already if he wasn’t out of the country at present. But I’m assured he’ll be back shortly.’
‘It’s as well for you that you didn’t,’ Bennett said quietly, causing Angus Sinclair’s eyebrows to shoot up in amazement. ‘I’m warning you now, Chief Inspector. Take care. If this blows up in your face, there will be hell to pay. And, as of this moment, you are treading on very thin ice.’
‘Am I, sir?’ Angered himself, Sinclair met his superior’s heated gaze coolly. ‘Well, so be it. As of this moment Philip Vane is a suspect. He must be asked to give a detailed account of his movements on the relevant days in July and September and to provide supporting evidence, if possible.’
‘And what explanation do you propose to offer him for this intrusion into his private life?’
‘None, unless he asks for one, in which case. I’ll tell him the truth.’
Bennett breathed deeply. His pallor had receded, but in its place twin red spots had appeared in his cheeks like warning signals. He stared at the chief inspector, blinking rapidly.
Holly cleared his throat. ‘While you’re thinking about that, sir, there’s something else you might consider doing.’
‘What’s that, Arthur?’ It was Sinclair who put the question. His gaze remained locked to the assistant commissioner’s.
‘We could keep an eye on him.’
‘Put a tail on Philip Vane?’ Bennett gave vent to his feelings, bringing his fist down hard on the desktop. ‘Are you out of your mind?’
‘No, sir. Quite rational, I believe. Hungry, though.’ Holly smiled ruefully, easing the strained atmosphere just a little. ‘But until you decide whether or not Angus is to talk to this fellow, where’s the harm in keeping a watch on his movements?’
‘Out of the question. Is that clear?’
‘Then may I suggest a compromise?’ Sinclair intervened without allowing a pause. ‘Vane still owns that car. It’s garaged here in London. What I would urge, sir, and very strongly, is that the car at least should be kept under surveillance until further notice. If Vane leaves the city in it, he must be followed.’
Wearing the look of a man forced to swallow a dose of cyanide, Bennett nodded. ‘Very well. I’ll agree to that. But no more.’
‘And then there’s the matter of the interview.’ Sinclair refused to let the issue rest. ‘I’m requesting your authorization to speak to Philip Vane, and at the earliest possible moment. If he’s in the clear, so much the better. We can strike his name from our files.’
The assistant commissioner sat hunched in his chair, his lips drawn together in a thin line. ‘I’m forced to remind you that you have no evidence against this man.’
‘I’m aware of that, sir.’
‘Yes, but do you truly understand what it is you’re proposing to do? It’s not simply a question of Vane’s position at the Foreign Office. He has powerful friends and supporters in other quarters.’
‘I’m sure you’re not suggesting those are reasons why we shouldn’t interview him, sir.’
Bennett’s lips whitened in anger. Holly looked anxiously from one to the other, wondering if he should intervene. He was becoming concerned for his friend.
‘I want to think this matter over.’ The assistant commissioner spoke in dead tones. He was making an effort to remain calm.
‘Quite, sir. But not for too long, I trust.’ Sinclair was relentless.
‘Chief Inspector! You’ve made your point. Don’t labour it!’ Bennett glared at him. ‘I’ll see you both at five o’clock. That will be all.’
The two men rose and left the office in silence. No sooner had they passed through the anteroom and gone out into the corridor than Holly seized the other’s arm.
‘What’s got into you, Angus? Are you pushing for an early pension, man?’
‘He lunches at the palace. He shoots at Sandringham!’
Holly saw he’d been deceived by his friend’s icy demeanour inside Bennett’s office. The chief inspector’s cheeks were flushed with anger. His flint-grey eyes, normally cool, threw off sparks.
‘Calm down, for goodness sake,’ he urged. ‘You’ve gone at this like a bull at a gate. It’s not like you. Give Bennett some time to think it over.’
Grim-faced, Sinclair waited in silence while two detectives walked by them in the corridor. He responded to their greetings with the briefest of nods.
‘He’s looking for a way out of this. You’ll see – he won’t let me near Vane.’
‘Now you don’t know that.’ Holly shook an admonishing finger. ‘Give the man a chance. Anyway, we’ll know soon enough. Five o’clock, he said.’
But they didn’t have to wait that long. Fully an hour before the time set, Sinclair received an urgent telephoned summons to return to the assistant commissioner’s office. Hurrying down the stairs to the corridor below, he caught sight of the chief super, a trimmer figure after his weeks of dieting, walking briskly in the same direction.
‘What now, I wonder?’ Sinclair had caught up with him in the anteroom. They waited while Bennett’s secretary reported their arrival. ‘I wouldn’t have thought our lord and master was in any hurry to get this settled.’
The chief inspector had come psychologically prepared to resume the struggle – he was determined not to yield on the issue – but he saw at a glance as they entered the office that the situation had changed. Bennett, paler than usual, was seated at his desk. The unnatural brightness of his gaze, as he looked up, hinted at some recent shock undergone. His face wore a look of deep anxiety.
‘Sit down, gentlemen, please.’
Obeying, Sinclair noticed a stack of telegram forms lying on the desk blotter. Bennett had been looking at them when they came in, and now he turned his attention back to the shallow pile, leafing through the pages for several seconds, before raising his eyes once more and regarding them both.
‘Since we met earlier, I’ve received a message in response to the request we sent to the International Police Commission. You’ll recall we asked them for any information they might have relating to crimes similiar to the ones we’re investigating.’
‘Have they a record of such cases in Vienna?’ Sinclair couldn’t contain his eagerness for the answer.
‘Yes… I imagine so… now.’ Bennett hesitated. ‘But this telegram comes from Berlin. It was sent to me by Arthur Nebe.’ He glanced up and met Sinclair’s eye.
‘Nebe?’ Holly struggled with the unfamiliar pronunciation.
‘Your namesake, Arthur.’ Sinclair kept his gaze on the assistant commissioner’s face. ‘He’s the Berlin police chief, head of their CID.’
Bennett swallowed. His voice had become a little hoarse. ‘Nebe was informed of our request by the commission. He asked them to let him respond to it directly, citing “special circumstances”… It’s not clear from his message what those might be.’ The assistant commissioner bit his lip.
Sinclair allowed his eye to stray to the window where darkness had already fallen. Lights in the buildings across the river showed only faintly. The mist that had been gathering all day was thickening into fog.
Bennett went on, ‘It appears the German police have had a number of cases similiar to ours under investigation for some time. Nebe doesn’t say how many, but reports that they cover a two-year period starting in late 1929…’ He looked up and caught Sinclair’s glance once more. ‘Yes. Quite. That fits the period of Vane’s posting to Germany.’
The chief inspector was silent. He felt no sense of triumph, only sympathy for his superior, whose ordeal was just beginning.
‘Nebe didn’t know, until he learned from Vienna, that we had comparable cases under review here.’ The assistant commissioner had turned his attention back to the telegram. ‘He suggests that our two police forces should cooperate in this “exceptional matter” – that’s a quote – and says he’s dispatched an officer to London “to inform you fully on the investigation being carried out in Germany and to offer any assistance he can”. Considerate of them, in the circumstances. My God, I wonder how much they know. How much they’ve guessed.’ Bennett shook his head despairingly. ‘This man’s on his way. He’ll be in London tomorrow.’
He laid the telegram forms aside. Shutting his eyes, he rested his chin on his hands and sat like a statue, unmoving, for some time. As the silence lengthened, Holly cast a questioning glance at Sinclair, who put a finger to
