Blood on the Line

‘It was last year when he came up to Yorkshire and interfered with our investigation. It must be months and months ago. Since then, he’s spent every day in his office.’ He blinked as he understood the point of the question. ‘You don’t believe that Mr Tallis went in your place, do you?’

‘I believe exactly that.’

‘But the letter particularly asked for you and only you. Simply by looking at him, Oxley would have known that the superintendent couldn’t possibly have been Inspector Colbeck.’

‘Perhaps he took someone with him, someone more akin to me.’

‘Who could that be, I wonder?’

‘And what happened to him?’ said Colbeck. ‘Mr Meeker heard a gun being fired. Does that mean Oxley has shot one of our men?’

‘If he did,’ replied Leeming. ‘I’ll wager that he thinks he shot you.’

Outwardly, she had remained calm throughout, but Irene Adnam’s stomach was churning. She had watched Oxley shooting his victim and – even though she believed that it had to be done – she was sickened. During the ride to Euston, she’d been on tenterhooks. After the short train journey to Willesden, the long walk to the home of their friends gave them time to talk over in detail what had happened. Evening shadows dappled the ground and a stiff breeze blew in their faces. Irene glanced across at his chest.

‘You’ve got blood on your waistcoat,’ she said.

‘Yes, I know, it’s a rather nasty stain. No call for alarm,’ he said, smirking, ‘it’s not my blood, Irene. It was his.’

‘I just hope that nobody spotted it on the train.’

‘They were too busy looking at you. That’s the advantage of travelling with a gorgeous woman. She’s a perfect distraction.’

They walked on for a while before she spoke again.

‘What are you going to tell Gordon and Susanna?’

‘I’ll think of something.’

‘What happened today will be reported in the newspapers.’

‘And so I should hope,’ said Oxley. ‘I did everyone in the criminal fraternity a big favour today. I killed Inspector Colbeck.’

‘You don’t know that it was him, Jerry.’

‘Who else could it be? He came to the place I told him and was ready to talk. The only mistake he made was to bring that other man with him. I made sure that I separated them.’

‘I didn’t get a close look at him,’ she conceded, ‘but he was younger than I expected. And I wouldn’t call him a dandy.’

‘That was Colbeck,’ he affirmed. ‘I’m certain of it. I’m equally certain that they’ve got no hope of catching us now. Without him at the helm, the investigation will lose all direction.’ He put an arm around her. ‘I know that it was harrowing for you, Irene, but it had to be done. Colbeck would have been our nemesis.’

‘He was a detective,’ she said, worriedly, ‘so every policeman in London will be looking for us. We’ve disturbed a hornet’s nest.’

‘Policemen have been looking for me for a long time but I usually manage to evade them. On the two occasions when I have been arrested, I’ve contrived to escape.’

Irene turned away so that he wouldn’t see her wince. Mention of his escape on the train revived troubling memories for her and she knew that she’d lie awake that night agonising over the latest murder. She had the conscience for both of them. Oxley behaved as if they’d simply been for a ride in a cab. The brutal way that he’d threatened the driver had upset her. To Oxley, it was a source of amusement.

‘How long will we stay here?’ she asked.

‘As long as I decide, Irene.’

‘What if they find out?’ she asked. ‘Gordon and Susanna are bound to do so in the end.’

‘They won’t say a word.’

‘But we’re putting them in danger, Jerry. If we are caught there, the police will charge them as well.’

‘They won’t catch us,’ he assured her. ‘Why do you think I chose to hide there? We’re completely off the beaten track. All that we have to do is to keep our heads down and watch the world go by.’

‘There’ll be a manhunt.’

‘There was a manhunt in the Midlands when I escaped but they still haven’t captured me, have they? Put yourself in their shoes, Irene. That fat fool of a cab driver will have told them that he took us to Euston. What are they going to deduce?’

‘They’ll know that we fled by train.’

‘Yes,’ he said, ‘but they don’t know which train. They’ll assume that we wanted to get as far away from London as possible. In fact, we got off at a station that’s only six miles away. They’d never dream we’d be careless enough to stay so close.’

Irene was heartened. ‘I think you’re right, Jerry.’

‘Trust me. Everything will be fine.’

‘There’ll be no more shooting, will there?’

‘That’s all behind us now that Colbeck is dead.’

‘Oh, I do hope so.’ She became wistful. ‘I want us to be like Gordon and Susanna one day.’

He grinned. ‘Middle-aged and wrinkled, you mean?’

‘No, Jerry – living as decent, ordinary people in a proper house and being accepted by our neighbours. Not having to fear a knock on the door all the time. I want us to have a normal life.’

‘Then you should have chosen someone else,’ he said, half-jokingly, ‘because I’m neither decent nor ordinary. As for normal life, I think it would bore me to distraction.’

Tallis was too distressed even to reach for a cigar. He sat brooding in his chair while Colbeck and Leeming watched him. He’d not had to explain where he’d been or what had happened. One glance at his face had told them the awful truth. After wallowing in guilt for a long time, he glanced up, saw the two detectives and fished something out of his pocket. He offered it to Colbeck.

‘You deserve to see this, Inspector,’ he said.

Colbeck took it. ‘The sergeant told me what it contains.’

‘Read it yourself and you might understand why I took such precipitate action and why …’ As he thought about Peebles, his voice faltered. ‘Just read it, please.’

Colbeck read the letter and noted some of the barbs aimed at him. Although it had been written at speed, it was no wild diatribe. There was calculation in it. There was also a cruel mention of Helen Millington to act as a spur. Had he seen it when it first arrived, Colbeck would have been sorely tempted to meet Oxley.

‘Constable Peebles had no chance,’ said Tallis, bleakly. ‘He was shot from a distance of a few feet. When I got to him, he was dead. The local ghouls came out to gawp at him, so I covered his face with my coat. I took the body to the morgue in a cab.’

‘What exactly happened, sir?’ asked Colbeck.

‘I’m ashamed to tell you, Inspector, but I think that I ought to. After all, I was acting on the contents of a letter addressed to you.’

‘It was wrong of you to open it.’

Tallis sighed. ‘Oh – if only I hadn’t done so!’

‘I did make that point, sir,’ said Leeming.

‘Yes, I know, but Colbeck wasn’t here and I felt that something important might slip through our fingers. I had to open it and somehow I felt impelled to respond to its demands.’

‘I can accept that,’ said Colbeck. ‘You were fully entitled to take the risks implicit in your action. What I question is your right to engage Constable Peebles in the venture. I’m sure that he was willing but he was also inexperienced.’

‘That’s not true,’ said Tallis, grasping at straws. ‘He’d been on the streets in uniform for years. When he was at Barking, he received a commendation.’