‘Thank you, sir.’ Sissons stood, gratitude all over his face. ‘Really, thank you.’ He saluted.
‘Bring me some results as soon as you can.’
‘I will, sir. I promise.’
As the door closed, Harper tried to recall the last time he’d seen a man so happy.
A note on Ash’s desk: Gone to see Cameron. Well, he was more than capable of handling the grocer on his own. Perhaps he’d be able to dig some truth out of him.
It gave him time to put the final touches to the weekly crime figures. Do his divisional superintendent’s duty.
A surprise; they were some of the lowest since he’d taken over the division. He checked the numbers once more, to be certain. What was behind it? It had to be this heatwave; the only possible explanation. Only one figure stood out. Murders. A pair of them. He was copying everything out in a good hand when Sergeant Tollman appeared in the doorway again.
‘Sorry to bother you, sir, but everyone else is out. We’ve had a report just come in. A family back from holiday. They’ve been burgled. From the sound of it, your man’s been at it again.’
Harper sighed. ‘Give me the details.’
Most burglars were lazy; they took advantage of an open window or an unlocked door within easy reach. This fellow was someone special, someone different. By the look of it, he’d shinned three storeys up the drainpipe and edged along a roof, before swinging down to be able to enter through the second storey window that hung open now.
‘They swear it was locked when they left last week, sir,’ the constable said.
‘They always do. What did he take?’
With the family gone, he’d have free rein of the place. No way of even knowing when it happened.
‘Some jewellery. Money they had tucked away for an emergency. Not that much, really, sir.’
‘Make sure you get good descriptions of the jewellery. We can circulate that.’ He stood and stared at the back of the house. This burglar relished a challenge. In a curious way, it was impossible not to admire him. A climb like that took some courage. ‘Talk to all the people in the area in case they saw something.’
‘No lights back here at night. It’s black as pitch,’ the constable said. ‘This is my beat, sir. I know every inch of it.’
‘Nobody nosying around during the day?’
‘I’d have noticed, sir.’ He sounded offended. ‘Or somebody in one of the other houses would have said something.’
‘Ask them, just to make certain. You might jog a memory or two.’
‘Yes, sir,’ the man muttered.
Inside the house, he let the homeowner bluster and blow. Of course he’d made sure all the windows were closed before they left. You couldn’t be too careful these days. Harper checked upstairs. The catch was so loose he could have blown it open. How could any burglar know that, though? He stared at the ginnel running behind the garden. Nothing you could spot from down there.
‘What do you do, sir, if you don’t mind me asking?’ He was already quite sure of the answer. He just wanted to hear it.
‘I have a private income.’ The man sounded faintly embarrassed. ‘And I lecture at Yorkshire College from time to time. Geology and natural sciences.’
‘Thank you, sir.’
Young Sissons would need to be very quick off the mark. They couldn’t take any more of this.
‘What about the things that were taken, Superintendent? Some of those were my wife’s keepsakes.’
‘The constable will take all the details, sir. We’ll do our best.’
FOURTEEN
Get Tollman to make sure Sissons puts his skates on, Harper thought. He hoped the lad was up to the job. But the expression on the desk sergeant’s face pulled him up short.
‘Inspector Ash wants you in Harehills, sir. As soon as you can get there.’
A hackney dash up Roundhay Road, the horse flecked with sweat as they darted through traffic in Sheepscar, galloping along the street until the driver pulled up at Harehills Parade. A bright sun burned down through the haze, but there was no striped awning in front of the grocer’s today. Just a constable standing guard at the door and shopkeepers gathered round in their aprons, chattering to each other.
Harper barged his way through. The bell tinkled as he entered the shop. Inside, all the mix of scents overwhelmed him.
‘Upstairs, sir.’
He went through the velvet curtain that separated the shop from the rest of the building and climbed the steps. The inspector was waiting by the door to a living room, his face grim.
‘It’s not pretty.’
