The Circus Train Conspiracy

by Edward Marston

  She’d been found.

  CHAPTER SIX

  As soon as he arrived at the camp that morning, Victor Leeming was pounced on by Cyrus Lill. When he’d first met the inspector, he’d been less than impressed by him but ten minutes alone with the man served to change his opinion radically. Lill produced two sheets of paper from his pocket and held them out.

  ‘What are they?’ asked Leeming.

  ‘Take them and you’ll see.’ He handed them over. ‘Well?’

  ‘They’re lists of who exactly was on the two trains hired by the circus,’ said Leeming, admiring the neat handwriting. ‘You’ve put down everyone’s name and occupation along with the number of animals. You’ve even listed the items being carried by each of the two trains.’

  ‘That was what I found most revealing, Sergeant.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘Look more carefully at what the second train was supposed to bring.’

  Leeming glanced at the relevant page. ‘It’s just a list of paraphernalia.’

  ‘Yes, but it contains the marquee and all of the seating.’

  ‘I don’t follow,’ confessed the other.

  ‘Let me explain. It was not solely my idea. I’ll be honest about that. Inspector Colbeck happened to say that it would be interesting to see in detail how the circus was divided between the two trains. I found out for him.’

  ‘That was very good of you but I can’t see what revelation it produced.’

  ‘He went for the wrong target.’

  ‘Who did?’

  ‘The man who caused the derailment, of course,’ said Lill. ‘If he’d wanted to cripple the circus, he should have made the second train his target. It contained most of the animals and all of the main equipment needed to stage a performance. By destroying the marquee, he’d have made it impossible for Mauro’s Magnificent Circus to carry on.’

  ‘You have a point,’ said Leeming, ‘and it’s an important one. But I’d still argue that he chose the right target.’

  ‘What makes you think that?’

  ‘The evidence is right here in this list of names. The first train was carrying Mr Moscardi and his wife as well as some of the senior members of the circus. Rosie the Elephant was also on board and she is one of the main attractions. If the man who put those sleepers on the line had managed to kill Moscardi and wound the elephant so badly that it had to be shot, he’d have brought the circus to its knees.’

  ‘According to Inspector Colbeck, he didn’t set out to kill anyone.’

  ‘Yes, he mentioned his theory about that.’

  ‘Didn’t you agree with it?’

  ‘I did and I didn’t,’ said Leeming. ‘I’m keeping an open mind.’

  ‘Well, I thought his reasoning was sound. It would have been relatively easy to inflict far more damage – especially if the second train had been derailed instead of the first.’ He stretched out a hand towards the caravans and tents. ‘This camp would have been like a field hospital. Lots of children would have been among the casualties and they’d have needed to shoot lots of badly injured animals.’

  ‘That would have been a tragedy.’

  ‘The circus would’ve been put out of business.’

  Handing back the sheets of paper, Leeming took a moment to reflect on what he’d just been told. Lill had been busy and deserved praise for that. Care had clearly been taken in apportioning people and animals to the two trains. Mauro Moscardi had led the advance guard, leaving his brother in charge of a vulnerable cargo in the second train. There was a definite imbalance between the two groups.

  Leeming frowned. ‘How did the man behind the derailment know what each train would be carrying?’ he asked.

  ‘When they hired the transport, they would have requisitioned so many carriages and so many wagons. It would’ve been quite clear which train carried the marquee. Because it had all the equipment as well, the second train had far more wagons attached. If – as the inspector believes – we are hunting for someone inside the NCR, such a person would have ready access to details of the travel arrangements and realise which of the two trains would be the better target.’

  ‘Yet he chose the other one.’

  ‘That tells us everything.’

  Lill spoke with such quiet enthusiasm that he sounded very persuasive. Since the inspector’s argument was rooted in a suggestion by Colbeck, it had to be taken seriously. Leeming accepted that the accident could have been much more serious. During a previous case, he’d seen what happened when gunpowder had been used to cause a rockfall that made an entire train leave the rails at speed and overturn. The driver, fireman and guard had been killed instantly, the locomotive had caught fire and the rolling stock had been comprehensively wrecked. Nothing like that had happened to the circus. To all intents and purposes, it was still in one piece.

