The Thread of Evidence

by Bernard Knight

  The blonde looked blankly at him.

  ‘Sorry, dear – I never saw him before in my life!’

  Some minutes later, when the woman had left to catch her train back to Cardiff, Pacey sat dejectedly with Rees in the upstairs office.

  ‘Looks as if we’re all washed up, Willie,’ he said. ‘The old man is sure to give this to the Yard now. I can’t say I blame him. And they’re welcome to it.’

  ‘What about the other girls on the list? And all the other areas that we haven’t covered?’

  ‘You know as well as I do that there’s nothing in those. That Bristol girl turned up two years ago – they forgot to notify the Bureau. The others are hardly worth the trouble of chasing. And, as for starting on the North Country and London, well that’s just impossible. Let the Yard do it, and the best of luck to ’em!’

  Rees picked up the bogus statement from the desk.

  ‘I may as well tear this up, then?’

  Pacey shook his head wearily. ‘Better hang on to it until the other brother shows up. It’ll look more genuine if we can show him that one when he’s signing his own.’

  Willie leered sadistically at his colleague. ‘I should have taken that dollar bet with you, shouldn’t I? What about my idea that it might be this other brother – he’s a doctor and knows as much about Tremabon as the first one?’

  Pacey scowled at him. ‘Oh, shut up, will you? Don’t kick a man when he’s down. I suppose I’ll have to pull myself together and go down to Cardigan now to confess to “Dick” Barton.’

  There was a rapid knocking on the door.

  ‘Perhaps this is the other brother,’ suggested Rees.

  ‘Sounds a bit anxious, just to sign a statement. Come in!’ yelled Pacey.

  The door opened and the startled face of Edna Collins appeared.

  Pacey jumped to his feet. ‘What’s the trouble? I thought you were in a hurry to catch your train?’

  She came into the room, her heavily powdered face even paler than usual.

  ‘I’ve seen him – the man in the club – the one you’re looking for!’

  ‘What the devil d’you mean! You said just now that it wasn’t him?’

  ‘No, no – not the one that came in here … another chap! I was just going down the street when a car pulled up and a man got out. He bumped into me and apologized – then I saw who it was!’

  ‘Did he say anything?’

  ‘I … I don’t know. I think he started to speak – I know he recognized me. I could see it in his face – but I just ran!’

  ‘Why did you want to run?’ snapped Pacey.

  Edna Collins had lost all her brazen self-assurance now. She looked frightened and suddenly old.

  ‘When I saw you in Cardiff, I didn’t know what all this was about. I talked to some of the other girls – they told me about the skeleton in the cave, it’s been in the papers – and you are the man investigating the – the murder. So it all fits, doesn’t it? That man who was with Julie – he’s the one you want – that’s why I ran.’

  ‘Where did he go?’ Pacey said urgently, moving towards the door.

  ‘Into a shop, I think. I ran back here and looked around, but he was gone. His car was still parked at the kerb though.’

  ‘What car was it?’

  ‘A big green one – a Rover, I think. It looked the same as my boss’s; he’s got a Rover.’

  Willie Rees’ sparse hair almost stood on end. He gaped at Pacey.

  ‘Gerald Ellis-Morgan!’

  Pacey didn’t wait to discuss it. ‘Stay here. Miss Collins. Come on, Willie! ‘

  As he turned the door knob, there was a knock on the panel and the door pushed open against his hand.

  ‘They told me to come up, Mr Pacey – about the statement.’

  Gerald Ellis-Morgan poked his head around the door and, as he saw Edna Collins standing in the room, a sickly smile spread over his face.

  ‘Come in, Doctor, will you.’

  Pacey’s voice was unusually grim. His habitual air of easy bonhomie had evaporated and he closed the door and stood with his back to it as Gerald moved into the room.

  The woman stood with her handbag pressed to her chest, watching the new arrival as if she expected him to whip a revolver from his pocket at any second. Rees stood near to the desk, bewilderment at Gerald’s materialization plain on his face.

  ‘Er … hello, again.’ Gerald spoke sheepishly to the girl, who continued to stare at him as if petrified.