Flies were buzzing everywhere. Hundreds of them, thousands. Cameron’s face was black with them. They were in the blood spatters on the floor, on the fragments of skull and the jelly of his brain.
The room was hot, the air so close it drew his breath away. Already the body stank with decay.
‘Open the windows. All of them.’
It hardly seemed to help. Even as he tried to wave them off, the flies gathered again. It was going to need a post-mortem to make sense of this and put it in any kind of order.
Harper gazed around the room. Cameron had overturned a small table as he fell. Nothing else was disturbed.
‘Go through it all for me.’
‘When I got here, a few of the other shopkeepers were outside,’ Ash said. ‘Cameron hadn’t opened up this morning. They thought maybe he was poorly. A couple of them had banged on the door, but there’d been no answer. Two of them had seen him when he was closing last night.’
Not long after Fowler had taken the letters for the Smiths.
‘Did they say how he looked?’
‘Tired, that’s all.’
‘Scared?’
‘Not that any of them mentioned. I forced the lock on the back door and came up. Once you get those flies off him, it looks like he’s been beaten to death. I checked the letters he takes in. They’re all gone, every single one of them.’
‘Right,’ Harper said. ‘You’re in charge here. I’ll send some men out to help you.’
‘Very good, sir.’
Harper stood in the office, staring at the map again. He’d added three more pins, all with red flags. One for Hester Reed, another for Jeb Pearce out in Roundhay. Now a third for Douglas Cameron.
His head ached. Dear God, what was happening here?
The telephone rang, the bell loud and shrill. Still staring at the map, he reached for the receiver.
‘Tom? Have I caught you in the middle of something?’ No mistaking that voice: Chief Constable Crossley.
‘We’ve got another murder, sir.’
‘So I’ve heard. And a burglary.’ A small hesitation. ‘I need you to drop by. I wouldn’t ask, but it’s quite important.’
That wasn’t a word the chief used lightly.
‘Of course, sir. I’ll be there shortly.’
‘Thank you.’
Too much traffic on the Headrow. He had to thread his way between vehicles as they crawled slowly along the road. The Town Hall clock read one as he climbed the steps, the stone lions glaring silently at him.
At least Crossley’s office was hushed and cool, the windows open wide to look down on Great George Street.
‘There’s no point in beating around the bush,’ the chief began. ‘I had a deputation of councillors in here first thing this morning. They feel you’re not doing a proper job at ‘A’ Division. They’re demanding I replace you.’
Harper felt a weight in his gut, hard as a stone. From the summons, he knew something was coming. His mouth was dry, chest tight. He swallowed hard. He didn’t want to ask the questions, but he had to know.
‘How do they think I’ve failed, sir? And might I ask who they are?’
‘They say you haven’t caught this burglar, for one. I know this new burglary makes five so far. They seemed to believe you haven’t done a thing about it. As to who, it’s May, Howe, Wilson, Hart, and Thomas.’
Five of them. More than he’d anti
cipated. Too many.
‘You know that Councillor May has no love for me, sir,’ Harper said. ‘I put his son in jail a few years ago.’
‘I’m very well aware of that. I listened to them because I’m obliged to, Tom. Then I told them I thought you were an excellent policeman and I had no intention of dismissing you, or whatever it is they want.’
A flush of relief roared through him; he realized he’d been holding his breath.
‘Thank you, sir,’ he said gratefully.
‘It’s no more than the truth. I stand up for my officers. I’d be a poor leader if I didn’t. I just want you to be aware they have their knives out. May and Howe are important figures on the council. Remember May’s on the watch committee.’
‘Not a chance of forgetting that, sir.’
‘Don’t put a foot wrong. That doesn’t just mean wrapping up the burglaries soon. The murders, too. You said there was another.’
‘I was just up at the scene.’
‘I’d like a report on my desk in the morning. On everything, and what you’re doing.’ He stopped and offered a small smile. ‘Watch yourself, Tom. I’ll do everything I can for you.’
