The sad thing was that such a memory – important to her – would be utterly meaningless to Paul. If she told him about the incident, he’d only sneer. Details of his parents’ courtship had no interest for him. Ellen wondered sometimes if he was starting to despise them. He’d certainly shown no love towards his sister the previous night. None of his family seemed to matter to him any more.
After finishing his breakfast, Paul did rise to a mumbled word of thanks then went out of the kitchen. Ellen cleared everything off the table and did the washing-up. She then took the bucket from under the sink and went out to empty it in the bin. Lifting the lid, she was about to tip the rubbish in when she caught sight of a piece of paper with a drawing on it. She picked it up and realised that it was a rough portrait of Sally Redwood. Her whole face was covered in freckles. What made Ellen gasp in horror was that the freckles were tiny holes, put there by the darts Paul had thrown.
Folding up the paper, she slipped it into the pocket of her apron.
At the end of another long and unrewarding day, they met in a pub to exchange complaints and to adjust their plans. Over a restorative pint apiece, Marmion and Keedy bemoaned the amount of time they’d spent on their respective searches. Neither of them had anything substantive to show for their efforts.
‘It’s dispiriting,’ said Marmion.
‘I can think of another word for it, Harv, but I don’t want to swear.’
‘I must have done so a dozen times today, Joe. I’ve been to every known haunt of Wally Hubbard and the cupboard was bare.’ Keedy groaned. ‘Sorry – I couldn’t resist that.’
‘I got the same result with Croft. Nobody knows where he is.’
‘He’ll be with a woman somewhere.’
‘Lucky devil!’
‘Watch it, Joe,’ said Marmion, jocularly. ‘You’re spoken for.’
‘I know and I’m glad of it. I managed to snatch an hour with Alice when I came off duty last night. It was a real tonic.’
‘Did she tell you about Paul?’
‘Yes, but I expect you got the fuller version at home.’
‘Ellen was torn between annoyance and despair. It just goes on and on. There was a time when Paul had good days and bad days. He only has bad days now.’
‘I’m surprised that he hasn’t linked up with some of the other lads who’ve been injured and sent home.’
‘He tried that but hated the way they went on about the war all the time.’
‘It’s an experience that changed their lives,’ said Keedy. ‘There’s no getting away from that. It certainly changed Paul’s life. He’s reminded of that every time he looks in the shaving mirror.’
‘That’s true.’
They fell silent and reviewed their respective days. Each one of them had covered a fair amount of London as the hunt continued. A day that had started with hope ended in a searing disappointment. Marmion eventually spoke again.
‘There are three of them, Joe.’
‘What are you talking about?’
‘There are three missing persons.’
‘I’ve only counted two. Who’s the third?’
‘Paul,’ replied the other. ‘I’m after Wally Hubbard, you’re after Ben Croft and we’re all looking for the real Paul Marmion who was lost at the Battle of the Somme. He’s the one we may never find.’
‘Have we lost him altogether?’
‘It’s beginning to look that way.’
‘What about Wally Hubbard?’
‘Oh, we’ll find him in the end, Joe. He won’t stay out of sight for long. As soon as he gets a whiff of where Croft has gone, he’ll be after him with whatever weapon he’s decided to use.’
‘Hubbard is a tough man. He could commit murder with his bare hands.’
‘It may well come to that.’
Keedy was puzzled. ‘Why did he wait?’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Why did Hubbard wait until his daughter had lost the baby and died in hospital before he turned on Croft? Having met him, I would’ve thought that Hubbard was the sort who’d hold a shotgun on Croft the moment he dumped the girl.’
‘Maybe she didn’t tell him who the father was.’
‘Oh, I think he’d have demanded to know. What father wouldn’t?’
He shot Keedy a glance that contained a warning. Before he and Alice had got together, the sergeant was known as a ladies’ man with a string of dalliances behind him. In his younger days, he’d been the envy of the other constables in the station house. Marmion belonged to a generation that expected to keep a firm control of any romantic developments among their children. Ellen had been watched like a hawk by her father and Marmion’s access to his future wife had been severely restricted. As a result, they’d had to wait until their honeymoon to make discoveries that other couples had made earlier in a relationship. Though he tried hard to fend off such speculation, he did occasionally wonder what Keedy and Alice had been up to. It would be highly embarrassing for all of them if a baby appeared before the marriage.
‘Have you and Alice finally set a date yet?’ he asked.
‘Yes,’ replied Keedy, sourly. ‘It’s the day after I find Ben Croft, so it may be several years away yet.’
Marmion laughed. ‘We’ll get him soon. And if we don’t …’
‘Wally Hubbard will find him for us.’
Instead of going straight home to her flat that night, Maisie Rogers caught a bus to Islington to see her friend. She’d already met Hubbard once that day. When she’d left the house, he appeared magically out of an alleyway to relieve her of the money she was carrying and to be given the key that Felix Browne had entrusted to her. The encounter had lasted less than a minute. Their second meeting of the day, she hoped, would be much longer. In the event, it went on for a couple of hours, starting in the main bedroom then moving to the kitchen. With the money from Browne, he’d bought food, milk and alcohol. He’d also acquired some new, smart clothing. They toasted their reunion with a cup of tea.
