At the mention of the name Berick, alarm bells rang in Linham’s head. Arthur Berick was well known to the police. He had been part of a gang that was arrested some 20 years previously for armed robbery of a gold bullion warehouse at London’s Heathrow airport. A guard had been killed and Berick and the rest of the gang had received long sentences. As far as he knew, Berick was still in prison. But he was listening intently as Ralph continued.
“But it seems very unlikely that they would exact any form of revenge after all this time. It could have just been an accident, a chance in a million that Jack just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. It’s also possible that the attack was to get revenge or satisfy a grudge that came from that incident all those years ago. But I don’t believe that Jack was the intended victim. Professor Granger played a major part in forcing Jack to resign, and he was also involved in the University’s internal investigation into the exam incident involving the Berick boy. In my view, whoever carried out the attack intended to attack Granger.
“There is an Arthur Berick who is known to the police,” Linham offered cautiously.
“But if your Berick was the student’s father, it would make sense,” Ralph replied. “He tried to attack Professor Granger just after his son had failed his exams, and the University had rejected his appeal for an external enquiry. Grace Royston told me when I spoke to her at the funeral that Jack seemed to recognize his attacker and shouted out a name. And she also told me that the man seemed shocked when he saw Jack’s face and cried out something as he ran away. You do realize that if by chance it was young Berick’s father and he had mistaken Jack for Professor Granger, then the poor man actually killed his own son, well foster son, whom he must have loved or at least befriended when Jack was a kid.”
The Inspector was trying to take it all in, but what kept coming into his mind was that if Arthur Berick was in prison, there was no way he could have been in Kingston that night.
“An interesting deduction, Professor Chalmers. Quite a few of the details you have provided are new to us. But unfortunately it won’t hold up. Arthur Berick is in prison. His wife Alice is, I believe, in a home, and possibly terminally ill, and the son has not been heard of since Arthur Berick was arrested. We put out quite a search for the young man at the time, in case he was part of the bullion gang, but we believe that somehow he managed to skip out of the country. We think he may have gone to Australia or New Zealand, somewhere like that, but the local police found no trace of his whereabouts.”
Ralph was a bit taken aback by the news about Arthur Berick. He had been convinced that his logic was sound. But if the Inspector was correct, then his theory was seriously flawed.
“Well it seems that I’ve got it wrong Inspector, but I thought I should at least give you my input. Jack Royston was at one time a good friend and colleague. I hoped I could help catch his murderer.”
The Inspector realized that he had come down a bit hard on Chalmers and tried to soften things.
“No. You were quite right to come in Professor, and it would have been nice if you could have helped us find the murderer. But with Arthur Berick tucked up safely in Her Majesty’s prison, I’m afraid we are going to have to explore other avenues of investigation. But we do appreciate your taking the time to come in and share your thoughts with us, and if you get any more information, please don’t hesitate to call us.”
With that Wilson showed Ralph out and again thanked him for coming in to talk to them.
Back in the office Wilson contacted the police data base and confirmed that Arthur Berick was still serving the last year of his prison sentence in White Marsh jail just outside London.
But Ralph, rather than backing away, was even more determined to unearth the facts surrounding the involvement of the Berick family and any of their friends who might have been involved in the attack on the man they believed to be Rupert Granger. Ralph decided to pay a call on Alice Berick to see if she could throw any more light on the incident. He tracked her down through the social security offices in Kingston Town Hall where an old student of his was now the Director. It turned out that she was in a care home for the elderly and alternated this with spells in a local hospice for the terminally ill.
The care home was located in a stark and rather dreary red brick building. He found Alice sitting in a tall armchair staring out of the window that overlooked the tree lined street. She sat there no doubt hoping that the occasional passerby would create a few moments of interest in her daily routine. Ralph was careful not to surprise or frighten her as he approached.
“Hello Alice,” he said when he was a few feet away from where she was sitting. “My name is Ralph Chalmers. I think we may have met a long time ago?”
