Fear on the Phantom Special

by Edward Marston

  ‘Then you’re condemning the blacksmith on dubious evidence, Lord Culverhouse.’

  ‘It had to be him, Inspector.’

  ‘Why was that?’

  ‘Where women are concerned, Hayes had a reputation.’

  ‘Reputations are often based on unproven rumours.’

  ‘They were more than mere rumours. My doctor will tell you that. Dymock was infuriated. Had he not intervened at an early stage, his wife might have become another victim.’

  ‘Really?’

  ‘I’m not at liberty to disclose the details but I can tell you this. Hayes was a danger to women. More to the point, the man was married. He was betraying his wife.’

  ‘Sergeant Ainsley seemed to think that Hayes had been wrongly accused.’

  ‘Ignore what Ainsley says. He was the blacksmith’s friend. He only saw the good side of the man.’

  ‘From what you’re telling me, my lord, there wasn’t one.’

  ‘He was skilled at his trade, I’ll give him that. I just wish that he’d stuck to it instead of going on the rampage among the female population.’

  ‘I’m disinclined to pay attention to gossip.’

  ‘What I’ve told you is the simple truth – or do you think that the doctor and I are mere rumour-mongers?’

  ‘I accept what you told me, but I’ve chosen to disregard the gossip that I heard about your nephew.’

  Culverhouse glared. ‘Has somebody had the gall to disparage Alex?’

  ‘It’s not worth repeating.’

  ‘Come, come, I want to know what’s being said.’

  ‘I’ve no wish to speak ill of someone I’ve never met.’

  ‘If there’s evil gossip abroad, I insist on hearing it.’

  ‘As you wish, my lord,’ said Colbeck. ‘The general view is that he exploited his charm among the ladies. I met one of them, as it happens – Miss Caroline Treadgold.’

  ‘I, too, have met her. She was merely an acquaintance of Alex’s.’

  ‘There were other female friends, I’ve heard.’

  ‘He’s a handsome young man with blood in his veins,’ said Culverhouse with a chuckle. ‘Of course there were others. When he was released from the restrictions that his parents imposed on him, Alex went on a voyage of discovery. Most of us did that at his age, surely?’

  ‘Are you condoning his interest in young women?’

  ‘My nephew was looking for a partner in life. To do that, he spent a lot of time in female company. Ultimately, he found Miss Haslam and became … more settled.’

  ‘It’s a tragedy that the couple have been ripped apart.’

  ‘And it’s one that you should be investigating, Inspector. Nothing will help Miss Haslam to get over the shock of losing her future husband,’ said Culverhouse, ‘but one thing may ease her pain, and that’s to know exactly what happened to him. Your job is to find out the truth. That’s why I sent for you. So, let’s have no more diversions like the case of Gregor Hayes. All of your time and effort must be directed at my nephew. Is that understood?’ Colbeck nodded. ‘If you don’t follow my orders,’ he went on, ‘I’ll send you back to Scotland Yard with your tail between your legs and I’ll complain bitterly about you to the commissioner.’

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  There was something different about the bookseller, but it took Victor Leeming a little while to work out what it was. In the interim, he handed back the book he’d borrowed and thanked Tiller profusely for loaning it to him.

  ‘How much of it did you read, Sergeant?’

  ‘I read enough to realise that I couldn’t possibly live here.’

  ‘Why is that?’

  ‘There are too many ghosts and ghouls.’

  ‘They enhance the place, in my view.’

  ‘Well, they put the wind up me.’ He slapped his thigh. ‘I can see it now,’ he declared. ‘You’ve had your hair cut. I knew something about you had changed.’

  ‘I got Reg Garside to thin it out for me.’

  ‘Did he ask for any tips about writing poetry?’

  ‘He always does that.’

  Even though the bookseller knew that he was under suspicion, he had given Leeming a friendly welcome and offered him a cup of tea. The two of them were now seated in the shop and sipping away. Leeming was content.

  ‘It’s lovely to have a rest at last.’

  ‘Why?’ asked Tiller. ‘What have you been doing?’

  Leeming was evasive. ‘Oh, we’ve been here and there,’ he said. ‘We didn’t come across anything supernatural, though.’

