‘Smuggling was widespread, with the collusion of the officers employed to prevent it?’
‘Quite. It only came to light when a man tragically lost his life. The poor quality tobacco due for the kiln was accounted for by the customs officers, who witnessed its disposal. Except that it was not then burned, well not all of it, but instead taken off through a series of tunnels that led to the river. Most ingenious.’ Erwin shook his head. ‘The men had to climb down a rusted iron ladder and lower the heavy packages to the wherry waiting to take the tobacco to shore. It wasn’t safe to remove it on land, of course. Someone would have noticed. Not all the customs officers were corrupt, I don’t suppose. Anyway, no one knows for sure what happened, but the ladder came away from its fixings and the man who was on it at the time fell and was crushed against the pilings.’
‘That brought the smuggling to light?’
‘Indeed. Glover came to me and told me all about it. He was not a-party to it, had refused to become involved, but had turned a blind eye because those running the scam were not the type to make enemies of, not if you were as ambitious to succeed as Glover was.’
‘Which is when you decided you were not cut out for that life and sold the enterprise?’ Riley suggested.
‘Quite.’ He sighed. ‘Father was gone and I’d had quite enough of trying to live up to his ideals. Due to my negligence a man had lost his life and I have had to live with the guilt ever since.’
‘Was anyone prosecuted over the smuggling and subsequent death?’ Riley asked.
‘No. Naming those involved would have signed Glover’s death warrant. So I dismissed a few of the less important individuals—’
‘Such as Henry Price?’ Riley asked.
‘Well yes, as it happens.’ Erwin glanced at Riley, his surprise evident. ‘He was an accountant who knew what had been going on since he was required to alter the books. There was no disguising his involvement, even if it had been obtained under duress. The others remained in their positions and it was for the new owners to weed them out. I’m afraid I didn’t warn them.’
‘Do you recall a man by the name of Fuller?’
Erwin frowned, stroking his hand absently down his greying sideburns as he cast his mind back. ‘The name sounds vaguely familiar. I can check my records if it would help.’
‘If you would be so kind.’
Erwin stood, went to a shelf and pulled down a ledger. ‘There is a list here of the men employed at the warehouse at the time of its sale.’ He traced a finger down the alphabetical list as Riley and Salter peered over his shoulder. ‘Yes, here we are. Fuller A. He was a labourer. I think I recall a brawny fellow who gave my foremen some trouble.’ Erwin closed the ledger and resumed his seat. ‘Why do you ask?’
‘Fuller’s daughter was recently murdered and Sir Robert had been engaged to prosecute the man suspected of committing the crime.’
‘I am very sorry to hear about the man’s daughter, but I still do not see…’
‘You have been more help to us than you could know,’ Riley said, standing and shaking the man’s hand. ‘I cannot satisfy your curiosity at this point, I’m afraid, but you may rest assured that when we have made an arrest I will call to see you again and tell you what we know. Or what we currently only suspect, but cannot prove.’
‘Then I shall content myself with that assurance, Inspector,’ Erwin replied, ringing the bell for the maid to show his visitors out. Before they had even left the room, Riley noticed that Erwin’s head was again bent over the volume he had been reading when they interrupted him.
‘Well,’ Salter said when they were again installed in a hansom, ‘what now?’
‘Now we question Price from a position of strength.’
‘You think he killed Sir Robert?’
‘I’m absolutely sure of it. What’s more, he damned near fooled us and managed to get away with it.’
‘He may have sent us in the wrong direction, but he isn’t the first to have done so during the course of an investigation. We usually see the light.’
‘Yes well, I also think Sir Robert’s conscience over the death of that smuggler troubled him for the rest of his life, which is why he tried to make amends by prosecuting the genuinely guilty.’
‘But why? Why Price, I mean? He seemed devoted to Sir Robert, and a less likely man of violence it’s hard for me to imagine.’
Riley lifted one shoulder, still troubled by his lack of perspicacity in this particular case. He had almost let his friend down in the worst possible way. ‘You’ve seen enough of human nature by now not to be surprised by what anyone is capable of when pushed beyond their limits, Jack.’
Even so, why would he kill Sir Robert, especially in such a savage manner?’
‘Ah, why? That’s the question I hope to soon answer. Or rather, have Price answer for me.’
‘Price is a tall man, so I suppose he could have done it,’ Salter mused.
‘I am convinced that he did. Send Peterson and Harper to bring him into the Yard. Go with them but keep out of sight. Once Price is out of the way, this is what I want you to do. If I am right, then my suspicions will be confirmed.’
Chapter Fourteen
Milton was waiting for Riley in an interview room. Convinced now that Milton was not the killer, Riley tackled him alone.
‘Why did you lie about your whereabouts?’ Riley asked without preamble.
‘Ah, so you know.’ There was no sign of pomposity now. Milton’s bluster had been replaced by slumped shoulders and an air of defeat. ‘I can see how this must look to you but I can assure you that I did not—’
‘You do realise that I could charge you for misleading my investigation. Hours of police time that could have been put to a better use have been wasted attempting to trace your movements at the vital time.’
