Edward Marston - Inspector Colbeck's Casebook

‘The sergeant and I accept the blame unreservedly,’ he said. ‘We were given a task that we failed to fulfil. It’s futile to claim that we could not have foreseen such an eventuality but one thing is clear, Mr Goldschmidt,’ he went on, eager to reassure him. ‘Your wife is not the victim of an assassination attempt.’

‘You heard those shots, man!’ wailed Goldschmidt.

‘They were some distance away, sir.’

‘It’s true,’ confirmed Leeming. ‘In fact, the second shot was further away than the first. Someone was just trying to spread alarm.’

‘Well, he succeeded,’ said Rosen.

‘But that’s all he was there to do,’ argued Colbeck. ‘If an armed man really had designs on Miss Lind, he would have got within range of her and made one shot count. We’re not looking for an enemy here. We’re after a … well, I suppose you might call him a friend of sorts.’

‘A friend!’ howled Goldschmidt. ‘Firing a gun and abducting my wife is a strange way to show friendship.’

‘Let me explain. Jenny Lind is one of the greatest singers in the world.’

‘She is the greatest,’ asserted Rosen. ‘It says so in all my advertisements.’

‘I’m inclined to agree, sir, and so does the kidnapper. My feeling is that he’s an ardent admirer who has let his admiration grow into an obsession. Knowing that she was coming here, he devised a plan to whisk her away so that he could hear her sing in private.’

‘My wife won’t be able to sing a note,’ said Goldschmidt. ‘Jenny will be terrified — and it’s all the fault of you and your sergeant.’

‘We will do our best to rectify our mistake.’

‘And how do we do that, pray?’

‘By drawing up a list of suspects,’ said Colbeck.

‘What’s the point of that?’ asked Rosen with a wild laugh. ‘This is a city with a population of 200,000 or more. Every one of them is a suspect.’

‘No, they’re not,’ said Leeming. ‘We can eliminate women and children for a start. People in the lower classes might know the name of Jenny Lind but none of them could ever afford to hear her sing. They, too, can be forgotten. I think that the inspector is right. The abduction was carefully set up so that she was snatched under our noses without coming to any harm.’

‘A number of accomplices were involved,’ Colbeck reminded them. ‘Apart from the person who fired the pistol, there were the ones who shoved us aside and those who actually spirited her away. We are searching for a rich man, gentlemen. He can afford to hire a number of reliable assistants. The vast majority of people at the railway station were devoted followers of Jenny Lind,’ he said. ‘One of them, alas, was rather too devoted. That isolates him at once. Only someone who worships her would go to such extraordinary lengths.’ He distributed a smile among them. ‘I fancy that our list of suspects will be very small.’

‘But how can you possibly draw it up?’ asked Goldschmidt.

‘Oh, I’m not going to draw it up myself, sir. I will be calling on people who can do that much more accurately. A love of music has driven this individual to such extreme action. And a love of music,’ Colbeck declared, ‘will be his downfall.’

Jenny Lind had been tricked. When the crowd scattered after the second shot, she was bumped into from all sides. A woman then took her by the arm and led her to a waiting cab where the driver was trying to control a horse frightened by the noise of gunfire. A strong young man almost lifted her into the cab, promising that her husband would join her soon and that they’d both be driven to their hotel. It was a ruse. Instead of waiting for Goldschmidt, he leapt in beside her and the cab set off. Jenny’s cry for help was drowned out in the pandemonium. She was soon being driven through the streets of Birmingham as fast as the traffic would allow.

‘Where are you taking me?’ she asked, trembling with apprehension.

‘There’s nothing to worry about,’ he told her. ‘You’re among friends.’

‘Is this how friends behave?’

‘It was the only way he could persuade you to accede to his request.’

‘Whose request are you talking about?’

‘Wait and see, Miss Lind.’

‘I have to give a concert this evening.’

He smiled. ‘Oh, you’ll be giving a concert, have no fear.’

The cab rolled on until the road widened and the traffic began to thin out. Birmingham was a major industrial city with a permanent haze over its factories but there was no sign of its manufacturing aspect now. They were in an exclusive part of Edgbaston where houses grew bigger and the air became clearer. When they turned into the drive of a mansion, she saw that it was screened from the road by a high wall. It made her feel more like a captive than ever.

‘At least tell me what’s going on,’ she begged.

‘He will do that,’ said the young man.

The cab stopped and he got out first then helped her to alight. The front door of the house was suddenly flung open and a tall, stooping man of middle years came out. He had gleaming eyes set in a cadaverous face and grey hair trailing carelessly to his shoulders.

‘At last,’ he cried with joy. ‘Jenny has come to sing to me.’

Colbeck had sprung into action. Since no witnesses to the abduction could be found, he concentrated on trying to identify the man behind what had been a well-conceived plan. To do that, he believed, he needed the assistance of a special group of people. Even in a city as large as Birmingham, there would not be an excessive number of them. Policemen were dispatched to round them up as quickly as they could. Colbeck and Leeming had been given the use of a room at the police station. Goldschmidt and Rosen insisted on being present. Both were sceptical.

‘This is hopeless, Inspector,’ said Rosen. ‘You are chasing moonbeams.’

‘I am in search of a star,’ replied Colbeck, ‘and her name is Jenny Lind.’

‘Then why aren’t you out there looking for her?’

‘The inspector knows what he’s doing,’ said Leeming, loyally.

‘Patently,’ snarled Goldschmidt, ‘he does not.’

‘Your lack of confidence in me is understandable, sir,’ said Colbeck, ‘but I ask you to reserve judgement until this whole matter has been resolved.’

‘What will happen to my concert?’ moaned Rosen. ‘I’ll lose thousands.’

‘With respect, Mr Rosen, the safety of Miss Lind is far more important than any losses you may incur. Try to put self-interest aside for a moment.’

‘I may be ruined!’

‘Our sympathy is elsewhere at the moment, sir.’

‘Indeed, it is,’ said Goldschmidt. ‘My wife will be in an appalling state.’

‘I’m not so sure of that,’ said Colbeck, thoughtfully. ‘Once she realises that she’s not in danger, she will cope well with the situation into which she’s been thrust. After all, she has travelled the world in the course of her career and adapted to conditions in a whole variety of countries. I believe that Birmingham will hold no terrors for her.’

‘It’s easy for you to say that, man. Find her, damn you — find her!’

There was a knock on the door. ‘The search is about to begin.’

The door opened and an elderly man came in, tapping his way forward with the aid of a white stick. Goldschmidt and Rosen were horrified.

‘Heavens!’ exclaimed Rosen. ‘It’s a case of the blind leading the blind.’

Jenny Lind was conducted into a spacious room at the rear of the house. Pride of place went to the piano but there were other musical instruments as well. She saw a framed print of herself hanging on the wall. On the top of the piano was a pile of old programmes. The woman who’d shepherded her away from the crowd came in after her. She waved their guest to a chair.