‘We can leave that to Mrs Fleetwood’s solicitor to decide.’
‘With your agreement, I’ll get the printer tracked down so that we can confirm who employed him. A more difficult problem is finding the person who somehow got hold of the guest list from the Lotus.’
‘Perhaps the handbill is accurate,’ said Chatfield. ‘Security at the hotel must be woeful. If someone can walk in there blithely in the middle of the night to commit a murder and abduct a woman, then it must be equally easy to steal confidential records.’
‘That’s very unfair, sir. The Lotus prides itself on its safety record. It’s had five years without any incidents that might qualify as even petty crimes. How would it have kept its illustrious clientele if it wasn’t the haven it claims to be?’
‘You’re quite right, Inspector,’ apologised the other. ‘My sneer was uncalled for.’
‘Since the hotel first opened, Mrs Fleetwood has had to fight a running battle with Mr Buchanan. That handbill looks as if it’s the latest grenade he’s thrown at her.’
‘Let me know as soon as you have clear proof of that.’
‘I will, sir.’
‘If Buchanan is behind this disgraceful handbill, then it’s about time I had a word with the gentleman.’
‘Oh, he’s no gentleman, I can assure you.’
‘Why do you say that?’
‘He has no idea how to treat a lady, sir. Ask Mrs Fleetwood.’
Alice Marmion felt guilty. Having spent so much time thinking about Jennifer Jerrold, she’d largely forgotten her mother. She wondered if she’d really won the argument about the lecture by Quentin Dacey or if her mother had decided to attend it despite her daughter’s objections. The very fact that Ellen had fallen prey to the ideas put out by Dacey and William Le Queux showed how lonely and vulnerable her mother was. There was little help from her father. He was rarely available to talk to anyone in the family. Alice was bound to blame herself for leaving home, but she’d seen it as an absolute necessity. Had her independence been bought at the price of her mother’s isolation? Should her first duty be to the family?
It was getting late, but she hadn’t even undressed yet. After an involuntary yawn, Alice began to unbutton her blouse. Suddenly, there was a sharp crack. It made her fly to the window and pull back the curtains. Keedy was standing below with a grin on his face. He’d thrown a small stone up to attract her attention. When he beckoned her with the crook of his finger, her heart lifted. She grabbed her coat and left the room on tiptoe.
Ten minutes later, they were sitting on a bench in the nearby park and ignoring the autumnal chill. With his arm around her shoulders, Alice felt warm and happy.
‘I wasn’t expecting you, Joe.’
‘Is that a complaint?’
‘Don’t be silly.’
‘The person to thank is your father,’ he said. ‘He more or less ordered me to see you before you forgot what I looked like.’
‘I’d never do that,’ she said with a laugh.
‘How are you?’
‘I’m fine now.’
‘Does that mean you weren’t until I turned up?’
‘It does, actually.’
‘Have you been having trouble with Gale Force again?’
‘No, she’s decided that I’m a model officer now.’
‘That makes a change,’ he said.
‘It’s all to do with Jenny Jerrold,’ she explained. ‘Jenny’s a friend in the force. I’m keen to help her with a nasty problem, but I’ll have to do some detective work first.’
‘What a coincidence!’ said Keedy. ‘Not so long ago, your father was saying that you’d make a good detective. Can I help?’
‘Afterwards …’
She snuggled up against him and felt his arm tighten around her.
Night continued to be a torment. If she actually managed to fall asleep, Millie Jenks would wake with a start after a short while. She knew that she’d never escape her nocturnal dread unless she did what Lena Gosling had advised and confronted her fears by going back to the room where she’d discovered the gruesome scene. There’d be no need to enter it and the room was in any case locked, but in making the effort to reach the door and put her hand on the knob, she’d be achieving a vital stage in her recovery. Until that happened, her despair would continue.
