Peril on the Royal Train

by Edward Marston

  With a savage blow to the jaw, Leeming finally subdued him.

  ‘Who the devil are you?’ he demanded.

  ‘I live here,’ said the man.

  When he saw that Madeleine had drawn all that she could out of their guest, Colbeck took a cab to the address that Victor Leeming had given him. After introducing himself to Mary Burnell’s father, he explained that she’d suffered a dreadful shock when she visited her friend. Burnell was horrified to hear the details. On the cab ride back to Colbeck’s house, he talked of the trust that he and his wife had placed in the man they called Alfred Penn. They’d found him thoroughly decent, reliable and generous to their daughter. Colbeck didn’t disillusion him. Recriminations would come later when Mary and her father learnt Alfred Penn’s real name and his true occupation. For the time being, they both needed to be protected from a second thunderbolt. It would have destroyed them.

  Reaching the house, they saw that Mary was much calmer than she had been. The sight of her father made her get up from the sofa and stagger over to him. Enfolding her in his arms, he stroked her hair with a soothing hand. Her time with Madeleine had helped her to regain her composure but all that she wanted to do was to go back home. Colbeck escorted them out to the waiting cab and waved them off. He then went back into the house and gave his wife a fuller explanation of what had happened and who the murder victim was.

  ‘He’s a convicted criminal?’ she said in astonishment. ‘Mary talked about him as if he were some kind of saint.’

  ‘Nobody whose house he burgled would subscribe to that view of him.’

  ‘He took her in completely.’

  ‘Evidently,’ said Colbeck, ‘he was a persuasive man. Yet while he had an influence on her, Mary had made a profound impact on him. One could see that from the painting I just told you about. He was clearly enthralled by her.’

  ‘It’s not difficult to see why, Robert. She’s very beautiful.’

  ‘Many men would have had designs on her.’

  ‘Scanlan behaved like a perfect gentleman. That’s what set him apart from the others. Her parents approved of the friendship.’ Madeleine sucked her teeth. ‘Both they and Mary will be devastated when they learn the truth.’

  ‘I tried to postpone that awful moment. But tell me what she said, Madeleine.’

  ‘A lot of it was repetition. She was still reeling from the discovery she made at the house. Mary said that it was a special occasion. Her friend was due to receive a lot of money today as a result of a business venture. He’d promised her a gift.’

  ‘The business venture was almost certainly the burglary at Mr Renwick’s house,’ said Colbeck. ‘Instead of being paid by the man who hired him, he was silenced for good. It was unfortunate that she was due there this evening.’

  ‘Were there no servants in the house?’

  ‘I saw none when I was there.’

  ‘So they would have been alone when she got there.’

  ‘That speaks volumes for the amount of trust she had in him.’

  ‘It went beyond trust, Robert,’ said Madeleine. ‘She worshipped the man. Mary nursed the hope that they might one day marry.’

  ‘At least she’s been rescued from that fate. It would have been a marriage built on shifting sand. Scanlan’s luck would have run out sooner or later. He’d have been imprisoned and Mary would have seen how ruinously naive she’d been.’

  ‘She’ll realise that anyway in due course.’

  ‘I fear that she will,’ said Colbeck, ‘but it’s a question of degree. The unmasking of a dear friend is of a different order to the exposure of a husband in whom one has reposed all one’s love and hope. However,’ he went on, glancing at the clock on the mantelpiece, ‘I must return to Scotland Yard. The superintendent will expect a report on the latest developments.’

  ‘Will you tell him about my involvement?’

  ‘I think not, Madeleine. He’d never accept that a woman could be of such value in the investigative process and he’d chide me for not taking Mary Burnell straight to him.’ After giving her a kiss, he headed for the door. ‘By the time I get there, Victor will have finished his search of the house. I have every hope that he’ll have found something of interest to us.’

