One bright spot in the day was that he had managed to have lunch with Katie. She seemed much more relaxed now that she was back from her time in Paris with her husband. She had told him about the good time they had seeing all the sights and that they had even managed to hear Peter play on the organ at the Notre Dame Cathedral. What she seemed particularly pleased about was that her husband had almost completed a big project he had been working on and would be coming back to England soon.
Being duty officer was not one of Ralph’s favourite past-times. As the evening dragged on he got restless. He had already had more cups of coffee than was probably good for him and decided that if anyone else was still working he could do with a chat. As he walked down the corridor he noticed that Katie’s light was on and he brightened up at the opportunity to get her clear, if somewhat direct, views on what had happened over the past few months.
She was not in her office, so Ralph continued down the corridor. He could hear loud voices coming from the direction of Jack Welsh’s office. Ralph had an aversion to breaking in on a row and was thinking of going back to his office. But he froze as he heard Katie’s voice.
“So Welsh, you thought it was all so easy. Collect the treasure, hide any incriminating evidence, and make a run for it. It’s not going to happen, no way, my friend.”
He could see through the half open door that Katie had a gun in her hand and was threatening Jack Welsh with it.
“What the bloody hell are you doing wiv my gun, you cow? And stop pointin’ it at me. It could easy go off,” Jack shouted.
He saw Katie grip the gun with both hands and hold it level with Welsh’s head. She was now screaming at Jack.
“Look you bastard, I know how to fire a gun. I managed to shoot that wimp Stocker, and shooting you would be a pleasure compared to that,” she spat the words out.
Ralph could see that Welsh was getting nervous and was starting to bluster.
“Look Miss, I don’t know what your game is, but if you shot Stocker you’ll pay for it, and shootin’ me won’t get you anywhere. I’ve got nufing you want. If you put that gun down and let me get out of ‘ere then I’ll forget everyfing you’ve said and all this will be just between you and me. None of the rest of it is my business and I’ve done you no ‘arm.”
Jack made certain that he kept the travel bag out of site. He could usually talk himself out of things, but he had met his match with Eggleton. Now she shouted at him.
“You don’t think I’m that stupid do you? I know you have the treasure. For all I know it’s in that bag you’re trying to hide under the desk. I know all about it from my Grandmother’s diary. I’ve known for years that the treasure was hidden somewhere here at the house. It was meant to be her lover’s chance to make a life for them once he recovered from his injuries. Then someone found out about it and killed him.
I knew that you or Stocker had found it after that incident outside the ice house with Jane and that slate. So I kept a watch on you, and sure enough, you went to look in the ice house for yourself. That’s when I clobbered you to make sure that you’d be out of the way.”
“I never ‘it that girl,” protested Welsh. “You’ve got it all wrong. All I did was try to get what was mine by rights,” he shouted in desperation. “And Stocker was just a stupid bugger who got in the way and messed it all up. It’s all gone wrong,” he cried out in frustration.
Ralph could see that all of Welsh’s attempts to break Katie’s concentration with his arguments and protestations were not having any effect. He tried to gauge the point where he might be able to persuade her to at least not shoot. But he could see that once she had dropped her normally cool façade there was no way she was likely to stop now. She glared at Welsh as she continued.
“Stop whining, you old fooI. It has taken me a lot of trouble to come this far and you’re not stopping me now. You don’t get it do you.” she shouted.
For once Welsh was stunned into silence as he stared at his adversary while she waved the gun in his face. He had no choice but to listen.
“Then I had to track Stocker all over France looking for where he had hidden my treasure. I tried when we were in Peronne and again in Monte Carlo, but he was a cunning sod, and I thought he was on to me. So I tried to shut him up by pushing him off that castle wall but somehow he managed to get out of that one with just a couple of scratches. I was sure I had completed the job when I pushed him in front of that racing car, but the bastard must lead a charmed life. Then the bugger turns up in a hospital down the road and I figured I had another chance to question him. I found this gun in your desk drawer while searching for a clue as to where you might have hidden the treasure, and that’s what I used to threaten Stocker with. It was easy to get into his room at the hospital. He was stubborn, but the sight of that gun shook him. That’s when he told me you had the key to a lock up box. I told him I’d keep quiet about all of this once I had caught up with you and my treasure, but he had other ideas. Then he tried to ring for the nurse or something and I tried to stop him but he grabbed the gun and it went off and he fell back bleeding everywhere. If he had just left things alone I could have avoided all this mess.”
Ralph was stunned at what he was hearing. Here was someone whom he had thought of as a friend turning out to be a cold blooded murderer and prepared to murder again. He could just make out that as Katie had been talking, Welsh had been slowly working his way around the desk closing the gap between himself and his assailant.
Meanwhile Welsh tried to gain control of the situation.
“Look if it’s the jewels you want then they’re all yours. You let me go an’ I won’t say a word about all this and you can ‘ave ‘em. It’s not worth you killin’ someone for.
