The Londum Omnibus Volume Two (The Londum Series Book 12)

by Tony Rattigan

  Finally, Inspector Corner entered the room and took the seat on the opposite side of the table to Jim. He carried a folder which he placed in front of him and casually flipped it open. He perused the documents inside for a moment then spoke to Jim. ‘You’ve not been in your house for a while, or indeed seen anywhere in Londum. Not at your usual haunts anyway.’

  ‘No that’s right, I’ve been away on business.’

  ‘And what sort of business would that be?’

  ‘Haven’t we had this conversation before, Inspector? I believe I told you then that a gentleman’s business is his own affair, didn’t I?’

  Corner’s toothbrush moustache twitched slightly, as it did when he was getting annoyed, and Jim could see his face go a deeper shade of red. ‘Yes you did, but last time it was just a civil conversation with a potential suspect. This however is a formal questioning regarding a serious offence, taking place with a criminal who is under arrest. So I’m entitled to ask.’

  ‘Innocent until proven guilty, Inspector, innocent until proven guilty. I seem to have to keep reminding you of that.’

  ‘But you are guilty, Mr. Darby ... and I have the evidence to prove that.’

  ‘Oh do enlighten me, Inspector. I can’t wait to see this.’

  Corner took a photograph out of the folder and slid it across the table to Jim. ‘That is a photo of the inside of the clock that was found at the scene of the robbery at Hetheringham Manor. You may remember, I said that I thought that the broken clock being found indicating that the robbery took place at nine o’clock, was a little too convenient for my liking.

  ‘So, as I told you, I had an expert examine the clock and he agreed with me. He doubted that the fall alone would stop the clock even though it smashed the face. On examination he found that a vital cog was missing from the mechanism. He found it rolling around at the bottom of the case. Closer examination showed that it had the marks of a pair of pliers on it. It hadn’t fallen off by accident; it had been deliberately removed to make the clock stop. Which means it could have been done at any time, once the hands of the clock had been wound to the desired time. So there is no evidence whatsoever that the clock was actually broken at nine o’clock, or that it happened during the robbery.’

  ‘You don’t say,’ said Jim, examining the photo.

  ‘Next, we come to shoes.’

  ‘Shoes?’ echoed Jim, puzzled.

  Corner passed Jim another photo which seemed to show a slab of Plaster of Paree with a pair of shoes stuck in it. ‘The local police at Hetheringham Manor aren’t as experienced as we are at Caledonia Yard. We found a pair of footprints that they had overlooked. To be fair to them, it only showed up when the dew outlined it on the grass one morning, when we were searching the Manor grounds, or we would have missed it ourselves.

  ‘It looked like someone had jumped onto the soft ground from a considerable height, say the height of the balcony leading out from the study, where the robbery had taken place. We were able to get a good plaster cast of the imprint. They were from somebody wearing shoes size 10 1/2. What size shoe do you take Mr. Darby?’

  ‘10 1/2, along with about ten percent of all the men in Londum, I would imagine.’

  ‘Yes, but they weren’t all at Hetheringham Manor the night of the burglary, were they?’

  Corner continued his explanation. ‘We approached all the men who were at Hetheringham Manor that evening and if they were the right size, which wasn’t many, we asked them to provide the shoes that they wore to the ball. That is why I got the warrant to search your place, as you weren’t around to provide the shoes voluntarily. And guess what? Yours were a perfect match.’

  ‘Really? That’s fascinating,’ replied Jim, stifling a yawn.

  ‘Yes really. Not just the right size but the wear patterns and the scuff marks on the heel and sole matched exactly to the plaster cast. There is no doubt that they were your shoes.’

  ‘Well, I was there that evening, out in the grounds,’ said Jim. ‘Maybe I just sank down into some soft soil.’

  ‘It would take someone about ten stones heavier than you to just “sink down into some soft soil” in that fashion. You couldn’t have done it unless you jumped down from the balcony.’

  ‘But that’s what must have happened, the walking I mean, not the jumping from the balcony.’

