‘I don’t think Lyde would get away with a tale of that sort.’
French knocked out his pipe. ‘Well, super, there’s the story. I don’t think I’ve forgotten anything. I’m satisfied as to the truth; I’m doubtful as to the proof; and I’m hanged if I can see the motive. Can you?’
Fenning did not reply for some moments. ‘It must have been what you say,’ he answered presently, but there was doubt in his manner. ‘They can’t have got Minter’s key with the camera.’
‘But why not? If they got Norne’s they should have got Minter’s.’
Fenning shook his head. ‘Well,’ he said, ‘we don’t have to prove motive. There’s enough in what you have for a conviction, and more than likely a search of the houses will give us more still. What about bringing those three fellows in before they get wise to our being on to them?’
French moved uneasily. Fenning was justified in demanding an arrest. In fact, he would have been remiss not to. But French didn’t want an arrest: not yet.
‘I dare say you’re right, super,’ he said diplomatically. ‘At the same time I’d rather consider it a bit before making a move. The case isn’t finished.’
‘I know it’s not. But we have enough for an arrest.’
‘In your case, perhaps, yes: in mine, not by any means. As you know, I’ve only got ahead with half mine. What many people would call the most important half hasn’t been touched yet.’
‘You mean the swag?’
‘That’s just what I do mean. Without the swag the case is not finished. With the swag it’s not only done, but we have the most complete proof that anyone could wish.’
‘I agree. But have you any line on its probable position?’
‘I’m afraid not.’
‘Then how will postponing an arrest help matters. Aren’t you more likely to come on it when you’ve got search warrants for the houses?’
‘I doubt very much that it’s in the houses. After all if you look carefully enough, you can find anything in a house. There have been a lot of first-class brains put into this job, and I believe the hiding-place will be equally well thought out. No, super, we’ll not get anything in the houses.’
‘Then what do you propose?’
French instinctively leant forward and sank his voice. ‘I suggest we make them show us the hiding place.’
That Fenning was keenly interested was obvious. ‘My word, if you could do that it would be something like. How would you set about it?’
‘I’ve not thought out a proper scheme, but I suggest somehow giving them the tip that we were on to them. Not on to them exactly, but on to something that would necessarily lead to them. Suppose they saw that they had about a day to escape arrest for murder. Wouldn’t that do the trick?’
‘They’d do a bunk?’
‘Yes, but not without the swag. They’re not going to risk all they’ve risked and be cheated of the reward in the end.’
Fenning was impressed. All the same, he wondered if the chief’s scheme would work. If it failed, he pointed out, they would be much worse off than before. ‘They might get away,’ he ended up, though in so half-hearted a way as to show French he had gained his point.
‘They’ll not get away,’ French returned firmly. ‘We can get them on the boats or ’planes, if we don’t take them before.’
For another hour they discussed the affair. Finally it was settled that as French had provided what would be Fenning’s case for murder, he was entitled to try any experiment he wanted to which would help him in the case for theft.
‘What you’ve said to me was not said officially,’ Fenning concluded, ‘but in a private conversation. I can’t act on it.’
French expressed warm approval, and after some further talk the two men parted. French was to put his proposals before Sir Mortimer Ellison. If the Assistant Commissioner approved, the experiment was to be carried out.
20
Exit Sloley
When French had worked out his plans for recovering the stones, he went in and put them before Sir Mortimer Ellison. The Assistant Commissioner listened without any sign of enthusiasm.
‘It might be worth trying,’ he said doubtfully when French had finished. ‘You’d have to be careful they didn’t give you the slip.’
‘They’ll not do that, sir,’ French returned. ‘We’ll have them properly shadowed, and if by any chance they did break away, we’d get them again at the ports.’
‘I hope you’re right. You’ll want a hell of a lot of help, for if they go, they’ll all go different ways.’
‘I thought of getting Tanner and Willis to help me, if you’re agreeable. We’d each want one or two men to help us in the shadowing.’