‘I didn’t mean to let matters get so out of hand. When one tells an untruth, I now have good reason to know, it becomes impossible to extricate oneself without seeming…well, suspicious.’
‘Now is your one opportunity to tell where you really were.’
Milton let out a long breath. ‘I knew my wife would be staying with her parents on the evening in question. She is dissatisfied with life in Wimbledon, finds it dull and has no friends worth knowing there. So she makes any excuse she can to come up to London and stay the night. Her mother almost always lays on entertainments, and she is a happier person when she returns to our home as a consequence. Her unrest is temporarily sated by the questionable pleasures of the theatre or the society of the friends she left behind when she married me.’
‘Why do you not join her?’
‘I…well, her father and I do not see eye to eye because…well, let’s just say that I’ve always been ambitious.’
‘You worked for Drayton when you first left university, cut corners and lost him some valuable contracts through your impatience to prove yourself. He has never forgiven you and so you prefer to avoid his company because he makes you feel like a failure.’
‘Something of that nature.’ Milton raised one brow. ‘You have been busy, Inspector. I’m impressed.’
‘Don’t be. As I have already said, you could have saved us considerable time by telling us all this yourself.’ Riley paused. ‘Why did you spend the night in a hotel? And the truth this time, if you please.’
Milton took a deep breath and looked Riley square in the eye. ‘I suppose it doesn’t matter much now. Callous as it sounds, I knew as soon as I heard that Sir Robert was dead that my circumstances would very probably change for the better. His death left me as the leading barrister in Sir Robert’s chambers, which will allow me to steer the practise in the direction I have long wanted it to take. If I follow that course I will have the wherewithal to support my wife in a London establishment in the style to which she is accustomed, and she will no longer have to rely upon her mother for her entertainment.’
‘You wanted to take on defence work, but Sir Ro
bert consistently refused and you knew why. You were aware of what happened at Erwin’s when Sir Robert was employed there because you heard the gossip. You played upon his guilt in that regard, probably all but blackmailed him to take you on as his junior when you decided, or should I say had no choice but to change career paths.’
‘I can see what you think of me, Inspector. Sometimes I don’t like myself very much either, but we all do what we must to survive. All I can say is that I repaid Sir Robert’s faith in me by working diligently on his behalf and flatter myself that I am partly responsible for the success we made of the practise.’
‘Yet you grew tired of his intransigence. You saw how lucrative defence work could be and felt that Sir Robert had more than made recompense for past errors of judgement. You are a man in a hurry and so…’
Milton nodded. ‘On the night before Sir Robert’s death, I remained in London and had a meeting with Franklin.’
Riley had not anticipated such a response and permitted his surprise to show. ‘The head of chambers where James Boland clerks?’
‘Yes, he does a lot of defence work but is thinking of pulling back, working fewer hours, and needs someone he can depend upon, someone with experience to take over his caseload.’
‘Ah, so you contemplated jumping ship?’
Milton nodded for a second time. ‘Obviously, I shall not do so now. Anyway, Franklin will confirm that we dined together and reached a tentative agreement. Yes, Sir Robert’s death worked to my advantage but I had absolutely no reason to kill him. If I had taken up Franklin’s offer I would have been head of chambers within a couple of years. Chambers already established in defence work.’
Riley nodded, reiterated his dissatisfaction at being lied to and allowed Milton to go. He’d barely had time to ruminate upon Milton’s ethics, or lack thereof, when Salter returned and reported his findings to Riley. Feeling vindicated, Riley briefly explained what Milton had had to say for himself.
‘There’s gratitude for you,’ Salter said with a derisive sneer. ‘Anyway, Price is cooling his heels in an interview room as we speak,’ he added.
‘Right, Sergeant. Are you ready for this?’
‘Let me at him,’ Salter replied with alacrity.
‘Easy does it.’ Riley held out a restraining hand. ‘I have a feeling that if we play this right then we’ll get him to confess without too much effort. He feels aggrieved and will want to tell his side of the story.’
‘I won’t get the brass knuckles out quite yet then,’ Salter said, flexing his fingers in evident regret.
Riley slapped Salter’s shoulder. ‘That’s the spirit!’
‘Inspector Rochester.’ Price rose from his chair as Riley opened the door. A tall, lean man past middle-age, his mild appearance, Riley now knew, was deceptive. It concealed the true nature of a bitter but intelligent and cunning man who felt that the entire world had ranged itself against him and who was hungry for revenge. ‘May I ask why I have been brought here in the middle of my working day? If you have more questions, I should happily have answered them at chambers.’
Still impeccably polite, he resumed his seat and blinked at Riley from behind his round spectacles like a myopic owl.
‘We are interested to learn about the “unpleasantness” you referred to when you first told us how you came into Sir Robert’s employ,’ Riley replied, taking the chair on the opposite side of the table to Price and adopting an equally mild tone. Salter, as always, leaned against the wall, pencil poised, expression fierce.
‘There is very little to tell.’ Price made a passable attempt at concealing his concern at the nature of the question. If Riley hadn’t been watching him closely, anticipating a reaction of some sort, he would have missed it. ‘It was all so long ago.’
