphrey is our man. Take my word for it.’

‘Listen, Inspector. I can accept that men from the ranks, like Jukes and the Seymour brothers, may have gone astray but not someone who was once a senior officer. You have no concept of what it takes to become a major in the British Army. I do. It shapes you for life. Sir Humphrey is no more likely to have committed these crimes than I am.’

Superintendent Tallis was peremptory. Colbeck had come into his office to announce what he felt was a critical breakthrough in the investigation, only to have cold water liberally poured over his suggestion by his superior. Remaining calm in the face of the other’s intransigence, he tried to reason with him.

‘Will you not at least hear what we found out, sir?’

‘No, Inspector. The idea is ludicrous.’

‘Sergeant Leeming and I do not think so.’

‘Then I have to overrule the pair of you. Look elsewhere.’

‘We have,’ said Colbeck. ‘At a man named Thomas Sholto, who was a Captain in the same regiment. Have you heard of him as well?’

‘Not until this moment.’

‘Then you will not have prior knowledge of his innocence.’

‘Do not be impertinent.’

‘Well, at least do us the courtesy of taking us seriously.’

‘Why should I bother to do that?’ said Tallis, sourly. ‘It is quite obvious to me that neither you nor Sergeant Leeming are aware of who Sir Humphrey is. Did you know, for example, that he is a distinguished Member of Parliament?’

‘No,’ admitted Colbeck. ‘We did not.’

‘He has only been in the House for three or four years yet he has already made his mark. Sir Humphrey is already being talked of as a future minister.’

‘That does not prevent him from robbing a train.’

‘Why should he need to do such a thing, Inspector? He’s a rich man with a dazzling political career ahead of him. It would be sheer lunacy to jeopardise that.’

‘In his mind,’ argued Colbeck, ‘there was no jeopardy at all. Sir Humphrey did not expect to get caught. That is why the crimes were planned with such precision.’

‘Balderdash!’

‘If you will not listen to us, I’m sure that Mr Mayne will.’

‘The Commissioner will tell you exactly what I do,’ said Tallis, jabbing a finger at him. ‘Sir Humphrey Gilzean has a position in society. He has neither the time nor inclination to commit crimes.’

‘I am persuaded that he had both,’ said Colbeck, unmoved by the Superintendent’s belligerence. ‘Like you, we had our doubts at first so we sought the opinion of someone else — someone who knew him in the army and who has been employed by him since then.’

‘And who was that?’

‘Harry Seymour.’

‘You questioned him again?’

‘No,’ replied Colbeck, ‘we simply confronted him with two names and watched his reaction. You saw for yourself how convinced he was that he would somehow be set free. So I told him that it could not happen because we had both Sir Humphrey and Thomas Sholto in custody.’

‘What did he say to that?’

‘Nothing, sir, but his face gave him away. He turned white.’

Tallis shook his head. ‘That could simply have been shock at hearing a familiar name from his days in the army.’

‘We repeated the process with Vernon Seymour. He was even more dismayed than his brother. Ask Sergeant Leeming,’ said Colbeck. ‘The look on Vernon Seymour’s face was as good as a confession.’

The news forced Tallis to think again. Unwilling to accept that anyone in Gilzean’s position would ever be drawn into criminal activity, he tried to refute the claim but could not find the arguments to do so. He had an ingrained respect for Members of Parliament that blinded him to the possibility that they might not always be men of high moral probity. On the other hand, Inspector Colbeck and Sergeant Leeming would not have plucked the name of Sir Humphrey Gilzean out of the air. And it did seem to have upset two of the prisoners in custody. Searching for a means of exonerating Gilzean, he finally remembered one.

‘No, no,’ he insisted, ‘Sir Humphrey would never contemplate such crimes — especially at a time like this.’

‘What do you mean, Superintendent?’

‘The man is still in mourning.’

‘For whom?’

‘His wife. I remember reading of the tragedy in the newspaper.’

‘What happened?’

‘Shortly before last Christmas, Lady Gilzean was killed in a riding accident. Sir Humphrey is still grieving for her.’

After placing a large basket of flowers in front of the gravestone, Sir Humphrey Gilzean knelt down on the grass to offer up a silent prayer. When he opened his eyes again, he read the epitaph that had been etched into the marble. He spoke in a loving whisper.

‘I will repay, Lucinda,’ he said. ‘I will repay.’

CHAPTER TWELVE

During the ten years of its construction, Robert Colbeck had been past the House of Commons on an almost daily basis and he had watched it grow from piles of assorted building materials into its full Gothic glory. However, he had never had an opportunity to enter the place before and looked forward to the experience. As he approached from Whitehall, he saw that work was continuing on the massive clock tower, though completion was not anticipated for some years yet. Until then, Members of Parliament would have to rely on their respective pocket watches, opening up the possibility of endless partisan strife over what was the correct time of day.

When he entered the building, he found the atmosphere rather cold and forbidding, as if a church had been stripped of its mystery and given over to purely temporal functions. Unlike those who filed into the Lower Chamber to take their seats, Colbeck was not there for the purposes of debate. All that interested him were the heated