The Silver Locomotive Mystery

identity of the corpse. Do you still have the report about Martin Henley’s disappearance?’

‘No,’ said Stockdale. ‘Because it seemed so important, I sent it to you at Scotland Yard. Idris Roberts volunteered to take it. I think he’s developed a liking for train journeys to London. It was his third in three days. Mind you, he’s going to be upset when I tell him that Effie Kellow wasn’t the poor little waif we thought she was. Constable Roberts treated her like his own daughter.’

‘I’ll see the report when I return this evening and I’ll get in touch with the police station that sent it to you. The gentleman who raised the alarm will need to identify his son’s body.’

‘How much will you tell him?’

‘Very little,’ said Colbeck after drinking some beer. ‘He simply needs to know that his son died an unnatural death – if, indeed, it is Martin Henley, of course. Too much detail will only cause him unnecessary distress.’

‘Please let me know what happens.’

‘Of course – you’re involved in this investigation. That’s why I took the trouble to come here from Newport. I was so close that I felt I had to bring you up to date with a sensational development.’

‘It hit me like a blow.’

‘Victor Leeming is the one who was most shocked.’

‘Why?’

‘When he arrested and handcuffed Stephen Voke, he thought that he’d captured a vicious killer. Instead of that, he’d merely caught a harmless silversmith.’

‘Not all silversmiths are harmless – look at Hugh Kellow.’

‘I hope to do so very soon.’

‘He should be hanged, drawn and quartered.’

‘That sentence is no longer in the statute book.’

‘Well, it should be. He’s caused the most terrible mayhem in the town. I don’t think I dare tell Winifred Tomkins that the man who offered her that silver coffee pot was someone who helped to make it in the first place. She’d be even more upset.’

‘Is she still grieving over the loss of her carriage?’

‘That’s been recovered.’

‘Good – I assured the sergeant that it would be. What is suitable for a wealthy ironmaster and his wife would look quite out of place in the possession of a young man like Hugh Kellow.’

‘What do you think he’ll do with that coffee pot?’

‘Keep it, I should imagine. It’s a trophy. He obviously has a deep personal affection for it and not because he intends to drink a vast amount of coffee out of it. Mr Buckmaster and Miss Linnane both remembered him claiming that he’d done a fair amount of work on it,’ said Colbeck. ‘I have a suspicion that it was largely his creation and that he was never given full credit by his employer.’

‘He’s the next person in line for a shock,’ said Stockdale.

‘Yes, it will inflict an even deeper wound on Mr Voke.’

‘He’s been mourning his clever assistant when, all this time, Kellow has been robbing him blind.’

‘To some extent, he was to blame,’ opined Colbeck. ‘His son told us what a skinflint his father was. He could never understand why Kellow worked for him when he could have earned a lot more elsewhere. Now we know the answer. Kellow intended to steal everything of value from his employer to start in business on his own account. He wreaked his revenge by staging his death and breaking the old man’s heart.’

Stockdale gave a mirthless chuckle. ‘I wouldn’t want to be the one who tells Mr Voke what really happened.’

‘Neither would I,’ agreed Colbeck. ‘On reflection, I think that’s a task I’d rather leave to Superintendent Tallis.’

* * *

Edward Tallis never postponed things that required an immediate response nor did he delegate tasks to his men because they might involve some discomfort. When he heard Leeming’s report that evening, he summoned a cab instantly and went straight to Wood Street. Leonard Voke had retired to bed early and the superintendent had some difficulty in rousing him. The old man eventually padded down the stairs in a dressing gown and slippers. Once Tallis had convinced him that he had important news, he was admitted to the back room of the shop. The two men sat either side of the table with the oil lamp between them. Tallis plunged in.

‘The first thing I must tell you,’ he began, ‘is that the funeral has been postponed. I despatched Sergeant Leeming to the undertaker before I came on here.’

Voke was disturbed. ‘Why should it be delayed?’

‘I’ll come to that in a moment, sir.’

‘But the arrangements have been made. Hugh must be given a proper burial. It’s not right for him to have to wait any longer.’

‘Mr Kellow will have to wait for some time yet before his funeral,’ said Tallis. ‘The hangman will have to deal with him first.’

‘What are you talking about?’

‘The man in that coffin is not your assistant, sir.’

‘But he must be,’ said Voke, utterly confused. ‘The body was identified by his sister, Effie. I spoke to her myself. We cried together over poor Hugh.’

‘Poor Hugh is extremely well-off. He’s been paid three times as much as that silver coffee pot is worth and still has the contents of your safe. It’s no wonder he knew what to take,’ said Tallis. ‘He must have seen inside it every day. He retrieved his own tools from there and, as a final insult, he also took yours.’

‘No, no, this can’t be true.’

‘The facts are indisputable.’

‘What facts?’ croaked the old man. ‘I’m lost, Superintendent. I was told that Hugh had been murdered and that my son killed him.’

‘That proved to be a mistaken assumption.’

‘It was no assumption – I knew that my son hated me enough to do what he did. Stephen was jealous of my assistant and that drove him to murder Hugh.’ His hands flitted about uncontrollably. ‘If my son is not the killer, why did he flee from London?’

‘He went to live in Wales with his wife, Mr Voke.’

‘His wife? I didn’t even know that he was married.’

‘There are lots of things you don’t know about him,’ said Tallis with a note of disapproval. ‘You turned him against you, Mr Voke. He only stayed here for the sake of his mother. When she died, your son had to get away. According to Sergeant Leeming, who met him and his wife today, he’s a reformed character. Stephen Voke has taken on the responsibilities of marriage and is working to develop his own career.’

Voke was stunned. Tallis thought for a moment that he was about to keel over. Eyes wide and mouth agape, the silversmith tried to take in the enormity of what he had been told. The son he had disowned had evidently matured and turned over a new leaf. Yet the assistant he had loved and relied on so heavily had committed the most horrendous crimes. It was a sobering moment. Voke realised that he had to take a major share of the blame for what had happened. In favouring Hugh Kellow, he had alienated his son to the point where Stephen wanted to blot out his past altogether.

‘Why didn’t he tell me he was getting married?’ muttered Voke.

‘He informed Sergeant Leeming that he didn’t think you’d be interested.’

‘Stephen is my son.’

‘Not any more, Mr Voke. He wants nothing to do with you.’

‘Have I really been that terrible?’ bleated the old man. ‘Both Stephen and Hugh have turned against me. Did I treat them badly enough to merit what’s happened?’

‘Only you can answer that question, sir,’ said Tallis.

Voke shook his head in wonderment. ‘So my son went back to Caerleon after all this time – fancy that.’

‘Make no attempt to get in touch with him. He was very firm on that point. He made Sergeant Leeming promise to pass on that message. Your son’s world is elsewhere now, sir. Don’t try to see him.’

‘Hugh is the person I want to see,’ said Voke, rising to his feet in a rage. ‘I did everything for him. I took him in, I apprenticed him, I taught him all I knew – and this is how he repays me. I’d