“I don’t wonder he got away from Dartmoor then,” said Macdonald. “So far as escaping goes, he was an expert, he knew all there was to know.”
“Admitted,” said Tring, “but why did a chap like that ever take to crime, he had a good army record and his escape from Stalag X was what you might call an escaping classic, a brilliant piece of work.”
“You and I were never P.O.W.s in a German punishment camp,” said Macdonald. “I’m quite willing to believe it was an experience to develop the worst in human nature; it also developed the ability to steal and to hide things. Every potential escaper had to keep his eyes open for items which might aid his project, from concrete to electric flex, from ‘goon’ uniforms to passes and identity cards. Having acquired the necessary by skilful thieving, the escaper concealed his loot by taking advantage of any possible cover. Come to think of it, it was the sort of experience which might develop an antisocial habit of mind in any young, impressionable active fellow. Incidentally, what sort of character did the Dartmoor staff give Rory Macshane as a prisoner?”
“He was a good prisoner,” rejoined Tring. “Gave no trouble and was a good worker. One or two of the warders said they didn’t trust him, he was too good for a prisoner with a record of violence. They didn’t know his wartime record of course, nor his escape story. Macshane said he’d never been in the army; he was a southern Irishman and England’s wars were no business of his. He was a cunning one, all right. I should like to know how he ties up with this story of yours at High Garth and the death of Wally Millstone.”
“Well, I think it would be almighty hard to prove that Macshane was guilty of Millstone’s death, and not too difficult to prove that he wasn’t,” rejoined Macdonald.
“Tell me how,” said Tring.
“Well, you’ve got proof that Millstone was alive at the time of the Raine’s warehouse theft,” said Macdonald. “He left his fingerprints on a doorknob, and you didn’t find his body about the place, so I think you’re right in assuming he got away, by the tow path, as you said. But Rory Macshane didn’t get away, he was arrested that same night and he remained under arrest until he was tried and sentenced and sent to Dartmoor, or so I assume.”
“Quite right,” said Tring. “Once our chaps had handcuffed him, he didn’t get away, not till he broke out a month or six weeks ago.”
“Then he couldn’t have killed Millstone and got him to High Garth immediately after the Raine’s Wharf affair, could he?” asked Macdonald and Tring nodded in agreement. “And Macshane didn’t kill Millstone, since he (Macshane) escaped from Dartmoor, because Millstone has been dead for a year at least, and Macshane only broke out a month or so ago. In short, there’s no time when Macshane could have killed Millstone. My own opinion is that the third member of the Raine’s Wharf gang (whom you never laid hands on) directed Millstone to High Garth immediately after the Raine’s Wharf job, and said, ‘There’s a marvellous lay-up for you. You can stay there as long as you like and nothing to worry about.’ And that third member was probably the farmer’s son at High Garth, whom Bord came and asked you about yesterday. Name of Borwick.”
“We’ve never charged anybody named Borwick,” said Tring.
“So I gathered, but I expect you’ve got his dabs in records under another name, because it’s pretty certain that Berwick’s been through your hands more than once. Now you’ll be getting copies of all the prints Bord and his chaps found at High Garth. They did a careful job, and if Sam Borwick’s prints aren’t among them, I shall be surprised. For one thing, he used to live in that house, for another, it seems pretty certain he’d have come back there to search for the money it was known his father must have hidden, somewhere about the place.”
“Well, we’ll get busy on records as soon as your stuff comes in,” said Tring. “Meantime, you might just put me wise on this. In your opinion, is Sam Borwick hiding somewhere in Leverstone?”
“In my opinion, no, though I’ve no doubt Leverstone is where he would like to be. I believe Sam Borwick was around High Garth, in Lunesdale, that is, yesterday afternoon, and he’d have had a difficult job to get away in broad daylight, either by road or rail. Everyone in the district knows his face and everybody was talking about him, since there’d been trouble at his old home. I don’t think Borwick would have attempted to get away in daylight and by dusk Bord had got everybody alerted—roads watched, railways watched. So my opinion is that Borwick is still in Lunesdale, but I may be wrong. So keep your chaps on the lookout