  ‘Hmm,’ said Corner, unconvinced. ‘And lastly, when we were searching your house we found more than your shoes. In one of your dress suits, such as you would have worn to the ball, we found a small leather case, this one in fact,’ Corner said, producing a leather case from his pocket. ‘When we opened it ...’ he undid the strap, ‘to our surprise we found these.’ He opened the case to reveal a set of lock picks. ‘A complete set of burglar’s lock picks! Now how do you suppose that got into your jacket? Just fell into your inside pocket as you were strolling - heavy-footed - around the grounds, perhaps?’

  Jim knew they weren’t the ones he had used that night, he had thrown them in the lake, this was a spare set. However, while not illegal to possess them, it didn’t help any in establishing his innocence.

  ‘Is that it?’Jim asked Corner. ‘Is that all you’ve got? It’s pretty flimsy; after all I do have an alibi.’

  ‘Ah yes, the Honourable Fiona Hetheringham, I was coming to her. As there is now no evidence of what time the robbery actually did take place, then any alibi, such as your being at the speeches given at nine o’clock, will no longer be valid. And as for her accounting for your whereabouts later, well that only works if she isn’t in on the caper.’

  ‘In on the caper? Are you mad?’

  ‘Yes, in on the caper. Supposing she is your accomplice? What if the two of you worked together to steal the necklace from her mother, as in the normal course of events it would be years before she got her hands on it. I suggest she put you up to stealing it in exchange for a share of the profits when you sold it. Is that why you were away on business, selling the necklace? I guess we’ll have to bring her in and ask her, won’t we? Tell me, where have you been lately?’

  ‘I told you, away.’

  ‘Away where? Give me the addresses of the places where you stayed and I’ll have them checked out.’

  ‘I was abroad,’ said Jim, realising that this only made it sound more like he had been disposing of the necklace, but would take longer to check out.

  ‘Where exactly? What country?’

  ‘Flanders and Deutschland.’

  ‘Names of the hotels you stayed at?’

  ‘I forget. But I have all that information back at my place.’

  ‘I see. Well, we’ll collect that later when we search your place again. Now that we have the matching shoes and the lock picks, we have probable cause to do a more detailed search.’

  ‘But you’ve already been through my place thoroughly.’

  ‘No, that was just a casual glance around, as we were only looking for shoes then and just had a cursory look in your safe for the necklace, but this time we can start tearing up the floorboards and digging up the cellar. Should be quite a mess. You’d better hope you haven’t got anything else hidden you wouldn’t like us to find, because find it we shall, make no mistake.’

  ‘You don’t really have much to connect me to the robbery, you know. It won’t stand up in court.’

  ‘No? Well, let’s see, shall we ...?’ Corner counted each point off on his fingers as he spoke. ‘We have you on site on the evening of the burglary, your shoes matching footprints found at the scene of the crime, a set of burglar’s tools found amongst your clothing and your only alibi comes from a possible accomplice.’ He waggled his four fingers at Jim.

  ‘It’s not enough to convince a jury, you know,’ Jim told him.

  ‘No, but it’s enough to convince me and that’s good enough. I’ll just keep chipping away at you. Chipping away, chipping away until I have all the evidence I need to convict you. Or alternately, we could bring in the Honourable Fiona and question her until she cracks, and you’ll
be done up like a kipper! Well, what do you have to say about that, Mr. Clever Darby?’

  Jim paused for a moment and then said, ‘Do you think I could get some biscuits with my tea next time? I’m rather fond of custard creams, if there’s any going.’

  Corner’s moustache twitched as he gathered up his folder and the leather case then stood up to leave. Jim enjoyed his moment of Inspector Corner’s discomfort and then made his next tactical move. He had had his fun, now it was time to take a step back and to allow his opponent a small win, to make him think that he was leading the dance. Basic psychology really, which Jim was quite good at. He may be an amateur but he understood people. Always let the other guy think he is ahead on points, until the time comes to add up the score.

  Jim reached into his waistcoat pocket and taking out a business card slid it across to Inspector Corner. ‘This has all been very entertaining but I’d like to see my solicitor now, please.’