‘Yes, sir.’ Harper stood. ‘And thank you again.’
In the corridor, he leaned against a marble column and gulped in air. Thank God for Crossley. Five of the bastards. May he could understand: the man would jump on any chance to bring him down. But the others? He didn’t know them at all. Had May browbeaten them? Perhaps he had something on them; that was possible, given the way the man worked.
The chief was on his side, but there was an unspoken warning in his words, too – he could only do so much. The more May and his mob pressed, the harder it would become to defend him. So he’d better make sure the man had no ammunition.
Slowly, he went down the stairs, holding on to the bannister and feeling his legs shake a little. Halfway along, he stopped so suddenly that the man behind almost bumped into him.
Councillor Howe. Every bit as corrupt as May. He’d made his fortune in property. On the planning committee, shady deals involving his son-in-law. Property was at the heart of these killings. Maybe he just had a clearer idea who owned the North Leeds Company. He glanced at his pocket watch. He couldn’t stop to think about that now. He needed to be at the mortuary.
‘That’s not one of the most pleasant bodies you’ve given us, Superintendent,’ Dr King said.
It had been a sweaty, clammy walk over to Hunslet, a press of people crowding the bridge, bodies ripe from the day’s warmth. After that, the chill of the mortuary felt like balm, the moisture cooling quickly on Harper’s skin.
But his mind was thorny. The only link they had to the Smiths was dead, a group of councillors wanted his scalp, and maybe a few shadows were clearing.
‘What killed him?’
‘A blow to the back of his head,’ Lumb answered. ‘A very hard one. If it had been cricket, I’d say someone was aiming for the boundary. Smashed his skull. Death was very likely instantaneous. I don’t believe he was expecting it. There was no indication he’d struggled.’
That matched what he’d seen in the room. He saw the doctors glance quickly at each other.
‘You look like there’s more. What is it?’
‘Whoever did it broke most of the bones in the corpse’s hands afterwards,’ Lumb said. ‘He stamped on them. I found heel prints on the skin.’
‘Are you positive it was after death?’ He remembered what they’d done to Jeb Pearce before they threw him into the quarry.
‘According to the report, he was found above his shop,’ Lumb said.
‘That’s right. Cameron lived there.’
‘Superintendent, if those injuries had been done while he was alive, people would have heard his screams a hundred yards away.’
‘I see.’
‘The work on his hands was done for the sheer pleasure of it,’ King added. ‘I don’t know who you’re dealing with here. But between this and the quarry murder, I’d say he’s a sadist.’
‘They,’ Harper corrected him. ‘Two of them.’
‘Then I wish you all the luck in the world in finding them,’ King said. ‘And I hope this is the last body you bring me, Superintendent.’
‘Cameron’s keys are missing,’ Ash said. ‘They must have taken them and locked the door behind themselves.’ The windows in the office at Millgarth were wide open, but all they brought was thick, heavy warmth. ‘They took their time, no doubt about that.’ The inspector fanned himself with his hat. ‘No robbery, though. The day’s takings are still on the table. As if they’re saying they don’t need it.’
‘Exactly the same as Hester Reed,’ Harper said. ‘They left the money and took the keys there, too, remember?’
‘The sooner we find this pair, the better it’s going to be for everyone, sir.’
‘No doubt about that,’ he agreed with a sigh. ‘But with Cameron gone, how do we find them? Any ideas?’
Ash shook his head. ‘I wish I did, sir.’
‘Charlie Reed’s suicide opened up a real can of worms. And if it hadn’t been for Billy, we might never even have known anything about it. How can something like this go on and we don’t have a clue?’
‘It’s an odds-on certainty that there are plenty of things happening under our noses and we don’t have a clue. We can’t stop what we don’t know.’
‘If people would tell us …’
‘Come on, sir. Talking to a copper isn’t the way for some of them. They’re too scared, or they think they can take care of it themselves …’ He shrugged. ‘Getting these two off the street might help.’
