Edward Marston - Timetable of Death

‘That’s good to hear.’

‘The real nuisance is that reporter from the Mercury .’

‘Do you mean Conway?’

‘That’s him,’ said Hockaday with a malevolent smile. ‘He’s too clever for his own good. Ever since it happened, he’s been here like a bloodhound in search of a scent. And he’s more likely to find one than the detectives.’

‘Has Conway been bothering you?’

‘Yes, sir — do you know him?’

‘I make it my business to know all the staff on the Mercury . Most of them are well-intentioned bumblers but Conway sticks out. Young men with ambitions are always dangerous.’

‘He and Sergeant Leeming are becoming good friends.’

‘I’m not sure I like the sound of that,’ said Wigg, caressing both of his side whiskers simultaneously. ‘We don’t want them to get too close.’

‘No,’ said the other, ‘Conway is enough of a nuisance as it is.’

‘I’ll see what I can do. Perhaps I’ll have a word with the editor and see if he can move Conway away from Spondon.’

‘I tried to frighten him off, Superintendent.’

‘Did it work?’

‘That’s the trouble. I’m not sure.’

They were almost late for their train. As the cab was about to set off, Madeleine Colbeck remembered something she’d forgotten and rushed back into the house. During the long minutes her friend was away, Lydia Quayle was fretting, afraid that their train would go without them and that they’d be forced to wait for a later one. As it was, Madeleine came out with a flurry of apologies, clambered into the cab and asked the driver to take them to King’s Cross. In spite of heavy traffic, they got there with plenty of time to spare. Since they shared a first-class compartment with other travellers, the two women found it impossible to have a proper conversation. It was only when their companions got off at Bedford that they were able to talk properly.

‘You look uneasy,’ said Madeleine.

‘I’m very nervous,’ admitted Lydia.

‘That’s understandable.’

‘I don’t know what sort of a reception I’ll get.’

‘You know that your younger brother will welcome you and your mother is sure to be pleased that you’ve come home.’

‘It’s not my home any longer, Madeleine. I’m going there to make a gesture and not to move in again. That’s out of the question.’ She smiled gratefully. ‘I couldn’t do this without you. It’s so kind of you to come all the way to Nottingham with me. It would have been much easier for you to stay on this train to Derby where you’d have a chance of seeing your husband.’

‘I can do that afterwards, Lydia. We’ll change at Kettering and catch the train to Nottingham. It’s the least I can do.’

Madeleine was not just prompted by sympathy. At their first encounter, Lydia had given her a privileged insight into the Quayle family and, after her visit home, might be able to furnish other details that had a bearing on the investigation. While acting as a friend, therefore, Madeleine had not entirely shed her role as a detective.

‘How long will you stay?’ she asked.

‘They may not wish me to stay.’

‘It’s your home , Lydia. They’ll insist on it.’

‘Stanley won’t, that’s certain, and I don’t know how Agnes will react.’

‘Blood is thicker than water. You’ll all be drawn together.’

Lydia was dubious. ‘Will we?’

They were passing through open countryside and they took time off to admire the landscape that was speeding past. The rural serenity was a sharp contrast to the tumult of the capital with its urban sprawl and constant smoke. Lydia had grown up in such surroundings but Madeleine could only yearn for them.

‘What will you do afterwards?’ she asked.

‘Well, I hope to see you at some stage, Madeleine.’

‘I’ll be staying at the Royal Hotel — if my husband permits that, of course.’

‘He’s hardly likely to turn you away,’ said Lydia with a laugh. ‘Judging by what you’ve told me about him, I’d say that he’d be thrilled to see you.’

‘And your family will be equally thrilled to see you .’

Lydia grimaced. ‘I’ve no illusions on that score.’

‘You reached out to them — that’s the main thing.’

‘I could only do that when I knew that my father was dead.’

Madeleine wanted to ask her about her plans for the future but felt that it would be too intrusive. Lydia was in a fragile state. While she was prepared to talk about her family, she’d said almost nothing about the woman with whom she’d been living. Madeleine recalled how Beatrice Myler had done her best to send her and Victor Leeming on their way when they called, and how resentful she’d been when they were invited into the house by Lydia. There must have been tension in the wake of their departure. Madeleine wondered if and how it had been resolved.

It was almost as if Lydia could hear the question that her friend was posing.

‘The answer is that I don’t know, Madeleine,’ she said.

‘You don’t know what?’

‘The situation in London became increasingly difficult. I had to leave.’

‘But you haven’t left for good, surely?’

‘I may have done.’

‘I thought you’d be going back eventually to Miss Myler’s house.’

‘Beatrice may not want me there.’

‘Oh, I’m sorry …’

‘I’m an orphan,’ said Lydia. ‘I’m travelling between two homes that each may rebuff me in turn. My family may well find that what I did in walking out was unforgivable and Beatrice is entitled to feel the same. I’m just a poor orphan, Madeleine. I don’t belong anywhere.’

Robert Colbeck opted for the lesser of two evils. Determined to keep Edward Tallis away from the Quayle family, he agreed that the superintendent could instead confront Gerard Burns. It would keep him out of the way and give him the feeling that he was helping in the investigation. It might also make him less certain that Burns was the killer. Had he accompanied Colbeck, he would have been a real hindrance. Tallis had intervened before and not always with beneficial effect. In the previous year, he’d insisted on being involved in a case of abduction and got in Colbeck’s way. On another occasion, he’d thrust himself into a murder investigation in Exeter and been injured in the process. His most troublesome intervention had been in a case involving the death of an old army friend in Yorkshire. Because his emotions had got the better of him, Tallis had been a severe handicap and it was only when he’d been persuaded to return to London that Colbeck and Leeming had been able to solve what turned out to be a complex crime.

Arriving on his own at the Quayle residence, Colbeck was able to have a free hand. For the first time, he met the brothers together. Lucas was pleased to see him but Stanley was more reserved. After an exchange of niceties, Colbeck gave them a brief account of the progress of the investigation.

‘When will you make an arrest?’ demanded Stanley.

‘When we have sufficient evidence, sir,’ replied Colbeck.

‘You must have some idea who the villain is.’

‘As the sergeant explained to you, we have more than one suspect.’

‘Haygarth is behind it somehow,’ decided Lucas.

‘It’s either him or Burns,’ said his brother. ‘Have you considered that the two of them may have been acting together, Inspector?’

‘We’ve considered every permutation, sir,’ replied Colbeck. ‘The one you’ve suggested is the least likely. The only connection between the two individuals is that Mr Haygarth once tried to coax Mr Burns away from you.’

‘They’re two of a kind.’

‘I fail to see any likeness. They come from the opposing worlds of masters and servants. Mr Haygarth is an entrepreneur with soaring aspirations while the other man has secured what is for him the perfect post.’