She was obviously not well and she peered at him as though he was a ghost from her past.
“I remember you. ‘ave you found my son yet? He liked you and some of your sort at the University, but not that bloody Granger and that bastard Tiverton. He got made a Sir for doing bugger all. Got my boy Jack the sack and ruined my son Ted. My ‘usband tried to get back what was ours by rights and the rest got away scot free.”
She appeared exhausted by the outburst and Ralph was worried that perhaps he should not have come to see her. But here he was, and whatever strain it was putting on her, he felt that for Jack’s sake he had to persevere. He decided not to say anything about Jack’s death. He would leave that to any family she had or to the police.
“Alice, Jack was a good friend and I want to understand just why he resigned all those years ago. It’s worried me for a long time.”
Alice seemed much more at peace now she had finished her outburst. She leaned forward as though she was sharing a long lost secret, which he realized she was.
“It was a long time ago now and I s’pose it won’t matter if people know the truf. You see my Teddy was a clever boy. ‘E would ‘ave done well at ‘is exams but the silly little bugger fought ‘e could make some money off one of the uver boys. Well Teddy, I always called ‘im that, was asked if ‘e would swap ‘is exam paper wiv some uver lad an’ make some money. The uver lad said ‘e would give Ted ten fousand pounds if ‘e swapped. O’ course ‘e never told me nuffink, but I knew that even though ‘e couldn’t read or write too well ‘e was still smart as a whip, was my Teddy. The school said ‘e was dyslexic or somefink like that. Teddy told me the uver boy pretended that ‘e ‘ad problems wiv ‘is arm so ‘e couldn’t write when it come time to sit them exams. So they bof ‘ad someone write out the answers and then when it were finished they just put each uver’s name on the top. Bob’s your uncle. It were easy money an’ no one guessed what ‘appened.”
Alice sank back into her chair with a contented smile on her face. She had told someone the secret that she had kept for 20 years.
“I always wondered what happened, because Ted was such a bright student,” said Ralph. “But if he had the money, why did you complain to the University? Surely that would have ruined everything.”
The old lady almost shrieked at him.
“Well the ‘uver bloody kid never kept ‘is promise did ‘e? The nasty little sod. Give my Ted five ‘undred and told ‘im that was all ‘e was goin’ t’ get. Ted knew ‘e was from a posh family and they would back up whatever ‘e said. Arfur, me ‘usband said we was to make a fuss and might get some money from the University to keep us quiet. But they just pushed us off wiv them lawyers and we finished up back in the gutter. Arfur was in some trouble wiv the law and ‘e did ‘ave a go at that Granger bloke cos ‘e was the one wiv that Tiverton what made poor Jack leave. I told Jack it weren’t ‘is fault, but ‘e was a good lad. I was ‘is foster Mum you know, and ‘e always wanted to do the ‘onest fing.”
Ralph was astounded at the revelations that Alice Berick had just revealed. She had no reason to lie after all these years and it all fitted together at last. But he still wondered if she knew of anyone other than the family who would be seeking revenge or redress for the incident. He looked
closely at Alice who was now starting to fall asleep. The talking had obviously taken its toll on the little strength that she had left in her body.
“Alice, I’m worried that someone might want to do harm to Jack or to Ted, or even Rupert Granger or Tiverton. Is there anything that you can tell me so I can warn them in time? He realized that for Jack it was too late, but he might be able to avoid any further tragedy. The old lady stirred and grasped the arms of her chair with her bony hands. Her white skin was stretched across her cheek bones and her eyes seemed to have sunk deep into their sockets. But she summoned up her remaining strength and almost shouted at him.