  Leeming usually stayed as far away from Tallis’s office as he could and always felt uneasy when summoned there. On this occasion, however, he went willingly because he had a prisoner in tow and could expect praise. The man who’d attacked him at the house was Ned Layne, servant and cook to Scanlan. When he heard that his master had been murdered, he refused to say anything. After handcuffing him, Leeming hauled him off to Scotland Yard. Surly and uncooperative, Layne sat on a chair in Tallis’s office while Leeming and the superintendent stood over him. When they fired questions at him, they got no response.

  ‘Withholding information from the police is a crime,’ said Tallis, ‘and you are in enough trouble as it is. You’re the accomplice of a notorious villain.’

  Layne gave a dismissive shrug. Being in police custody held no fears for him. It was clearly not the first time that he’d been questioned by detectives.

  ‘Speak up, man!’ yelled Tallis.

  ‘May I ask him something, sir?’ ventured Leeming.

  ‘It would be a waste of time, whatever you ask.’

  ‘It’s worth a try, Superintendent.’

  Leeming looked down at him. The fight with Layne had left him with sore knuckles and an ugly bruise on his face but the servant had come off worst. Layne had lost a couple of teeth in the encounter and one eye was half-closed.

  ‘I don’t blame you for jumping on me like that,’ said Leeming. ‘You thought I was an intruder and you tried to protect your master’s property. That’s what any servant should have done. But, as I told you, Patrick Scanlan was murdered. Do you want the same thing to happen to you?’ Layne sat up as if paying attention for the first time. ‘Your master burgled the home of a Mr Renwick. Does that name ring a bell with you?’ Layne shook his head vigorously. ‘Don’t lie to us.’

  ‘I’ve never heard of a Mr Renwick,’ said Layne, finding his tongue at last. ‘My master never tells me where he’s going when he leaves the house.’

  ‘But you know that he’s up to no good.’

  ‘I do what I’m paid for.’

  ‘I’m sure that you do,’ said Leeming, ‘and, in return for your wage, you keep your mouth shut about Scanlan’s activities. But this burglary was not the same as the others. It was part of a much bigger crime.’

  ‘That’s why your life is in danger,’ said Tallis, relieved that they finally got the man to talk. ‘Had you been at the house, you’d have been killed as well.’

  ‘I’ve done nothing!’ protested Layne.

  ‘You’re an accessory to a crime – to a series of crimes, probably.’

  ‘But the one that concerns us,’ said Leeming, ‘occurred at the home of Archibald Renwick. Someone was ready to pay a lot of money to your master because they knew of his reputation. But it seems as if they didn’t honour their side of the bargain. Instead of getting his reward, he was killed. The man who hired your master will be looking for you now because you could bear witness against him.’

  ‘But that burglary was nothing to do with me,’ asserted Layne.

  ‘You knew about it. That’s enough.’

  ‘All I know is that a man came and offered my master four hundred guineas to break into a house. He gave a deposit at the start and was due to pay the rest of the money today. That’s why Miss Burnell was invited.’

  ‘She’s the young lady who found the body, sir,’ said Leeming to the superintendent. He swung instantly back to Layne. ‘Think about this. People who can afford four hundred guineas obviously have a lot of money at their disposal. If they can hire the most successful burglar in the city, they can also hire the most efficient killer. He’s already disposed of your master. You are his next victim.’

  ‘Unless you help us to catch him first,’ said Tallis.

  ‘B
ut I don’t know who he is,’ bleated Layne.

  ‘You know who came to the house with the offer of money.’

  ‘Yes,’ said Leeming, ruefully. ‘You wouldn’t have treated him the way you treated me, would you? He wouldn’t have been assaulted. No, you’d have let him in the front door and overheard what he said to your master. It’s not a large house. It would have been easy for you to eavesdrop.’

  ‘What was the name of the man who came?’ asked Tallis.

  ‘What did he look like?’

  ‘Did he say why he wanted that particular house burgled?’

  ‘Was he alone when he came?’

  ‘How did Scanlan pass on the information he’d gleaned from the safe?’

  ‘Why didn’t they pay him there and then?’

  ‘Tell us everything you know, Layne.’