  Pacey came to life, his voice cold and heavy.

  ‘Dr Ellis-Morgan, I gather that you already know this young lady?’

  Gerald, his manner suggesting embarrassment rather than guilt, turned to the superintendent. ‘Er … yes, we bumped into each other in the street just now.’

  Pacey spoke slowly, as if to emphasize the importance of his words. ‘But did you know her before then?’

  Gerald looked from Pacey to Edna and back again.

  ‘We had met – briefly. A very long time ago.’

  The atmosphere in the room was tense. Rees and the barmaid looked like two springs, coiled ready to fly into action.

  Pacey walked towards the doctor, who began to look more and more uncomfortable.

  ‘And just where was it that you met, sir?’

  Gerald’s discomfiture began to change into annoyance. ‘Really, Mr Pacey, I don’t know what’s going on here! I came to sign some statement for you. The fact that I happen to have met this lady a long time ago is no business of yours. I can’t imagine why she’s here, but it’s no concern of mine.’

  ‘I’m afraid it might well be, Doctor,’ Pacey said tonelessly. ‘I must ask you to answer my questions – and I assure you that it may be very much your business. Now, where and when did you first meet this lady?’

  Gerald shrugged resignedly. ‘OK. But I hope you’ll keep my answers to yourself – I would take grave exception to my private life being broadcast. I met the lady – I’m afraid I can’t remember her name – in Cardiff.’

  ‘Where in Cardiff,’ persisted Pacey inexorably.

  ‘In a club, as it happens.’ Gerald managed to inject a note of condescension into his voice.

  ‘Would that be the “Porcupine Club”?’ asked the detective.

  ‘Yes, it was.’

  ‘And when were you last there?’

  Gerald looked genuinely puzzled. ‘God, I don’t know. Ages ago – must have been about nineteen fifty-four or five – when my brother was working in Cardiff.’

  ‘And did you ever stay with your brother at his flat near the hospital?’

  Gerald began to redden and look angry. ‘What the hell is all this about? You seem to have been doing a great deal of snooping. Was this nonsense about a statement a trick to get me up here?’

  Pacey sighed, relaxing his mood slightly. ‘No, as it happens, it was not! Now, please, answer my question. Did you ever use your brother’s flat? And, if so, when?’

  Gerald dropped into a chair and slapped his hands on his thighs in exasperation.

  ‘Why should I answer you? This is an intrusion into my private life. All right. So I did go to a rather offbeat club and I did borrow my brother’s flat for the odd weekend. What’s that got to do with you? What is all this?’

  ‘You did stay there, then. Was your brother always there? And when was the last time you stayed there?’

  Gerald got up again and walked up to Pacey until their noses were almost touching.

  ‘Look, I do – not – know when I stayed there – it was bloody years ago – but I do know that I’m not going to answer any more damn fool questions!’

  ‘Doctor, you’re going to answer one more, whether you like it or not. Did you know a girl by the name of Julie Gordon?’

  There was a silence as palpable as a concrete wall. Gerald’s already indignantly pink face became even more flushed.

  ‘I was wondering when you were going to get around to that!’ he said, sarcasm and bitterness in his voice. ‘I supp
ose it’s almost inevitable, really – a respectable country practitioner isn’t allowed to let his hair down occasionally without risking social suicide. I suppose this is something to do with a blackmail attempt. Is it this woman behind it?’

  Pacey shook his head and motioned Rees to the door.

  ‘Inspector, go out and see if you can catch Dr David Ellis-Morgan before he finishes his shopping. His car is in the yard. Ask him to come up here.’

  Rees vanished and Pacey advanced to the middle of the room.

  ‘I’m sorry, Doctor, but I should advise you not to say anything until your brother comes and you arrange to get a solicitor. You see, I’m afraid that I must formally charge you with the murder of Julie Ann Gordon, in November nineteen fifty-five and caution you that anything you say may be taken down and used in evidence.’

  Chapter Eighteen

  When Rees returned ten minutes later with the accused man’s brother, Pacey took him into another room on the ground floor to break the news of Gerald’s arrest.

