Points of Danger

by Edward Marston

  ‘Well,’ asked Andrews, ‘what are you going to do, Maddy?’

  As soon as they reached Norwich, Colbeck realised that he’d have to review some of his earlier assumptions. Being able to view the scene of the crime gave him a much clearer idea of what had actually happened. Cecil Freed had been waiting for the detectives on the platform, welcoming them as if they were members of a relief army that had just reached a stricken outpost. Duff was at Freed’s elbow. Once introductions had been made, the newcomers were taken to the exact spot where the murder had occurred. Between them, Freed and Duff supplied a rough commentary. When he’d heard all the facts, Colbeck took over.

  ‘What happened to the body?’

  ‘It was removed to the police morgue,’ said Freed. ‘Mrs Swarbrick was distraught and had to be given medical assistance before she was taken home. We couldn’t leave the train itself here because this track is in continuous use. It was moved back to the main line so that people could get off at the station. You can imagine the effect the murder had on the other passengers.’

  ‘The effect on Mr Swarbrick was far worse,’ observed Leeming.

  ‘I’d like to see the compartment in which he was killed,’ said Colbeck. ‘I’m assuming you took the whole carriage out of service.’

  Freed nodded. ‘Where is it now?’

  ‘It’s in a siding beyond the station,’ said Duff, pointing. ‘I’ve put one of my men there to guard it and keep people away.’

  ‘Were you on duty at the time of the incident?’

  ‘Yes, I was, inspector. I was waiting on the platform with the stationmaster. We couldn’t believe it when the train veered off on the branch line.’ He tapped his chest. ‘I saw everything.’

  ‘It’s a pity you didn’t see the points being switched,’ said Leeming, drily, ‘or you might have prevented the crime.’

  ‘You can’t blame this on me,’ said Duff, defensively. ‘Constable Pryor is in charge of those points and is supposed to make sure that nobody interfered with them. He may lose his job over this.’

  ‘Let him keep it until we’ve had a chance to question him,’ suggested Colbeck. He looked back at the station. ‘If you were on that platform, you’d have had a good view of what went on here.’

  ‘Yes, I did, inspector.’

  ‘You and Mr Freed have already given us the outline details. I’d like you to give a fuller account to Sergeant Leeming so that he can record it in his notebook. Since I’m sure you’ll have taken statements from other witnesses, please pass those on to the sergeant as well.’

  ‘I will, sir,’ grunted the other.

  ‘Lead the way,’ said Leeming. ‘I’ll be right behind you.’

  Duff set off towards the station with the sergeant at his heels. Once the two men were out of earshot, Colbeck turned to Freed.

  ‘How efficient is Sergeant Duff?’ he asked.

  ‘I’ve heard no complaints about him,’ replied the other.

  ‘Is his manner always so surly?’

  ‘He speaks to everyone like that. He means no disrespect.’

  ‘I sensed bitterness. He objects to our presence.’

  ‘Duff’s opinion is immaterial, inspector. I sent for you because I’ve followed your career with interest. Railway policemen are ill-equipped to do anything more than their allotted duties and the local constabulary has never handled a murder case before.’

  ‘Who has been assigned to the investigation?’

  ‘Inspector Jellings – a good man but parochial by your standards.’

  ‘What’s his view of the crime?’

  ‘He believes that it was a robbery that went wrong.’

  ‘Then I’ll have to correct him. Having heard more detail, I’m even more convinced that the robbery was just a cloak for the real purpose of shooting Mr Swarbrick dead.’

  Freed was alarmed. ‘You think that it was deliberate?’

  ‘I’m certain of it, sir. That raises the question of suspects. Can you think of anyone – anyone at all – who might have had cause to hate Mr Swarbrick enough to want him killed?’

  ‘No, I can’t. Jarvis was universally liked.’

  ‘He was a politician. They always have enemies.’

  ‘That’s true, I suppose. It’s unavoidable.’

  ‘How many MPs does Norwich have?’

  ‘Two – they represent a city of well over seventy thousand.’

  ‘Mr Swarbrick was a Conservative, I believe. What about the other Member of Parliament?’