  ‘It’s the only way to make sure you stay alive,’ said Leeming, meaningfully.

  Layne was scared. Though his master was a man well able to take care of himself, he’d nevertheless been murdered in his own home. Being in police custody was no guarantee of safety. If they really wanted Layne dead, it could be arranged somehow. The only way to remove the threat was to help in the search for the killer. Having spent a lifetime hating and avoiding the police, Layne now had to work with them.

  ‘Very well,’ he said, morosely. ‘I’ll tell you what I know.’

  The telescope was the most expensive thing he’d ever bought but it had already proved its worth. Having delighted Bella Drew, it enabled him to see something in the distance that he’d have missed with the naked eye. Time spent alone with Bella was too precious to be wasted on anything else but Jamie Farr didn’t forget what he’d spied from the top of the hill. Early next morning, therefore, he set off for a walk with his dog. It was not long before he had company. A cry made him turn and he saw Bella struggling to catch up with him. Waving his tail excitedly, Angus went to meet her and ran in circles around her. When she reached Farr, he embraced her warmly.

  ‘I thought ye couldnae get away today,’ he said.

  ‘I’m off to my grannie’s but I wanted to catch ye first.’

  ‘Well, I’m glad ye came.’ The dog barked. ‘So is Angus.’

  ‘Where are ye going, Jamie?’

  ‘Can’t ye guess?’

  ‘No,’ she said.

  He held up the telescope. ‘Have ye forgotten what we saw yesterday?’

  ‘Ah, ye mean those people oot for a drive.’

  ‘Tha’ were no’ a drive, Bella.’

  ‘Then why were they there?’

  ‘I’m hoping to find tha’ oot.’

  Her face brightened. ‘D’ye think it’s to do with yon crash?’

  ‘Aye, it might be.’

  ‘What do ye hope to find?’

  ‘I ken what I’d like to find,’ he said, ‘and tha’s a way to earn the reward. I’m doing this for us, Bella.’

  By way of reply, she hugged and kissed him. Then she stepped back.

  ‘I’m away to my grannie’s,’ she said. ‘Guid luck, Jamie.’

  ‘Thank ye.’

  He waved her off and she went running off across the grass with her hair streaming behind her. Angus pursued her for the best part of a hundred yards then he responded to the shepherd’s whistle and raced back to him. Farr continued his walk downhill until he reached the area where he’d seen the trap. It meant that he had to walk beside the railway line and that soon proved dangerous. He heard the train long before he saw it, its wheels making the rails sing of its approach. When it came, it did so with a burst of speed and an explosion of noise, rattling south with its passengers gazing out of the window at the sight of Farr and his dog cowering only yards away. Suddenly it was gone, leaving smoke, smell and resounding clamour in its wake.

  The train had ignited all of Farr’s resentment and hatred. He remembered the lamb butchered on the line and the countless times when the fierce passage of a train had terrified his flock. Yet he was helping in the search for those who’d caused the crash. Part of him was still disgusted at that. But his ambition was strong enough to overcome that disgust. He put his hopes of a future with Bella Drew before anything.

  With Angus at his heels, he followed the tracks made by the trap on the previous day. They soon veered away from the line and he lost sight of it as he climbed upwards. There were occasional glimpses of it between the bushes but, even when it was invisible, he was aware of its presence. The tracks stopped near a stand of trees and the stony ground beyond bore no marks of it at all. Farr was about to walk on when he heard the dog snuffling among the trees. Angus yelped and the shepherd ran to see what he’d found.

  There were ruts in the soft ground but they hadn’t been made by the trap. They were too deep and wide. A bigger and heavier vehicle had been there recently. Farr’s search had yielded something important. He needed to tell Inspector Colbeck.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  They arrived punctually at Buckingham Palace but they were kept waiting for over half an hour. It gave Colbeck the opportunity to tell Archibald Renwick about the events of the previous day. Renwick listened, open-mouthed in horror. He was still burning with guilt at the thought that he’d indirectly provided the conspirators with information about the royal family that could put them in dire peril. It gave him no satisfaction to hear that the man who’d burgled his house had been murdered. The fate of Patrick Scanlan simply made him realise what they were up against.

