that they’d move close to Scotland Yard when the search for them was being directed from here? It was a cunning move on Oxley’s part.’ He took a pin from a small tray on his desk and stuck it in the map. ‘I’m sure that they did stay at Stafford.’ He studied the map then beckoned Leeming over. ‘What do you notice about their movements?’
‘They never stay long in one place, sir.’
‘Take a closer look.’
Leeming stared at the map and tried to find a connection between all the pins they’d inserted in it. Because his knowledge of geography was limited, he struggled to discern a pattern. Since the reward had been advertised in the newspapers, information had poured in from a number of sources. Many of the claims were obviously fraudulent and had been tossed aside by Colbeck, but some deserved to be taken seriously.
Leeming was baffled. ‘Give me a clue, sir.’
‘Think of my future father-in-law.’
‘Why should I want to think about Mr Andrews?’
‘He works for the LNWR,’ replied Colbeck. ‘Join up all of those pins and you’ll see that the majority of them are stations on the route used by the LNWR. Here,’ he went on, moving a finger from pin to pin. ‘We have Watford, Leighton Buzzard, Rugby, Coventry, Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Stafford and so on, all the way up to Warrington and beyond. If our informants are correct, Oxley and Miss Adnam have stayed at all of those places some time over the last few months.’
‘You can see why they’d choose to be close to a railway station, sir. In an emergency, they’d be able to get away by train.’ He peered at the map. ‘Where are they now – that’s what I want to know?’
‘I’d venture to suggest that they’re following tradition,’ said Colbeck. ‘They’ll be staying in a town somewhere along the same route.’ He breathed in deeply. ‘Which town is it, I wonder?’
When he came into her room, Oxley’s face was as dark as a thundercloud. He closed the door behind him and barked an order.
‘Pack your things – we’re leaving here at once!’
‘Why?’ asked Irene in alarm. ‘What’s happened?’
‘Just do as you’re told.’
‘But nobody knows that we’re here, Jerry.’
‘
Irene took it from him and saw the relevant article. She read it with mounting concern. All her fears flooded back. She was so jittery that she almost dropped the paper.
‘They’ve arrested Gordon and Susanna.’ Irene was incredulous.
‘We got away just in time.’
‘How could they possibly have linked us with that house?’
‘I don’t know,’ he confessed.
‘You said that they wouldn’t find us there in a month of Sundays. That’s why you chose the place.’
‘I thought it was safe, Irene. More important, it kept us out of the public gaze for a while. In any case, I’d wanted to see Gordon and Susanna again. We’re old friends.’
‘Their real names are Philip and Anna Oldfield,’ she noted, looking at the article. ‘They were well known in Bradford at one time.’
‘They’ll be even more well known now that they’ve been caught,’ he said. ‘Well, that’s their problem. We can’t waste time feeling sorry for them. The most disturbing line in that article is the last one. It says that the police are very grateful for the cooperation given by the two prisoners. In other words,’ he added with a snarl, ‘they’ve given us away, Irene. They’ve betrayed us.’
She was too stunned to reply. As she read the article for the second time, she realised how close the police had come to catching them at the house. Only hours earlier, they’d been sleeping quietly in their beds. Had they not left under the cover of darkness, they’d now be languishing in separate cells. It was a frightening thought.
‘This is Colbeck’s doing,’ he said. ‘I told you that he was clever.’
‘I still can’t believe it.’
‘The facts are there in black and white, Irene.’
‘If he can find us there,’ she argued, ‘he can find us anywhere. It was the perfect hiding place and yet he still managed to track us down somehow. I’m terrified, Jerry. There’s no escape from him.’
‘Yes, there is.’
‘Please don’t say that you’ll try to kill him again,’ she begged. ‘He’ll be on guard against you next time.’
‘I’ve thought of another solution, Irene.’
‘What is it?’
‘We leave the country altogether.’
Hope was rekindled. ‘Yes,’ she said, smiling, ‘that’s the answer. Remember that poster we saw at the station when we arrived? It said that we could take a train to Holyhead and pick up a ferry to Ireland. Inspector Colbeck would never touch us there.’
‘Oh yes he would. You haven’t followed his career as closely as I have, Irene. He was involved in a case that started in this very town when a severed head was found in a hatbox. Don’t ask me how he did it,’ he said, ‘but Colbeck went all the way to Ireland in the course of his investigation. It’s far too close. We need to be on another continent altogether.’
‘Where do you suggest?’
‘America.’
She was dumbfounded. The only thing she knew about America was that it was a great distance away. A very long voyage would be necessary with obvious dangers attendant upon it. Irene was rattled. It would be a journey into the unknown. On the other hand, it would finally guarantee them the safety they craved. In a new continent, they could forge an entirely new life.
‘If you won’t come with me,’ he warned, ‘I’ll go alone.’
She grabbed his arm. ‘Don’t say that, Jerry!’
‘It’s the one sure way to shake Colbeck off our tail.’
‘What sort of a place is it?’
‘There’s only one way to find out, Irene. Will you come with me?’
‘Of course,’ she said, embracing him. ‘You don’t have to ask. I’ll follow you anywhere. When do we leave?’
‘Not for some days at least,’ he said. ‘There’s a lot to do first. I’ve got to collect all the money and possessions I have squirrelled away in various places. And it will depend on when we can take ship. Then again, we’ll need documents. I’ll have forgeries made and that will take time. You can say goodbye to Irene Adnam,’ he told her. ‘From now on, we’ll both have another name as man and wife.’
‘And what name will it be, Jerry?’
‘Who knows? Do you have any suggestions?’ He suddenly burst out laughing. ‘I’ve just thought of the ideal name for us, Irene. In the circumstances, it’s the only one to choose.’
‘Stop interrupting!’ roared Tallis, rounding on the hapless sergeant. ‘When I want advice from you, I shall ask for it. Until then, refrain from making inane comments.’
‘Yes, sir,’ said Leeming.
‘Listen and learn – that’s my advice to you.’
It had not taken Tallis long to get back into his stride. Apart from delivering a tirade at some of his officers, he had waded through a mass of paperwork relating to other cases. He’d now come into Colbeck’s office to take stock of progress on the murder investigation. In directing him towards the map on the wall, Leeming had earned himself a stinging rebuke yet, strangely, it caused no pain this time. Having the superintendent back at Scotland Yard was so comforting that the sergeant felt insulated against the fury of his tongue. It was left to Colbeck to explain the significance of the pins in the map.
‘It’s a valid theory,’ said Tallis, ‘but it doesn’t tell us where he is at the moment. We could never check every hotel within reach of the line operated by the London and North Western Railway.’
