Racing the Devil
Page 35
“It’s a very good thing you did.” Rutledge watched him walk away. And he found himself thinking that Gage, with his promotion to Inspector, had lost touch with the constable he’d once been.
It was quite late when he got back to East Dedham.
But he was no longer bone-tired. Instead, it was with a brisk step that he walked back into the police station and went down the passage to where Barnes was asleep on his cot.
Without compunction, Rutledge woke him.
“I can’t prove beyond a shadow of doubt that you killed Wright or Major Holt. I can’t prove you ran Captain Standish off the road high above Nice. Not with any certainty. Not if you have an astute barrister.”
Silent, Barnes regarded him with what was surely a smugness born of his belief in his own cleverness.
Breaking his silence, he said, “You’re setting me free. Thank you. I shall speak to my solicitors about ruining what’s left of your career.”
Rutledge let him enjoy his momentary sense of triumph.
And then he went on. “But I can show evidence that you abducted Jem Meadows, and tried to drown Elizabeth Wilding, mistaking her in the dark for Ivy Brown. And I can now prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that you killed Mr. Ferris and took his place at the rectory. It doesn’t matter, you can only hang once. But hang you will for that. Good night, Sergeant Barnes. I wish you pleasant dreams of the rope.”
He turned on his heel and left the cell, left the station.
There was still much to do, the inquests to complete. But Rutledge felt vindicated. He had wanted to kill Barnes with his bare hands, there in the chalk tunnel that was Parson Dolby’s Hole. But now the law would see to that for him, and there would be justice done, of a sort. It wouldn’t bring back Holt or Wright, Ferris or Grant, it couldn’t restore Standish’s hand, or even shorten Jem Meadows’s nightmares. It would not bring back Elizabeth Wilding’s happiness. Such tragedies couldn’t be undone.
There was never any way to restore what had been lost.
At least the world would be shown who was behind that loss, and know that it was over, once and for all.
It was the best that he, Rutledge, could do to make amends.
He went to Dr. Hanby’s surgery and arranged the release of the Rector’s body, to allow the Bishop or possibly even Stapleton, who had known Wright, to make arrangements for a funeral.
And before he could leave East Dedham, he had a promise to keep to Elizabeth Wilding.
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Acknowledgments
Our gratitude—as always—to Pauline and Brian, who found the crooked road we needed for the Rector’s car crash.
Everything else grew out of that find, because we had our setting on the cliffs.
And our thanks to Linda, who found a missing link. Her sharp eye and willingness to scramble about like a mountain goat to get just the right photograph often saves the day.
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About the Author
CHARLES TODD is the New York Times bestselling author of the Inspector Ian Rutledge mysteries, the Bess Crawford mysteries, and two stand-alone novels. A mother-and-son writing team, they live on the East Coast.
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About the Publisher
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Table of Contents
Cover
Title Page
Also by Charles Todd
Copyright
Dedication
Contents
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
Acknowledgments
About the Author
About the Publisher