“Anyone what did ‘arm to that bloody lot at the University ‘as my blessin’. They ruined my Jack’s life and my son Teddy’s. An’ that bastard what cheated my Teddy out of his money should be ‘anged an’ ‘is family too, for all I care. George bloody Rainton, that was the little sod’s name what cheated my Teddy. Damn ‘em. My Arfur got ‘imself in trouble wiv the law tryin’ to get me some money for me to live somewhere better what wiv me lungs being bad an’ all. I never seen Teddy since 20 years or more, an’ ‘e ‘as every right to get ‘is revenge on that bastard what did ‘im out uv ‘is money. I’d kill ‘em all meself if I ‘ad the strength to do it.”
With that she sank back in her chair. The care worker who looked after the people in the home came by and asked him to leave now since it was time for Alice to have her bath and get ready for bed. Ralph made his apologies for having tired Alice out and made his way back to the car park.
His head was buzzing with everything that Alice had told him. But Grace had mentioned that the attacker had been an older man, and Ted would only be in his 40’s, so it was unlikely to have been him. Ralph turned his attention to the other student, George Rainton. He would be about the same age as Ted. Ralph wondered what had happened to him. He might find something in the alumni records, but he knew that the University was not good at keeping that sort of data so his hopes were not high. For now the attacker was still at large, and for all Ralph knew, he might be planning another murder.
Chapter 4
The opening of the new Nursing School at the Gypsy Hill campus had been a success. The new Director of Nursing Studies, Professor Jean Maitland, was proving a popular appointment, and it helped that she had struck up a good relationship with Rupert Granger. Ralph had been invited to join them for lunch in the staff refectory.
“Good to see you, Ralph. I don’t think you’ve met our new Director of Nursing? Professor Maitland, can I introduce you to Ralph Chalmers, my Professor of International Business.”
Ralph was always impressed by the way Granger could drop into a genial if formal role when needed.
“Call me Jean. And may I call you Ralph?”
He was trying desperately to recall where he had seen her before. Then it struck him that she was at Jack’s funeral sitting alongside Grace and her family. He must have shown his surprise as Granger butted in.
“Don’t worry about Ralph. He rarely has the chance to have lunch with a pretty woman and you seem to have stopped him in his tracks. He’s a confirmed bachelor, or so he tells us,” he said. Followed with his usual guffaw.
“Sorry. It was just that I remember seeing you at Jack Royston’s funeral and it was quite a shock to see you here,” said Ralph, trying to regain his composure.
“That’s okay. And thanks for the compliment, Rupert. Even though I think that your remark would hardly pass the test for political correctness nowadays,” she said with a friendly but firm smile. “You see Grace Royston is my aunt and I had been close to Uncle Jack since a child. You could say that he was like a father to me. My own father was away a lot working at Porton Down, the government biological warfare establishment. Some might suggest that my work in nursing is an antidote to his activities,” she added with a friendly grin.
“Ralph, I wanted you to meet Jean because she’s going to be a great help to us in setting up the conference this coming Spring. It links right into her area of interest. She’s done a lot of work on the impact of health in the community, so it’s only a small leap to workers’ health and profitability,” said Granger, cutting into their exchange.
Ralph could see that as far as Granger was concerned, he had done his bit in starting the conversation. He was now making an attack on his lunch and left the rest to his guests. Ralph could see that Jean was already getting used to Granger’s approach. She continued to explain how she came to be teaching at Kingston.
“Once I heard that Saint Winifred’s Hospital was linking with the University, I knew that was where I wanted to work. My Doctoral Thesis was centered on Florence Nightingale and her work with the troops in the Crimea. I discovered that she had spent weekends at Coombe Lodge here on the Gypsy Hill campus with her aunt, so the two just seemed to be a natural fit. And so here I am. If you are free after lunch, perhaps you could tell me a bit more about the mysteries surrounding the campus, and what you had in mind for the Spring Conference?”