Sir Mortimer turned back to the papers he was working on. ‘All right, French,’ he said. ‘Go ahead, and good luck.’
With practically a free hand to do the best he knew, French set to work. First he despatched to all the ports, coastguards, police along the coasts, and air ports, detailed descriptions and photographs of the three men. Unless otherwise instructed, the fugitives were not to be allowed to leave the country. If found attempting to do so, they were to be detained until an officer arrived from the Yard to make formal arrests. To give them a sense of security, however, Lyde’s passport was returned to him, after being marked secretly and carefully photographed. Then French got hold of Inspectors Tanner and Willis, Sergeant Carter, two other sergeants, and three constables. Having arranged that they should be relieved of their other work if and when they were required, he went down to the Norne building and saw Miss Barber.
It did not seem to that lady that French had much motive for his call. He stood there chatting about the weather and complaining about how hard he was worked, and occasionally touching on matters connected with the firm. He was surprised to learn that the directors had not yet come to a decision as to whether they would reconstruct their company, and wondered when they would do so. Miss Barber indicated that they were waiting to see whether French would recover the stolen booty, and delicately conveyed in her manner that if this was all they had to hope for they might as well go ahead and commit financial suicide at once. The next board was on the following Wednesday and the preliminary meeting was being held in two days.
On the second day French was again early on the scene, this time with his helpers. He watched till he saw Sloley and Ricardo go in, waited five minutes, and then went up once again to Miss Barber’s room. Then he asked to see Norne.
Rather reluctantly, it seemed to him, she took in his message. Then she held the door open. ‘Mr Norne will see you.’ In her manner was a suggestion of faint surprise that Mr Norne had nothing better to do with his time.
When French saw Sloley and Ricardo he paused quickly as if he had expected Norne to be alone. Then immediately he went on. ‘I’m sorry, sir, if I’m butting in on a conference. It was you, Mr Norne, I really came to see, but I think you other gentlemen will be equally interested in what I have to say. I’ve got some news at last.’
‘If it’s good news, we’ll be glad of it,’ Norne returned. ‘We’d almost given up hope. Sit down, chief-inspector, and let’s hear it.’
‘I think, gentlemen, you’ll be pleased with what I have to tell you. We’ve not completed our investigation, so you mustn’t expect too much. But I was given to understand that your future policy as to your business would depend on whether or not you recovered your property, and I therefore thought I should advise you immediately if this began to seem likely.’
‘Quite right. If we don’t get the stuff back we’ll be bankrupt. If you think you’re going to get it, you’re dead right to let us know’ Norne looked at his codirectors, both of whom nodded.
French beamed. ‘Well, gentlemen, I think we’re going to get it. We’ve made a discovery that will, I think, have pretty far-reaching results. We’ve found how the thief got the keys.’
Norne and Ricardo seemed interested, but not greatly impressed. Sloley also seemed interested, but Fr
ench noticed that he took out his handkerchief and on the excuse of blowing his nose, kept the lower part of his face covered. French took care to glance at him casually, but no more.
‘It was done,’ French went on, ‘in a very novel and ingenious way. A ciné camera of very high type was arranged so as to photograph the keys being put forward into the lock, and photographs were enlarged, and new keys were cut from the enlargements.’
The three men stared. There was now no doubt of their interest. There were exclamations of surprise, then Norne struck a sceptical note. ‘Oh, come now, chief-inspector, are you sure of that? I’ve been here every time the safe was opened and I’ve seen no camera.’
French smiled. ‘You wouldn’t be likely to do that, sir. I don’t suppose anyone concerned was here when the thing was done. The camera was probably hidden somewhere near the safe and operated electrically from some adjoining room, or perhaps by an invisible ray when you approached the safe. Oh, no, you wouldn’t be allowed to see it being done; neither you nor anyone else.’