‘Here’s to Felix!’ he said, raising his cup.
‘I’ll drink to that.’
‘I knew he wouldn’t let me down. I’ve now got a fully furnished house in a lovely part of the city and a gorgeous woman to keep me company.’
‘Are you sure it’s safe here?’ she asked, nervously.
‘Yes, nobody saw me moving in and, even if they did, they wouldn’t recognise me from that photo in the newspapers. It’s amazing what a bowler, a pair of glasses and a turned-up collar can do for you. My own mother wouldn’t know me.’
‘You gave me a real scare this morning when you pounced on me. You’ve changed completely, Wally.’
‘I’ve had to, darling. Every copper in London is on the lookout for me.’
‘I meant to tell you about that,’ she said, ‘but you whipped me upstairs before I could get a word out.’
‘Are you complaining?’ he asked with a wicked grin.
‘No, I’m not. That bed is so much better than the one I have to sleep in.’
‘And you had me as a hot-water bottle!’ They shared a laugh. ‘Right, you were going to tell me something. It’s about Inspector Marmion, isn’t it?’
‘He came to see me at the pub.’
‘That’s a good sign.’
‘Is it?’
‘Yes, Maisie,’ he told her. ‘If he had cause to believe that we’d been in touch, he’d have hauled you off to the nick. You’d have been under real pressure there. If he came to the pub, he just wanted an informal chat.’
‘There was more to it than that, Wally.’
‘Oh?’
‘He’d not only been to my flat, he persuaded Mrs Donovan to let him search it. He obviously came up with some clever excuse because she was as nice as pie to me when I got back. The old dear had no idea that I was under suspicion.’ She gave a quiet smile. ‘Mrs Donovan told him that I was a treasure.’
‘I’d go along with that!’
Her face clouded. ‘I’m worried, Wally.�
��
‘There’s no need.’
‘I didn’t like the way the inspector looked at me. It was as if he knows.’
‘You’re imagining things,’ he assured her. ‘He went to your flat and found nothing. You’re in the clear, Maisie. If he really suspected you of helping me, he’d have had you tailed and we’d both have been arrested by now.’
‘That’s true.’
‘Have you had any sense that someone’s been following you?’
‘None at all,’ she said.
‘There you are, then.’
Maisie relaxed slightly. While she was well aware of the risk she was taking, she saw that there were compensations. She’d not only shared some intimate moments with Hubbard, she liked the frisson of excitement she got from breaking the law by helping a friend. However, her reunion with him could only be temporary. She was realistic about that. Hubbard could never stay at liberty indefinitely.
‘Do you have to kill Croft?’ she asked, worriedly.
‘Yes, I do,’ he replied, jaw tightening.
‘But you know what will happen then, Wally.’
‘I don’t worry about that. Once I’ve settled a score with that slimy bastard, they can put a noose around my neck with pleasure.’ Maisie winced. ‘You met my daughter,’ he said. ‘You saw the state she was in because of him. Lisa was almost gibbering. He made all those promises to her then kicked Lisa out of his life without a second thought.’
‘He told her that he was getting a divorce from his wife.’
‘Well, he wasn’t – and he still isn’t.’
‘How do you know?’
‘I spoke to her earlier today.’
She was astonished. ‘You talked to Mrs Croft?’
‘Yes,’ he said, ‘we got on very well. Veronica and I have got a common cause. We both hate her husband.’
‘What if she reports you to the police?’
‘She won’t do that, Maisie. She doesn’t want anything to do with the coppers. As it turns out, Sergeant Keedy has already been in touch with her. Veronica told him what she told me. She’s happy to have Ben Croft out of her life for good.’
‘That may be so,’ she said, ‘but she didn’t tell the sergeant that she wanted her husband murdered, did she? And she didn’t tell you that either.’
‘No, Veronica didn’t say that in so many words.’
‘Then I think she lied to you. She’ll speak to the police.’
‘Not a chance.’
‘How can you be so certain?’
‘Because she was ready to help me.’
‘In what way?’
‘She gave me the name of a woman Croft had been seeing,’ he explained. ‘It was someone he met a couple of months ago. Veronica thinks he might still be calling on her from time to time, telling her the same pack of lies he told Lisa. That’s where I spent most of the evening. I was keeping watch on her house in case Croft turned up to get his money’s worth. Unfortunately, he didn’t. If he doesn’t show up tomorrow, I’ll have to put the squeeze on her.’
Maisie said nothing but her heart had suddenly started beating like a drum.
He looked very different now. As he ate his meal with the other men at the hostel, David felt so much better. He’d been given a bath, a warm bed and regular food. On the two nights he’d spent with the Salvation Army, he’d been shown kindness and concern. He was not really like the others. Raymond Marmion and his wife could see that. The other men who’d been rescued from the streets were long-term outcasts, drifters who’d lived rough for years and, in some cases, had stolen food and drink to keep themselves alive. Most of them were known to the police. What set David apart from the others was the fact that he was educated. Though he said very little, he was articulate and well mannered.
Raymond and Lily watched him with a mixture of satisfaction and curiosity.
