Five Dead Canaries

humour. Keedy was very interested in a snippet of information about Shirley Beresford.

It was minutes before Kennett reappeared. When he finally did so, he had an anguished Diane Quinn with him. She was startled to see Keedy there. He stood up so that she could have his chair and listened intently to her tale of woe.

‘It’s my fault,’ she said, chewing her lip. ‘I should have checked the moment I got up. Better still, I should have heard her sneaking out of the house. It never crossed my mind that she’d go anywhere. Maureen was dog- tired last night. After what she’d been through, it’s not surprising. But, when I went into her bedroom this morning, she simply wasn’t there!’ Apprehension darkened her features. ‘My husband will be so cross with me when he finds out. I must get Maureen back before he comes home. Where on earth can she be, Sergeant?’

‘I don’t know, Mrs Quinn. I assume that you’ve conducted a search?’

‘I’ve been everywhere. I even called on Sadie Radcliffe and that was a mistake. She was very spiteful about Maureen — don’t know why. Anyway,’ she continued, ‘I remembered reading this article once about people who have a dreadful experience being drawn back to the place where it happened. So I caught the train to Hayes and asked where the Golden Goose was. It was frightening. Well, you’ve seen the mess that the bomb made, Sergeant. It made my knees go weak. If Maureen had been caught in the blast, we’d never have been able to recognise her remains.’

‘That is posing a problem,’ admitted Keedy, ‘and I’m sorry that you had to see that pile of debris. What made you think your daughter may have come here?’

‘It was what she wanted to do but Eamonn, my husband, forbade it.’

‘I’m fairly certain that’s she’s not here,’ said Kennett, ‘because the other girls would have mentioned the fact when I talked to them. We’ll soon know the truth. My secretary will find out if she clocked in.’

‘She has to be here, sir. Where else can she be?’

Diane continued to insist that her daughter was in the factory somewhere and the two men consoled her as best they could. When the telephone rang, Kennett moved across to pick it up. The conversation was over within seconds. After putting the receiver down, he shook his head sadly.

‘Maureen is definitely not on the site, Mrs Quinn,’ he said.

She was devastated. ‘Are you quite sure?’

‘Yes, I am. If she had turned up here this morning, she wouldn’t have been allowed to carry on as if nothing had happened. For her own sake, we’d have turned her away.’ He looked at Keedy. ‘People sometimes think that we force our employees to work until they drop but we’re very humane. We always try to show compassion.’ His eyes flicked back to Diane. ‘You’ll have to look elsewhere, Mrs Quinn.’

‘But where?’ she wailed. ‘There’s nowhere else left.’

‘Yes, there is,’ said Keedy, ‘and it’s possible that it never occurred to you. If you were thrown into a panic, you probably just ran around in circles.’

‘That’s exactly what I did, Sergeant. I was like a dog with its tail on fire.’

‘Let’s see if we can put that fire out, shall we?’ He moved to the door and opened it. ‘Thank you for your help, Mr Kennett. I’ll be back in due course. At the moment, the search for Maureen takes priority.’ He smiled at Diane. ‘Are you ready, Mrs Quinn?’

Harvey Marmion was pleased to hear that many bomb fragments had been found and that they were being carefully pieced together. He would eventually know if they were dealing with an amateur or with someone who had some expertise in handling explosives. Looking at the rubble, he found it difficult to imagine where the bomb had actually been placed or what sort of timing device it must have had. The scene was a graphic illustration of cause and effect. A knot of people looked on with ghoulish curiosity. Uppermost in the mind of Leighton Hubbard was revenge. Standing beside Marmion on the pavement opposite his pub, he was quivering with fury.

‘Catch him, Inspector,’ he urged. ‘Catch him then hand him over to me.’

‘Let the law take its course, sir.’

‘Hanging is too good for an animal like that.’

‘We may be talking about more than one person,’ said Marmion. ‘It’s something we can’t rule out. Planting a bomb in its hiding place would have taken some time. The bomber might have needed a lookout.’

‘He needs a hand grenade up his arse, if you ask me.’

‘How did he gain access to the outhouse, that’s what puzzles me? You claim that it was kept locked.’

‘It’s supposed to be,’ said Hubbard, ‘and I always make sure that it is. So does the missus, for that matter. We protect our property. Because he only works here now and again, Royston is not so careful.’

‘Royston?’

‘He helps us out, Inspector. He’s a willing lad but he’s not very bright. When he tried to join the army, they turned him down on medical grounds but it could equally have been because of his stupidity.’

‘What does he do, exactly?’

‘He fetches and carries. That’s about all he can do. I’d never let him behind the bar and he’d be hopeless dealing with money. What he can do is donkey work. Royston cleans beer glasses and moves crates of empty bottles.’

‘Where does he store the crates — in the outhouse?’

‘Yes,’ replied Hubbard.

‘Does he ever forget to lock it?’

‘I’m afraid that he does. Every time it’s happened, I threaten him with the sack but …’ the landlord hunched his shoulders ‘… well, the truth is that I feel sorry for the lad. You can’t help liking him.’

‘Where is the key to the outhouse kept?’

‘It hangs on a hook in the corridor.’

‘Where does the corridor lead?’

‘It’s the way to the Gents — that’s out in the courtyard. Well, it was,’ said Hubbard, bitterly, ‘but that went up in smoke as well. It’s only a shed with a corrugated iron roof. Thank God nobody was taking a piss out there at the time.’

The landlord was still simmering. Marmion gave him a few minutes to expel his bile about the temporary loss of his livelihood. Hubbard blamed everyone he could think of for the disaster, ending with an attack on the police for not guarding his premises. Marmion leapt to their defence.

‘How were they to know that your outhouse was in danger?’ he challenged. ‘Police resources are very stretched, Mr Hubbard. They have to identify the most vulnerable targets and keep an eye on them. No disrespect to the Golden Goose but your pub hardly merits comparison with the munitions factory. Had a bomb been planted there, far more deaths would have resulted.’

Hubbard had the grace to look shamefaced. He even shrugged an apology.

‘Right,’ said Marmion, ‘now that you’ve calmed down, you can start to help us and, by extension, help yourself.’

‘Eh?’

‘I’m bound to ask the obvious question. Do you have any enemies?’

‘Yes, Inspector — I’m in business. Every other landlord in Hayes is my enemy.’

‘Would any of them go to the length of bombing your outhouse?’

‘No, they wouldn’t — but I daresay they’re rubbing their hands with glee now that the Goose is out of action for a while. As for customers I might have upset, there have been plenty of those but most of them are in the army now and the others wouldn’t dare do a thing like this to me.’

‘How many people knew about the birthday party in advance?’

‘Apart from me and the wife, almost nobody was told. There’d have been strong objections from a few of the regulars, especially Ezra Greenwell. Oh,’ he added as he scratched his head, ‘Royston would have known, of course. He was there when the booking was made.’

‘Would he have spread the word about the party?’

‘I told him not to but that probably went in one ear and out the other. Royston lives in a world of his own. He goes around with this half-witted grin on his face. It was still there last night when he was watching my outhouse blazing away.’

‘What’s his full name?’ asked Marmion, taking out his notebook. ‘And where does Royston live?’

‘He can’t tell you anything, Inspector.’

‘Nevertheless, I think that it’s time he and I got acquainted.’