The Body in the Box Room

by L. A. Nisula

  ~*~*~

  When I got to Milly’s rooms, she seemed surprised to see me. “Cassie, come in. There’s tea somewhere, but nothing to have with it. I suppose we could go down to the pub.”

  Where I would pay, no doubt. “Actually, I needed to talk to Randall, and I thought it would be better if you were there.”

  “Oh, Cassie, are you having trouble with your bank? I’m sure he’ll sort it out for you.”

  “Nothing like that.” Not that I’d let him anywhere near my finances. “It’s something Inspector Wainwright said to me when I was there. I needed to ask him about it.” I gave her a brief summary of the name “Lanebridge,” trying to keep it vague. I doubted she would intentionally give Randall more information than Inspector Wainwright would want him to have, but speaking to him was difficult at best, and I didn’t want her to say the wrong thing in a fit of pique.

  When I’d finished, she nodded. “That would be interesting if it’s a coincidence. But it must be. You said you found his alibi.”

  “I did. He was at a pub in Blackfriars. Miss Hayes followed him there.”

  Milly didn’t seem put off by the mention of her rival. “At least that can be verified. But why all the Poet’s Corner nonsense?”

  “Something else I need to ask him.”

  “Then we’d better go while he’s at home.”

  “I thought he worked from home.”

  “Oh, he does, but he’s been visiting his mother so often after this horrible business, and I’ve had more than enough of her myself.”

  I nodded sympathetically and waited while she got her coat and hat.

  ~*~*~

  When we got to Randall’s building, the indicator by the letter box showed he was in. I left it to Milly to figure out how to announce our presence. She rang the bell, waited, then rang again. On the sixth ring, the answering bell rang, so we knew Randall had finally decided to acknowledge our presence. We waited by the door until we could see a vague form through the frosted glass that proved to be Randall coming down the stairs. When he opened the door, his look of irritation changed to one of pleasure. “Milly, I wasn’t expecting you.”

  “Clearly not. Do you always wait six rings to answer?”

  “There’ve been so many nuisance callers lately. Policemen and such. I’ve been trying to ignore them.”

  “Which doesn’t look suspicious at all,” I muttered.

  “Miss Pengear, I didn’t see you there.”

  “Were you going to invite us up, Randall?” Milly moved towards the door as she spoke.

  Randall hurried out of her way. “Of course, of course. Come upstairs. I’ll put a kettle on or something.”

  “We won’t be long,” I said for both their benefits.

  Randall’s flat was larger than I’d expected. As the sitting room was rather tidy, I guessed he had a maid in and it wasn’t one of her days. Milly took the couch; I sat in the armchair by the fireplace, leaving Randall the choice of a hard-backed chair or an ottoman. He stood between us, dithering.

  Milly began speaking before he’d made up his mind. “Cassie is still working on your mother’s case, Randall. Isn’t that nice of her?”

  “Very kind, Miss Pengear. I’m sure Mother will appreciate it.”

  “And she needs to ask you a few questions.”

  “Anything I can do.”

  I took that as a sign I could start. “How long have you had the name ‘Lanebridge’ on your letter box?”

  “A few months. Maybe a year. I had ‘Stoneounce’ on it before, but that confused people. They didn’t get how clever it was.”

  Neither did I. “How did you pick the name ‘Lanebridge’?”

  Randall shrugged. “He was a friend of my mother’s. It sounded unique without being obviously fake.”

  So, coincidence after all. Still... “What does he look like?”

  “I’ve never seen him. I’ve just heard her mention him to other acquaintances.”

  “Not to you, though.”

  “Don’t think so. Why would she?”

  I didn’t have an answer for that. “When she mentioned him, what was she talking about?”

  Randall shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s not like I was listening. It was just something I heard when I was there. Arranging to meet someone, I think.”

  That seemed innocent enough.