  ‘Something is missing,’ said Leeming. ‘It’s asking too much to accept that one man was responsible for what happened. If he works for the NCR, he might have found out at what time the first train would depart and be able to work out its likely time of arrival at the place where he chose to derail it. But he’d need help and it wouldn’t have come from another railwayman.’

  ‘Where else would it come from?’

  ‘It came from right here.’

  ‘No,’ said Lill. ‘I won’t believe that. Mr Moscardi prides himself on the fact that his circus is a big happy family.’

  ‘That’s how it may look on the surface,’ said Leeming, ‘but it’s just not true. Somewhere in this camp, they have a spy.’

  With a fight in the offing, a small crowd had gathered. They formed a semicircle around the two men. Their spokesman was Otto Hickstead, a big, hulking man who worked as a lion tamer. He waved a threatening fist at Karl Liebermann, a lithe young acrobat who always began his performance with a series of high-speed cartwheels around the perimeter of the ring. There was no room for such a display now. The hostile onlookers were pushing ever closer. The German was trapped. Hickstead flung his accusation at the acrobat.

  ‘You were behind it, Liebermann.’

  ‘No, I wasn’t – I swear it.’

  ‘Now I see why you changed trains. You were supposed to be on the first one but you made sure you missed that so you wouldn’t be involved in the crash.’

  ‘That’s not true, Otto.’

  ‘If it was left to me, I’d never have let you join this circus after you’d spent three years working for Sam Greenwood. It was a big mistake of Mr Moscardi to trust you.’

  ‘I work hard for him because I’m very grateful.’

  ‘You’re still working hard for Greenwood as well, aren’t you?’

  ‘No – I give you my word.’

  ‘What use is that?’ roared Hickstead, advancing closer. ‘You’re a dirty, rotten, dishonest German and you’re trying to destroy this circus.’

  ‘I’d never do that – it’s my livelihood.’

  ‘You’ve got no livelihood here.’

  ‘Throw him out, Otto,’ urged a voice. ‘Beat him up and throw him out.’

  ‘No, no,’ pleaded Liebermann, raising both palms as he backed away.

  ‘Stand still and fight, you bastard,’ yelled the lion tamer.

  ‘I’ve got no quarrel with you, Otto. We used to be friends.’

  ‘That was before I saw you in your true colours.’

  Encouraged by the crowd, Hickstead leapt forward and swung a punch. It was easily dodged by the acrobat but he could not evade the next punch and the kick that followed it. Stung into action, he began to fight back but his blows had nothing like the sting of his opponent. He could only hurt Hickstead. The lion tamer was strong enough and angry enough to kill him. The two men flailed away. Liebermann put up a brave defence but he was no match for the bigger man. It was only a matter of time before he’d be felled to the ground but, fortunately for him, the fight was interrupted.

  ‘What the hell is going on here?’ demanded Mulryne, pushing his way through the crowd. ‘Stop it, the
pair of you!’

  When they continued to trade blows, the Irishman stepped between them, grabbed each of them by the scruff of his neck and lifted them from the ground.

  ‘If you really want a brawl,’ he said, ‘you can have one with me.’ He flung them yards apart. ‘This is a circus. We stick together, especially at a time like this.’ He glared at Liebermann. ‘Who started it?’

  ‘I did,’ shouted Hickstead. ‘That lying turd is working for Sam Greenwood. I was just about to beat a confession out of him.’

  ‘I belong here now,’ affirmed the German. ‘I love this circus. It’s better in every way than the other one. I’d never harm it in any way.’

  ‘I believe you, Karl,’ said Mulryne. He turned to the others. ‘The fun is over. You can all disappear. And I don’t want any more fighting in this camp, do you understand? Mr Moscardi pays me to look after this circus. Go on – get out of my sight before I help you on your way.’

