by Jack Murray
Hadleigh nodded but he was no longer smiling. In fact, far from smiling, his face revealed a deeper sadness.
Kit turned to face the rest of the room. He stood up from the table and walked over to Hadleigh’s book case. He lifted a volume from the shelf. It was Thomas Mann’s Buddenbrooks.
‘When I was last here I had a feeling we’d met before, but I couldn’t quite place where or when. Then I remembered seeing all those books in German in your library. You were there weren’t you? During the War. You were working for the,’ Kit paused for a moment before saying, ‘Foreign Office. I can remember now. You were with my contact when I was given the false papers that got me into the German army. You looked a bit different then, of course, the beard, the glasses. Simple enough disguise but it certainly changed your appearance.’
Hadleigh said nothing but there was a sadness in his eyes. He’d met so many young men doing what Kit had done. So many brave young men. He could cry thinking of them. Sometimes, alone in the cell, he did.
‘I can only guess at this point, but you either offered your services to the country or they came to you. I suspect the former. In return for using your exceptional talents, Raven, they offered you an amnesty of sorts. I suspect your incarceration will be over soon. I think that just about covers it except for the last, and I suppose, most important item on the agenda.’
‘You want the diamonds back.’ This was Hadleigh. It wasn’t a question.
‘Yes, I think they’ve probably served their purpose now. The Chief Inspector, young Ryan and Mr Bulstrode can receive deserved acclaim for wrapping some of the case up and Miss Hadleigh can return to a normal life, without any stain on her character.’
The room seemed to turn, as one, to Raven Hadleigh. The smile returned to his face and he walked over to a small cigar box, sitting on his desk. Opening the box, he extracted from it three small diamond necklaces.
‘You’ll be wanting these. You know it was always my intention to return them,’ explained Hadleigh.
‘Damn right Raven,’ said Geddes which brought a ripple of laughter from Kit, Jellicoe and Mary.
Hadleigh walked over to Jellicoe and was about to hand him the necklaces when Ryan stepped forward and took them. In the shocked silence, Ryan stepped back. He was holding a gun.
‘I’m sorry, but I need to take these. Mr Geddes, can you me give your car keys? Major Hastings, I’d like the keys to this cell also. Now, if you please.’
Moments later Ryan walked out of the room, locking the door behind him. The guard at the outer door greeted him as he walked through.
‘I think Major Hastings would like some tea brought down to the cell. Can you organise please?’
‘Yes sir,’ said the guard.
Chapter 31
Sally Ryan was living the worst of nightmares. She could barely breathe, she couldn’t stop crying and now, she was shaking with fear. Her world was crashing around her. Nothing Joe Ryan could say was of consolation. Curled up in on the family sofa, the sobs wracked her body like electric shocks. Joe Ryan felt like he was dying. Their little boy. Gone. He wanted to run out into the street and kick in every door from here to the Elephant and Castle. The rage, the frustration and the fear mixed and washed around his body before crashing like waves against a cliff.
All he could do was try to console the inconsolable. And wait. And hope. It was up to Ben now. He knew what he was asking of Ben would end his career and put his freedom in jeopardy. Equally, he knew Ben wouldn’t think twice. He didn’t blame Ben for what had happened. How could he? Ben had given so much to them over the last year. Without him, well, it didn’t bear thinking about. Little Ben wouldn’t have made it this far without the drugs that Ben’s money had purchased.
He wasn’t sure if Sally would feel the same. This had been such a shock to her. The idea that they had taken Ben because they couldn’t take Caroline would eventually rise to the surface. How this would affect her in the future would be an issue whatever happened. All he could do now was wait for Ben to come.
Around mid-morning there was a knock on the door. Then a banging.
‘Joe, open up.’
Ryan went to the door and opened it, he couldn’t believe what he saw.
-
The man running towards the car, Alfred recognised as the young detective from the other night. He got out of the car as it was clear, he was running towards the Rolls. When he reached Alfred, the detective spoke.
‘Quick, Lord Aston wants us to deliver a message. I’ll show you were. Quickly. We can’t wait a second longer.’
