Five Dead Canaries

‘He claims to be a friend of yours.’

Suggs laughed harshly. ‘Royston is no friend of mine.’

‘Then why did you ask him to look the other way when you borrowed the key to the outhouse at the Golden Goose?’

‘That what he told you, Inspector? It’s rubbish.’

‘He didn’t strike me as a practised liar.’

‘Royston doesn’t know what day it is.’

‘He knows that he’d lose his job if the landlord discovered that he’d helped you to make use of that outhouse with someone. And before you deny it, Mr Suggs,’ he continued, locking his gaze on the driver, ‘let me warn you that I’m investigating the explosion at the Golden Goose. You had access to the place where they died.’

‘It was nothing to do with me!’ roared Suggs.

‘Then why were you in the outhouse on the eve of the blast?’

‘That’s private.’

‘There’s no such thing as privacy in a murder investigation.’

Suggs was scarlet. ‘I didn’t murder anyone. What the hell d’you take me for?’

‘I take you for someone I’d never care to employ,’ said Marmion, levelly. ‘I think you’re vain, shifty, dishonest and untrustworthy. If, as you claim, you had no connection with that bomb, all you have to do is to give me the name of the person with whom you spent half an hour in that outhouse. A lot can happen in thirty minutes, Mr Suggs. You’d have plenty of time to hide a bomb with a timing device.’

Having been quick to protest, Suggs now fell back into a sullen silence. Marmion could almost see the man’s brain whirring as he sought for a plausible tale to explain his presence at the Golden Goose. He stared at Marmion with an amalgam of dislike and apprehension. Suggs had a glib manner that had suddenly let him down. After a last pull on the cigarette, he dropped it to the ground and stamped on it.

‘You obviously have a problem with your eyes,’ said Marmion, pointing to the sign on the wall. ‘That says No Smoking. You also seem to have trouble with your memory. The best way to revive it is for us to have this discussion in the presence of Royston Liddle. Mr Hubbard would also be an interested observer.’

‘Keep him out of this,’ begged Suggs. ‘Leighton would strangle me.’

‘You look as if you’d like to inflict the same fate on Liddle, so let me say now that if any harm befalls him, I’ll come looking for you with an arrest warrant. Now then,’ Marmion went on, folding his arms, ‘why don’t you dredge up something resembling the truth?’

Suggs swallowed hard. ‘I didn’t plant that bomb. I swear it.’

‘Did you advise the people who did?’

‘No!’

‘Did you tell them where the key could be found?’

‘Of course, I didn’t.’

‘Where were you when the bomb went off?’

‘I was fast asleep at home, Inspector. I work long hours. I need my rest.’

‘You didn’t need any rest on the previous evening. My guess is that you were feeling quite vigorous.’ He took out his notebook. ‘What was her name?’

‘There was no “her”. I was in there on my own.’

‘Royston Liddle saw a young woman being hustled in there.’

‘Are you going to rely on the word of a halfwit?’

‘It’s far more dependable than anything you’ve told me so far.’ Marmion put the book away. ‘Let’s go and find Mr Hubbard. He has a right to hear the truth.’

‘No, no,’ said Suggs, both palms raised, ‘anything but that.’ He pursed his lips for a few moments. ‘Okay,’ he said at length, ‘maybe there was someone in there with me on the night before that explosion.’

‘Ah — we’re making progress at last.’

‘But I’m not in a position to tell you her name.’

‘It’s very gallant of you to protect her anonymity, Mr Suggs, but I’m afraid that I can’t let you do that. Unless you tell me who she is, I can’t get corroboration.’

Suggs blinked. ‘What’s that mean?’

‘It means that I need someone to confirm what you tell me.’

‘Can’t you take my word for it?’

‘No, sir — I fancy that you’re a congenital liar. Indeed, that may be the reason you won’t divulge the name of the young lady. Perhaps you’ve been telling her fibs as well.’ He put his head to one side as he fired his question. ‘Are you married?’

‘No!’ retorted Suggs.

‘Are you sure you haven’t led her to believe that you’re single?’

‘I’d never do anything like that.’

‘Then let me have a name.’ There was a lengthy pause. ‘Or are you holding it back because the young lady is the one who’s married?’

Suggs licked his lips then examined the ground for a full minute. When he raised his head, he scratched at his beard then smoothed the ruffled hairs down. Marmion could see that he might now get an approximation to the truth.

‘Lettie and me are both single,’ Suggs began. ‘I’m hoping that one day we can get engaged but her parents don’t like me. I don’t know why. They refuse to let me anywhere near the house. That won’t stop Lettie and me. We arranged a few secret meetings and the only place I could think of was that outhouse.’

‘Why not invite her to your home?’

‘I live with my parents.’

‘Surely, they’d like to have met your girlfriend?’

‘We wanted privacy.’ He nudged Marmion. ‘You were young once, Inspector, weren’t you?’

‘Yes, but I drew the line at courting in some disused stables.’

‘It suited us.’

‘What’s Lettie’s surname?’

‘You don’t need to know. I’ll tell you everything.’

‘Then let’s start with the facts, Mr Suggs.’

‘I’m giving them to you,’ claimed the other.

‘If you live with your parents,’ observed Marmion, dryly, ‘there must be a very nasty smell in the house because, according to your neighbours, they both died years ago. You live alone and that raises the question of why you didn’t invite Lettie — or whatever her real name is — to your home.’ He narrowed his eyelids. ‘What are you trying to hide, Mr Suggs? And what were you really doing in that outhouse?’

CHAPTER NINE

Having finished her shift, Alice Marmion was still in uniform as she made her way back to her flat. On a previous bus journey there she’d once been stalked, but her new status protected her from unwanted attention. It was an important bonus. The uniform had another advantage. It reassured her landlady, a watchful old woman who believed that the virtue of all four young female tenants under her roof was in constant danger and who’d devised a system of rules to keep men at bay. They were only allowed onto the premises between limited hours and confined to the drawing room, a place in which all the chairs were deliberately set apart from each other to discourage any form of intimacy. Alice had entertained Joe Keedy there once and their conversation had been interrupted at regular intervals by the landlady, checking to see that her rules were being obeyed.

Notwithstanding the strict regime, Alice liked living there. The rooms had generous proportions and she got on well with the other tenants. While she’d lost all the comforts of her own home, she’d gained a precious independence. That made the move there very worthwhile. She could spread her wings. When she got to the house and let herself in, she intended to climb the stairs to her room but she was intercepted by her visitor. Ellen