  There was a lot of resentful muttering but nobody dared to challenge him. Faced with the Irishman, even Hillstead backed down. After looking sullenly at the acrobat, he led the others away. Mulryne patted Liebermann on the shoulder.

  ‘Keep out of their way, Karl.’

  ‘Thank you for coming when you did.’

  ‘Somebody had to stop the fight.’

  The acrobat nodded before moving away. Robert Colbeck had watched it all from the moment that Mulryne had arrived. He moved in with an approving smile.

  ‘Well done – you’ve lost none of your skills.’

  ‘That’s right, Inspector. It was just like old times in London when I had to break up a tavern brawl. I always enjoyed cracking a few heads together.’

  ‘What happened?’

  ‘They needed someone to blame.’

  ‘Why did they pick on that young man as the scapegoat?’

  ‘Three reasons. The main one is that Karl used to belong to a circus owned by Sam Greenwood. He hates us. Karl came here because he was offered more money and a chance to perform in front of bigger audiences. The second reason is that he’s a German. Some people don’t like that.’

  ‘I find that rather odd,’ said Colbeck. ‘This is a very cosmopolitan group of people. The owner is Italian and he employs artistes from every part of Europe.’

  ‘Karl is the only German. He sticks out.’

  ‘What’s the third reason?’

  ‘It’s the one that really irks Otto Hickstead. He’s the man who started the fight, by the way. Otto is good at his job. He can turn those snarling lions into harmless pets.’ Mulryne grinned. ‘I think they’re frightened of him because he’s so big and ugly. Karl, on the other hand, is young and handsome. When a performance comes to an end, there are no women waiting outside the marquee in the hope of meeting Otto. All they want to do is to get close to Karl.’

  ‘That’s understandable, I suppose.’

  ‘It’s bound to make Otto jealous.’

  ‘Are you going to report the fight to Mr Moscardi?’

  ‘No, I’d rather not.’

  ‘Why is that?’

  ‘To start with,’ replied Mulryne, ‘he already has enough on his plate. The last thing he needs to know is that there’s trouble brewing among his performers. My job is to stamp out that kind of thing quickly so that Mr Moscardi doesn’t even get to hear of it. What I will warn him about is his brother.’

  ‘Oh,’ said Colbeck, ‘what’s the reason for that?’

  ‘Gianni Moscardi is seething with anger …’

  Though he had to use a walking stick, Gianni could hobble along at a good speed. Once outside the camp, he divided up his men and sent them off in various directions. The two accompanying him picked their way east along the riverbank. One of them, a clown by profession, was in a serious mood for once.

  ‘What do we do if we catch someone, Gianni?’ he asked.

  ‘We frighten the life out of him until he talks.’

  ‘Are you sure that he’ll be from Greenwood’s circus?’

  ‘Where else would he come from?’ demanded Gianni, rounding on him. ‘Use your head, Pepe. We only have one enemy bent on destroying us and that’s what he ordered a henchman to do.’

  ‘Won’t he run off and report back to Sam Greenwood?’

  ‘No, he’ll stay here. When he derailed the train, he didn’t cause anything like the damage he’d hoped. He’ll be lurking nearby so that he can strike at us again. That’s why we’ve got to be vigilant.’

  ‘What if we do catch him and he won’t talk?’

  ‘Oh, he’ll talk with my knife at his throat,’ said Gianni, fingering his weapon. ‘If he doesn’t – I’ll make it quite clear to him – we’ll kill him there and then. I don’t believe in mercy. We’ll toss him into the river with heavy stones tied to him to hold him underwater. That threat will be enough to loosen his tongue.’

  The clown was worried. ‘Would you really kill him?’

  ‘I would and I’d enjoy doing it.’

  ‘But that would be murder, Gianni.’

  ‘What do you think that villain was trying to do to us?’

  ‘We ought to hand him over to that inspector.’

  ‘Forget about Colbeck,’ said Gianni, stopping to shake the man by the shoulders. ‘He won’t find the culprit.’

  ‘Mulryne says he’s a brilliant detective.’