‘But relevant, I think.’
‘Sir Robert, or Mr Glover as he then was, managed a warehouse where I had the honour of keeping the books. The owner sold the enterprise, leaving us both without employment. Sir Robert married, trained as a barrister, kindly remembered that I had given good service at Erwin’s and offered me a position as his clerk. I hope I repaid him many times over by giving devoted service.’
‘All true, as far as it goes, but I think it only fair to warn you that we have already spoken at length with Mr Erwin.’ Riley leaned back in his chair. ‘Perhaps you would like to try again.’
Price’s face drained of colour and he quickly folded his hands in his lap, hiding them beneath the table, but not so quickly that Riley didn’t notice the tremor in them. ‘Then you know that I was forced to amend the books to hide the smuggling that went on, quite against my will. It was endemic at the time, and impossible to avoid. Sir Robert was not involved but turned a blind eye rather than confront the ringleaders. His indifference lead to a tragedy that could have been avoided if he’d had the courage to speak out.’
‘You could have said something.’
‘If Sir Robert couldn’t find the courage when he was in a more senior position…’ Price lifted one hand to wave the suggestion aside and quickly returned it to his lap. ‘Even then, Erwin didn’t have the strength of will to dismiss the guilty parties and I became a convenient, expendable scapegoat. An easy target,’ he added on a note of bitterness, ‘since I was not in the business of intimidating people in order to bend them to my will.’
‘That must have made you very angry,’ Salter said.
‘How would it have made you feel?’ Price replied scathingly. ‘Of course I was angry and resentful. I was also unemployed and unemployable, until Sir Robert tried to make amends by offering me a position as his clerk. I have every reason in the world to be grateful to him. Things will never be the same again now that he’s gone.’
‘And you are keen to help us find his killer?’ Riley suggested.
‘Absolutely. I hope I have already made that much abundantly clear.’
‘By telling us of his regular Wednesday afternoon engagements?’
Price nodded, looking sincere. ‘They were the only aspect of his life that I knew nothing about, so it seemed like a reasonable place to start.’
‘You also told us of his problems with his son and his son’s friendship, we’ll call it for want of a better description, with James Boland.’
Price pursed his lips. ‘As I say, I want to see this matter resolved as much as you do.’
‘By leading us up blind alleys?’
Price sat a little taller and peered indignantly at Riley. ‘I rather resent that remark, Inspector, and it is unworthy of you if you don’t mind my saying so.’
‘We know you lied to us, Price,’ Riley said, his voice now hard, uncompromising. ‘So you are hardly in any position to adopt the moral high ground.’
‘Lied?’ He gaze darted from side to side. ‘I don’t know what you’re referring to. If I have misled you, it was an honest mistake. I merely told you what I knew, or suspected, in an effort to be of service.’
‘You told us you were not acquainted with anyone by the name of Barchester.’
‘I am not.’
‘Yet he called to see Sir Robert at chambers the night before he died.’ Riley pinned the hapless clerk with a look of unbridled reproach, causing Price’s face to blanch beneath the force of his hostility.
‘Yes, yes, you are quite right. He did indeed. I had forgotten all about that, given the tragedy that so soon followed. Sir Robert saw the man without an appointment, which was highly irregular, and sent me home. I have no idea what they discussed.’
‘Another lie!’ Salter stepped forward and slapped his hand on the table so hard that Price cried out and cringed. ‘We know that you came back and listened.’
‘How? Who told you that?’
‘We’re asking the questions,’ Riley replied. ‘Now, the truth on this occasion if you please.’
‘I did return,’ Price replied, regaining his composure with the speed of an accomplished liar. ‘I was concerned for Sir Robert’s welf
are, truth to tell. The man Barchester seemed very angry. I didn’t feel comfortable leaving Sir Robert alone with such an unpredictable character.’
‘You knew who he was and what connection he had to Sir Robert’s Wednesday afternoon engagements. In short, you were well aware that he was Sir Robert’s illegitimate daughter’s husband.’
Price attempted to look astounded, but it didn’t quite work and the sudden slump of his shoulders implied that he realised it.
‘I was aware,’ he replied after a short pause.
‘Then why the devil didn’t you tell us?’ Riley asked crisply. ‘And more to the point, how did you find out?’
‘Sir Robert told me in confidence and I didn’t feel I could break that confidence, not even after his death. I had Lady Glover’s feelings to consider.’
‘Sir Robert never did get over his guilt at the death of that man at Erwin’s, did he?’
‘It was very distressing for all concerned,’ Price said, looking relieved by the abrupt change of subject. ‘The dead man had several dependent children. Sir Robert, to his credit, ensured that they were taken care of.’
‘Just as he took care of you, but it wasn’t quite the same, was it? At Erwin’s you were a bookkeeper with a promising career ahead of you. You were in charge rather than being at the beck and call of a man to whom you were expected to be eternally grateful. You would have made something of yourself at Erwin’s had you not become a scapegoat for something which was not your fault, whilst others escaped scot-free and continued with their lucrative sideline. That must have cut to the quick.’
Price elevated his chin. ‘I was perfectly content serving Sir Robert.’
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