‘What about it, Mr Walsh? Are we any closer to them?’
‘Honestly, sir, I feel like I’m banging my head against a brick wall. If we didn’t know they were real, I’d think we’d made them up. The best I can come up with are rumours. Nobody knows a pair of brothers of that description. Doesn’t matter what name you give them. The criminals haven’t met them. No word back from other forces yet, but it’s early days.’
‘You all know what the inspector and I found today. These two love to hurt. If you get any leads on them, I don’t want you pursuing it alone. They’re too dangerous.’ He paused. ‘If there’s one piece of good news, they’ve painted themselves into a corner. For the moment, they don’t have an accommodation address for their companies. The Post Office is going to hold everything sent to Cameron’s and let us know if any of those customers put in changes of address.’
‘Easy enough for them to find somewhere else, sir,’ Ash said.
‘I’ve given orders for the men on the beat to visit every shop offering those services. If they try to find somewhere else, we’ll know.’ He looked at their faces. Worn, beaten down by work and heat. ‘Go home, rest, sleep, if you can in this weather. We’ll find something tomorrow.’
Ash lingered by the door after the others left.
‘I put the word out about Nicholson to a few people I know, sir. Heard back from them today. I thought you’d like to know.’
Harper leaned against the desk. ‘Go on. It must be good.’
Ash rubbed a hand across his moustache. ‘He’s a very clever chap, by all accounts. Left school at eleven, apprenticed as an engineer, got himself promoted. Then he invented some sort of process to improve the brakes on railway engines. I don’t understand it.’
‘Carry on.’
‘Decided he could make more money if he had his own works. He’d married well and his father-in-law put up a lot of the money.’
‘A lot?’ He picked up on the words. ‘Not all?’
‘No, sir. That’s where it becomes interesting. The rest came from Tosh Walker.’
Well, well, well. Walker was finishing up a sentence in Armley Gaol. He’d been given seven years for taking young girls and letting rich men abuse them. Another two years tacked on for fighting. Ash and his wife had adopted one of the little ones Tosh had snatched, and the police had torn his empire apart. When he was
finally released, he’d come out to a pauper’s life.
‘How did he become involved?’
‘I haven’t discovered that yet. But Nicholson’s business was successful. His main client was Hunslet Engine, and you know how big they are. Seems he had ambitions to expand at one time, but never followed through.’
‘Why not?’
‘No idea, sir. In the end, he received a very good offer for his works and sold up a couple of years back.’
‘Any other criminal connections?’
‘Mr Nicholson is a respectable gentleman these days. Tosh was paid back years ago.’
‘And then the Smiths appear when Nicholson’s looking to buy the quarry. He must attract bad company.’
‘I thought you’d want to know, sir.’
‘I do, thank you.’ Curious, but did it mean anything? The boundaries between good society and crime grew more blurred every year.
‘There’s one other thing, sir. I hear a few of the councillors are gunning for you.’
Harper gave him a sharp look. He hadn’t mentioned it to a soul. How could Ash know? The conversation with Crossley had been private. But he seemed to hear every whisper in the force.
‘Not much point in me saying anything if you already know.’
‘We’re behind you, sir. All of us.’
‘Have you told the others?’
‘It only seemed fair.’
After a moment, Harper nodded. They were his men. They were all a part of this.
‘I’d better tell you, sir, I’m looking into the gentlemen involved. Very, very quietly,’ he added before Harper could protest. ‘They’ll never hear about it.’
‘You’d better make sure they don’t. It’s making me think that perhaps May or Howe are behind this North Leeds Company.’ He paused for a second. ‘Maybe both of them.’
Ash grinned. ‘I’ll find out, sir. If they are, we’ll nail them to the wall.’
Alone, Harper sat at his desk. The men were with him. That gave him heart. With help like that, he could beat May and his cronies. He picked up a nib, dipped it in the inkwell and took a sheet of paper. Time to write another note to Billy, then his report for the chief.
The Leaden Heart Page 11