‘We wait for the next ship.’
‘And if they’re not on that one either?’
‘We stay put,’ said Marmion, determinedly. ‘Sooner or later, they’re going to come. I feel it in my bones. And if Chat doesn’t like it,’ he added with a grin, ‘then he can bloody well lump it.’
London was a city that never slept and had to be policed morning, noon and night. Claude Chatfield had allowed himself only five hours’ sleep before he left home to be driven back to Scotland Yard. He was not surprised to find the commissioner already there, stalking the corridors.
‘Good morning, Sir Edward,’ he said.
‘I think I’ve actually beaten you for once, Superintendent.’
‘I do try to maintain my reputation for being an early riser.’
‘You also have a reputation for keeping your detectives’ noses to the wheel. It yields results. Is there anything to report with regard to the murder case?’
‘Yes,’ replied Chatfield, uneasily. ‘Marmion and Keedy are in Kent. They’ve picked up a lead.’
‘Tell me more.’
‘Well, it’s rather complicated.’
Even when Marmion had explained it, the decision had not seemed very plausible to the superintendent. As he gave his own version of it to the commissioner, he believed in it less and less. Inevitably, it aroused an amalgam of distrust and alarm.
‘Did I hear you aright?’ asked the commissioner, worriedly.
‘I may have missed a few things out, Sir Edward.’
‘You missed out any mention of real evidence.’
‘It was in the hotel register.’
‘That’s possible,’ said the older man, ‘but I’m bound to say that it’s a remote possibility. If the killer is still living in Kent, she would hardly provide a helpful signpost.’
‘Inadvertently,’ said Chatfield, ‘she seems to have done that – or so the inspector believes. He has a name for me to mention at the next press conference. Marmion wouldn’t do that unless he was utterly convinced.’
‘I see.’
‘All we can do is to watch and pray.’
‘I’ve been doing that since the first shot was fired in the war.’
‘We must put our trust in Marmion and Keedy – as well as in God.’
‘That’s asking a lot of me,’ admitted the commissioner, ‘but I’ll make the effort. Where exactly are they at the moment?’
‘They’re in Folkestone, Sir Edward, and they plan to stay there until they’re able to make some arrests.’
The commissioner remained ominously silent.
Two ferries had come and gone but there was no sign of the fugitives. As their long vigil took its toll on them, Marmion decided that they’d have to wait for another vessel. Three people then came around the corner of a building and walked towards them. Keedy was immediately on the alert. The older woman in the middle of the trio was being more or less supported by her companions, one of whom was an older man. Their luggage was being wheeled along on a trolley by a porter. When they got closer, Keedy could see enough of the younger woman to realise that he’d seen her before.
‘It’s them,’ he declared.
‘Are you sure?’ asked Marmion.
‘I’d bet my pension on it.’
‘That’s good enough for me, Joe.’ Cupping his hands together, Marmion shouted out, ‘Danielle!’
The effect was instant. After looking across at him, the younger of the two women took to her heels and showed a remarkable turn of foot as she headed for the dock gates. Keedy was after her like a shot. In his eagerness to catch her, he didn’t forget that she was capable of murder. Such a woman wouldn’t submit tamely to arrest. She’d fight for her life.
When he finally caught up with her, they’d run the best part of sixty yards and were both panting. Keedy grabbed her by the shoulder from behind and spun her round. As soon as she faced him, she pulled a knife out of her bag and brandished it. He stepped back out of reach.
‘We’ve met before,’ he said. ‘I spoke to you at the Lotus Hotel.’
‘That’s a lie. I’ve never seen you before.’
‘Well, you’ll see a lot of me now, Danielle, because I’m going to have the pleasure of arresting you and of giving evidence against you at your trial.’
She was taken aback. ‘How do you know my name?’
‘We went to your old house in Leeds. You tried to be too clever and gave yourself away.’ He extended a hand. ‘Give me that knife before someone gets hurt.’
She lunged at him, forcing Keedy to jump back out of reach. When she looked around, policemen were coming towards her from every direction. There was no hope of escape.
‘I may be heading for a death sentence,’ she snarled, ‘but at least I can have the satisfaction of taking you with me.’
