Edward Marston - Five Dead Canaries

‘Bad news?’ asked Keedy.

‘Yes — they’ve found Herbert Wylie.’

‘That’s good news, surely. Where was he?’

‘Splattered all over the ground,’ said Marmion. ‘He chose a church with one of the tallest spires in London and committed suicide by jumping from it.’

‘It will save the cost of a trial, anyway.’

‘There would’ve been no trial, Joe. He didn’t plant that bomb. Wylie left a long suicide note, explaining why he was innocent of the crime. He fled because he couldn’t bear the thought of staying at the factory where he’d met Enid Jenks. After some sleepless nights in a cheap hotel,’ said Marmion, ‘he decided that he couldn’t live without her. You know the rest.’

Keedy needed a few moments to assimilate the information. Having been so certain that Wylie was the bomber, he was flabbergasted to hear of the man’s innocence and death. It emphasised the full intensity of his unrequited love for Enid Jenks. While condemning the man for stalking her, he also felt very sorry for Wylie. A sad life had been ended in a grotesque way.

‘We’ve got a problem, Harv,’ he admitted. ‘We’re running out of suspects. We lost Niall Quinn and we can now cross Herbert Wylie off the list. That only leaves the supposed lover of Florrie Duncan. At least the other two suspects did actually exist. Our third man could turn out to be a figment of our imagination.’

‘He was real,’ Marmion argued. ‘Agnes Collier saw him.’

‘What she saw was Florrie being given a lift by a nameless man. He could have been a friend, a relative or someone with whom she did business. There’s nothing that identifies him as her lover,’ said Keedy, ‘still less as the father of a baby who may turn out to be another false assumption.’

‘Don’t lose faith, Joe. We need to trace this man.’

‘I know. He’s all we’ve got.’

Maureen Quinn went to church with her mother and her sister and they all prayed together. When it was time for the others to leave, she insisted on staying there alone. Diane withdrew with Lily, telling her elder daughter that she mustn’t wallow in guilt because no blame was attached to her for the tragedy. Maureen watched them go and stayed near the confessional box until she saw Father Cleary coming towards it. As soon as he disappeared behind the curtain, she entered the box on the other side.

‘Forgive me, Father,’ she said, ‘for I have sinned.’

The Golden Goose looked forlorn. Still covered in scaffolding, it gazed down on the detritus of the building site. Almost every vestige of the outhouse had been taken away, leaving a gaping hole. Leighton Hubbard was arguing with one of the workmen and didn’t hear the police car draw up. It was only when the detectives hailed him that he became aware of their presence. The landlord came quickly over to them.

‘Have you caught him?’ he demanded. ‘Have you arrested the blighter who ruined my pub?’

‘I’m afraid that we haven’t, sir,’ said Marmion.

‘Why ever not?’

‘He’s rather elusive, Mr Hubbard, and we don’t have unlimited resources.’

‘But you’ve got his name and photograph. What more do you need?’

‘Herbert Wylie didn’t blow up your outhouse, sir. That line of enquiry has been abandoned because he is no longer a suspect. Sadly, Mr Wylie committed suicide in London today.’

When he recovered from his shock, the landlord berated them for their incompetence and Marmion had to assert his authority, warning him that they deserved respect for their efforts. He explained why they’d returned to the pub.

‘We missed something,’ he said. ‘When we first interviewed you, we were dealing with a man who was in a state of despair.’

‘Do you blame me? I lost everything.’

‘That’s not true,’ said Keedy, indicating the pub. ‘You still have the main premises and you’ll be back in business.’

‘When you gave your account of what had happened,’ resumed Marmion, ‘it was rather garbled. We’re not blaming you for that. You told us about events immediately before the birthday party. We should have gone back a bit further.’

Keedy referred to his notebook. ‘What the inspector means,’ he said, ‘is that we didn’t ask about how Florrie Duncan came to book the outhouse in the first place.’

Hubbard hunched his shoulders. ‘I thought I told you that.’

‘Remind us when the booking was made.’

‘It was two or three weeks beforehand.’

‘Did she come here on her own?’

‘Yes,’ replied the landlord, ‘though she was anxious to be on her way. I showed her the outhouse and gave her a price. We shook on the deal and off she went. That’s all I can tell you.’

‘She wasn’t alone,’ said a voice.

Royston Liddle had crept up so that he could overhear the conversation. When the three of them turned to him, he giggled readily, pleased at the attention.

‘I was here,’ he continued. ‘I was on duty that evening.’

‘What happened?’ asked Marmion.

‘Don’t trust him,’ sneered Hubbard. ‘He’s got a memory like a sieve.’

‘What happened?’ Keedy repeated.

‘She came in a car,’ said Liddle. ‘I remember her getting out of it and going into the bar. He stayed out here.’

‘Who did?’

‘The driver, of course — he was reading a paper. I know I forget most things,’ he went on, ‘but I remember that because it was such a nice car. I haven’t seen many like that around here.’

‘Can you describe the man?’ asked Marmion.

Liddle pointed at Keedy. ‘He was about his age — maybe older — only he was better looking. And he had this little moustache.’ He grinned inanely. ‘I’ve always wanted to have a moustache but I can’t seem to grow one.’

‘Let’s go over this again,’ said Marmion, curbing his impatience. ‘This man brought Florrie Duncan-’

He broke off when he saw a uniformed constable cycling towards him. The man was semaphoring with one arm. When he reached them, he put the message into words.

‘There’s someone to see you, Inspector,’ he said, adjusting his helmet. ‘I’m sorry to interrupt but you’re to come back to the station urgently.’

When she finally emerged from church, Maureen Quinn was both chastened and relieved. The terrible burden of guilt she bore could never be wholly removed but it already felt lighter. It had been a continuous ordeal in the confessional box. The effort it had taken to get her there had been immense and it had told on her. Maureen was now sagging with fatigue. All she wanted to do was to go back to her bedroom so that she could collapse on the bed. But somebody was now standing in the way.

‘Hello, Maureen.’

She backed away. ‘What do you want?’

‘I saw you go into church with your mother and sister. You were in there for ages. I thought you were never coming out again.’

She raised a palm. ‘I don’t want to talk.’

‘Did you read my letter?’

‘I burnt it.’

‘But I meant what I said, Maureen.’

Neil Beresford had kept her house under observation until he saw her come out with Diane and Lily. After trailing them to the church, he’d waited in a lane on the opposite side of the road. When he saw her mother and sister leave, he knew that he’d have the opportunity to accost Maureen alone. Beresford gave a nervous smile.

‘It’s so good to see you again,’ he said.

‘Leave me alone, Neil.’

‘I’ve thought so much about you.’

‘I want to go home.’

‘And you’ve thought about me as well — admit it.’

‘Yes,’ she said, anger rising, ‘I did think about you and I felt ashamed. What we did was terrible, Neil. It was sinful.’