Recognising the urgency, crying at the thought of yet more time without eating, Alfred climbed back into the car and started the engine. Within a few seconds the car sped off towards the gates.
‘What’s happening sir?’ asked Alfred.
‘We have to deliver a package to someone near Elephant and Castle.’
With that the detective sat back and stared out the window leaving Alfred in an unappealing state of hunger and curiosity.
-
‘I’m off,’ announced Johnny Mac at last.
‘What?’ expostulated Rusk. ‘What do you mean you’re off? You mean I have to stay with this snot machine? Why don’t you stay, and I go?’
‘Division of labour. You should read Marx.’
‘Mark who?’
Johnny Mac shook his head and stood up. He smiled that terrible smile and said, ‘Some are born to lead, others to follow. Wipe his bloody nose. I’m sick to death of seeing all that stuff. I want to see if there is any sign of lover boy.’
With this advice hanging in the air like an unwelcome farm smell, Johnny Mac stalked out of the room, scattering a few pigeons who were feeding on, what looked for all the world, like a dead rat.
Johnny Mac descended several flights of stairs. The sound of the machines grew louder as he neared the factory floor. Finally he went through a door which led to a corridor and his office. He picked up the phone and rang a number. A moment later he asked the operator to put him through to another number. Finally someone picked it up.
‘Any sign?’ The man on the other end of the line answered. ‘Fine. I’ll call every half hour.’
He put the phone down and let out a few oaths. He was on edge, that was for sure. This was not something he wanted Rusk to see. The man was already in a big enough funk as it was. The next few hours were going to go slowly. But then, life would become so much easier. He’d get out of London. Maybe go to the continent. Better yet, America. Start over. Start over as a rich man.
This was the plan, anyway.
-
Kit looked at Jellicoe. The Chief Inspector’s face was impassive: neither shock nor dismay. Interesting, thought Kit. Also, for another time, perhaps. Bulstrode had exploded with anger and gone straight to the door followed by Brickhill. Both were banging the door for all they were worth.
Kit looked at Hastings.
‘Have you a spare set of keys on you?’
‘No,’ admitted Hastings. ‘I hadn’t considered the possibility that we would be incarcerated by a member of the police.’
‘Nor I,’ replied Kit. He then turned to Raven Hadleigh. “I don’t suppose we can call upon your talents.’
Hadleigh was clearly angry. The events had been as unwelcome as they were unexpected. It was obvious Hadleigh knew, and even approved of, the romance between his daughter and the young policeman. One look at the numbed astonishment on her face was enough for Hadleigh. He wanted to get hold of Ryan. Preferably by the neck.
He went over to his desk and opened a drawer, pulling from it a small pouch. He extracted what looked like thin metal files, he marched over to the door.
‘Out of the way,’ ordered the prisoner to the policeman and the guard. He knelt down and began to pick the lock. It took eleven seconds.
‘I’m slowing down,’ muttered Hadleigh. ‘Come on.’
Kit looked at Mary. She raised her eyebrows and had a half smile. She walked over to Caroline to conso
le her. Meanwhile Kit headed quickly towards the door also alongside Geddes and Hastings. They all ran into the poor guard carrying a tray of tea.
‘What in the blazes are you doing?’ shouted Brickhill.
‘The detective told me to bring in some tea.’
‘Jesus wept,’ said Bulstrode, wiping milk off his suit.
The group made their way upstairs to the office of Hastings. Jellicoe turned to the, clearly disgruntled and wet, Bulstrode and said, ‘Will your man be at the Yard now?’
‘Yes,’ replied Bulstrode sourly.
Jellicoe dialled a number and waited a moment and asked to be put through to a number at Scotland Yard.
While they waited Kit looked at Jellicoe and said, ‘Do you know why he took the diamonds?’
Jellicoe returned Kit’s gaze. Everyone who had been in the cell downstairs was now in the office. All eyes were on Jellicoe. Finally, the Chief Inspector said one word before finally being put through.
‘Yes.’
-
The estimable sergeant Wellbeloved made it into Scotland Yard mid-morning. It had been a late night. A very late night, in fact. A few hours of sleep and back to the office. He trooped in wearily. One policeman smiled at the unshaven, bleary-eyed sergeant and said, ‘Good afternoon sarge.’