Getting out of bed, she put on her dressing gown and slippers before letting herself out. Millie knew the geography of the hotel well enough to be able to find her way around in the gloom, so she headed for the room where her terrors had all begun. When she got there, she was conscious of the fact that there was no Lena Gosling to come to her aid this time. Millie was alone now.
Summoning up all of her courage, she got within a yard of the door and reached out for the knob. Then she heard a noise from inside the room. It petrified her. As she looked down, she saw a ray of light flash across the bottom of the door before disappearing.
Her courage deserted her now. Hearing the approach of footsteps, she leapt back and dived into an alcove. The door opened soundlessly, and a figure emerged. By the light of his lamp, she saw his face.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
With something important to tell him, Ellen was determined to stay up for her husband. When the police car finally dropped him off, she was sitting on the sofa in her dressing gown and reading a novel. Marmion let himself into the house, intending to sneak past the living room to go quietly upstairs. He was surprised to see his wife wide awake.
‘Still up, then?’
‘I don’t feel tired.’
‘Has something happened?’ he asked. ‘You look so … cheerful.’
‘I feel cheerful, Harvey. I went to that lecture I told you about.’
‘That’s a shame. I thought I put you off.’
‘Rene Bridger more or less forced me into it,’ said Ellen, ‘and I’m very grateful. I made a speech there.’
‘That’s not like you, love.’
‘I was so angry with him, it just came out.’
‘What did you say?’
‘I defended you and everybody else in the police force. Mr Dacey claimed that he sent details of German agents to Scotland Yard and nothing had been done about them. When Rene told him what you’d said about all the spies being sent to the Isle of Man, he sneered. I wasn’t going to let him get away with that,’ said Ellen, stoutly, ‘so I told him we should be grateful to the police instead of insulting them. As I marched out with Rene, some people clapped and others followed us.’
‘Good God!’ he exclaimed. ‘You have been having fun.’
‘I went into that hall believing Mr Dacey and I came out hating everything he’d told us. Rene said I was wonderful.’
He kissed her. ‘I told you the same thing years ago.’
‘That was different.’
‘It seemed to work at the time.’
She jabbed him playfully. ‘How have you got on?’
‘We’re inching steadily along.’
‘Is that all?’
‘No, it isn’t,’ said Marmion, ‘we’ve made more progress than we realise. More to the point, we got the commissioner to take our side against Chat.’
‘Was the superintendent upset?’
‘He was like a wounded animal, looking for someone to bite.’
‘Well, I hope it wasn’t you.’
‘Come on,’ he said. ‘Let’s go to bed.’
‘You look as if you need sleep, Harvey. You can barely stand up.’
‘Save your sympathy for Joe.’
‘Why?’
‘I’m off duty now. He’s still hard at work.’
‘What can he possibly be doing this late?’
‘First of all, I hope, he was talking to our daughter. By now, he’ll be in Chelsea, talking to taxi drivers. We’ve had information from a man who was walking near the hotel around the time we believe the murder took place. Joe spoke to him. As a result,’ said Marmion, ‘he’s out in the cold in search of a driver who works late at n
ight.’
The blackout turned London into a ghostly city. Light of any kind was either hidden or dimmed. Streets were dark and pedestrians had to pick their way along them with care. The most common complaint was that the invisible kerbs were a menace. Even after some of them were painted white, people kept tripping over them. Most of the capital was shrouded by night but the West End was an exception. Albeit subdued, lights still flickered there to advertise clubs and pubs to the scores of fun-seeking soldiers on leave from the front. Only when the rumble of German aircraft could be heard were lights swiftly extinguished at the heart of London.
His visit to Alice had revived Keedy. They’d been able to kiss away the time they’d been apart, and he felt inspired when he left her. The first place he went to in Chelsea was the Lotus Hotel, now no more than a dark silhouette against the sky. Nothing in its shadowy exterior hinted at the turmoil within. As he headed for the main road, he was reminded of one of the strictly enforced edicts that had been brought in. Whistling was forbidden because it might be confused with an air raid signal and cause unnecessary panic, so he hummed a tune quietly to himself.