  ‘David Repton is a Liberal.’ He saw Colbeck’s eyes light up with interest. ‘You can eliminate him at once. I abhor almost everything that Repton stands for but he’d never hatch a murder plot. Strangely enough, he and Jarvis Swarbrick got on very well.’

  ‘Give me some other names then, if you will.’

  ‘Well,’ said Freed, brow corrugated in thought, ‘I suppose that I ought to mention Oliver Trant – though I do so reluctantly.’

  ‘Who is he?’

  ‘Oliver is an over-ambitious man who had to be edged off the board. It’s rankled with him ever since. He blames Jarvis.’

  ‘Is he a vindictive person by nature?’

  ‘I suppose that he could be.’

  ‘You don’t sound very sure.’

  ‘Where Oliver is concerned, it’s difficult to be sure about anything. He’s such an odd character. One can never fathom the man. I may be maligning him unfairly, but I fancy that there’s a mean streak lurking somewhere inside him.’

  ‘Let’s move on from Mr Trant. Who else should we look at?’

  ‘I wish I knew.’ Freed twitched as if startled by a sudden thought. ‘No,’ he told himself, ‘no, that’s out of the question. He couldn’t possibly be involved. It’s cruel of me even to think it.’

  ‘Whom did you have in mind, sir?’

  ‘Andrew Swarbrick – he’s Jarvis’s son.’

  ‘Go on,’ urged Colbeck.

  ‘It’s a sad business, inspector. Father and son were estranged because Andrew strongly disapproved of Jarvis’s second marriage. Heaven knows why! Grace Swarbrick is a delightful woman, but her charm was lost on Andrew. He was antagonistic towards her from the very start. It was a cross that Jarvis had to bear,’ said Freed. ‘Andrew swore that he’d never set foot in the house again until his stepmother had left it.’

  ‘Does Andrew Swarbrick live in Norwich?’

  ‘No, he left in disgust when his father remarried.’

  ‘Where is he now?’

  ‘Somewhere in London – he works in a bank there.’

  ‘How do you think he’ll react to news of his father’s murder?’

  Freed sucked his teeth. ‘I really don’t know …’

  Andrew Swarbrick was a tall, lean, striking man in his thirties who prided himself on his physical fitness. Since he had a sedentary occupation, he always found time after luncheon for a brisk walk. It had become his trademark. Other employees at the bank were amazed that he was undeterred by inclement weather and would happily stride out without an umbrella in heavy rain. Only a foot or more of snow would have stopped him from keeping to his daily routine. As a deputy manager of a major bank, he had a large and well-appointed office. When he returned there that afternoon, he found a telegraph awaiting him. He read its contents and gave a cold smile.

  Victor Leeming did not enjoy being in a confined space with the railway policeman. In addition to a churlish manner, Duff had bad breath and smelt as if in desperate need of a bath. His defects were magnified in the pokey, airless room the two men shared. On the credit side, Duff had clearly been working hard to gather information from other witnesses. Leeming studied the man’s notebook with interest and, after weeding out the inevitable repetition, copied a lot of useful information into his own notebook.

  ‘Who was supposed to operate those points?’ he asked.

  ‘Constable Pryor.’

  ‘I’d like to speak to him.’

  ‘I’ve already done that,’ said Duff.

 
‘Nevertheless, I want to have a word with him myself.’

  ‘Horace Pryor will be disciplined, I can promise you.’

  ‘If you don’t cooperate with us,’ warned Leeming, ‘you’ll be disciplined alongside him. The last thing we need is someone who doesn’t understand an order. The inspector and I belong to a real police force. Remember that.’

  ‘I’m sorry,’ muttered the other.

  ‘Is he still here at the station?’

  ‘Yes, he is.’

  ‘Then I want you to fetch him.’ As Duff rose to leave, Leeming put a hand on his shoulder to ease him back into his seat. ‘Before you do that, I’d like to ask your opinion.’

  ‘About what?’

  ‘How long have you worked here?’

  ‘Ten years or more – I was born and bred in Norwich.’

