Edward Marston - Timetable of Death

‘We have to correct you,’ said Haygarth.

‘Yes,’ added Cope, receiving a signal from the acting chairman, ‘the three detectives have now been reduced to one. Inspector Colbeck is the only survivor.’

He described how the accident had occurred when Tallis was startled by the steam whistle. Wigg couldn’t believe what they had done.

‘What could they possibly learn there?’

‘It teaches you everything you need to know about the way that locomotives and rolling stock are made.’

‘That has no relevance at all to the murder inquiry.’

‘Inspector Colbeck believed that it did. Mr Quayle loved to go on a tour of inspection at the Works. The inspector was keen to follow in his footsteps.’

‘It’s a pity he doesn’t clear off back to London with his colleagues.’

‘What have you learnt, Superintendent?’ asked Haygarth. ‘We know that you have a high opinion of yourself as a policeman.’

‘Confidence is an essential part of leadership.’

‘And what have your men discovered under your leadership?’

‘The noose is slowly tightening around the killer’s neck.’

‘You don’t even know who he is yet.’

‘Yes, I do,’ said Wigg, looking down at them. ‘The murder was the result of a conspiracy. Someone was hired to do the deed because of his past association with Quayle. In my opinion, that “someone” is Gerard Burns. The people who suborned him are more difficult to unmask,’ he said, looking shrewdly at each of them in turn. ‘But I’ll soon have enough evidence to do so.’

‘Inspector Colbeck has been to Melbourne Hall twice,’ said Cope, ‘and the superintendent has also paid a visit to Burns.’

‘Then why is he not in custody?’

‘You’ll have to ask them, sir.’

‘And before you criticise Inspector Colbeck again,’ said Haygarth, ‘you might like to know that he provided us with a detail that passed by you and your men. In view of what you say about Burns, it might be significant.’

Wigg was piqued. ‘What detail is this?’

‘Miss Lydia Quayle has returned home.’ He was rewarded by a look of surprise on the other’s face. ‘Events in Nottingham are important. You should have had the Quayle residence under surveillance.’

‘I don’t have the resources for that, Mr Haygarth.’

‘You have large numbers of men at your beck and call. Inspector Colbeck is acting entirely by himself at the moment yet he is gathering more telling evidence than you. That’s why I sent for him,’ said Haygarth, complacently. ‘When I wanted the best available man for this assignment, your name did not even cross my mind.’

Wigg was furious. Tugging on the reins, he turned his horse in a semicircle then dug his heels in to send it cantering away. Haygarth grinned.

‘That should be enough to keep him away for a while.’

Alone in their room, Colbeck was able to luxuriate in the company of his wife and to hear a fuller report of what she’d been doing in his absence. He could understand why Lydia Quayle had turned to her for help.

‘You obviously impressed her, Madeleine.’

‘My charm didn’t work on her friend, Miss Myler.’

‘Yes, Victor told me how unwelcoming she was.’

‘She was guarding Lydia like a mother hen.’

‘Then she wouldn’t have been in favour of her returning to Nottingham.’

‘No,’ said Madeleine, ‘I fancy that she’d have opposed the decision. Lydia has said very little about Miss Myler to me but there’s clearly been an upset between them. I’ll probably get the blame for that.’

‘Murder always causes upsets. It alters sensitive balances.’

Madeleine explained how nervous Lydia had been and how uncertain she was about spending the night at the house. In the event of her leaving Nottingham, she planned to come to the Royal Hotel to meet up with her new friend again. Colbeck was pleased at the prospect.

‘It would be good to meet her,’ he said. ‘She can tell me things about the family that neither of her brothers have deigned to do so.’

‘What sort of things?’

‘I want to hear more about her father.’

‘She despises him.’

‘I know that, Madeleine, but you’ve been telling me what an intelligent woman she is. I like intelligent women,’ he said, caressing her hair. ‘That’s why I married one. Like you, Miss Quayle will have keen intuition. She’ll have picked up signals that went unnoticed by her brothers.’

‘Something’s happened, hasn’t it?’ she said, taking his hand between hers. ‘I can sense your excitement.’

‘That’s because I’m with you,’ he said.

‘It’s something to do with the visit to the Works, isn’t it?’

‘Yes, Madeleine.’

‘It’s the accident,’ she decided. ‘You’re overjoyed to get rid of Superintendent Tallis, aren’t you?’

‘Not at all — I’m heartbroken.’

‘I know you better than that, Robert.’

He laughed. ‘Then it would be folly to try to deceive you,’ he said. ‘Though I’m sorry that the superintendent was injured, I regard the accident as providential. With his departure, a great cloud has lifted. But the real bonus of the visit was the chance I had to operate the turntable. It was a revelation.’

‘Father always says that you should have worked on the railways. That’s your real passion in life, isn’t it?’

‘No, Madeleine — it will always be secondary to you.’

‘Thank you for the compliment — now tell me about the turntable.’

‘It taught me how little effort is required to move an immense weight and it changed the direction of our investigation dramatically. We’ve been looking so intently at the murder victim that we completely ignored someone else.’

‘And who is that?’

‘Let’s go back to the start,’ he advised. ‘What do you remember?’

‘The body of Mr Quayle was found in an open grave in a village churchyard. Nobody could understand how it got there because he has no connection whatsoever with the place.’

‘That’s what we were told.’

‘It’s what Lydia confirmed. She couldn’t remember her father ever mentioning Spondon, let alone going there. His social life revolved around Nottingham.’

‘She was wrong, Madeleine. We all were.’

‘You’ve found a connection?’

‘Not exactly,’ he admitted, ‘but I know it’s there. The choice of that churchyard was not a coincidence. It was a deliberate statement by the killer. Mr Quayle was put in a grave reserved for a Mrs Cicely Peet. She is the person on whom we should be concentrating.’

‘Then you must believe there’s a link between her and Lydia’s father.’

‘Heaven knows what it is, Madeleine, but it’s there somewhere.’

‘What makes you think that?’

‘It’s something that Cleary said to me. He’s the coachman at the Quayle residence. On his last day alive, Mr Quayle was driven to Nottingham station by Cleary. As they parted, the coachman noticed that his employer had been crying.’

‘That sounds very unlikely. Lydia told me how stoic and hard-hearted her father had always been. He never showed any real tenderness to her and to her sister.’

‘That doesn’t mean he was incapable of it.’

‘No,’ she conceded, ‘that’s true.’

‘Can you see the way that my train of thought is heading?’

‘Yes, Robert, I believe so. Until now, you were baffled by the fact that Mr Quayle had somehow ended up in that village. You now think that he had a good reason to be there.’

‘I’d go further than that, Madeleine. My guess is that he wasn’t killed elsewhere and taken to Spondon so that the body could be disposed of there.’

‘How do you explain his presence in the village, then?’