‘But how do you know it was done that way?’ Sloley demanded. ‘I must admit it doesn’t strike me as very likely. As a matter of fact, would you get enough detail on such a photograph to cut a key from it? I should have said not.’
‘So should I, sir. So I did, in fact. But our photographic department were convinced of it. They got a camera and tried it on the Assistant Commissioner’s safe, and they surprised him by handing him a key that fitted. He was like you, Mr Sloley, sceptical before that. But he wasn’t sceptical afterwards.’
‘But you haven’t answered my question,’ Sloley persisted. ‘You haven’t explained how you know it was done in that way. I don’t see how you could possibly tell that.’
‘I’m afraid, sir, I can’t answer that as fully as I should like,’ French said with evident regret. ‘It’s from a personal statement, and we always treat such as confidential. But I may tell you this. Acting on information received, I made certain inquiries. I learned that four days before the robbery, a ciné camera was pledged in Dobson & Hall’s pawnshop in Shaftesbury Avenue. These cameras bear a serial number, and I found that it had been bought on September 13th. That means that the thieves bought it early so as to allow time for experimenting, photographed the keys, and then, finding it would be too dangerous a thing to be found in their possession, they got rid of it in as profitable a way as they could. Now, you’ll say, how do I know that this was the camera in question? I’ll tell you. Apart from the significance of the dates, the man who pawned it was undoubtedly trying to pass as Mr Minter.’
‘Minter?’
‘Yes, sir. It wasn’t Mr Minter, but it was very like him, and the clerk in the pawnshop noticed that he was made up.’
Ricardo moved uneasily. ‘I’m sure it’s all right if you say so, chief-inspector, but all that doesn’t sound very convincing to me. How do you know it was Minter that the man was trying to represent?’
‘Because, sir, he left an unsuspected clue to his identity. We are following it up, but so far we’ve not succeeded in getting our hands on him. But you may take it from me that it’s only a question of a very short time. By tomorrow at latest we should have him under lock and key. And as there is reason to believe he was not acting alone, getting his associates also is a foregone conclusion.’
Norne looked at his co-directors. ‘I’m sure it’s very gratifying to hear all this,’ he said with a slight trace of hesitation. ‘I admit it doesn’t sound very convincing to me either, but then I don’t know the detective business. If the chief-inspector assures us that he is on these men’s track, so very much the better. But there’s one thing, Mr French, you haven’t told us. Suppose you get the men: is that any reason to suppose you’ll get the stones?’
‘Yes, that’s the point,’ said Sloley, and Ricardo murmured his agreement.
French was now only anxious to leave. He didn’t want to be asked too many questions, lest he should inadvertently betray his true suspicions. He therefore looked at his watch and said it was later than he had supposed and that he had an appointment which he had only just time to keep.
‘I told you, gentlemen,’ he said, standing up, ‘that I couldn’t guarantee anything absolutely. But I haven’t myself the slightest doubt that we’ll get the men within a few hours, and that when we get them we’ll get the stones very soon after. I think you really may count on that. Certainly don’t contemplate taking any immediate action about your affairs. This is Friday; if you haven’t good news before Monday, I’ll never back my opinion again.’
As he left the building French had to admit to a strong feeling of anxiety. The hook was now baited: would the fish bite? If they did, they would do so at once. The next few hours were likely to be fairly hectic.
French had decided that he, Carter and a constable would shadow Sloley, Tanner and Willis, each with a sergeant and constable, following Sheen and Lyde respectively. He and Carter now got into a police car which was waiting in Kingsway, while Constable Shaw, dressed inconspicuously as a rather respectable loafer, hung about the end of Ronder Lane. Tanner and his helpers were already in position to freeze on to Sheen if and when he came out, and Willis and his men had gone out to Hampstead to watch Sheen’s house for Lyde.
French did not expect any very immediate development. Sloley would probably not leave the office before the end of the meeting, though he might then make a bolt for it. Sheen would have to act even more slowly. It was unlikely that he would go before the evening. In the first place, Sloley would have to get the news to him, and then if Sheen were to start before working hours ended, some excuse for his doing so would have to be devised and put forward. Lyde could probably go at any time after the news had reached him.
