Blood on the Line

coachmen. There was wealth in America and a desire to put it on display.

Captain Riley had been as good as his word, letting them see the work of the police department at first hand. At Colbeck’s request, he also arranged for them to visit The Tombs, the city’s notorious prison. In the course of their work, they’d been inside all of London’s prisons and several in the provinces. Conditions there had been harsh but none could match the regime at The Tombs for severity. There was a pervading stink of despair on its four galleries. Leeming was glad to get out into the fresh air again but Colbeck had been intrigued.

‘I wanted to see if his description was accurate,’ he said.

‘Whose description would that be, sir?’

‘Charles Dickens came here once. He wrote about it.’

‘I could write about it in one word,’ said Leeming, ‘but it’s not a word that I’d repeat in mixed company.’

Sightseeing and time spent with the police were only preludes to the main purpose of their visit. The day eventually came when the Arethusa reached its destination and sailed up the Hudson River with its passengers crowding the deck for their first glimpse of New York. The pilot boat was rowed out to shepherd the vessel to its berth. Colbeck and Leeming were part of the massed ranks on the pier. Captain Riley was with them but so was a much larger complement of uniformed policemen than the detectives had requested. Their visible presence caused Colbeck some disquiet.

‘We won’t want to warn them in advance,’ he said.

‘I’m not giving them any chance to escape,’ asserted Riley. ‘I’ve got some of my best men on duty today.’

‘It might be better if the sergeant and I go aboard first.’

‘Why is that, Inspector?’

‘They don’t know what we look like,’ explained Colbeck. ‘We can take them by surprise. Police uniforms would give the game away.’

Riley was obstinate. ‘We’ll do it my way.’

‘They’re our prisoners,’ Leeming pointed out.

‘They’re your prisoners in our country.’

The declaration was unanswerable. They were powerless. They had control neither over the police nor over the bevies of newspaper reporters who’d arrived early to secure vantage points on the pier. Having often rehearsed the boarding of the vessel in his mind, Colbeck accepted that it would simply not happen that way. Captain Riley would take the lead. Colbeck and Leeming would have to follow in his wake. As they watched the vessel gliding ever nearer the pier, they hoped that the two fugitives were not watching from the deck.

As soon as they entered the mouth of the river, Oxley and Irene had joined the rest of the passengers on deck. Now that they were at last in the harbour, they were standing with Herschel and Libby Finn, waving to the cheering hordes below and enjoying their reception. There had been moments when Irene had wondered if they’d ever arrive but those anxieties had all vanished now. Here was the country in which she would spend the rest of her life with a man who would become her husband. She was overwhelmed with relief and wonder.

Oxley shared her euphoria but it was short-lived. He, too, had been carried away at first by the sight of the welcoming multitude below. His eyesight was much keener than Irene’s, however. When he scanned the pier, he noticed the plethora of police uniforms. They were gathered around the point to which the ship was slowly moving. As the vessel got closer, he was able to see the faces of those below more clearly. They did not all belong to friends and well-wishers. Some of those waiting were not cheering at all. They were tense and watchful. Among them was a tall, striking, exquisitely tailored figure standing beside a police captain. Letting out a yelp, Oxley reacted as if he’d just seen a ghost.

‘We must go below,’ he said, grabbing Irene.

‘What’s the matter, Jerry?’ she asked.

‘You can’t miss all the fun,’ said Finn. ‘Stay and enjoy it.’

‘There’s something we left in our cabin,’ said Oxley, dragging Irene away. ‘You’ll have to excuse us for a moment.’

Their friends were baffled by their sudden disappearance but it was Irene who’d been most surprised. As they picked a way through the people on deck, she kept asking him what had happened. He waited until they were below deck and out of earshot.

‘It’s him, Irene,’ he said.

‘Who are you talking about?’

‘It’s Inspector Colbeck. He’s down there on the pier.’

‘You must be imagining things, Jerry,’ she said with a laugh. ‘How could you recognise him when you don’t even know what he looks like? More to the point, how could he possibly be in New York when we left him behind in England?’

‘It’s him, I tell you,’ he said, irritably. ‘I just sense it, Irene, and you know how acute my senses are. If he came by means of a steamship, he could have overtaken the Arethusa with ease. It’s just the kind of thing Colbeck would do. Instead of giving up the chase, as I’d hoped, he’s come after us.’

His panic was contagious. ‘What are we going to do?’

‘Let me think for a moment,’ he said, hand to his head. ‘I could be wrong. I pray to God that I am. If that’s the case, we have nothing to worry about. You must leave the ship with Herschel and Libby.’

‘What about you?’

‘I’ll take … other measures,’ he said.

‘Why can’t we leave together?’

‘We have more chance of eluding him if we’re apart. Don’t worry,’ he said, enfolding her in his arms. ‘If anything happens to you, I’ll come to your rescue.’

‘How?’ she asked, feverishly.

‘I don’t know but I’ll find a way somehow. I swear it.’

She was perspiring now. ‘Are you sure that it’s Colbeck?’

‘Yes, I am. Go back on deck and find the others.’

‘What shall I tell Herschel and Libby?’

‘Tell them that I’m searching for something that’s gone astray. Tell them I’ll be back directly. Go on, Irene,’ he urged, pushing her away. ‘They’ll be wondering where we’ve got to.’

‘I don’t like leaving you on your own.’

‘You have to. Now find Herschel and Libby. Being with them is the best chance you have of dodging Colbeck.’

She swallowed hard. ‘If you say so, Jerry.’

With grave misgivings, she went back to the staircase that led to the upper deck. She could hear the sound of many feet shuffling across the deck. When she looked behind her, Oxley had vanished.

The Arethusa was determined not to be rushed. After ploughing her way through the waves under full canvas for three thousand miles, she was bent on a leisurely arrival. She seemed to drift in slow motion towards the pier, unsure whether to stop there or to float gently back downriver. As her hull made contact with the pier, there was a resounding thud. It was followed by the sound of ropes crashing onto the stone. They were quickly tied in place to steady the vessel. Members of the crew lowered the gangplank and it was fixed in place. Before anyone could descend it, Captain Riley led the way up the gangplank and ordered everyone to stand aside so that he could step onto the deck. Colbeck and Leeming were at his heels with four uniformed policemen in attendance. Riley first spoke to the captain who was poised at the top of the gangplank to shake the hands of the departing passengers. There was a brief discussion. After listening to Riley’s explanation of why he and the detectives were there, the captain gave him permission to come aboard.

Riley’s stentorian voice quelled the heavy murmur on deck.

‘Ladies and gentlemen,’ he shouted, ‘I’m sorry to delay you after a long voyage but there are two people with whom we need to speak as a matter of urgency.’ He stood on his toes to survey the assembled passengers. ‘We wish to speak to Mr and Mrs Colbeck. Could they please step forward?’

‘That’s you,’ said Libby, turning in amazement to Irene.

‘Keep your voice down,’ begged Irene.