Wellbeloved’s two, single syllable word reply was lost in the noise of the reception area of the office. He wanted to be back in his bed. Soon. Blindly he made his way up to the office, ignoring one cheery ‘hullo’ after another. His only words were to a secretary in an outer office.
‘Get me a tea.’
Theresa Malloy, a Dubliner, recently arrived in London looked up at the half-dead policeman. Like Wellbeloved, she also had experienced a late night. Unlike Wellbeloved, it involved a significantly greater intake of alcohol than the teetotal detective had probably imbibed over his two score years. Consequently, she was in a bit of a mood. An already short fuse was considerably shorter on this particular morning.
Sturdily built, she would have made the light heavyweight division comfortably. Standing up to her full six feet, which, unusually, was actually taller than Wellbeloved, the hungover Amazonian put her face inches away from his and let rip a volley of abuse.
Wellbeloved recoiled, as much from the alcohol fumes as the violence of her words. And, to be fair, they were pretty violent.
‘Out of my way, you mad gypo,’ snarled Wellbeloved trying to sweep her out of the road with his left arm. This move failed. Theresa was in no mood to be moved. Eventually Wellbeloved had to walk around the angry Irish Valkyrie and into the office shared by Jellicoe and Ryan.
The phone was ringing as he entered. He went towards it immediately and picked it up.
‘Hello, Wellbeloved.’
He listened for a few minutes as Chief Inspector Jellicoe summarised what had happened and what he needed to do. When the call finished, he put the phone down and then instantly picked it up again. He gave the operator a number. He waited for almost a minute and then there was an answer.
‘It’s Lestrade. Lestrade, I said, you idiot. Get me Wag, moron. Now,’ shouted the irate detective down the phone.
-
Wag McDonald sat in an office overlooking Waterloo Road. He peered through the drizzle on the windows at the glistening umbrellas of commuters reeling around the street. He was glad to be inside. This was a mother and a father of a cloudburst. He enjoyed watching the pedestrians spinning to avoid being splashed by the passing cars. This light mood was to end in a few moments as his phone rang.
‘Yes?’ answered McDonald.
He listened for a minute and then replied, ‘Look, I never told them to lift the child. I only told them to take the girl. It was Johnny Mac and Rusk. No idea where they’ll be holed up. They might have taken him to the factory. He’s probably counting on us not knowing.’
When the call finished, McDonald slammed the phone down and shouted, ‘Wal, you out there?’
Wal McDonald, his brother, came into the office. The features on his brother seemed almost a blur of rage. In such moments it was best to allow Wag a chance to collect his thoughts. He was the brains of the family. He waited for his brother to speak.
‘You’re not going to believe this,’ started McDonald, ‘it seems Johnny-boy has decided to go it alone. The girl was picked up by the police at Ryan’s house before Johnny could get her. So he’s gone and kidnapped Ryan’s kid. The brother has the diamonds apparently and he’s going to meet Johnny to make an exchange. No doubt that’s the last we’ll see of him.’
‘Bloody hell, Wag. What are we going to do?’
McDonald scratched both sides of his temple and swore. Then an idea seemed to hit him.
‘Perhaps he’s going to follow the original plan. He’ll get the shop to contact him directly when the copper arrives. Yes, that makes sense. Call Wellbeloved. Tell him to meet us at the factory.’
‘What are we going to do?’ asked Wal.
His brother smiled and said, ‘We’re going to meet the police.’
-
Three police cars arrived at the prison around ten minutes after the phone call between Jellicoe and Wellbeloved. From one of the police cars stepped Wellbeloved. A rapid conference followed.
‘We’ve had a tip off. It’s Johnny Mac. We have an address also,’ announced Wellbeloved.
Kit climbed into one of the cars with Jellicoe. Bulstrode joined Wellbeloved in the second car and the third car took Caroline and Mary away, to the obvious chagrin of both ladies who wanted to join the others.
Mary and Caroline went reluctantly to the police car. The anger felt by Caroline towards Mary had been suspended briefly by the sudden departure of Ryan. Now, alone in the police car it returned full bore.