He reached the taxi rank to find that there were no vehicles there. When a few started to arrive, none of the drivers remembered picking up a man and a woman at four o’clock three nights earlier. Keedy had to loiter there for a long time before his luck changed. A taxi drew up and the driver poked his head through the window. Keedy took out his warrant card to show to the man.
‘I’m Detective Sergeant Keedy from Scotland Yard.’
‘I’ve done nothing wrong,’ bleated the driver. ‘I’m properly licensed.’
‘I’m sure you are. I just want you to tell me about the two people you picked up not far from here two nights ago. You contacted the police about them.’
‘Ah yes, I know what you’re talking about now.’
‘Is it true that a man and a woman got in here talking French?’
‘So that’s what it was. It was gobbledegook to me.’
‘Tell me what happened.’
The driver coughed and Keedy became horribly aware of his bad breath. He was a diminutive man in his sixties with a flat cap on his head and a cushion under his backside so that he could see through the windscreen. Taking out his notebook, Keedy jotted down the details as they came.
‘Well,’ said the driver, ‘I was waiting right here when they came.’
‘From which direction would that be?’
‘It was over there – around that corner.’
Keedy was excited. The Lotus was located in the same street.
‘Then what happened?’ he asked.
‘I was glad. You don’t get many fares at that time of night. The woman was carrying a suitcase and swaying all over the place. The man kept urging her on.’
‘I was told he more or less bundled her into the taxi after the luggage.’
‘It was something like that. All I know is that he was angry and she sounded as if she was drunk.’
‘Have you any idea what they were saying to each other?’
‘Don’t ask me, Sergeant. I couldn’t understand a bleeding word.’
‘How old were they?’
‘I couldn’t see. It was too dark.’
‘Did they walk as if they were young and fit?’
‘No, she was struggling. I did get a glimpse of her and I suppose she’d be around my age. Never saw his face.’
‘Can you remember where you took them?’
‘Of course,’ said the driver as if insulted by the question. ‘I never forget a destination.’ He tapped his skull. ‘They’re locked away up here forever …’
‘Right,’ said Keedy. ‘Take me there.’
The driver eyed him suspiciously. ‘Are you serious?’
‘Take me there now.’ He clambered into the taxi, but the man still hesitated. ‘Go on – you’ll get paid.’
Alice was delighted that her plan had been approved by Keedy, even if it meant that she had to get up very early. The consolation was that she had free access for once to the bathroom she shared with three other female lodgers. As a rule, she had to wait her turn, but she was out of the house before the trio of women had even woken up. Getting across to Jennifer Jerrold’s house involved taking two separate buses then walking over three hundred yards. Alice got there in plenty of time to choose her hiding place. Light rain was falling so her umbrella was able to serve as a means of concealment.
She had a good view of Jennifer’s house, a corner property of some size, but saw nobody lurking nearby. People were too busy setting off for work to stand out in the rain. When her friend eventually came out of the house, Alice realised why Jennifer felt safe there. She was accompanied by her father who walked all the way to the bus stop with her before waiting until the vehicle arrived. Jennifer had a chaperone. She also had a stalker. When the bus pulled away, a man came out of the shop doorway from which he’d been watching her and stared after the bus until it was out of sight. There was something about the intensity of his interest that alerted Alice.
Keedy had warned her not to accost the stalker in case he turned violent, but Alice was too angry on her friend’s behalf. The man on the opposite side of the road had caused Jennifer so much grief that she was on the point of resigning from the police. Seeing him walk off in the opposite direction, Alice ran across the road and went after him. He was tall and angular. He wore a raincoat and a wide-brimmed black hat.
When she got near him, Alice called out for him to stop, intending to challenge him about what he’d been doing. As he turned to look at her, the words died in her throat. Instead of looking at his face, she was transfixed by something he was wearing. It was a clerical collar.