It was equally possible, though French thought less likely, that Sloley would take his, French’s, story as a bluff and do nothing. In that case the men would have to be arrested, and the chances of recovering the stones would be greatly lessened.
For upwards of an hour French and Carter sat in the car while Shaw hung about Ronder Lane. An indignant policeman came up to move them on, but vanished ignominiously on a word from French. The traffic flowed steadily past them and still there came no sign. Then suddenly Shaw came out into Kingsway and walked slowly towards the car.
This was the signal that things had begun to move. In a few seconds Sloley appeared, walking in a leisurely way. He also came out into Kingsway and stood watching the traffic. Presently a disengaged taxi hove in sight. Sloley hailed it and was driven off northwards.
Shaw having got into the police car, it followed. The driver was an experienced man, and he put on a spurt which brought his vehicle in close behind Sloley’s when they were stopped at the head of Kingsway. The block ending, both cars moved forward into Southampton Row. The chase continued through Woburn Place, across Euston Road into Seymour Street, and then with a left and right into Euston Station.
French and Shaw left the car in Drummond Street, themselves hurrying after Sloley. They were in time to see him enter one of the telephone booths at the entrance to the central hall. French could see his movements through the glass well enough to note that he made two calls, both short.
When the man emerged French and Shaw were well hidden round the side of the bookstall. The possibility of pursuit did not, however, seem to have entered Sloley’s mind, and without glancing round he disappeared down the Underground steps at the end of No. 6 Platform. The others followed, watched him book, and when he had passed round the next corner, hurried on.
Fortunately, at that time in the day but few people were travelling. French showed his card in at the booking window. ‘Scotland Yard officer,’ he said quickly. ‘Where did that last passenger book to?’
‘Hampstead,’ the clerk said with a look of interest.
‘Another of the same,’ French went on.
He got the ticket, passed it to Shaw, whispered, ‘I’ll go by road,’ and turned back to the main line station, while Shaw took the lift followin
g Sloley’s.
As Hampstead was not far from Sloley’s house, French took the risk of assuming that he was going home. He hurried back to the car and told his man to go all out.
His decision was justified. As they came in sight of the station Sloley emerged and without looking round turned towards his house. A moment later Shaw appeared and in another moment was back in his place on the front seat.
‘Doesn’t know we’re on to him?’ said French.
‘Sure he doesn’t, sir. But he’s looking pretty thoughtful, as if he was up to something.’
‘A bunk, I hope.’
French’s earlier guess proved correct. Sloley went straight to his home. French and his helpers took up an inconspicuous position in a nearby lane to await developments.
The first of these came very soon. Scarcely had they got into place when Lyde appeared. He did not see the watchers, but walked to Sloley’s house and entered.
A couple of minutes later Willis and his two men, looking for cover, entered the lane. This was unexpectedly satisfactory, as it enabled French to explain what was on foot. ‘Sloley evidently called Lyde up from that booth at Euston,’ he went on. ‘He sent two calls and I expect the second was to Sheen. Some prearranged phrase would give the information, so that it wouldn’t matter if the conversation was overheard.’
‘If so, they’re going at once.’
‘It looks like it,’ French agreed. ‘What about the back of the house?’
With their six men they were able to surround the entire grounds. But no attempt was made to give them the slip. They settled down to wait.
Time soon began to drag. The conspirators were evidently in no hurry, and French began to think that his plan was miscarrying and that they were not going to make a bolt. So they waited till shortly after one o’clock.
Then suddenly Sloley and Lyde left the house together, Sloley carrying a small suitcase. They walked to the end of the street, where Sloley turned towards Hampstead Station and Lyde in the opposite direction. French and his men hurriedly resumed their places in their car, while Willis and his helpers quietly faded away.
Crime at Guildford Page 25