  ‘What about my haircut?’ They laughed. ‘My wife didn’t recognise me when I got back. She thought I was an impostor.’

  ‘I was interested in what she told me about your campaign against the building of railways.’

  ‘They disfigure the landscape.’

  ‘The people who build them argue that they’re a boon to holidaymakers and a great help to industries that want to move their produce in bulk.’

  ‘I thought you hated railways as much as we did.’

  ‘I do,’ said Leeming, ‘but I’d never try to cause them damage. That would be flouting the law.’

  ‘Sometimes the law needs to be flouted.’

  ‘I’ll pretend I never heard that.’

  ‘You have to stand up for what you believe in, Sergeant.’

  ‘What did you think when you first heard about the Phantom Special?’

  ‘I thought that it was a big mistake.’

  ‘Oh?’

  ‘It was an act of provocation. You read the book I let you borrow. When you live in a county notorious for its haunted places, you have to negotiate with spirits from the past.’

  ‘Piper didn’t do that.’

  ‘He refused to believe such things existed.’

  ‘Are you saying that he was punished for his mockery?’

  ‘Something like that probably happened.’

  ‘Then why was he the only victim?’ asked Leeming. ‘There were lots of other people on the excursion who laughed at the idea of ghosts. Look at Mr Hedley. It was his idea to go to Hither Wood. Why wasn’t he punished as well?’

  ‘I think he was.’

  ‘How?’

  ‘He lost his best friend,’ said Tiller. ‘Everyone on that excursion liked Piper so they suffered badly when he vanished. It often happens to people who thumb their noses at the idea of unquiet spirits – they’re forced to repent of their folly.’

  Leeming was torn between guilt and apprehension.

  Though he was pleased to see them both, Caleb Andrews was embarrassed that his daughter had brought Lydia Quayle to the house. It was a small, draughty, terraced dwelling that would have looked derisory beside Lydia’s much larger house in a more affluent area of the city.

  ‘I was going to come to you, Maddy,’ he said.

  ‘This is where the crime occurred,’ said his daughter, ‘so it’s the obvious meeting place.’

  ‘Have you had any more thoughts about it, Mr Andrews?’ asked Lydia.

  ‘Oh, yes. I was awake for hours last night, going through those names again and again.’

  ‘Did you single anyone out?’

  ‘I didn’t, but Alf Kingston did.’

  ‘Who was it?’

  ‘It was someone I’d never even thought of, to be honest. I played cribbage with Alf earlier today,’ he said, beaming. ‘As a matter of fact, I won every game and earned myself a little money.’

  ‘Don’t boast, Father,’ chided Madeleine.

  ‘I’m entitled to. Anyway, there’s a name I forgot to put on the list. Alf reminded me that I had some slates blown off my roof in a high wind. I got someone to replace them. He came in for a cup of tea at one point and saw me polishing my medal.’

  ‘Did he see you locking it away?’ asked Lydia.

  ‘It’s more than possible.’

  ‘What sort of man is he?’

  ‘Well,’ said Andrews, ‘until today, I’d have said that Percy Hopway was very trus
tworthy. He’s done lots of work for me over the years. Percy is slow but reliable.’

  ‘Did you leave the house at any point while he was there?’

  ‘Yes, I did. I walked to the shop to get some baccy.’

  ‘Was the house locked?’ asked Madeleine.

  ‘There was no point. I was only away for a few minutes and Percy was guarding the place for me.’

  ‘So he could have popped in while you were gone?’

  Andrews was uncertain. ‘It’s unlikely that he did but … it was possible, I suppose.’

  ‘I think you should add him to the list, Father,’ she said. ‘Then we can work our way through the names one by one. I remember Percy Hopway. He always looked rather sly to me. Put his name at the top of the list.’

  After listening to Colbeck’s explanation of how much information he and Leeming had so far gathered, Culverhouse realised that he’d been too quick to condemn the detectives. While the effort of rising to an apology was beyond him, he was mollified and, as a result, adopted a less hectoring tone. Hearing that Colbeck was in the house again, Rodney Piper joined them in the study and asked how the investigation was proceeding.

