‘Do you believe he was unbalanced when he took his own life?’
The doctor was unequivocal. ‘I’d stake my reputation on it.’
There was a mild uproar and it had to be subdued before the coroner could make his voice heard. The court was adjourned while the jury retired to consider their verdict. Most people dispersed in search of fresh air, ready to return in due course when they were called to hear the verdict.
Colbeck’s only concern was for the health of the superintendent. Tallis was still reeling from the doctor’s opinion, refusing to accept that his friend’s mind had finally crumbled. Colbeck was firm.
‘This has taxed you too much, sir,’ he said. ‘I think that you should return to the village on the next train and try to get some rest. I’ll stay here to await the verdict.’
Tallis shook his head. ‘I’m not running away now.’
‘It could take hours before they reach a decision. There’s no point in lingering here for that long. The sergeant will see that you get back safely to the Black Bull.’
‘My place is here,’ said Tallis.
Colbeck was frank. ‘Your place is behind your desk in London, sir,’ he argued, ‘organising the fight against crime in the capital. That’s where you belong, sir, and that’s where you’ll be most effective. Time and again, you’ve preached a sermon on the importance of remaining impartial in our work. You’re unable to follow your own precepts here. Since you and the colonel were such close friends, your response to events is bound to be subjective. Simply being here is hurting you, superintendent. It’s better for all concerned if you spare yourself any further agony.’
Fists clenched and eyes ablaze, Tallis seemed to be on the point of eruption. Leeming could not believe that Colbeck had dared to speak to the superintendent so bluntly and he expected devastating retaliation. Miraculously, it never came. Instead, Tallis reached out to shake Colbeck’s hand.
‘Thank you, Inspector,’ he said. ‘Not for the first time, you are quite right. I can’t see beyond the respect and affection I have for a cherished friend. Even the slightest criticism of him makes me wince. When I read a scurrilous broadside about him yesterday, my stomach heaved. The longer I stay here, the more torture I’ll suffer. So, yes,’ he decided, ‘for my own sake, I will return to London.’
‘Does that mean I can have your room at the Black Bull, sir?’ asked Leeming, hopefully.
‘It means that I trust you and Colbeck to do what I came here to do myself. Find out what happened to Mrs Tarleton. Pursue her killer with all the vigour you can muster. Most of all,’ he went on, looking at each of them in turn, ‘clear the colonel’s name. His reputation has been unjustly fractured. I count on you to restore it.’
‘We’ll do our utmost, sir,’ said Colbeck.
‘One last thing,’ added Tallis, taking a letter from his pocket and handing it over. ‘This is the malicious letter sent to Colonel Tarleton on his last day alive. Fortunately, he never had to read it but he received many others like it. Seek out this fellow with a poisoned pen and put him under arrest. I want the vindictive fiend behind bars.’
Eve Doel could not bear to remain in the coroner’s court. Hearing evidence about her stepfather had been a continuous torment for her. She’d found the strength to bear up in public but, the moment she returned to the carriage which had brought them to the inquest, she dissolved into tears. Mrs Withers, sharing her grief, put a comforting arm around her. It was twenty minutes before they’d recovered enough to wipe their eyes and to be able to review what they’d heard. The housekeeper was adamant.
‘I don’t care what the doctor said,’ she said. ‘There was nothing amiss with the colonel’s mind. He was perfectly sane.’
‘You saw more of him than anybody, Mrs Withers.’
‘He was a private man. He kept his thoughts to himself.’
‘He must have suffered so much. Had I been there to help him, it might not have ended so tragically.’
‘You had your own anxieties to cope with, Mrs Doel.’
‘I should have done more.’
‘You came,’ the housekeeper reminded her. ‘When your mother went missing, you came to the house at once. That was not the case with your brother. The colonel had no idea how to reach him. He had no address to which he could write.’ She tried to keep disgust out of her voice. ‘You’d have thought he’d let his mother and stepfather know where he was living.’
‘Adam was always on the move,’ said Eve, sadly. ‘He’d lost touch with Mother and with our stepfather. I deeply regret that but there was nothing I could do about it.’
The conversation was interrupted by sounds of commotion. They looked out of the carriage to see people hurrying back toward the court. Evidently, the jury had reached its verdict.
‘Have they made up their minds so soon?’ asked Mrs Withers.
‘It appears so.’
‘Do you wish to go back in there, Mrs Doel?’
‘I don’t think that I could manage that,’ said Eve. ‘Adam is still inside. He’ll tell us what they’ve decided.’
Before she could speculate on what the verdict would be, Eve saw Frederick Skelton and his wife approaching the carriage. The sight of her godfather made her sit up and she made an effort to regain her composure. The newcomers offered their condolences and congratulated Eve on bearing up so well at the inquest. The rector then felt the need to broach a sensitive topic.
‘Much as it grieves me to say this,’ he began, ‘I owe it to my conscience – and to God – to do so. Whatever verdict is reached today is irrelevant to me. Suicide is suicide. It’s a deplorable act. It’s against the law and expressly against Christian teaching. “Thou shalt not kill” is one of the Ten Commandments and it must be obeyed. Those who disobey it,’ he said, ‘must suffer the consequences.’
Eve was flustered. ‘What consequences do you mean?’
‘I hate to say this – especially to a god-daughter whom I love and respect – but there is no place for the colonel’s remains in my churchyard. My refusal is absolute. I simply can’t stand by and see him buried in consecrated ground.’
‘But that’s his right.’
‘Not in my opinion.’
‘It would be cruel to deny him that right.’
‘Suicide is self-murder. By taking his life, your stepfather surrendered all rights. St Andrew’s church, I must insist, is closed to him. The funeral must take place elsewhere.’
Eve was so overwhelmed with emotion that she was unable to speak. Having issued his command, the rector raised his hat in farewell then he walked away with his wife on his arm. Mrs Withers was as shocked as Eve. At a time when they most needed the succour of the Church, it was being withheld from them. They were still trying to absorb the shock when Adam came out of the court and ran across to the carriage.
‘The jury returned its verdict,’ he declared. ‘Suicide while the balance of mind was disturbed. I always said that the old man was insane.’
‘Mr Tarleton!’ cried the housekeeper, reproachfully.
‘And what are you doing in our carriage, Mrs Withers?’ he demanded. ‘Get out of there at once and make your way back by train. And take that pathetic waif of a maid with you. There’ll be plenty of work for the pair of you when you get back to the house.’
The departure of the superintendent on a train to London allowed Victor Leeming to take over his room at the Black Bull. Though he was still unhappy to be separated from his family, the sergeant was pleased by the improvement in his accommodation. He and Colbeck met for a drink in the bar.
‘I never thought that he’d go so meekly,’ said Leeming.
‘It was in his best interests, Victor, and he was sensible enough to realise that. He needed to put distance between himself and events in South Otterington. The field has now been left clear for us.’
‘Where do we start, sir?’
‘The first thing I’d like to do is to take the same journey that Mrs Tarleton took on the day of her disappearance. We’ll walk back in the direction of Northallerton.’
‘That stretch of ground has already been covered by the search parties. What can we expect to find that they didn’t?’
‘A likely place of ambush,’ said Colbeck. ‘Supposing she was dead, they were looking for her body and I don’t believe it’s there. Working on the same supposition, we’ll be trying to locate the spot at which she was intercepted. There may be signs of a struggle, small clues that others may have missed. If she was such a keen walker, Mrs Tarleton must have been a robust woman. She’d have had the strength to resist any attack.’