For all we know, Stocker might still be alive. You could ‘ave only wounded
‘im. You said yourself he was a tough bugger. I’ve seen plenty of blokes get over being shot,” Welsh said, with just a hint of desperation in his voice.
Katie laughed and waved the gun at Welsh’s head.
“Look I need that treasure. And it’s not for revenge like you think. Right now my husband is being held prisoner by a bunch of bastards who are going to kill him unless they get 3 million dollars ransom. Your bloody government won’t help him even though he has been doing their dirty work for them for the past 5 years. So if they won’t pay the ransom, I will. Getting that treasure is the only way I can save him, and now’s my chance. So just bloody well step back and give me that bag or you can kiss goodbye to your future, Jack, bloody, Welsh.” She almost snarled as she spoke to the now cowering army Sergeant.
By now Welsh was really desperate. His mind was racing. He could see that this woman meant to kill him for the treasure, but if he gave it to her she would probably kill him anyway.
Ralph also realized that Katie was desperate and was about to shoot Jack Welsh to get what she saw as rightfully hers. With that, some primeval instinct in him took over. Bursting through the half open doorway he leaped forward to stop her. As he did so she heard the creak of the floor boards and spun round instinctively. Seeing Ralph her eyes widened.
“Ralph! You bloody fool”, she screamed.
Jack Welsh took his chance. He lunged forward and grabbed the gun from Katie’s hands. Then, pushing them both aside he straddled the doorway. At last the adrenalin had kicked in and Welsh was back in the position he relished.
“Right. From now on I’ll be givin’ the orders so you two can just bloody well shut up and do what I tell you. You’re out of your league and now you’ll see how to play this game”
Welsh was trying to think fast and thinking was not his strong suit. Katie had slumped into a chair at the side of the room and Ralph was gasping for breath as in the struggle he had been thrown against the side of the desk and it felt as though he had broken some ribs. Jack decided that by talking he might buy time to think.
“Okay, you two, do as I say or someone’s goin’ to get ‘urt. If we talk this through and don’t do
anyfing silly we can all get what we want. There’s no reason we can’t come to some arrangement. If I sell the stuff you can get your ransom money, and if Stocker lives, you won’t even face a murder charge,” he said, holding the gun in one hand, as he had been trained.
At that point Katie seemed to spring from her chair, like a tigress, and as she flew at Jack Welsh she knocked his arm up and the gun went off. To Ralph’s amazement, Welsh seemed to recoil backwards into the corridor with blood spurting from his face and chest. He went down with a crash as the bag he was holding spilled its contents across the passage.
Katie screamed and jumped back to avoid the blood and bits of shell that seemed to fill the air. Ralph ran to try to stem the blood that was flowing from Jack Welsh, but it was a pointless attempt.
Welsh managed to pull himself up to a sitting position and leant back against the wall. He grasped Ralph’s hand as he tried to speak.
“You see sir, it’s the problem with not cleanin’ your gun regular’, like we’d been taught. They’re liable to spit back at you.”
Ralph could see that Jack was mortally wounded by a gun that had apparently backfired on him, but as he had done all his life, Welsh was putting the blame on his own actions. His voice was now reduced to a whisper.
“I’m glad that you’ll get your money Miss, so you can save your ‘usband, and no ‘ard feelins about Stocker, ‘e was a good bloke, even if ‘e was a bit of a wimp. I must tell you sir, I’m sorry about your secretary. I never meant to frighten ‘er when she saw me tryin’ to open the panels on one of the walls in Kenry that night. She must ‘ave run and tripped and knocked ‘er ‘ead. I never meant to ‘urt ‘er and it was the same with that poor sod I bumped into at the top of the stairs at Kenry. Poor Bob. If ‘e hadn’t turned and seen me, I wouldn’t ‘ave ‘ad to ‘it ‘im.”
By now someone must have heard all the commotion and phoned the police. Ralph could hear the wail, of the ambulance and police sirens. As he looked around he could see that Katie had taken the bag and had run off down the corridor. He told Jack to hold on, but he could see it was too late and that the old soldier was slipping into a coma even as he still gripped Ralph’s hand.
“Look sir, all of this started ‘cos my old granfaver wanted me to ‘ave a better life and I only wanted to get what ‘e told me was rightfully mine. But I seem to ‘ave paid for it twice over and I’m sorry I let ‘im down.”
With that the ambulance team arrived and told Ralph that they would take care of things from there. As Ralph got up he could see that Jack was still grasping what was left of the Webley Revolver.
As Ralph stumbled along the corridor, clutching his ribs which were now excruciatingly painful, he saw Katie struggling with two police constables and still clutching the half empty bag that had once offered a path to fortune for a lot of people and been the downfall of at least three.
It seemed as though everything that he held dear had been smashed that night, and he wasn’t sure how on earth things could ever be put right again.
Chapter 17
Inspector Linham was at last reaching the point where he could start to see an end to a case that had captured the front pages of all the national tabloids. He had taken statements from Ralph Chalmers and had charged Katie Eggleton with the attempted murder of Jim Stocker and involvement in the death of Jack Welsh. He was now about to interview her to fill in some of the details of the case, but was not relishing the bad news that he knew he had to give her.