  “He must have been part of some charity.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “She usually said something about meeting him Wednesday, and that’s the day she goes to her society meetings. I never visit her on Wednesdays so she can go to them. That must be why she was so put out about me bringing Milly over that evening. I’d forgotten it was Wednesday, and she does get tired out at those meetings.”

  Wednesdays seemed to be a busy day on Rusham Street. But if I believed everyone was telling me the truth as they knew it... “Which society is it?”

  “No idea. But I bet the charity men were from it.”

  “But if she was a part of it, then why didn’t she know the name of it when Inspector Wainwright asked?”

  Randall shrugged. “That Wainwright would make anyone nervous.”

  But I could think of another reason. “Randall, where did you get that counterfeit coin you gave me for the cab?”

  “I never....”

  Milly interrupted him. “From his mother’s handbag as we were leaving. Does it matter?”

  I didn’t want Randall to know what I was thinking. “It could. But we should be going. I’m sure you have lots to do, Randall.”

  Randall looked at the clock. “I suppose.”

  “Unless you were going to give us tea,” Milly said.

  Randall looked around the room as if he had no idea where tea came from. I got to my feet.

  “Thank you for your help, Randall. I hope I won’t have to bother you anymore.” I very much hoped that.

  Back outside, Milly asked, “Did that help?”

  “I think it did.”

  “At least Randall can do something right. Did you need me for anything else?”

  I was developing a very strange theory. The question was how to prove it. But I suspected the answer would be on Rusham Street, and it would be easier to investigate there on my own. “No, I think I can manage for now.”

  “Then I’ll be going home. Good luck.” Milly started off in the direction of the Underground station.

  I wondered what Milly was doing at home, but I decided against asking. Instead, I gave her a chance to get to her platform, then went to the Underground station myself and took the train to Rusham Street. Once there, I looked around, staying away from Mrs. Fetherton’s front door. The houses behind Mrs. Fetherton’s, the ones that faced her garden, had all been questioned by Inspector Wainwright and his men, looking for any information about Miss Hayes’s arrival. No one had talked to the people facing the front door. I looked at the street. There were no shops nearby, and the windows across the street all appeared empty. So where to start?

  I spotted Constable Declan down the next block and waited for him to cross my path. “Miss Pengear. The body at number 24, although I suppose I shouldn’t call it that.”

  “Better than the corpse in the box room. I was wondering, when did you pass here the afternoon of the murder?”

  “It should have been close to half-past-one. I’m not perfect, but I do keep my schedule pretty well. Nothing happened.”

  “So you wouldn’t have been here between two and half-past?”

  “No, not unless I was summoned, and I wasn’t.”

  “Can you think of anyone who would have been watching the street then?”

  “You could try Tommy, the lad you sent to find me that night. He hangs out on that corner at all hours looking to take messages for people. He may have been around then. And he’s honest, as honest as a boy that age anyway. He won’t tell you he saw what he didn’t.”

  I glanced at the corner where I had first seen him, but it was empty. “Do you know wh
ere I can find him?”

  “If he’s not there, then he’ll be at the other end of the high street. If one corner doesn’t give him any business, he tries the other to see if any of the shops have messages that need to be delivered.”

  “Thank you. I’m hoping he saw something he doesn’t know he did.”

  Constable Declan nodded, but I could tell he wasn’t sure what I meant.

  I found Tommy on the corner of the high street, just where Constable Declan had said he would be. He grinned when he saw me. “Miss Pengear? Hi.”

  “How are you, Tommy?”

  “Have they solved the murder yet?”

  “They’re working on it, but no, not yet. That’s why I was looking for you. Were you near number 24 the day it happened?”

  He nodded. “But I didn’t see anything interesting.”

  “Maybe you saw something that didn’t seem interesting since you didn’t know there was going to be a murder.”

  “I suppose, but there wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. Mrs. Fetherton had company like always.”

  “Always?”