Knife raised, she threw herself at him this time and tried to stab him in the chest. Keedy was too quick, grabbing her wrist and twisting it so hard that she was forced to drop the weapon. He kicked it out of reach. She was not finished yet. With a surge of strength, she pulled her hand free of his grip and began to belabour him with both fists. It was time to forget all about gentlemanly behaviour. Keedy threw a punch and caught her full on the chin, making her stagger backwards. Leaping nimbly forward, he caught her before she hit the ground.
The policemen cheered.
A day that had started with an interminable wait at the docks in a cold wind ended with a celebration. Marmion, Ellen, Alice and Keedy had the rare treat of a meal out together. Because of stringent food rationing, the restaurant wasn’t able to offer an extensive menu but that didn’t detract from the joy of the occasion. They were too exhilarated to notice any shortcomings. A murder case had been solved, the killer and the man who hired her were both behind bars and Vesta Lyle was being given medical treatment. Marmion and Keedy were basking in the glow of the praise they’d received from Chatfield and the commissioner. They’d also been thanked by Griselda Fleetwood, who’d apologised for any doubts she’d had and told them that they had just brought her hotel back to life.
Alice was shocked when she heard that Keedy had knocked a woman out but eventually accepted that it had been necessary. One thing still puzzled her.
‘Why did Vesta Lyle stay at the hotel as Lady Brice-Cadmore?’
‘I asked her that,’ said her father. ‘I’d assumed that she’d known him in her younger days and always yearned for the experience of being part of the English aristocracy, if only for a night.’
‘So she wanted to revive a memory of Sir Godfrey, did she?’
‘No, Alice. She wanted to do the exact opposite.’
‘I don’t understand,’ said Ellen.
‘Vesta Lyle knew quite well that the real Lady Brice-Cadmore had died years earlier. She wasn’t trying to usurp the title. She did it to get her revenge. Yes,’ Marmion continued, ‘she had known Sir Godfrey in Paris when she was a young woman and she’d believed all the promises he gave her of marriage. But as soon as she told him that she was carrying his child, he disappeared out of her life without a word.’
‘That must have shattered her,’ said Alice.
‘It was a wound that never healed. Dufays only agreed to marry her on condition that she had the baby adopted.’
‘What a dreadful thing to make any mother do.’
‘He needed a respectable wife, Alice, not someone who’d be seen as a slut. You can see why it was a fraught marriage.’
‘It had its rules,’ said Keedy, ‘and she broke them when she fell in love with her model. Her name was Colette Fournier and we saw a painting in which she featured.’
‘There’s no need to go into detail, Joe,’ said Marmion, interrupting quickly. ‘The point is that the two women were drawn into a friendship that Dufays found intolerable. He was prepared to have his wife’s lover killed, so he hired Danielle Robbins. She was not merely a resourceful detective. During her work for the French secret service, she’d become a skilled assassin.’
‘Is this the woman you knocked out, Joe?’ asked Alice.
‘Yes,’ he said, ‘but only in self-defence. She was ready to fight like a wildcat. That knife of hers would have cut our wedding plans to ribbons, Alice. She’d have had no compunction about killing me.’
‘We were wrong in thinking that Vesta Lyle was employed by the secret service,’ confessed Marmion. ‘In fact, it was Danielle Robbins who learnt her trade from the French. When you think of an assassin, you automatically imagine a man, but she was just as lethal and available for hire. Dufays was paying a small fortune to reclaim his wife.’
‘He’ll have to pay far more than he expected now,’ said Keedy. ‘Both of them will stand trial for murder. The verdict is foregone. When they’re sent to the scaffold, they’ll be dispatched by an unseen hand.’