  Rees took Edna Collins away to get a proper statement drawn up, leaving Gerald Ellis-Morgan in the upper office in charge of a constable from the station.

  Pacey gravely outlined to David the events leading up to the arrest of his brother.

  ‘You see, sir, I thought all along – at least, ever since the Mavis Hewitt nonsense was dealt with – that there was a medical brain behind this affair.’

  David listened in silence. His face was drained of every trace of colour, but his voice was firm and controlled.

  ‘This is utter nonsense itself, Mr Pacey. But I suppose you must have some facts to lead you to such a foolhardy thing as to charge my brother with murder?’

  ‘I have indeed, Doctor. This isn’t a thing I’d undertake lightly. Your brother has already admitted knowing the dead girl’s friend – the woman upstairs. He admits knowing the deceased girl – admits seeing her frequently during the last week of her life – admits staying in your flat that week, when you were absent for several nights. Now, sir, when the body is found not half a mile from your brother’s home, in circumstances which make it almost certain that someone with medical knowledge is involved, what choice have I but to accuse him of the crime?’

  David sat like a stone image, hands clasped so tightly that the knuckles showed white through the skin.

  ‘It sounds as if my brother has done too much talking already. I must get him a lawyer before he makes an even bigger fool of himself.’

  Pacey was thankful that the older brother was taking this shocking experience in such a sensible way. By contrast, Gerald’s reaction to being charged was a volatile mixture of scorn, anger and apprehension.

  ‘I think it would be very wise to get a solicitor, as soon as possible. I’m afraid your brother is a rather hot-headed young man. He might let his temper provoke him into saying something which he might regret, unless you have someone to advise and restrain him.’

  David rose from the chair abruptly. ‘I’ll see about it right away. But, tell me, you must have stronger evidence than the word of a barmaid and the mere admission of Gerry’s that he had a passing acquaintance with the dead girl?’

  Pacey saw no harm in revealing what would soon be common knowledge, in return for the civilized way in which the doctor was taking the disaster.

  ‘We have indeed, sir. Our laboratory has identified human bloodstains on the floor of the bathroom in your old flat and also found blood in the outlet of the bath.’

  He was diplomatic enough not to mention that the tests were done at a time when David himself was the suspect. Pacey also carefully refrained from mentioning the examination of the Ford estate car.

  David took the news in silence. After a moment spent in staring unseeingly at the opposite wall, he turned to leave the room.

  ‘Thank you for your consideration, Superintendent. I’ll go and see about that solicitor now. I suppose Gerald will be kept here, won’t he?’

  Pacey nodded gravely. ‘I’m afraid he will be kept in custody until remanded by a magistrate in the morning. Then he will have to wait for the preliminary hearing, which will be within a week or two. If the justices think there is a strong enough case, they will commit him to the next Assizes for trial.’

  The two men looked directly at each other and their eyes clashed.

  ‘I don’t think matters will get as far as that, Mr Pacey. Remember Roland Hewitt? He was another red herring.’ The doctor’s voice held a biting challenge.

  Pacey sighed. ‘It doesn’t give me any pleasure, if that’s any comfort to you. Arresting your brother is a part of my job that I could quite easily do without. But I have to do what I think is right, sir.’

  David walked to the door, and turned as he reached it. ‘I think you mean that, Mr Pacey. Thank you. I’ll go and fix up this solicitor now. I’ll telephone you inside an hour to let you know what’s been arranged. You won’t question my brother before then, I hope?’

  ‘No. I’ll wait until I hear from you, Doctor.’

  When David Ellis-Morgan had gone, Pacey went back to the office upstairs, where Gerald was nervously pacing the floor, smoking like a furnace. Pacey dismissed the stolid PC who stood on guard. As he left, Willie Rees came in with Edna Collins’ statement.

  ‘Would you like a cup of tea, Doctor?’ asked Pacey, being unable himself to really believe that this normal-looking man had killed and mutilated a young woman.

  ‘No, thanks. All I want is to see my solicitor and get this bloody nonsense cleared up. I’ve got no ill-will against you, Pacey, but this is too much this time! You sailed pretty near the wind with old Hewitt, but you’ve picked the wrong customer to antagonize in me!’