‘Don’t speak. I can’t bear to hear you,’ snapped Caroline as she saw Mary about to say something.
‘Not even sorry?’
Caroline glared at Mary. She could see the distress on Mary’s face. There was no doubting the remorse. Mary had befriended her, misled her and then would have happily seen her imprisoned. Or not. Caroline accepted that she, too, had been part of a deception. She was also an accessory to a robbery, albeit one tacitly sanctioned by the state. She had done what she’d done for her father. For this, no apology would ever be uttered by her.
The two ladies rode in silence, each lost in their own thoughts. Once in a while Caroline would glance at Mary. The rain streaming down the window, reflected perfectly the tears she could see on Mary’s cheek. Caroline felt an emptiness. Worse, a sense of loneliness. This was selfish, she knew, but her world had been torn apart.
Again.
Ben’s actions had been explained by Jellicoe in the office. The thought of the child caused her eyes to sting and then the tears became sobs. The poor child. Ben had been trying to protect her and now it had endangered the life of this little boy. She didn’t resist when Mary’s arms enfolded her. Her face against Mary’s shoulder, all she could think to say was, ’It’s all my fault. It’s all my fault.’
-
‘Don’t ask,’ was all Ryan could say to his brother as they both ran forward to the Rolls. ‘I have the diamonds. We have to get to a shop called Bennetts on Lambeth Road and get instructions there.’
Ryan sat forward in the Rolls and directed Alfred as they drove along Walworth Road. Less than a few minutes later Joe Ryan spotted the shop.
‘Over there,’ he said pointing to a shop further up.
‘Pull over here, Alfred, please,’ said Ben Ryan, leaping out of the car. He ran into the shop and demanded to see the manager. It was fairly clear to the young assistant that Ryan was with the police. The manager came immediately.
‘I was told to ask for Donald Bennett.’
‘By who?’ asked the shopkeeper.
‘Mac. That’s all I know. I was told you’d know what to do.’
The shopkeeper nodded. This was not how he wanted his day to go. Upsetting the coppers was never a good idea but then upsetting the �
��Elephant Boys’ was even worse. Bennett walked to the front of the shop and pulled down a yellow blind, halfway down the window.
Bennett turned back to Ryan. It was clear the policeman was in a highly agitated state. This was even more worrying.
‘Look, I know nothing alright? I was told to pull the blind down if someone came asking for Mac. You’ll have to wait.’ Ryan nodded, and they stood there looking at one another. ‘I don’t know how long it’ll be.’
‘I’ll be outside in the car,’ said Ryan and walked out.
With something approaching amazement, Bennett watched Ryan climb into Kit’s Rolls Royce.
‘Bloody hell,’ or something quite like this, said Bennett out loud. ‘D’you see what we’re spending our taxes on Hilda?’
-
In the lead police car, Kit glanced at the Chief Inspector who was deep in thought, looking out of the misty window, as it exited through the gates of the prison. Kit’s knowledge of London, south of the river was, to say the least, hazy. He hoped the journey would be quick because it sounded as if time was of the essence. But another thought was swirling around his mind. He wondered if the same thought was also with Jellicoe.
‘Remarkable we should get such a tip off, don’t you think?’
‘I was just thinking that,’ volunteered Jellicoe. ‘Remarkable indeed.’ He turned to face Kit and it was clear they were thinking the same thing.
Finally, Kit asked the other question that was on his mind.
‘Who is this Johnny Mac?’
Jellicoe looked troubled as Kit asked this.
‘He’s a hoodlum from Ulster. He’s associated with the ‘Elephant Boys’, a gang based in the Elephant and Castle area of London. They’re involved with illegal bookmaking at the race courses in the south of the country and other things no doubt. They’re run by the McDonald family.’
‘I see. Do their interests extend to kidnapping children?’ asked Kit.
‘There’s always a first time, I suppose,’ said Jellicoe, however his tone suggested he thought otherwise.
‘Johnny Mac is just a nickname, I take it,’ suggested Kit.
‘Yes. His real name is John…’