  ‘So you know everything there is to know about this place.’

  ‘I wouldn’t say that.’

  ‘What sort of man is Mr Freed?’

  Duff was non-committal. ‘He’s doing his best for the ECR.’

  ‘What about the murder victim?’

  ‘Oh, he was the power behind the company. He never stopped fighting for it. Mr Swarbrick had big ambitions for us.’

  ‘Do you think that someone wanted to thwart those ambitions?’

  ‘Not really,’ said Duff with a shrug. ‘Mr Swarbrick was unlucky, that’s all. Someone tried to rob him. Knowing Mr Swarbrick like I do, I’d say that he’d refuse to hand over anything and it cost him his life.’

  ‘Why did the killer single him out in the first place?’ asked Leeming. ‘More to the point, how did he know which compartment Mr Swarbrick and his wife were in?’

  ‘I never thought about that,’ admitted Duff.

  ‘Then it’s time you did. There must have been lots of other passengers travelling in first class, yet he was picked out. That means the man knew exactly where to find him.’

  ‘That’s impossible.’

  ‘Then how did he come to choose Mr Swarbrick?’

  ‘It could just have been a coincidence.’

  ‘How can you say that?’ asked Leeming in disbelief. ‘This murder is the result of careful planning. Did Mr Swarbrick just happen to be alone with his wife in that compartment? Did the points get switched entirely of their own accord? Did that man on the horse ride past completely by chance and seize his opportunity? Of course not,’ he added, derisively. ‘Of one thing you can be sure, Sergeant Duff. Coincidence had nothing to do with it.’

  ‘I can see that now,’ said Duff, uncomfortably.

  ‘Do you get much crime here?’

  ‘We would do if I didn’t keep the place well protected. Thanks to the way I’ve drilled my men, we’ve caught thieves, pickpockets and those who simply want to cause damage to property.’

  ‘What do you do with them?’

  ‘We haul them up before a magistrate,’ replied Duff. ‘It’s usually children who are responsible for vandalism or trespass. If it’s a first offence, I give them the fright of their lives then let them go.’

  ‘What if they repeat the offence?’

  Duff gave a dark chuckle. ‘I make them regret it.’

  ‘So there have been no major crimes at this station?’

  ‘Not since I was put in charge.’

  ‘Nothing more serious than irate passengers complaining about the price of tickets – is that what you’re telling me?’

  ‘My men know how to do their jobs.’

  ‘Constable Pryor doesn’t.’

  ‘That was a rare slip on his behalf.’

  Troubled by the stink, Leeming turned away and coughed.

  ‘I want you to put your thinking cap on,’ he resumed. ‘Is there anyone you know – or might have heard about – who is capable of committing the daring crime that took place here earlier today?’

  ‘No,’ said Duff with categorical certainty.

  ‘You answered that question far too quickly for my liking,’ said Leeming, ‘so I’d like you to take a little time to think carefully before you speak. In your position, you must have come across all the local villains from time to time. Correct?’ Duff nodded. ‘Could you pick one of them out as a possible suspect?’

  There was a long pause this time. The railway policeman did actually seem to be giving the question due consideration. When it came, however, the answer was the same.

  ‘No,’ said Duff.

  Leeming suspected that he was lying.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Colbeck couldn’t help feeling sorry for Cecil Freed. Since he held such a crucial position in the ECR, the man was already under heavy pressure because of its poor performance as a railway company. At a time when he most needed the help of a strong, guiding hand, Freed had lost the one man who could have provided it. Swarbrick’s death had cut him adrift and he was floundering. Freed was pathetically grateful that the Railway Detective had come to his aid so swiftly, allowing him to feel that the murder of his dear friend would soon be solved. It was the one thing that would bring him a degree of solace.

  Having examined the murder scene, Colbeck was taken to the siding where the carriage in which the victim had been travelling had now been left. A railway policeman stood nearby, nodding deferentially when Freed appeared. Colbeck’s gaze ran the length of the carriage.

  ‘Which was their compartment?’ he asked.

  ‘It was the one at the far end.’