Notwithstanding his late night, Keedy was ready to be picked up when Marmion arrived in a police car. The sergeant was as smartly dressed as usual and was bubbling with enthusiasm. Marmion was puzzled.
‘What’s got into you, Joe? Have you been drinking?’
‘All I had was my usual cup of tea.’
‘Something seems to have cheered you up.’
‘I tracked down that taxi driver.’
He told Marmion about his visit to Chelsea and how the driver had picked up a man and a woman who’d been arguing in a foreign language. Keedy had been driven to the same destination as the couple.
‘When I realised that we were on Cromwell Road,’ said Keedy, ‘I thought at first they’d gone to the French embassy, then we turned into a side street and stopped outside a small hotel called the Paradise. The night porter let me see the register. Vesta Lyle and the man stayed the night there under the name of Baker.’
Marmion started. ‘An English name.’
‘The man must have been fluent in English and have had documents to prove his identity. According to the night porter, the woman wasn’t at all well when they arrived back after midnight. She had to be helped out of the taxi by the man. The couple left late in the morning without even bothering to have breakfast. That’s all I can tell you, Harv. My guess is that they headed for somewhere like Dover.’
‘Well, they won’t be able to sail back to France. Chat made sure of that. All ports were sent a description of Vesta Lyle. If she tries to sneak out of the country as Mrs Baker, someone will spot her.’
‘Then they must be holed up on the south coast somewhere.’
‘You did well, Joe.’
‘Thanks.’
‘We’ve finally got a sniff of her. I’m interested in the fact that she seemed to be drunk. The murder victim had a lot of alcohol in her blood as well. Had Vesta Lyle been drinking heavily, or had she taken a bit too much cocaine?’
‘I don’t know,’ said Keedy. ‘I can tell you what the effects are of having too much beer, but I’ve never tried cocaine or any other drug.’
‘Keep it that way.’
‘I tell you what I can’t work out. However did the man get inside the hotel to kill one woman and drag another one out? There was an obvious way to get the mu
rder victim in there. Vesta Lyle could have let her in through one of the rear entrances in the early hours. When I took the first statement from the night porter, he told me that he patrolled the hotel at set times.’
‘Vesta Lyle could easily have discovered that,’ said Marmion. ‘It may be the reason she’d stayed in the Lotus before. It needed to be a hotel into which she could smuggle her friend.’
‘The man who took her out was no friend,’ Keedy pointed out. ‘The taxi said how roughly he spoke to her when he pushed her into the cab. There’s something else as well. Mr Baker, as he called himself, was quite old. I can’t see him forcing his way into the Lotus somehow. I’d love to know how he did it.’
‘Sooner or later, we’ll find out. Meanwhile, we’ve got a nice titbit to feed Chat. Well done!’
Millie Jenks wasn’t quite sure that what she’d seen was real. Since the murder, she’d been so on edge that she kept making simple mistakes. She was also at the mercy of strange dreams. Had she really gone to the room at night where the crime had occurred? Or was it an illusion? And even if she had gone there, did she need to say anything about what happened? The fear of getting herself into trouble made her keep it to herself. As a consequence, she felt guilty for holding something back that the manager ought to know. It had an effect on her work.
‘Come into my room,’ said Lena Gosling.
‘Yes. Of course,’ said Millie, following her. ‘Have I done anything wrong?’
‘I’m afraid that you have. It started with you collecting the wrong bedlinen from the laundry room and went on from there.’
‘I’m so sorry, Mrs Gosling.’
‘Your mind just isn’t on your work this morning. After what happened, we’ve made allowances for you, but we can’t keep doing that.’ Lena took her by the shoulders. ‘What is it, Millie?’
‘It’s nothing …’
‘I know when you’re not telling the truth.’
Lena was determined to find out why the girl’s concentration had deserted her. She waited until Millie eventually confided in her. When she heard what had happened, Lena fixed her with a stare.
The Unseen Hand Page 23