  ‘It’s more advanced than I thought,’ said Culverhouse. ‘I’ll give you the gist of it later. There’s no point in asking the inspector to go through it all again.’

  ‘I explained to His Lordship that I can’t go into too much detail,’ said Colbeck. ‘I made a point of visiting the place where the fire had been lit to stop the train that night. Sergeant Ainsley took me there.’

  ‘What was the point?’ asked Piper.

  ‘I wanted to see the location as the passengers on that excursion would have seen it. In their case, darkness would have contributed to their confusion.’

  ‘What did you learn?’

  Colbeck told them about his sprint over the approximate distance that Alexander Piper had run. The two of them were astounded. The idea that the immaculately attired inspector would discard his coat and hat on a cold evening to race beside a railway line made them gape. Neither of the two men could trot, let alone run at full speed. When Colbeck explained why he’d done it, they were intrigued.

  ‘I admire your commitment,’ said Piper. ‘You certainly don’t spare yourself.’

  ‘I felt that the effort was necessary.’

  ‘And you ran all that way?’ asked Culverhouse. ‘You must have been exhausted.’

  ‘It’s important to keep fit in my profession, my lord. When you confront them, most criminals will make a run for it. We have to be fast enough to catch them.’

  ‘When do you expect to catch whoever was responsible for our son’s disappearance?’ said Piper.

  ‘We are working tirelessly to ensure that we do that as soon as possible.’

  ‘Are you talking in terms of days or weeks?’

  ‘We will press on for as long as it takes,’ said Colbeck. ‘I can’t divulge names, but I can tell you that we have a number of suspects in mind. Sergeant Leeming is questioning one of them at this very moment.’

  Conversation at the bookshop was interrupted by the arrival of an old man who wanted to browse among the shelves and talk to Tiller as he did so. It was obvious from the newcomer’s voice that he had great respect for the owner’s knowledge of books. All that Leeming could do was to wait until Tiller was free again. The customer eventually bought three second-hand books and left.

  ‘I’m sorry about that,’ said Tiller.

  ‘You have a business to run, Norm. I don’t want to interfere with that.’

  ‘He comes in regularly. Since he retired as headmaster of one of our schools, he has time on his hands. I tend to make a fuss over him because he bought my anthology.’

  ‘Did he enjoy the poems?’

  ‘Yes, he did, and so did his wife. She’s bedridden, alas, and he reads some of my poems to her every evening.’

  ‘I bet he doesn’t read the one about Gregor Hayes.’

  ‘It’s not in the anthology.’

  ‘I think it’s just as well,’ said Leeming. ‘It’s about a nasty phantom that torments the blacksmith to death. I don’t believe that it’s suitable for a sick old woman. Parts of it upset me, so it’d be bound to unsettle her.’

  ‘That poem has been discarded,’ said Tiller, bluntly.

  ‘When I called on Mr Garside, I read some of your other ones as well. You return to the same thing time and again. The barber noticed it as well. You write about nature and the importance of keeping it unsullied. Is that why you objected to the arrival of railways?’

  ‘Yes, it is.’

  ‘Is that all you did, Norm?’ asked Leeming. ‘Did you simply carry banners and shout out slogans?’

  ‘No, I spoke at meetings as well.’

  ‘What were you trying to do – lift their spirits?’

  ‘I wanted to make them fully aware of the dangers to our beautiful, God-given scenery. Once allowed in, railways could go on to turn the whole county into an eyesore. We had a duty to stop that happening.’

  ‘And how would you do that, Norm?’

  ‘We’d hamper any development that was planned.’

  ‘Would that involve vandalism and theft?’

  ‘We’ll take appropriate steps,’ said Tiller with sudden passion. ‘It’s a pity that you won’t be here for long or you’d see an example of people ready to defend the glorious landscape all around us from those who wish to deface it even more.’

  It took Andrews some time to find him. When he called at the man’s house, his wife told him that Hopway was repairing a wall that had collapsed days before. Andrews got there to find that the wall had been rebuilt and that Percy Hopway had moved on to another job half a mile away. Not one to give up easily, Andrews began the long walk. He was glad that the women were not with him. At Madeleine’s suggestion, they were going to visit another suspect, leaving her father to tackle Hopway on his own.