  ‘These people will stoop to anything,’ he said.

  ‘We’ll be ready for them.’

  ‘How can you defend the royal family against such a threat?’

  ‘That’s something we must discuss with Prince Albert,’ said Colbeck. ‘And distressing as the death of Scanlan has been, it has strengthened my belief that he was only a pawn in a much bigger game of which he was totally unaware.’

  ‘I’m pleased that his servant agreed to help you.’

  ‘It was more a case of helping himself, Mr Renwick. Self-interest was what impelled Ned Layne to volunteer information. He’s a marked man. Until we catch whoever killed his master, he lives in constant danger.’

  ‘What did he tell you?’

  ‘I was not present at the interview,’ replied Colbeck. ‘It was conducted by Superintendent Tallis and Sergeant Leeming. It seems that they scared the story out of him. Layne remembered that two men called at the house. He gave a good description of them, though only one of them spoke.’

  ‘Why was that?’

  ‘One can only guess. The other man, who did all the talking, had a Scots accent.’

  ‘What was their proposition?’

  ‘They weren’t allowed to make it at first,’ explained Colbeck, ‘because Scanlan claimed that his name was Alfred Penn and that they’d come to the wrong address. He was naturally suspicious of strangers. When they offered him a large fee for services rendered, however, the temptation was too great to resist. He admitted that he was indeed the man they sought. Before he agreed to go ahead, however, he insisted on visiting your house to see how easy it would be to get inside.’

  Renwick was flabbergasted. ‘You mean that he went there twice?’

  ‘The initial visit was only a reconnaissance. He entered the premises to find out where the safe was located then slipped quietly away into the night.’

  ‘I daren’t tell that to my wife,’ said Renwick, anxiously. ‘Isobel would never sleep soundly again if she knew that this rogue was prowling around our house at will like that. Is there no way to protect ourselves against such a man?’

  ‘Now that he’s dead that need won’t arise, but I would advise that one of your servants sleeps on the ground floor. Up in the attic rooms, they’ll hear nothing.’

  ‘That’s good counsel, Inspector.’

  ‘Even if someone had been sleeping downstairs,’ said Colbeck, ‘they might not have been roused by the intruder. Scanlan moved like a ghost, apparently. He told his servant that the task would be relatively simple but his
paymasters heard a different story. Scanlan pretended that it would be extremely difficult to open your safe and demanded an extra hundred guineas. They agreed.’

  ‘So this fellow, Layne, met them on two occasions?’

  ‘Yes, he let them in and made sure that he overheard most of what was said. It’s a precaution that Scanlan always took when strangers visited the house. He got his servant to listen in case there was any whiff of trouble.’

  ‘Did both men speak on their second visit?’

  ‘No – it was only the one. The same man remained silent.’

  ‘Was he dumb?’

  ‘I can’t answer that question,’ said Colbeck. ‘Interestingly, Layne had the feeling that the silent man was the person in charge. It was he who handed over the first payment to Scanlan.’

  ‘What else did the servant disclose?’

  ‘I think you’ve heard the gist of it, sir. Layne is not the most articulate of men. Hopefully, when he’s had time to think things over, he’ll remember more details that will be of use to us. Meanwhile, he’s cooling his heels behind bars.’

  ‘I’m disappointed that Sergeant Leeming found nothing at the house itself.’

  ‘It was not for want of trying. He searched high and low – until Layne came in and attacked him, that is. Anything of real use to us is probably locked in the safe.’

  ‘Was there no key?’

  ‘None that we found,’ said Colbeck. ‘Unfortunately, the man who could have opened it without a key was lying dead on the floor. I’ve sent word to the Chubb factory and given precise details of the safe. I’ve requested that they send someone capable of opening it.’

  ‘Legally, that is.’

  ‘Indeed, sir.’

  ‘I’ve rather lost faith in the professed excellence of Chubb safes.’