‘I wonder why he won’t talk about himself,’ she said.
‘A lot of them are like that, Lily. They want to bury their past.’
‘I wish he’d shave that beard off. It doesn’t suit him.’
‘I don’t think he’s very concerned about his appearance. At least we’ve got him into clean clothing and given him decent meals.’
‘I just wish we knew more about him,’ said Lily. Turning away, she picked up a copy of the morning paper. ‘Did you see that your brother is in the news again?’
‘Yes, Harvey is trying to recapture an escaped prisoner.’
‘Well, he’s not doing very well at it so far, according to this article. It’s very critical of him.’
‘He’s used to being unfairly chastised in the press,’ said Raymond with brotherly affection. ‘Don’t worry about Harvey. He’ll make them eat their words. He always gets his man in the end.’
Marmion and Keedy stood side by side in front of the superintendent’s desk awaiting his strictures. For a couple of minutes, he pretended to be reading some paperwork. By the time he looked up at them, he’d rehearsed what he was going to say.
‘Your report was deplorable,’ said Chatfield.
‘We’re as disappointed as you are, sir,’ admitted Marmion.
‘You’ve made no progress whatsoever.’
‘That’s not true,’ said Keedy, going on the attack. ‘We’ve eliminated a number of possibilities, Superintendent. As you know, that takes time and effort. We’ve explored every avenue thoroughly. In my view, that deserves approval rather than reproach.’
‘Be quiet, Sergeant.’
‘I’m only making a fair point, sir.’
‘Well, now you’ve made it, please shut up.’
‘The sergeant is correct,’ said Marmion, coming to his defence. ‘He’s been as diligent as usual and so have I. We are searching for two men who have no wish to be found. We expected Hubbard to be slippery but we had no idea that Croft had also gone into hiding – or so it appears.’
‘What am I to say at the press conference?’
‘You don’t need to say anything at all, sir. Since you obviously don’t enjoy being under fire, then I’ll be more than happy to take your place. Apart from anything else, I can tell them in detail what we’ve been doing since the investigation began. All that you can do is to paraphrase my reports.’
‘The inspector is right, sir,’ said Keedy. ‘Let him take over. He has a way of handling the press that – with all your virtues – you can’t really match.’
It was a home truth that Chatfield would never accept. Stung into action, he leapt to his feet and ordered Keedy to hold his tongue. Turning his ire on Marmion, he didn’t mince his words.
‘Responsibility for the press conference will remain with me,’ he said, acidly. ‘Thank you for your kind offer, Inspector, but I reject it outright. You’re altogether too abrasive with the press. That antagonises them. I know how to get their help.’
‘There’s not much help in today’s editions,’ Marmion pointed out. ‘I get fifty lashes for what they perceive as a lack of effort and you come in for some harsher words for your performance in front of them yesterday.’
‘The Daily Mail described you as mealy-mouthed,’ Keedy interjected.
‘I told you to shut up,’ snarled Chatfield.
‘They never say that sort of thing about the inspector.’
‘Why are we arguing about the press?’ said Marmion, jumping in. ‘Facts are facts. We haven’t made the headway we hoped for. The only way to appease hostile journalists is to get results. In other words, sir, we should be out on the streets again as soon as possible. Do we have your permission to leave?’
‘No, you don’t,’ said Chatfield. ‘I haven’t finished with you yet.’
They stood there calmly while he rid himself of some biting comments about what he claimed was their lack of imagination. Having withstood many similar bursts of invective from the superintendent, they’d learnt how to close their ears to it. When the diatribe was over, Marmion had a question.
‘Have you reconsidered my request for more detect
ives?’
‘No, I haven’t. You already have enough.’
‘When do you intend to reconsider it?’ pressed Marmion.
‘I don’t.’ Chatfield snapped his fingers. ‘That will be all.’
‘Thank you, sir.’ He winked at Keedy. ‘Time to go, Sergeant.’
They left the office and closed the door behind them. Unpleasant as the attack on them had been, there was some justification for it. They had so far achieved very little. Marmion was annoyed.
‘Chat is refusing to give us the proper resources,’ he said.
‘It’s always the same.’
‘If he was in charge of this case, he’d be screaming for a dozen more men. Because I’m at the helm, he’s cut our manpower to the bone.’
‘It’s almost as if he doesn’t want us to succeed,’ said Keedy.
‘Oh, he does, Joe. He wants to have his moment of triumph when he can unveil the recapture of Wally Hubbard to the press. Chat will get all the praise while we languish in the shadows.’
‘It makes my blood boil, Harv.’
‘Let’s forget him and try a new strategy.’
‘What is it?’
‘If we can’t have someone on surveillance duty, one of us will have to do it himself. Since you’re younger and fitter than me, it will be your job.’
‘That suits me.’
‘You can start this morning, Joe.’
‘I know where Maisie Rogers works but I’ll need her home address.’
‘You won’t be keeping tabs on her.’
‘But you felt certain she’d been in touch with Hubbard.’
‘I’m equally certain she’ll watch her back as a result,’ said Marmion. ‘For that reason, I’m assigning you to someone else.’
The Enemy Within Page 7