Ralph had noticed that at the mention of Jack Royston, and Jean’s connection to the family, Granger had gone unusually quiet. He knew that Granger probably wanted to draw a veil over what happened 20 years ago and his part in the whole affair,and finding it was Jack’s niece sitting at the table must have been an unwelcome surprise. Ralph had not spoken to Granger about his belief that the attack on Jack had been a matter of mistaken identity. He had also not told anyone about the meeting with Alice Berick and his fears that whoever had killed Jack might still be seeking revenge on Granger. Looking at Granger devouring his treacle and custard pudding, he felt in some way sorry for a man who was so intent on personal gratification while someone out there could be intent on exacting revenge against him.
After an exchange of the usual small talk that accompanies these types of lunches, Ralph and Jean strolled around the grounds in the autumn sunshine. The large laurels where still in leaf and the white masonry of the two Victorian buildings, Kenry House and Coombe Lodge, stood out starkly against the tree line.
“I read in the local papers a couple of years ago that someone was killed here over some hidden jewels. Wasn’t a member of staff sent to prison over it, Ralph?” She asked.
“Yes it was all a bit traumatic. And you’re right. Our Professor of Education, Katie Eggerton was involved, and is serving a sentence in Holloway Women’s Prison. It was one of those situations that most of us hope we are never faced with. Not that I’m excusing Katie for her actions, but she acted out of desperation when she saw no other way to achieve the release of her husband who was being held hostage by renegades. Unfortunately it was all for naught since her husband was killed before she could secure his release. Her actions resulted in the near death of one of our staff. One of our caretakers who was involved in the hidden jewels affair also died, but fortunately the police did not implicate her in that. As a matter of fact I am planning to visit her soon. She was a good colleague and friend.” Ralph was somewhat surprised that he had blurted out the details of the incident and quickly turned his attention back to the various historical attractions in the University grounds.
“Ralph, did you say your colleague, Katie wasn’t it, was in Holloway?”
“That’s right,” Ralph replied. He hoped that Jean would not ask him for more details about Katie’s involvement in the affair.
“Holloway. That’s the place where Mrs. Pankhurst and her suffragettes were imprisoned. They were treated pretty badly when all they did was fight for their rights. It seems that many women who are only seeking justice in this world are accused of criminal acts. Wouldn’t you agree, Ralph? Or are you such a confirmed bachelor that you don’t give women that much credit? She added with a mischievous smile.
Ralph could see that Granger’s joking remark about him had stuck, and although he was not trying to make a play for Jean, he wanted to nip in the bud any ideas of him being a staid bachelor who had no regard for women. And at least he was relieved that Katie’s name had not come up aga
in.
“Well I might be a bachelor, but I do have a special lady in my life. It’s just that I don’t seem to have found the time to take it further. Marriage is something that I respect, and one day I hope to settle down to domestic life myself, and time will only tell if I have found the right one to share it with.”
He realised that he had said more than he intended, but somehow Jean seemed to be able to get him to speak about his feelings. Must be the sun and the lunch, he mused. And yes, she was very pretty, but much too young for him to consider as anything other than a colleague. He reckoned her to be in her mid 30’s, or thereabouts. Jean broke his reverie.
“You know, I have some thoughts about the conference if you don’t mind my being a bit direct? I know it’s not my place to make suggestions, but I have in mind someone who would make a perfect keynote speaker.”
“No. Go ahead. I’d welcome any suggestions. I’ve been busy thinking more about the various themes and sending out general enquiries to other Universities and I’ve not given that aspect a lot of thought.”
“Well, I’ve done a lot of work with Sir George Rainton. He runs a multinational conglomerate focused on world health and has a big influence over government health policy,” she said.
Ralph stopped in his tracks. That was the name that Alice had mentioned. He was the student who had been involved in swapping papers with young Ted Berick. If it was him, then with Jean’s connection to Jack Royston, the whole thing was starting to take a bizarre turn. If fate was playing a hand in all of this, then it was a pretty strong one.
Rough Justice In Academia (The Ralph Chalmers Mysteries Book 2) Page 3