Edward Marston - Timetable of Death

‘Do you ever see anything of Mr Burns?’

‘No, I don’t,’ he replied.

‘You were such good friends at one time.’

‘We lost touch.’

‘I remember watching the two of you play cricket,’ she said. ‘You and Mr Burns were the best players in the team.’

‘Your brother was a fine cricketer as well, Miss Quayle.’

‘Lucas was never as good as either of you.’

‘Oh, you can’t compare me with Gerard. He was very special. I’d hate to have faced him when he was bowling.’

‘Have you … had any word of him?’

‘I can only tell you the tittle-tattle,’ he said, apologetically, ‘and there’s no knowing how reliable that is.’

‘I’d like to hear it nevertheless.’

‘Well, the rumour is that Gerard has a position as head gardener at Melbourne Hall. When he left here, he managed to better himself.’

‘Good gracious!’ said Lydia with genuine pleasure. ‘That is a feather in his cap. It’s a just reward for all that studying he did about horticulture. Well, well,’ she went on, trying to absorb the news, ‘that’s very gratifying. We all know who lives at Melbourne Hall. Gerard … Mr Burns, that is, must be so proud to serve the prime minister. His life has changed so much since he was here.’

‘There’s another rumour I heard about him,’ he said.

‘What was that, Cleary?’

‘He got married.’

‘Oh.’ In a flash, all the joy had left her. ‘Oh, I see.’

‘Someone told me that Gerard was going to be a father.’

She mustered a brave smile. ‘How nice for him!’ she said.

But there was no conviction in her voice. Lydia felt suddenly hollow and bereft. After thanking him for the information, she walked back towards the house. Cleary was unable to see the anguish in her face.

When he got back to the hotel, Victor Leeming expected to deliver a report of his visit to Spondon and to receive congratulations on what he’d found out. Instead, he was confronted with the news that he had to take the superintendent back to London. After examining the injury, the doctor had told Tallis that he’d been fortunate. Though it was swollen and badly sprained, the ankle was not broken. Rest was prescribed. The superintendent decided to leave immediately and to press Leeming into service.

The sergeant was hopeful. ‘Does that mean I can spend the night in London?’

‘I’m afraid not,’ said Colbeck. ‘I need you here, so you must catch a train back to Derby at once. We’ve lots to discuss and you’ll have a chance to meet Madeleine.’

‘I didn’t know that your wife was here, sir.’

‘I’m keeping her hidden in my room until the superintendent has gone.’

‘I wish that I had Estelle hidden away in my room,’ said Leeming, longingly. ‘I might even start to enjoy Derby then.’

‘I’m sorry that it can’t be arranged. Estelle is not directly involved in the investigation, you see, whereas my wife is. Miss Quayle prevailed upon Madeleine to go to Nottingham with her because she needed a friend for company. I met Madeleine at the railway station there and brought her back here.’

‘If he knew about it, Superintendent Tallis would be outraged.’

‘That’s why I’m so glad that we’re getting rid of him. That accident he had was a godsend and so was the visit to the Works. Watching that turntable in action opened up a whole new line of inquiry.’

‘Did it, sir?’

‘We’ve been approaching this case from the wrong angle, Victor. I only realised that when I saw a locomotive being spun around so that I could view it from the other end, so to speak. That’s what we must do with this case.’

‘I don’t understand.’

‘All will be explained when you return,’ said Colbeck. ‘I daren’t even mention my theory to the superintendent. After what happened to him in there, he won’t listen to a single syllable about the Works. The place is anathema to him.’

They were standing in the foyer of the hotel. A porter had brought down the luggage from Tallis’s room and stood ready to load it into the waiting cab. When the door of the manager’s office opened, Tallis hobbled out with the aid of a borrowed walking stick.

‘Ah, there you are, Leeming,’ he said. ‘Come and help me, man.’

The sergeant went across to him and let Tallis lean on him.

‘I’m sorry to hear about your ankle, sir,’ he said. ‘Does it hurt?’

‘It hurts like blazes!’

‘You’ll be much better off in London.’

‘Pain takes no account of geography. It will hurt just as much there as here.’

‘We hope you have a swift recovery,’ said Colbeck, nodding to the porter to take out the luggage. ‘We’ll miss the benefit of your guidance here.’

Tallis was curt. ‘Don’t lie any more than you have to, Colbeck.’

‘I hope that you have some pleasant memories of Derby, sir.’

‘The only thing that will give me pleasure — and soothe my ankle at the same time — is the news that you have finally solved this crime.’

‘That news will not be long in reaching you.’

‘I’ll hold you to that. Leeming?’

‘Yes, sir?’ said the sergeant.

‘Get me out of this accursed place.’

‘Lean on me, sir.’

‘Slow down, you imbecile!’ said Tallis as Leeming moved off. ‘Every step is a separate agony. Let me set the pace.’

Colbeck watched them move gingerly towards the door. He was sorry to lose Leeming for several hours but consoled by the fact that the superintendent was going as well. Freedom of action had been restored. It was a vital factor because Colbeck could do what he wanted now. He escorted the two men out to the cab and helped to ease Tallis into it. Leeming was palpably unhappy about having to spend so much time in the company of the irascible superintendent but someone had to shoulder the burden. Inevitably, it fell on the sergeant. When the cab rolled away, Colbeck gave it a farewell wave then hurried back into the hotel and raced up the staircase.

In trying to pass on information to the acting chairman, Maurice Cope only succeeded in annoying him. Donald Haygarth flapped a hand in the air.

‘You don’t need to take me stage by stage through the Works,’ he protested.

‘But that’s what the inspector wanted to do, sir.’

‘Colbeck likes trains. I only like them when they take me on a journey.’

‘Superintendent Tallis is of the same opinion,’ said Cope. ‘He did nothing but grumble and his accident will not endear him to locomotives. He’s gone back to London with the sergeant.’

‘Are you sure of that?’

‘I’m absolutely certain.’

They were standing outside the headquarters of the Midland Railway. Wanting to know the bare facts of what had happened during the tour of the Works, Haygarth was irked when Cope brought in so much technical detail about the production process. He had sent him there to watch the two detectives and not to enjoy what he saw around him. They were about to part when Superintendent Wigg hailed them. Trotting up to them, he reined in his mount.

‘I didn’t know you were a horseman, sir,’ said Cope.

‘It’s the best way to travel sometimes,’ argued Wigg. ‘Trains run to timetables so there’s always waiting involved. A horse is there when and where you want him.’

‘You’ve no need to tell that to Cope,’ said Haygarth. ‘He rides everywhere.’

‘Yes, I’ve seen him on horseback.’

‘Do you have anything new to tell us, Superintendent?’

‘I will simply observe that your much-vaunted detectives have been as much use as a silk kettle. You have three of them on the case now and they’re still no nearer solving it.’