  ‘Lawyering up, eh? We’ve obviously got you worried.’ Corner smiled to himself, picked up the card and let himself out of the interview room.

  ***

  Next day, Jim was in the interview room once more. He had been brought back from the cells as Mr. Roper had arrived at the Yard. It seems that Inspector Corner had taken his time about passing on Jim’s request for his solicitor and it wasn’t delivered until it was too late for Mr. Roper to go to him. Jim wasn’t fussed at spending a night in the cells, the Gods knew he had slept in much worse places than that, in his life.

  When they met, Jim had looked at him and asked, ‘Did you bring it?’ to which Mr. Roper had nodded and patted his briefcase.

  They were then left alone in the interview room to confer and leaned their heads together and spoke in low voices to avoid being heard through the mesh.

  Jim filled Mr. Roper in on everything that Corner had told him they had against him and how he aimed to turn Fiona against him, to obtain a conviction.

  ‘Why are you still here?’ asked Mr. Roper. ‘With this,’ he patted his briefcase again, ‘you could leave anytime.’

  ‘I am under arrest, you know. I can’t just walk out. Besides, I wanted to see just how much of a case they have against me. It’s pretty slim but the clincher will be if they can get someone to testify against me, although if they do that they will then incriminate themselves, which will ruin them in society.

  ‘I’ll need to try and turn this around so that she is in the clear. So I want you to follow my lead and back me up, no matter what I do. Don’t interfere by trying to defend me, you got that?’

  ‘Err, yes okay. I don’t understand where you’re going with this but you’re the client, so what you say, goes.’

  After a while Inspector Corner came into the room. Jim asked him, ‘Any chance of a cup of tea for Mr. Roper and me? And some biscuits perhaps?’

  For once Corner didn’t start to colour up, he must have thought he had Jim over the proverbial barrel and could afford to go along with his little games, as it would make it that much more amusing when he finally dropped the hammer on him. He waved to the constable accompanying him, who went off to get some tea and biscuits.

  When the tea had arrived and they were all settled, Corner began.

  ‘I trust your client has told you the case we have against him and all the evidence to back it up.’

  ‘Yes, my client has and I must agree with him that it doesn’t amount to much.’

  ‘That’s because we haven’t finished our investigation yet. We have enough evidence to hold him but I agree ... possibly not enough to convict. For that we are relying on something more substantial.’

  ‘Such as?’ asked Mr. Roper.

  ‘A confession from an accomplice, incriminating Mr. Darby.’

  ‘I’ve told you, Fiona Hetheringham is not an accomplice,’ stated Jim.

  ‘So you say. But let’s see how she stands up under interrogation. It may be all right for you to cope with, you’ve obviously done this sort of thing many times before and I have to admit, grudgingly of course, that you conduct yourself rather well. But let’s see how she does, eh? Let’s see if attending all those balls have readied her for this. Let’s see how her girl’s school education has prepared her for a night in the cells. Let’s see if being sent away to boarding school has prepared her for doing several years in prison. How do you think she’ll hold up?’

  ‘That’s not very gentlemanly, Inspector,’ Jim admonished him.

  ‘Well, I’m not a gentleman, not like you toffs. I come from the back streets of Londum and had to work hard to get where I am now, it wasn’t given to me on a plate, like some people I could mention.’

  Jim, who was born in the worst part of Londum, the East End, had been put into a workhouse with his mother when he was small and from which he had finally escaped and travelled the world, working harder to make his fortune than this policeman ever had, literally digging it out of the ground with a pick and a shovel, in the gold and diamond mines of South Afreeka. Jim could have taken offence at what Corner had said but that would have meant revealing his past and he usually kept that to himself.

  Instead he just said, ‘Ah, is that what this is all about?’

  ‘What do you mean by that?’

  ‘Tell me Inspector, why do you have such a bee in your bonnet about me?’