  He nodded. “Almost every other Wednesday she has men over. Not like that, I mean I don’t think she’s fast or anything, but she does have some over. I always thought it was business, like a factory foreman or something.”

  “Do you remember seeing anyone there the day of the murder?”

  “Three men, a small short fellow who I think was in charge, a big bruiser with an earring, and some other fellow I think was Irish, he was a redhead anyway. Do you think she runs a boxing studio?”

  “I don’t know, but was this before or after the storm?”

  “Before, but not by much. I saw them leave too. I was waiting it out inside the chemist’s, Mrs. Perkins doesn’t care if I do, and I saw them leave while it was still snowing.”

  So they were there and left before Miss Hayes arrived. “I think you should go to Constable Declan and tell him this, then tell him to take you to Inspector Wainwright.”

  “Do I have to?”

  “I don’t think those men were boxers.”

  “Who else would...oh.” He started to dig in his pockets. “I thought I had a shilling. Do you think that’s enough for a cab to Scotland Yard?”

  I reached into my handbag and pulled out the correct fare.

  “I didn’t mean...”

  “I’ll get Inspector Wainwright to pay me back. He always does eventually.”

  “Then thanks. I’m going to get my mum and sister first, have them come with me. Safest place for them, don’t you think?”

  “I do. I’ll have a word with Constable Declan for you. Is his beat by your house?”

  “Yeah. I’ll show you where he’ll be.”

  I followed to keep an eye on Tommy as I already knew more or less where Constable Declan was. We caught up with him about half-a-block from where I’d spoken to him.

  “Miss Pengear, so you did find Tommy.”

  “Hi, Constable Declan. Miss Pengear wanted to talk to you. I’m going to get Mum and Amy and go to Scotland Yard.”

  “And why is that?”

  “Miss Pengear and I were talking.”

  “I’ll explain it, Tommy.” I glanced towards number 24.

  Constable Declan caught on at once. “You don’t want to be late for the detective, do you, Tommy?”

  “All right, but you’ll explain it well, won’t you Miss Pengear?”

  I had the feeling Tommy wanted to be part of solving the case. “I promise.”

  As soon as Tommy had run off, Constable Declan steered me back towards the high street and out of sight of number 24. “What is this about Tommy seeing something?”

  “He saw men going into number 24 the afternoon of the murder before we found the body. I think they’re the same men who called later pretending to be from a charity. The third one is almost certainly the one who attacked Nora, the one Inspector Wainwright thinks is Lanebridge.”

  Constable Declan started walking slowly enough so I would keep up. “And that’s why you’re sending him to Inspector Wainwright to tell him. And he’s bringing his mother?”

  “It was his idea. I think it’s more showing off to her than anything, but I also think it’s a good idea.”

  “And I think it’s a good idea for you to go with them. And don’t come back this way anytime soon.” He said it quietly, not at all the way policemen normally told me to stay away.

  “You think it’s that dangerous?”

  “If it’s connected to the attack on Nora Wilson, then yes, I do.” He stepped away from me to hail a cab and spoke a few words to the driver. “Hop in. We’ll go by Tommy’s and pick them up, then you can bring the lot of you to the Yard.” As I climbed in, he whispered, “I know this driver. He’s a regular. You’ll be safe.”

  So he really was worried. “Then thank you for your help. I’ll keep an eye on Tommy.”

  Constable Declan nodded as he climbed in beside me and closed the door to the cab.

  ~*~*~

  The cab ride took us about three streets from Rusham Street, where there were several small lodgings and tenement houses. Constable Declan got out as soon as the cab stopped. I followed him and saw Tommy standing in front of one of the buildings with a woman slightly older than I was. She looked at Constable Declan as we approached. “Tommy said you were coming.”

  “And here I am. Tommy, would you go and get Amy? I’ve got a cab waiting for you. My treat.”

  “Sure thing.” Tommy ran for the front door.

  I was going to protest his paying for the cab, but he cut me off. “I get proper expenses from the Yard, much less trouble to get reimbursed than you’ll have.”

