A Bespoke Murder

‘We don’t know that for certain.’

‘I know,’ asserted Dorothy. ‘If you’re too scared to report him, then I’ll do it myself. What was that address he gave you?’

Irene broke away from her and paced the room. Her brain seemed on the point of bursting. Arms folded and lips pursed, she walked up and down as she went over the arguments yet again. Eventually, she came to stand in front of Dorothy.

‘He’s got to have the chance to defend himself, Dot.’

‘Let him do that in front of the police.’

‘He needs to be warned beforehand,’ said Irene. ‘I wonder if I should go to the house again and speak to him.’

‘That’s the last thing you should do,’ argued Dorothy. ‘If he’s a killer, you’ll be an accessory. In warning him, you’d be aiding his escape. I can’t let you do that, Irene. It’s too dangerous. And there’s something else,’ she added. ‘What if he turned nasty?’

‘Ernie would never hurt me.’

Dorothy was curt. ‘He’d hurt anybody, if he was cornered.’

Irene was more confused than ever. She didn’t want to return to the house where Gill was lodging but she had a vague feeling that he deserved a chance. Irene had a sense of obligation that her sister would never comprehend. It couldn’t be ignored.

‘Well?’ demanded Dorothy, ‘what are you going to do?’

‘I’m going to sleep on it, Dot,’ said Irene. ‘Everything may seem a lot clearer in the morning.’

Joe Keedy hated the delay. With the chance of some action in the offing, he was eager to get involved but had to kick his heels until Friday. When it finally came, he was in a state of high excitement. He was due to join members of the True British League that evening in what he suspected would be some kind of attack on property. At worst, he might get to arrest the leader of an odious organisation committed to violence against Jews; at best, he might be helping to solve the case that had been taxing them so much. Either way, Keedy stood to gain.

Harvey Marmion was more circumspect.

‘Don’t expect too much, Joe,’ he advised.

‘I have a good feeling about this, Inspector.’

‘You could be setting yourself up for disappointment. They might have called off today’s little adventure altogether, or you might get to the Lord Nelson to discover that nobody’s there. What if they rumbled you?’

‘Then they’d have thrown me out there and then,’ said Keedy.

‘It’s a mistake to have high hopes, that’s all I’m saying.’

‘Fair enough. I accept that.’

‘Thankfully, the commissioner has sanctioned the exercise. It’s always good to have support from the top.’

‘What if he didn’t authorise it?’

Marmion chuckled. ‘If I thought there was any chance of that happening,’ he said, ‘I wouldn’t have told him about it. We’d simply have gone ahead.’

‘There’s that devious streak of yours coming out again,’ said Keedy, laughing.

‘I’m just being practical. Good results are what matter.’

‘We’re supposed to obey orders.’

‘So was Nelson,’ said Marmion. ‘Luckily, he didn’t always do so and achieved great victories as a result.’

Keedy grinned cheekily. ‘Are you telling me I can disobey you whenever I fancy?’

‘I’m telling you to exercise discretion, Joe. By the way,’ he went on, picking up a sheet of paper, ‘I had another report from the man I put on David Cohen. He’s discovered something interesting.’

‘Let me guess — Howard Fine is Cohen’s illegitimate son.’

‘There is a blood relationship between them, as it happens.’

‘Really? I was only joking.’

‘It’s not that close. It turns out that the firm that Fine joined in Brighton when he left London is run by David Cohen’s cousin.’

‘Does that mean Cohen recommended Fine for the job?’

‘Something of the kind must have happened.’

‘Wheels within wheels, eh?’

‘Yes, Joe,’ said Marmion. ‘The problem is that they keep turning faster and faster.’ There was a tap on his door. ‘Come in.’

The door opened and an attractive young woman entered with a folder. She walked to the desk and offered it to Marmion.

‘This has just been sent to us, Inspector,’ she said.

‘Thank you.’

Handing the file over, she gave a polite smile of farewell and went out again. Keedy had not taken his eyes off her. As the door shut behind her, he gave a whoop of approval.

‘That’s one bonus of the war,’ he observed. ‘When I came to Scotland Yard, we only had male clerks. Now that manpower is scarcer, we’ve got something much nicer to look at.’

Marmion opened the folder and read the brief report inside.

‘Forget her,’ he said, standing up. ‘I’ve got something even nicer to look at here.’

‘What is it?’

‘During an attack on a house in Liverpool, a man of German origin was beaten to a pulp. He died some days later. The police are searching for a man by the name of Ernest Gill.’

‘So?’

‘Someone walked into her local police station this morning and gave Gill’s address. It’s one that we’ve already come across, Joe.’

‘When was that, Inspector?’

‘It was when we looked at the criminal record of bald-headed Bradley Thompson. This man must be a friend of his because they live at the same house. He might well be a member of the True British League as well.’ He gave the sheet of paper to Keedy. ‘There’s a description of Gill here. Make a note of it. You may be able to do our colleagues in Liverpool a big favour.’

Ernie Gill walked jauntily along the street beside his friend. They were both wearing dark clothes and Thompson’s bald head was hidden beneath an oil-stained cap. They turned a corner and saw the sign outside the Lord Nelson swinging creakily in the wind.

‘I like the League,’ said Gill. ‘They get things done.’

‘That’s why I joined, Ernie. I tried one or two other groups but all they did was talk and shove leaflets through letter boxes. The day after I came here,’ said Thompson, ‘we were painting slogans on the windows of Jewish shops. A week later, we were throwing bricks through them.’

‘I enjoyed setting that car alight.’

His friend sniggered. ‘Pity the owner wasn’t sitting in it.’

They reached the pub and went in through the swing door. There were several people drinking in the lounge bar but they ignored them and headed for the room at the rear. As they entered, Thompson looked around with a smile of satisfaction.

‘He’s not here,’ he said with contempt. ‘I knew he wouldn’t be.’

‘Give him time, Brad,’ suggested the man in the dungarees. ‘I don’t think he’ll be frightened off somehow. Ernie wasn’t, was he?’

Gill cackled. ‘You can say that again. This is just what I want. I feel really at home here.’

‘That’s good, because we’ll have plenty of work for you to do.’

‘Where are we going this evening?’

‘It’s another commission.’

‘Somebody must hate Jews as much as we do if he keeps on doling out money like this. What’s his name?’

‘I don’t ask,’ said the man. ‘He gets what he pays for and we get some more cash for our coffers. We’ll spend some of it in the bar here tonight.’