  ‘In which direction was the train travelling?’

  Freed raised a hand to indicate. ‘It was coming this way,’ he said. ‘Whenever he travelled with his wife, Jarvis insisted on taking the first-class compartment furthest away from the engine.’

  ‘Why was that, sir?’

  ‘Grace – Mrs Swarbrick, that is – always felt a trifle unsettled in a train and liked to be as far away from the engine as possible.’ He laughed nervously. ‘It’s a paradox, isn’t it? A man whose whole life is bound up with a railway company was married to a woman who hated travelling by train.’

  ‘That may turn out to be a vital piece of information.’

  ‘I don’t see why, inspector.’

  ‘Did many people know about Mrs Swarbrick’s aversion?’

  ‘Oh, yes, it was common knowledge. When they were together, they always had what amounted to a private compartment in the last of the first-class carriages.’

  ‘You may just have explained how the killer knew where to strike.’

  Freed gaped. ‘Good Lord!’

  ‘It could be a breakthrough of sorts.’

  ‘Why is that?’

  ‘We’re dealing with a local man, sir. That narrows the field.’

  Freed was shocked. ‘Are you telling me that … it was one of us?’

  ‘It was someone who was aware of Mr and Mrs Swarbrick’s habitual arrangements when travelling by train. That’s my feeling, anyway.’

  ‘I trust it implicitly.’

  ‘Then I must ask you a special favour, sir.’

  ‘It’s granted before you even put it into words.’

  ‘Because of his position as a Member of Parliament,’ said Colbeck, ‘Mr Swarbrick’s death is going to attract a lot of attention. Reporters from national newspapers will descend on Norwich in a swarm and try to hassle us for information. It’s a point of principle with me that I never disclose details of my investigation or discuss any clues I may find.’

  ‘In other words,’ said Freed, ‘I’m to keep my mouth shut.’

  ‘Thank you, sir. In some ways, the gentlemen of the press perform a valuable service. In other ways,’ he added, lowering his voice, ‘they can be a confounded nuisance.’

  ‘You don’t need to tell me that, inspector. The ECR has been the whipping boy for many a newspaper editor. Rely on my discretion.’

  ‘Right,’ said Colbeck, grateful for his help, ‘let’s take a closer look at that compartment, shall we?’

  Horace Pryor, the railway policeman, was a moon-faced individual in his late twenties with stooping
shoulders and an apologetic grin. When he caught sight of Leeming, he immediately began to plead his innocence. Duff gave him a firm nudge.

  ‘Shut up, Horry,’ he ordered.

  ‘I’m entitled to say my piece.’

  ‘The sergeant will hear it when he’s good and ready.’

  ‘That’s right,’ said Leeming. ‘Before I do that, I must ask you to leave. There’s hardly enough room for two of us in here. Three of us will just keeping bumping into each other.’

  ‘But I ought to stay,’ insisted Duff.

  ‘Why?’

  ‘I want to hear what Horry tells you to make sure it’s the same excuse he told me.’

  Pryor bristled. ‘It’s not an excuse, Bart. It was the truth.’

  ‘I’ll listen to it in private,’ said Leeming, meaningfully.

  Duff glowered at him for a second, then left the room reluctantly. After sizing up the newcomer, Leeming motioned for him to sit down, then he started to probe.

  ‘How long have you worked here?’

  ‘It must be nearly five years now,’ said Pryor.

  ‘So you should be able to discharge your duties blindfold.’

  ‘I like the job and I always do it proper.’

  ‘That’s not what Sergeant Duff claims. He blames you for allowing the points to be switched.’

  ‘That’s unfair!’ insisted Pryor.

  ‘Explain.’

  ‘Well, it’s like this. I’m supposed to watch the track at all times to see that nobody tries to climb onto it or play about with the points. I patrol the platform, then walk up and down between the various tracks.’

  ‘Isn’t that dangerous?’

  ‘Not if you know all the train times,’ said Pryor, tapping his skull with a forefinger. ‘They’re locked up in here. I know exactly what train is coming on which line and where its final destination is.’

  ‘So what went wrong today?’