  Andrews eventually found him at the top of a ladder, installing glass in a bedroom window of a public house. He called up to him.

  ‘Is there anything you can’t do, Percy?’

  ‘That sounds like Caleb Andrews,’ said the other without looking down. ‘Excuse me if I don’t turn round. I have to fix this pane in.’

  ‘You mend roofs, you rebuild walls and you’re a skilled glazier. I even spotted you doing some plumbing once.’

  ‘I do whatever needs doing, Caleb.’

  ‘It obviously keeps you busy. Your wife says you never stop. Anyway,’ said Andrews, ‘I wanted a word. You carry on, Percy. I can wait.’

  In fact, it was only a few minutes before Hopway descended the ladder. He was a thickset man of middle height with an ugly face whose defining feature was the half-closed eye set lower in his face than its partner. It gave him the sinister look of which Madeleine had spoken. After wiping his hands on an old rag, Hopway put his hands on his hips.

  ‘What do you want, Caleb?’

  ‘Do you remember replacing some slates off my roof?’

  ‘Yes, I do.’ Hopway’s voice sharpened. ‘They haven’t fallen off again, have they?’

  ‘Oh, no, you did a good job.’

  ‘What’s the problem, then?’

  ‘While you were on my roof,’ said Andrews, ‘I went off to the shop to get some baccy.’

  ‘That’s right. You did. You asked me to keep an eye on the house – my good eye, that is.’

  ‘Did anyone come while I was away?’

  ‘No, they didn’t.’

  ‘Are you certain of that, Percy?’

  ‘I’m not blind.’

  ‘If you were lying flat on the roof, you might have missed them.’

  ‘Oh, no, I wouldn’t,’ said the other. ‘Why are you asking, anyway?’

  ‘Something was stolen from my house.’

  ‘When?’

  ‘That’s the trouble, Percy. I can’t be sure.’

  ‘What was it?’

  ‘It was that medal I showed you, the one they gave me for ou
tstanding service on the LNWR.’

  Hopway was roused. ‘You think it was me, don’t you?’

  ‘Of course I don’t.’

  ‘Then why are you bothering me? Just because the house was left unlocked for two or three minutes, you think that I must have shinned down the ladder, slipped into the house to grab your stupid little medal, then climbed quickly back up the ladder before you got back.’

  ‘I didn’t think that at all, Percy.’

  ‘Then why the hell are you here?’ shouted Hopway.

  ‘Keep your voice down.’

  ‘I don’t like being accused of something I didn’t do.’

  ‘I just thought—’

  ‘I know what you damn well thought, Caleb, and it’s an insult. People employ me because they trust me.’

  ‘I trust you.’

  ‘Well, I’ll tell you one thing. Don’t ever ask me to mend your roof or do any other kind of work for you again.’ He waved a threatening fist. ‘Now, get out of my sight.’

  Climbing the ladder, he broke wind by way of farewell.

  Madeleine and Lydia took a more cautious approach. When they checked up on another of their suspects, they gave no hint of their true motives in speaking to him. Henry Blacker was a locksmith whose shop was only two blocks away from Andrews’ house. Since she had met him once before, Madeleine did all the talking. Pretending to be in search of a small safe, she asked him to show her his selection. She’d even brought a pencil and a notebook with her so that she could write down the dimensions.

  Blacker, a dour, laconic man, was inquisitive.

  ‘This for Caleb?’ he muttered.

  ‘It might be.’

  ‘Why isn’t he here?’

  ‘He doesn’t think he needs a safe,’ said Madeleine, ‘but he does have valuables in the house. I’ve been trying to persuade him to protect them properly.’

  ‘Important.’

  ‘Is there much theft around here, Mr Blacker?’

  ‘Too much.’

  ‘So you’re always in demand.’

  ‘People only come to me after a burglary. Too late.’

  ‘We want to improve the security before anything happens. My father has a few souvenirs that he’d hate to lose. It would break his heart if they were stolen.’