‘Well, at least you’ll never find Alex Piper,’ said the other with a note of triumph. ‘The moment he ran through that fire, he was stabbed to death by Pugsley and whisked away into the trees. I had him dumped in the deepest part of Windermere. You’ll have to drain the whole lake to get him out. How did I do it?’ he added with a taunting laugh. ‘It was easy. I preyed on people’s fears of the supernatural. That kept them conveniently out of my way while the murders were committed.’
‘I know that you hated Piper, but did you have to kill him?’
‘He’s thumbed his nose at the law for far too long.’
‘That’s a reason for arrest not murder.’
‘There was something else,’ said Ainsley with a sneer. ‘You may find this ironic. That slimy little bastard took an interest in what happened to Gregor Hayes. Can you believe it? After breaking laws left, right and centre, he suddenly wants to play at being a policeman. He was clever, I’ll give him that. Piper found out things that were too near the truth for comfort. Luckily, he came to me for advice. I tried to put him off, but he had the bit between his teeth. He was determined to solve the crime to show his future wife and her family what a decent, honest, upstanding young man he was. That’s why he had to be stopped at all costs. The Phantom Special gave me my chance to get rid of him for good.’
‘You certainly did that.’
‘Congratulations, Inspector! I thought that my plans were foolproof.’
‘A lot of killers make that mistake.’
‘Two of the corpses are in a sorry state, I fear. Gregor is buried in several bits in Hither Wood and Piper is being nibbled by fishes in Windermere. The least I can do is to offer you one body in reasonable condition.’
Before Colbeck could stop him, he reached inside his coat for a pistol, brought it out in a flash, pulled back the trigger then thrust the barrel into his mouth and shot himself. Blood spurted everywhere. Ainsley slumped to the ground, inches away from the horseshoe that had brought about his downfall.
They left Kendal with the plaudits of Lord Culverhouse still ringing in their ears. Colbeck had been delighted that they’d been able to solve two cases at the same time, but Leeming was simply happy to be on his way home again.
‘I kept changing my mind,’ he admitted. ‘I thought at first it was the doctor, then Vine, then Norm Tiller. I even dallied with the name of that lawyer.’
‘All four of them merited a close look, Victor.’
‘When did you first suspect Ainsley?’
‘It was when he drove me beside the railway line. I felt that he was testing me out, wondering how clever I was.’
‘I could have warned him about you, sir.’
‘Fortunately, you didn’t.’
‘What will happen to Piper’s family?’
‘I don’t know. We did our duty when we found out how and why he’d been killed. They can mourn him properly now.’
‘Oh,’ said Leeming, stretching himself, ‘I’m so glad that we’re going home at last. I can’t wait to see Estelle and the boys again. They’ll have missed me.’
‘So did Superintendent Tallis.’
‘I’d forgotten him.’
‘According to Hinton, he’s the same old black-hearted slave-driver once more. I find that reassuring.’
‘I don’t.’ Leeming fell silent for a while then sat up. ‘There’s one thing I’m sorry I missed about the Lake District.’
‘What is it?’
‘Well, Norm Tiller was so certain that there really was a phantom fell runner. He was the hero of that poem about the blacksmith. I just wish that I’d caught a glimpse of him.’
‘Forget him, Victor. He doesn’t exist.’
As evening shadows lengthened, the black-clad runner glided along without any apparent effort. When he paused on the summit of a hill, he gazed down at Hither Wood and emitted a strange, high-pitched laugh.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
EDWARD MARSTON has written well over a hundred books, including some non-fiction. He is best known for his hugely successful Railway Detective series and he also writes the Bow Street Rivals series featuring twin detectives set during the Regency, as well as the Home Front Detective series.
edwardmarston.com
By Edward Marston
THE RAILWAY DETECTIVE SERIES
The Railway Detective • The Excursion Train • The Railway Viaduct
The Iron Horse • Murder on the Brighton Express
The Silver Locomotive Mystery • Railway to the Grave • Blood on the Line
The Stationmaster’s Farewell • Peril on the Royal Train
A Ticket to Oblivion • Timetable of Death • Signal for Vengeance
The Circus Train Conspiracy • A Christmas Railway Mystery
Points of Danger • Fear on the Phantom Special
Inspector Colbeck’s Casebook
THE RESTORATION SERIES
The King’s Evil • The Amorous Nightingale • The Repentant Rake
The Frost Fair • The Parliament House • The Painted Lady
THE BRACEWELL MYSTERIES
The Queen’s Head • The Merry Devils • The Trip to Jerusalem
The Nine Giants • The Mad Courtesan • The Silent Woman
The Roaring Boy • The Laughing Hangman
The Fair Maid of Bohemia • The Wanton Angel
The Devil’s Apprentice • The Bawdy Basket
The Vagabond Clown • The Counterfeit Crank
The Malevolent Comedy • The Princess of Denmark
THE HOME FRONT DETECTIVE SERIES
A Bespoke Murder • Instrument of Slaughter • Five Dead Canaries
Deeds of Darkness • Dance of Death • The Enemy Within
Under Attack • The Unseen Hand
THE BOW STREET RIVALS SERIES
Shadow of the Hangman • Steps to the Gallows
Date with the Executioner • Fugitive from the Grave
THE CAPTAIN RAWSON SERIES
Soldier of Fortune • Drums of War • Fire and Sword
Under Siege • A Very Murdering Battle
COPYRIGHT
Allison & Busby Limited
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London W1F 8AN
allisonandbusby.com
First published in Great Britain by Allison & Busby in 2019.
This ebook edition published in Great Britain by Allison & Busby in 2019.
Copyright © 2019 by EDWARD MARSTON
The moral right of the author is hereby asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All characters and events in this publication, other than those clearly in the public domain, are fictitious and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent buyer.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 978–0–7490–2418–5
m.Net
Fear on the Phantom Special Page 28