There was no chance of deceiving him. Marcus Johnson was too sharp-eyed and too familiar with his half- sister’s manner to be fooled. All his protective instincts had been aroused. Kitty was touched but she was still reluctant to tell him the truth. When she remembered what had happened, she was filled with shame and discomfort. She could feel the stinging blow from the cane all over again.
‘Tell me his name, Kitty,’ he demanded. ‘This is one time when I might actually be able to be useful to you. Who is he?’
She swallowed hard. ‘Lord Hendry,’ she said.
Sunday was no day of rest for Edward Tallis. A deeply religious man, he first attended a service of Holy Communion at his parish church. It left him both spiritually replenished and reinvigorated to continue the unending fight against crime. He adjourned to Scotland Yard. Most of the day was spent reviewing the security arrangements for Derby Week. In the evening, by prior arrangement, he had a meeting in his office with Robert Colbeck and Victor Leeming. The superintendent was used to seeing Colbeck look immaculate but the sight of Leeming in his best suit was something of a novelty. For once in his life, the sergeant had achieved a miraculous smartness.
Predictably, the meeting began with a rebuke for Colbeck.
‘You made a bad mistake, Inspector,’ he said, using a paper knife to wag at Colbeck. ‘You should have arrested Hamilton Fido.’
‘On what charge, sir?’
‘Keeping a paid informer in the Detective Department.’
‘I explained that,’ Colbeck reminded him. ‘I lacked sufficient evidence to convict him. He argues that Cheggin provided information voluntarily as a means of settling his gambling debts.’
‘Gambling is a disease,’ said Tallis, gaze shifting to Leeming, ‘and we see what havoc it can wreak in the life of a man like Constable Cheggin. Next time you have the urge to bet on the Derby, Sergeant, call that to mind or you’ll end up in the same cell as him.’
‘Hardly, sir,’ said Leeming, aggrieved. ‘I only have a bet once in a blue moon and always with small amounts of money. There’s no danger of me going the same way as Peter.’
‘Once the disease gets hold of you, there’s no cure.’
‘Victor knows that full well,’ said Colbeck, heading off another homily from Tallis, ‘and is too aware of his family responsibilities to get infected. His study of the Derby field has not only been for the purposes of selecting a winner, sir. At my suggestion, he’s been doing something else as well.’
‘What’s that?’ asked Tallis.
‘Trying to sift out possible suspects. Consider the situation that we have before us. Three horses stand out from the rest. Each of their owners has – to put it mildly – experienced difficulties of late. Each one has accused his two rivals of the various crimes committed.’
‘What we have to ask,’ Leeming interjected, ‘is
Tallis’s mouth dropped open in wonderment. The sergeant had many sterling virtues but knowledge of Latin was not one of them. His strengths lay in his tenacity and courage.
‘Who stands to gain?’ Leeming continued. ‘That’s what it means – or so the inspector tells me, anyway. If all three fancied horses were put out of the race, who would be the likely winner?’
‘Don’t ask me, man!’ scolded Tallis.
‘According to the odds, sir, Aleppo, Gladiator and Royal Realm would come to the fore. Someone connected with one of those horses could be behind all the upset.’
‘A vicious murder is rather more than an upset, Leeming, but I take your point. The owners of those three horses must be kept under suspicion. Indeed,’ said Tallis, ‘it seems to me that anyone involved in the Derby must be watched carefully. I did a little research into the event and it confirmed my long-held belief that horseracing is a sordid business.’
‘It has its darker side, sir,’ conceded Colbeck.
‘Ten years ago, in 1844, the winner of the Derby was a four-year-old called Maccabeus, masquerading under the name of Running Rein. It was a year older than any other animal in the race.’
‘The fraud was eventually exposed, Superintendent, and it left a stain on the event that will be difficult to eradicate. I think we face an even more blatant example of villainy and intrigue this year. For the sake of the Derby, we must catch the people behind these crimes.’
‘For the sake of our reputation, you mean,’ corrected Tallis.
‘That goes without saying, sir.’
‘So what have you learnt since we last met?’
‘I made some more enquiries about John Feeny,’ said Colbeck, ‘and discovered new facts that altered my view of him slightly.’
Without mentioning that he had been there with Madeleine Andrews, he talked about his visit to church that morning and related what Bonny Rimmer had disclosed. Feeny was no longer the hapless victim they had assumed him to be. The person who got closest to him described an ambitious, dedicated, brave young man given to fits of temper and unwilling to take criticism.
‘Brian Dowd told me that he and Feeny were on good terms when the lad left his stables,’ said Colbeck, ‘but that’s not true. They had a violent row, it seems, and Feeny stormed out. He stowed away on a boat sailing for Anglesey.’
‘As if we didn’t have enough Irish over here!’ sighed Tallis.
‘I think the man we’re looking for is the one who claimed to be seeking information about Limerick Lad. Once he’d lured Feeny away from the stables, he killed and beheaded him. The same man probably tried to cripple Odysseus and he may even have sent that anonymous letter to Tim Maguire. One way and another,’ said Colbeck, ‘he’s determined to stop the fancied horses from winning.’
‘Who’s paying him, Inspector?’ asked Leeming.
Tallis had the answer. ‘I’m certain it was Hamilton Fido,’ he said, slapping the paper knife down on the desk. ‘You should have arrested him when you had the chance, Inspector, instead of letting him stay free to cause more trouble.’
‘We could never prove that he instructed Peter Cheggin to act as his spy,’ said Colbeck. ‘Our case would be laughed out of court.’
‘Then arrest him for refusing to name the young lady with whom he spent the night at the Wyvern Hotel. In remaining silent,’ said the superintendent, ‘Fido is denying us the opportunity to collect evidence that might be of critical importance in a murder investigation.’
‘You wish me to arrest him now, sir?’
‘Yes, I do.’
‘Then I’ll also have to take Lord Hendry into custody on the identical charge,’ said Colbeck, ‘for he has also declined to cooperate with the police. What good that will do, I fail to see, but it would have one immediate effect.’
‘What’s that?’
‘To frighten away the young lady we’re anxious to speak to, sir. She’ll disappear completely and we’ll be left to fight a ferocious battle against the respective lawyers of Lord Hendry and Hamilton Fido.’
‘I agree with the inspector,’ said Leeming.
‘Was your opinion sought?’ asked Tallis nastily.
‘No, sir.’
‘Then keep it to yourself.’
‘We could be sued for wrongful arrest,’ warned Colbeck. ‘Lord Hendry is a man of considerable influence and Fido exerts power of another kind. Both are staking an enormous amount on this year’s Derby. If they’re languishing in a police cell while the race is being run, there’ll be serious repercussions.’
Before he could signal his agreement, Leeming was quelled with a glance from the superintendent. Tallis was forced to rethink his tactics. He was under severe pressure from the commissioner and from the press to solve the murder of John Feeny and he wanted to be seen to be taking positive steps. At the same time, he did not wish to end up in a legal wrangle that would simply hamper the inquiry. With reluctance, he accepted what Colbeck had just told him.
‘What would you advise, Inspector?’ he said.
‘Let them stay free,’ urged Colbeck. ‘We’ll find out the young lady’s name without their help. What we need to