She looked worn out and distracted as he sat down.
“I’m afraid that there are still some questions that I have to put to you, Professor Eggleton. You don’t have to answer but I have to remind you that anything you say may be taken down and used in evidence against you.” She just nodded at these formalities which she had heard the night before when she had been arrested.
“Before we begin I’m sorry to say I have some bad news for you about your husband.”
“But what has happened and why are you telling me? If anything has happened to Roger I should have been the one they told. What is it?” She cried out.
The people at M.I.6 have just told us that last night a French team, similar to our SIS people, went in to try to rescue your husband. I’m afraid that it all went wrong and in the scuffle your husband, and a number of others, were killed.”
Katie recoiled at the news. All she could think about was how all that had happened was now pointless. Her attempts to find the treasure, then pursuing and shooting Stocker and then Welsh. She had done it all in an attempt to find what had seemed to her a perfect way of getting the ransom money to release her husband, and it had all been in vain.
The Inspector too felt drained by the news. What struck him most was the way that she had tried to take matters into her own hands when all else had to her seemed to have failed. The very forces of law and order that he believed in and upheld daily had not been able to provide her with sufficient support, and as a consequence she had now not only lost her husband but was facing serious charges that were likely to put her in prison for a long time. In many ways he could see that she had very little prospects of salvaging anything from the events that had enveloped her life.
The Inspector could see no point in continuing the interview and decided to leave any further questioning to the Courts.
***
Amidst all the tragedy and chaos of recent months, the one constant in college life is that the students’ expectations never change. They come to class, expect tutors to be enthusiastic and prepared, and want to know when assignments are due, and what they have to do to get good grades. This student pressure creates a momentum during a semester that seems to give college a life of its own. No matter what events or disturbances occur, college life goes on.
After a busy week of teaching, Ralph and his colleagues were happy to relax over a beer to try to return their lives to some level of normality. David was determined to clear the air over the issue of who had rightful ownership of the treasure.
“Well I expect that Jim Stocker will be charged with theft at the very least,” said David.
Peter, as usual took a more pragmatic view.
“Look, old Stocker might be a lot of things, and I should know, but he deciphered what was on that slate and used his own brain to figure out where the treasure was hidden. If he hadn’t then it would still be there for another hundred years. So it was treasure trove, just like when those guys with metal detectors find some Roman coins and the courts say it’s theirs. They sometimes share half the money they get for it between the landowner and the bloke. So Kingston University will probably get half and Stocker the rest. I might even get some of the University money to get on with my research into early organ music.”
David looked astounded.
“Peter if I may say so, if there was a prize for oversimplification then you would get all the money. In any case you have to start from the end or outcome not from the beginning. The treasure belongs to the museum or country from which it was stolen. It doesn’t matter how long ago it was. It wouldn’t matter if it was one week or 100 years. The treasure has to be returned to its rightful owner, and Jim Stocker, in taking it, was engaging in what is commonly known as theft. He sold some of the treasure and he will have to return that money he used for his gambling in Monte Carlo. It is possible that he will be able to keep his winnings, but that will be a matter for the court to decide. It will probably be tried in a French court, which should be interesting, to say the least. Some smart lawyer is going to make a fortune over that one.”
Peter was not finished yet, and as he downed his third beer he rallied.
“But don’t you lawyer types have to go for precedent? I doubt if there is anything like this that has happened before.”
Again David sighed.
“Peter it’s a good job that you make your living playing and composing music because you seem to have a poor grasp of logic, and none at all of the law. You see if this case is tried in the French courts
then they have an entirely different system and theirs is based on civil law not common law which we have here. In the UK common law is based on precedent whereas in France it is not. And that, believe me, puts a whole new dimension on things.”
Ralph could see that things were getting a bit heated and the last thing he needed was his two pals getting in a row when all he wanted was a relaxing evening.
“Look you blokes, I’m the one who’s supposed to know all about history and I can tell you that the treasure business is not anything new. Since the dawn of ages people engaged in wars have taken plunder and booty from the people they conquer. For most of them it was probably the reason why they went to war in the first place. But since the First World War, and particularly the Second World War, we have got just a bit more civilized over such things as dealing with property that is stolen during a conflict.”
“Okay Ralph, I’ve just been told by David here that I’m not up with French law and now you’re telling me that I know nothing about treasure trove?” said Peter with an exasperated sigh.
“Look Peter, everyone here will concede that you are the expert where music is concerned, now let us have our go for a change, “said Ralph making a mock bow to his friend. “You see the Americans have taken the lead in a lot of this and have an organization aptly named, no pun intended, ICE. It’s an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. We’ve got something similar here in the UK.”
“Why is it that we always have to follow the Americans?” said Peter. But we invented organ music, and so at least we beat the yanks on that one.”
The Gypsy Hill Murders (The Ralph Chalmers Mysteries Book 1) Page 16