  ‘Then why isn’t he out searching like we are? All he’s done so far is to ask lots of questions then send his sergeant off to look into the murder of that woman Brendan found in the woods. Colbeck can’t even be bothered to give us his full attention.’

  ‘He’ll certainly give it if you actually kill someone.’

  ‘Only if he finds out and there’s no chance of him doing that. Three of us will know what happened and we’ll all keep our mouths shut.’ He looked deep into Pepe’s eyes then transferred his stare to the other man. ‘We will, won’t we?’

  ‘Yes, Gianni,’ said the others in unison.

  ‘Then let’s carry on with our hunt.’

  Spreading out so that they could cover a wider area, they moved along and looked behind every bush, tree and possible hiding place they could find. Their search was short-lived. The rural serenity was suddenly shattered by the sound of a shotgun to the north of them. They could hear distant voices calling out.

  ‘They’ve found him!’ cried Gianni. ‘Let’s get over there quick.’

  Leading the way, he skipped through the grass as fast as he could.

  It was an hour before Lydia Quayle plucked up enough courage to look out of the window again, though she didn’t stand directly in front of it this time. Edging slowly towards it, she held the curtain then peeped around it. She heaved a long sigh of relief. He was not there. The only person she could see on the pavement opposite was an old man, walking along with a dog on a leash. Lydia relaxed slightly. After a few minutes, she was emboldened enough to step in front of the window and be in full sight. There was still no danger down below. Her stalker had vanished.

  As she thought about what had happened, she wondered if it had all been an illusion. Since the man had come unbidden into her life, she’d been prey to all kinds of fears. There were times when she imagined him to be following her, only to turn round and see that nobody was there. Was that what had happened to her an hour ago? Had he wormed his way so completely into her consciousness that she thought he was there when there was, in fact, no sign of him? Besides, if a man had been there in the street, it could have been someone else altogether. Unlike her stalker, he didn’t disappear as soon as she looked at him. He held his ground and smiled. The man who followed her had never done that.

  Lydia did her best to convince herself that it had been a case of mistaken identity. The man she’d seen had been a complete stranger who just happened to be down below in the street when she looked down. It was no use. No matter how much she longed for it to be someone else, she knew in her heart that it was not. The man with the broad smile was her stalker, confident enough to show h
imself properly and to communicate his feelings about her. How he could possibly have discovered her whereabouts she didn’t know, but he’d done so somehow. Lydia had left her other hotel in order to escape him, taking a cab from the rank opposite the building. What if he’d simply waited at the rank and asked each driver in turn if he’d taken a young woman from one hotel to another? It was conceivable. Cab drivers would always yield up information if they were paid enough and, as she’d now seen, her stalker was patently a man of means. He was dressed in an almost dandyish way that reminded her of Colbeck. What he didn’t have, it seemed, was Colbeck’s impeccable manners and his ingrained respect for women.

  It took her a few minutes to reach her decision. After packing some things into a valise, she took it downstairs and asked the porter to walk down to the main street to summon a cab. When it arrived, she was confident that it would not be so easily tracked down. It was one of a legion of cabs that cruised the capital in search of fares. If her stalker was watching – and she didn’t get the uneasy feeling that he was – he wouldn’t know from which rank it had come. Lydia had made a successful escape this time.

  ‘I don’t believe it!’ yelled Mauro Moscardi. ‘It doesn’t make sense.’

  ‘It’s backed up by evidence,’ said Colbeck.

  ‘Yes,’ added Lill, waving the two sheets of paper at him. ‘Examine these and you’ll see why the inspector and I are of one accord. The aim of the derailment was not to bring about a catastrophe.’

  ‘That’s nonsense!’

  ‘We disagree.’

  ‘My circus was attacked by someone bent on killing us off,’ asserted Moscardi, ‘and his paymaster may be Sam Greenwood.’

  The three of them were in Moscardi’s caravan and he was resisting all of the suggestions that the two men put to him. Having come round to his brother’s conclusion, he was clinging to it. Alternative theories were simply swatted away like irritating flies.

  Colbeck tried to reason with him.