  I closed my mouth.

  Tommy’s mother looked from one of us to the other. “Were you going to explain this?”

  “Of course, Mrs. O’Connall. This is Miss Pengear. She’s been looking into the murder at 24 Rusham Street, unofficially.”

  “Pleased to meet you,” I said.

  Mrs. O’Connall nodded them went back to watching Constable Declan. “I’ve heard all about that. Tommy can’t stop talking about how he was the one who went to get you when the body was found.”

  “Then it’s a good thing Miss Pengear figured out that he had seen something earlier in the day that he didn’t place any importance on.”

  “What?”

  He leaned in and whispered something. I was fairly certain his lips formed the words “Tinripper Gang.” Mrs. O’Connall went pale.

  “I didn’t know they were involved.”

  “Neither did the police until Miss Pengear sorted it out. That’s why you lot have to go and tell the investigator in charge what Tommy saw.”

  “Of course. I knew we should have gone on.” She turned to me. “We were going to go to New York and stay with my sister, but my Tom took ill and passed before we had the money saved. I’d wanted to go anyway, but there just wasn’t enough, not if I wanted to bring both children, and how could I leave one with his family like they said?”

  I nodded sympathetically but was saved from answering by Tommy jumping the last three steps and a girl of about seven following him more sedately. Constable Declan got us all bundled into the cab, then had a few more words with the driver and waved to Tommy as we pulled away.

  Chapter 16

  THE LINE TO BE ADMITTED to the detectives’ floor at Scotland Yard was as long as I’d ever seen it, not that it was ever short. If I’d been working with one of the other detectives I knew, they would have left my name at the employee desk so I could get to see them quickly, even if they were pretending that I wasn’t helping, but not Inspector Wainwright. I realized I should have asked Constable Declan for a note or something, but in the hurry to get here, I hadn’t thought of it. I nodded to the line for the detective’s floor. “I’m afraid we have to wait.”

  Mrs. O’Connall nodded. “Isn’t that always the way when you have something important. Amy, how would you like to play observations?”

/>   Amy nodded and stayed very close to her mother. I had the feeling I wasn’t invited to participate in the game and spent time at my own observation game—find-a-policeman-you-know. Tommy insisted on returning the money I’d given him for cab fare, then had no trouble amusing himself, asking us what we thought each person in line in front of us was there for then making up his own answers, which he fortunately did not share aloud, as I suspected most of them involved elaborate criminal conspiracies which might be a little too close to the truth in many cases.

  We had been waiting a good fifteen minutes when I saw a friendly face, Inspector Burrows, coming out of the stairwell. I waved to get his attention, and he meandered over as soon as he saw me. “Miss Pengear, let me guess, you’re helping Inspector Wainwright with something. He seemed particularly irritated today.”

  “Very funny. But I do have to see him right away.”

  “Which case? The murder on Rusham, no doubt.”

  “I’ve managed to connect it to something else.”

  Inspector Burrows’s good mood vanished immediately. He caught my arm and pulled me out of line. “Tell me you’re not investigating the Tinripper Gang.”

  “I didn’t set out to, but you know as well as anybody that you can’t control where an investigation leads.”

  “When you saw it going in that direction, you should have left it alone.”

  “He arrested my cousin.”

  “After she confessed.”

  “So he has been talking to you about it. I really need to see him at once.”

  Inspector Burrows sighed. “Yes, you probably do. Come along.”

  I gestured for Tommy and the rest to follow us. Inspector Burrows raised an eyebrow but didn’t comment. I understood. If Inspector Wainwright was in a bad mood to begin with, my arrival with two children and their mother in tow wasn’t going to make things any better.

  When we reached the detectives’ floor, Inspector Burrows started to lead us towards Inspector Wainwright’s office. Perhaps he thought his presence might soften the shock of our arrival. “He’s going to want someone to take notes,” I told him.