The Silver Locomotive Mystery

‘Luckily, you survived the ordeal.’

‘I thought I knew better,’ she said, morosely. ‘And all I was doing was exposing myself to danger and letting myself be robbed of a great deal of money. I can’t tell you how embarrassed I feel.’ She produced a handkerchief to wipe away a stray tear. ‘My enemies will never let me forget this. I’ll be the butt of their derision for years.’

‘That’s not true at all, Mrs Tomkins.’

‘I’ve made myself look totally ridiculous.’

‘That may be your opinion,’ he said, ‘but it’s certainly not mine. Besides, who outside a tiny circle is going to know what happened? I will not be voicing it abroad and nor will Inspector Colbeck. Apart from you, your husband and the coachman, of course, nobody else has any knowledge of what took place and there’s no earthly reason why they should.’

Winifred brightened. ‘Do you mean that, Superintendent?’

‘You are unlikely to tell anyone and your husband will hardly want to draw attention to the fact that he refused to provide the money for the exchange. As for your coachman, I daresay you’ve made sure of his silence.’

‘On pain of dismissal,’ she said, firmly. ‘He’ll say nothing.’

‘Then you have nothing to worry about.’ Stockdale gave a sly smile. ‘There is, however, one other person who knows the full details of what occurred on the road to Fairwater and that’s the young man who relieved you of that money.’

Her fear returned. ‘Do you think that he’ll spread the word?’

‘No, Mrs Tomkins, I don’t. No criminal with any sense will boast about a crafty scheme he devised or the public will be forewarned. That would make it difficult for him to use the same stratagem quite so easily again. You are safe from your enemies,’ he assured her. ‘They will never hear of this unfortunate episode.’

Stockdale had never believed that he would ever feel sorry for Winifred Tomkins. She was a bossy, selfish, odious, pampered woman with a sharp tongue and he could well understand why her husband sought pleasure elsewhere, even to the extent of paying for it. Seeing her now in such distress, however, the superintendent softened towards her. Her real fault had been her gullibility. Driven to possess the silver coffee pot, she had been coaxed into a situation where she was robbed, tricked and mortified beyond endurance. It was a private wound that would never heal. Notwithstanding that, she had somehow found the courage to come to the police station to offer an apology to someone she feared would join in the general mockery of her. Stockdale was glad that he could give her some peace of mind.

‘Will I ever get my coffee pot back?’ she asked, meekly.

‘Oh, yes,’ he affirmed.

‘How can you be so certain?’

‘Inspector Colbeck will pursue them until he finally runs them to ground. He never gives up, Mrs Tomkins. The chase will continue for as long as necessary and your property will be retrieved.’

‘All that my husband can talk about is our carriage.’

‘That, too, will be recovered and so will your money.’

She bit her lip. ‘I should have trusted Inspector Colbeck,’ she said with regret. ‘You and he deal with criminals all the time. I was stupid to ignore your help.’

‘Thank you, Mrs Tomkins.’

‘The person who really deserves an apology is the inspector.’

‘I’d agree with that.’

‘Where can I find him, Superintendent?’

‘I wouldn’t advise you to go in search of him just now.’

‘Oh – why not?’

‘Because he’s on a train somewhere between here and London,’ said Stockdale, wryly. ‘Inspector Colbeck thought that the man we want might have a female accomplice here but he’s now satisfied that that is not the case. Having no reason to stay on in Cardiff, he’s gone back to Scotland Yard. He’ll continue the investigation from there.’

* * *

In spite of his reputation for being a hard taskmaster, Edward Tallis was not entirely without compassion. When Victor Leeming had returned that morning, the superintendent had listened to his report with interest then sent him home to reassure his wife that his head injury was not as serious as the heavy bandaging suggested. Though he had been given the rest of the day off, the sergeant insisted on going back to Scotland Yard to take part in the investigation. He was pleased to hear from his superior that progress had been made.

‘The most helpful person was Claude Meyrick,’ said Tallis. ‘He was Stephen Voke’s landlord here in London. Mr Meyrick was able to tell me the day and time of his lodger’s departure from the house. Given that information, I was able to work out an approximate time of arrival at Paddington Station.’

‘That was clever of you, sir,’ said Leeming.

‘Thank you.’

‘It’s worthy of Inspector Colbeck.’

Tallis frowned. ‘I can act on my own initiative, you know,’ he said, tartly. ‘Because I knew when he’d be at the station, I was able to make a list of the trains he was most likely to catch.’

‘How many of them were there?’

‘They were four in number – two of them went to Cardiff.’

‘That puts Stephen Voke exactly where we thought he would be.’

‘There’s more, sergeant,’ said Tallis, fingering his moustache. ‘I wanted confirmation so I despatched men to the station to talk to the porters. Mr Voke was not alone. He was travelling with an attractive young lady. Since they were quitting London, they would have had a lot of luggage with them and needed the assistance of a porter.’

‘Did anyone remember them?’

‘They did, fortunately. Thousands of people go to and fro every day and very few of them stand out. But one sharp-eyed porter did recall two people who fitted the description he was given and who caught a train on the day stipulated. The man – I’m certain that it must have been Mr Voke – gave the porter a generous tip.’

‘I can see why it stuck in his memory, sir.’

‘He stacked their luggage on the roof of the carriage.’

‘I think I can guess where the train was going.’

‘To Cardiff,’ said Tallis, ‘and on the day before the murder.’

‘It all fits, Superintendent,’ decided Leeming. ‘However, while we know a lot about Stephen Voke, we know precious little about his companion and Inspector Colbeck feels that she was crucial to the whole scheme. It was the young woman who led Hugh Kellow astray in the first place. I’d love to know who she is.’

‘Mr Meyrick could not help us there. Neither could anyone at Solomon Stern’s shop. I visited the place myself. Mr Stern and his staff told me that they all knew the young lady by sight but not by name. What they did recall was Stephen Voke’s eagerness to leave the shop whenever she appeared.’

‘Could it be that she is the real culprit here?’ said Leeming.

‘The two of them are clearly in this together.’

‘Yes, I know, but I’m wondering if she is like Lady Macbeth, urging him on to a deed he might not otherwise have committed. As far as I know, Stephen Voke had no record of breaking the law before this happened. This young woman may have been the catalyst.’

Tallis was astounded to hear mention of a Shakespeare play on the lips of his sergeant and his use of the word ‘catalyst’ had also been arresting. Leeming was not known for his cultural interests. Tallis doubted if he had ever seen a Shakespearean tragedy performed. Yet here he was, making an interesting point with a valid cross- reference from the world of drama. Having impressed the superintendent, Leeming immediately gave the game away.

‘At least,’ he said, ‘that’s what Inspector Colbeck mentioned at one point but only because Macbeth was being staged at the theatre in Cardiff. Two members of the company actually travelled to the town in the same carriage as the murder victim.’

‘Evil is not solely a characteristic of the male sex,’ said Tallis, solemnly. ‘Women can be equally corrupt, if not more so. Stephen Voke would not be the first man driven to commit a murder at the behest of a scheming female. That’s not to excuse anything he’s done, mark you,’ he added, ‘but this accomplice of his may bear the greater part