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ALSO BY EDWARD MARSTON
THE RAILWAY DETECTIVE SERIES
THE RAILWAY DETECTIVE
THE EXCURSION TRAIN
THE RAILWAY VIADUCT
THE RAILWAY DETECTIVE COLLECTION (BOOKS 1-3 COMBINED)
THE IRON HORSE
MURDER ON THE BRIGHTON EXPRESS
THE SILVER LOCOMOTIVE MYSTERY
RAILWAY TO THE GRAVE
BLOOD ON THE LINE
THE STATIONMASTER’S FAREWELL
PERIL ON THE ROYAL TRAIN
A TICKET TO OBLIVION
TIMETABLE OF DEATH
SIGNAL FOR VENGEANCE
THE CIRCUS TRAIN CONSPIRACY
A CHRISTMAS RAILWAY MYSTERY
POINTS OF DANGER
INSPECTOR COLBECK’S CASEBOOK
THE RESTORATION SERIES
THE KING’S EVIL
THE AMOROUS NIGHTINGALE
THE REPENTANT RAKE
THE FROST FAIR
THE PARLIAMENT HOUSE
THE PAINTED LADY
THE CAPTAIN RAWSON SERIES
SOLDIER OF FORTUNE
DRUMS OF WAR
FIRE AND SWORD
UNDER SIEGE
A VERY MURDERING BATTLE
THE NICHOLAS BRACEWELL SERIES
THE QUEEN’S HEAD
THE MERRY DEVILS
THE TRIP TO JERUSALEM
THE NINE GIANTS
THE MAD COURTESAN
THE SILENT WOMAN
THE ROARING BOY
THE LAUGHING HANGMAN
THE FAIR MAID OF BOHEMIA
THE WANTON ANGEL
THE DEVIL’S APPRENTICE
THE BAWDY BASKET
THE VAGABOND CLOWN
THE COUNTERFEIT CRANK
THE MALEVOLENT COMEDY
THE PRINCESS OF DENMARK
THE HOME FRONT DETECTIVE SERIES
A BESPOKE MURDER
INSTRUMENT OF SLAUGHTER
FIVE DEAD CANARIES
DEEDS OF DARKNESS
DANCE OF DEATH
THE ENEMY WITHIN
UNDER ATTACK
THE BOW STREET RIVALS
SHADOW OF THE HANGMAN
STEPS TO THE GALLOWS
DATE WITH THE EXECUTIONER
FUGITIVE FROM THE GRAVE
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
EDWARD MARSTON has written well over a hundred books, including some non-fiction. He is best known for his hugely successful Railway Detective series and he also writes the Bow Street Rivals series featuring twin detectives set during the Regency, as well as the Home Front Detective series.
edwardmarston.com
By Edward Marston
THE HOME FRONT DETECTIVE SERIES
A Bespoke Murder • Instrument of Slaughter • Five Dead Canaries
Deeds of Darkness • Dance of Death • The Enemy Within
Under Attack • The Unseen Hand
THE RAILWAY DETECTIVE SERIES
The Railway Detective • The Excursion Train • The Railway Viaduct
The Iron Horse • Murder on the Brighton Express
The Silver Locomotive Mystery • Railway to the Grave • Blood on the Line
The Stationmaster’s Farewell • Peril on the Royal Train
A Ticket to Oblivion • Timetable of Death • Signal for Vengeance
The Circus Train Conspiracy • A Christmas Railway Mystery
Points of Danger • Fear on the Phantom Special
Inspector Colbeck’s Casebook
THE CAPTAIN RAWSON SERIES
Soldier of Fortune • Drums of War • Fire and Sword
Under Siege • A Very Murdering Battle
THE RESTORATION SERIES
The King’s Evil • The Amorous Nightingale • The Repentant Rake
The Frost Fair • The Parliament House • The Painted Lady
THE BRACEWELL MYSTERIES
The Queen’s Head • The Merry Devils • The Trip to Jerusalem
The Nine Giants • The Mad Courtesan • The Silent Woman
The Roaring Boy • The Laughing Hangman • The Fair Maid of Bohemia
The Wanton Angel • The Devil’s Apprentice • The Bawdy Basket
The Vagabond Clown • The Counterfeit Crank
The Malevolent Comedy • The Princess of Denmark
THE BOW STREET RIVALS SERIES
Shadow of the Hangman • Steps to the Gallows
Date with the Executioner • Fugitive from the Grave
COPYRIGHT
Allison & Busby Limited
11 Wardour Mews
London W1F 8AN
allisonandbusby.com
First published in Great Britain by Allison & Busby in 2019.
This ebook edition published in Great Britain by Allison & Busby in 2019.
Copyright © 2019 by EDWARD MARSTON
The moral right of the author is hereby asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All characters and events in this publication other than those clearly in the public domain are fictitious and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent buyer.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 978–0–7490–2400–0
The Unseen Hand Page 28