  ‘Your brother has been in to see me. He’s just gone out to organize a lawyer for you. I’m not going to ask you for a statement until he comes. And I advise you, off the record, not to say another thing until you get some legal advice.’

  Gerald made no reply and strode to the window, turning his back on them.

  Rees showed Pacey the story as dictated by the blonde barmaid, and they spent a few minutes going through it.

  ‘I’d better go and phone the chief constable,’ said Pacey in a low voice. ‘He’ll go up in flames when he hears about this, but he’s got to know sooner or later. You’d better come with me, so get that PC back in here. I don’t like to see him standing so near that window. It’s a long drop if he takes it into his head to jump.’

  The two detectives went back to the office off the charge room and Pacey put a call through to Cardigan. The colonel was engaged and Pacey sat by the telephone ready to try later.

  ‘What about the Press?’ queried Willie. ‘Poor Adams is going to be in a worse spot than ever – with his future brother-in-law on the spot, instead of his uncle!’

  ‘Yes, I feel sorry for him – and for the sister and father, to say nothing of the other brother. He took it well, but you could see that the news just about tore him apart inside.’

  The telephone rang and Pacey answered it, expecting the call to be Cardigan ringing back.

  It was David Ellis-Morgan.

  ‘Hello, Doctor. Have you managed to fix up your lawyer?’

  David’s voice came distantly over the line. ‘No, Mr Pacey. That won’t be necessary. In fact, it never was.’

  Pacey felt the first hint of something wrong as a prickle at the back of his neck.

  ‘I don’t follow you, sir. What d’you mean by that?’

  ‘If I were you, I’d just listen for a few minutes, Superintendent. Gerald knows nothing about this business – nothing at all.’

  Pacey made frantic signalling gestures to attract Rees over from the other side of the room, while he carried on talking to the caller.

  ‘I don’t understand this at all, Doctor. Your brother admitted knowing the dead girl, and being in her company during the last week that her movements were known.’

  The detective understood perfectly well – the truth had burst upon him at the end of the fir
st sentence that David Ellis-Morgan had uttered; but now he was stalling for time.

  As Willie hurried across to the telephone, the distant voice began to speak again.

  ‘He knew Julie Gordon all right. So did I – the little bitch!’

  Pacey was scribbling on a piece of paper as he listened, with Rees leaning over him to see what he was writing.

  ‘You’d better tell me the lot, Doctor. Where are you speaking from, by the way?’

  Pacey tried to make his voice sound as casual and matter-of-fact as he could; but he was wasting his time.

  ‘I’m afraid I won’t be able to tell you that. You’ll trace the call before long, I know. But, if you want to hear the truth, I’ll have to have a few minutes grace.’

  Pacey succeeded in scrawling a barely legible message for Rees. It read: “Trace call. Send any available patrol. Pick up David E-M. Urgent prevent escape or suicide.”

  Willie nodded and rushed off to the telephone switchboard in the charge room. Pacey contrived to listen to David while this was going on.

  ‘Are you listening to me, Superintendent?’ he asked sharply.

  ‘Yes, I’m here. Go on.’

  ‘You’ve already started to trace me, haven’t you?’ accused the doctor, correctly diagnosing the faltering attention of Pacey for a couple of moments. ‘So I’ll have to make it short and sweet. Don’t interrupt me, please. This is the last chance you’ll ever get of hearing the real truth, so make the most of it. Then you can let Gerald go – with some apologies, I hope.’

  ‘I’m waiting, Doctor Ellis-Morgan.’

  Pacey knew now that all he could do was to try to keep the other man talking long enough for Rees to contact a patrol car and pick David up. The man had only been gone from the police station a matter of twenty minutes, so couldn’t be very far away.

  ‘Gerry had picked up this girl and brought her back to the flat I had in Cardiff on several occasions when I was out on duty. This was earlier in the week – that last awful week.’

  For the first time, the iron control of David’s voice weakened momentarily.

  ‘Why was your brother in Cardiff, anyway?’ Pacey was both seeking information and trying to prolong the talking.