  ‘All right, I’ll tell you. I see crooks and thieves all day long in my business. I don’t like them or respect them but I can understand them, mostly they are just stealing to put bread on the table and feed their families.

  ‘And then there are people like you, rich and privileged who steal just for sport, you don’t need the money. Jewel thefts, cheating at cards, stock swindles, bank embezzlements, it’s all just a game to you and your kind, isn’t it? I should be out catching murderers and rapists but instead I have to chase around after you spoilt, upper-class twits. Well, your Great Game is over, now I’m going to put an end to it!’

  Jim lit a cigarette and waited until Corner had calmed down. What could Corner know about his life, or indeed Fiona’s? Judging them on outside appearances. Well, the little man was now going to get his comeuppance.

  Glancing at Mr. Roper to alert him he was going to make his move, Jim asked Corner, ‘What will it take to keep Fiona out of this?’

  Corner smiled to himself and then replied, ‘Only a full and frank confession by yourself that you were totally responsible for the theft of the Hetheringham Necklace. If I get that, I will leave the Honourable Fiona out of this. You can take that option or I will visit the full force of the law on both of you. It’s up to you. Choose carefully.’

  ‘And how do I know you’ll keep your word?’ asked Jim. ‘For all I know, once you have my confession you may still charge her as an accessory anyway.’

  ‘Isn’t my word good enough?’

  ‘No, I’m afraid I’d want something more concrete than that.’

  ‘Okay, how about an affidavit signed by the Chief Inspector that investigations have shown that Fiona Hetheringham had no part in the robbery, whatsoever? Would that suffice?’

  Jim looked at Mr. Roper who agreed that that would be acceptable. ‘Very well, it seems like you have me cornered, Inspector.’ Jim couldn’t resist the pun. ‘Provide me with the affidavit and I’ll confess.’

  ***

  Several cups of tea and many cigarettes later, Inspector Corner returned to the interview room where Jim and Mr. Roper awaited him. He handed the document to Mr. Roper and sat back down at the table. ‘There you have it, a sworn statement signed by the Chief Inspector that investigation shows that the Honourable Fiona Hetheringham was not in any way connected to the robbery. Satisfied?’

  Jim looked at Mr. Roper who finished checking it and then nodded. Corner sat back in his chair and folded his hands across his stomach. It occurred to Jim that this was like a card game, one where each of the players thought they knew what the other player was holding, and both convinced that their own cards were the winning hand.

  ‘So?’
said Corner. ‘Do I have a confession?’

  Jim sighed and let his shoulders droop. ‘Yes. I confess. I admit it, I stole the Hetheringham Necklace.’

  ‘And where is the necklace now?’

  ‘I sold it to a fence, when I was abroad,’ he lied.

  ‘And the Bachman robbery, where our paths first crossed? Did you do that as well?’

  ‘The deal was that I would confess to the Hetheringham robbery, nothing else.’

  ‘Well ... we’ll let that go, it’s not important.’ Corner slid the pad and pencil that he had been using across the table to Jim. ‘I want you to write down everything about the robbery, who conceived it, when you planned it, how you did it. I want- ’

  ‘Er, excuse me one moment, Inspector,’ Jim interrupted him and held out his hand to his solicitor. ‘Mr. Roper, the envelope, if you please.’

  Mr. Roper opened his briefcase and took out an envelope which he passed to Jim. Jim opened it and removed a document which he studied for a moment before spinning it around so it faced the inspector and sliding it across the table to him.

  ‘What’s this?’ asked the inspector, reddening slightly.

  Jim normally had a great deal of respect for the Albion police, they were just doing their job after all, and though they might be an inconvenience sometimes to him personally, they did a good job of protecting the ordinary citizens from the worst of the filth out there in Londum. However, after Inspector Corner’s little rant at him earlier, Jim had decided that while he might have let another policeman down more gently, Corner deserved no such consideration and so he was just going to abruptly pull the rug out from underneath him, and watch him fall on his arse.

  So he told him, ‘I’ll admit you probably don’t see many of these so I’ll explain it for you.’ As he listed each item on the document, he pointed them out individually.