time.’
‘I don’t suppose you’d like to join us?’ invited Andrews.
‘I’d like to,’ said Colbeck, ‘but duty calls. I have two important visits to make this evening.’
After chatting with them for a couple of minutes, he took his leave and picked up a cab outside the station. What he hadn’t told Andrews was that his first port of call was a certain house in Camden. He got the usual rapturous welcome from Madeleine. Drawing him into the house, she fired a whole series of questions at him. He had to raise both hands to stem the interrogation.
‘I can’t answer everything at once,’ he said. ‘Suffice it to say that we are making headway with the case, so much so that I was able to spurn a very tempting offer of help.’
‘Help from whom?’ She saw the twinkle in his eye. ‘Have you been talking to Father?’
‘It was the other way around, Madeleine. He happened to be driving the train I caught in Coventry. I had a discussion with him when we got to Euston. Apparently, he has a theory about Irene Adnam, though it’s not one that I particularly want to hear.’
‘Father is always having theories about something.’
‘What he did tell me is that his retirement has been finalised.’
‘He’ll be here permanently in a matter of weeks.’
‘Then we must create a studio for you in my house,’ he said, correcting himself at once with an apologetic smile. ‘I should have said
‘I’ll only feel that when we’re actually married.’
He took her in his arms again and held her close. It was only now that he realised just how he’d missed her. In pursuit of one woman – and haunted by the memory of another – he’d allowed Madeleine to slip to the back of his mind. Sweeping off his hat, he kissed away the long hours since he’d last seen her, then he flicked his eyes at the easel.
‘Is your new masterpiece ready for display yet?’
‘It’s not a masterpiece, Robert, and it’s not yet ready.’
‘I do envy you your creative talent,’ he said. ‘There are times when I feel my work is dull and pedestrian by comparison.’
‘That’s nonsense!’ she retaliated. ‘I love art dearly but the world could manage very easily without my paintings. You, on the other hand, are indispensable. Think how many villains would still be walking the streets if you hadn’t caught them.’
‘It’s slow, methodical work with nothing creative about it.’
She was dismayed. ‘Does that mean you’re losing your appetite for it?’
‘Not in the slightest,’ he said, quickly. ‘I’m privileged to be doing a job that I enjoy above all else. There are just occasional moments when I would like to hang something on a wall that I’d painted myself, or open a book that I’d written, or hum a tune that I’d managed to compose. I’d like to do one thing that was startlingly original.’
She giggled. ‘Apart from marrying me, you mean?’
‘That will be my greatest achievement.’
‘And mine,’ she said, hugging him tight. ‘But if you really want to be an artist, I can give you a few lessons at no cost whatsoever.’
‘I believe in repaying a kindness, Madeleine. If you teach
Tallis had read the letter so often that he knew it by heart. It was a temptation he was finding hard to resist. Although it was directed at Colbeck, he felt that it should more properly have been sent to him as the senior investigating officer. Oxley wanted to make contact. The letter was quite specific about that. It was so important for him that he was even prepared to break cover and disclose his whereabouts. It was a chance too good to miss. Instead of trailing the man all over the country, Tallis was being offered the opportunity to catch him here in London. Some kind of trap would be involved. He knew that. But he was relying on his experience to be able to anticipate and thereby avoid the trap. In pursuit of glory, he was ready to accept all the hazards. Colbeck would have taken up the challenge implicit in the letter and that is what Tallis resolved to do. For once in his life, he would overshadow his illustrious colleague.
There was a tap on the door. When it opened, Peebles came in.
‘You sent for me, sir?’ he enquired.
‘I need you to accompany me, Constable.’
‘Where are we going?’
‘We are going to arrest Jeremy Oxley,’ said Tallis, grandly. He handed the letter to Peebles. ‘You had better read this.’
The constable did so, his brow furrowing with surprise.
‘Is this genuine, Superintendent?’
‘I believe so.’
‘By rights, Inspector Colbeck should respond to it.’
‘I’d be happy for him to do so if it were not for the fact that he is gallivanting around the country on trains. An exact time has been set for the meeting. As Colbeck is not here, someone else has to go.’
‘What about Sergeant Leeming?’
‘I have decided to take the responsibility on myself, Constable, and I am ordering you to come with me. There will be danger, of course, but that is ever present when one wears an army uniform. As a result, I’m impervious to fear and so, I hope, are you.’
‘Lead on, sir. I’ll follow wherever you go.’
Peebles was thrilled to be given such a task. There were many other detectives on whom Tallis might have called. Instead, he had picked out the newest of them. It was an exciting assignment and he was already relishing the pleasure of telling his beloved about it when he and Catherine were together again. She would be so proud of him. It never crossed his mind that Tallis was deliberately ignoring Leeming and the other detectives because they would object to doing something that was exclusively the right of Robert Colbeck.
* * *
Oxley had chosen the venue with care. It was at the end of a quiet road that was as straight as an arrow. From his hiding place among the trees, he had a clear view and could easily escape to a waiting cab if he saw that his demands were not being met. Colbeck had to come alone. That was his requirement. Apart from anything else, he wanted to meet the person who’d been stalking him for so many years. The pistol was loaded and hidden from view. All that he had to do was to get his target close enough to be able to kill him.
Crouched beside him, Irene was ready to beat a retreat.
‘He’s not coming, Jerry.’
‘Give him time.’
‘It’s past the hour already,’ she said. ‘Maybe the inspector didn’t even get your message. Maybe he wasn’t at Scotland Yard.’
‘You saw what it said in the newspaper. The police appealed to the public for help. Inspector Colbeck would have been waiting to sift any information that came in. He was there, believe me.’
‘Then where is he now?’
‘He’ll come soon, Irene.’
Even as he spoke, a tall figure of a man came round the corner and walked towards them. Both stiffened and Oxley put a hand on the gun. But it was a false alarm. Instead of continuing his walk, the man suddenly turned into a doorway, took out a key and let himself into the house. Oxley relaxed but Irene’s tension remained.
‘What if he brings a lot of policemen with him?’ she said.
‘He’s not stupid enough to do that. In any case, we’d see them long before they saw us. We’d have time to vanish into thin air.’
‘Not if the policemen were mounted,’ she argued. ‘They could run us down, Jerry. We’re taking too big a risk.’
‘I know Colbeck – he’ll come alone.’
‘But you’ve never even seen him before.’
