Madden hesitated.
‘Better not,’ he said after a moment’s pause. ‘He’s a good man, but getting on. Past retirement age. He’ll be more use staying where he is. He can show Billy and Grace the way out here when they arrive.’
Sinclair grunted his agreement.
‘I must say I’d feel easier if I knew whether that private detective tracked the girl down, or whether he was still stringing Ash along. Would it be possible to find out if anyone’s been snooping around? I gather Quill was a seedy character. His presence may have been noticed.’
‘I’ll ask Mrs Spencer.’
The chief inspector cleared his throat. ‘I’m sorry about this, John. Truly I am. You shouldn’t have been landed with it.’
‘Perhaps it’ll teach me not to go wandering off on my own without consulting you.’
‘There’s always that.’ Enjoying the joke, Sinclair chuckled. Styles and Grace will be in a radio car. I’ll keep you abreast of their progress.’
29
‘A greasy little man?’
‘That’s how Evie described him.’
Bess Brigstock stamped the snow from her boots. Ten minutes earlier, having completed her postal round, she had come clattering into the yard in her trap.
‘He called at the Grange one day while Mary was out. Evie had to deal with him and she was upset afterwards. I can see why now. He said he was a detective and made her give him her name.’
As one they turned to look at the young woman who just then had taken Freddie Spencer by the hand to lead him inside. In the last few minutes it had started to snow heavily again, and although the small boy was all for staying outdoors in the yard, his mother had decreed otherwise. Mrs Spencer stood by the kitchen door with folded arms, her resentful gaze fixed on Madden.
‘Poor Mary, she’s finding it hard to cope with all this.’ Bess slapped her gloved hands together. Still bundled up in her coat and fur-lined cap, she stood planted in front of him, oblivious to the flakes that were falling on them. ‘She feels you’ve overreacted. I’m afraid she’s inclined to blame it all on you.’
Madden muttered an acknowledgement. His attempts thus far to convince Mary Spencer of the seriousness of the situation had fallen on deaf ears. Finding her alone in the kitchen following his talk with Sinclair, he had wasted no time in telling her of the forced change in her circumstances.
‘This will come as a blow, I know, but the police want to take Eva into protective custody. It’s for her own safety. There’s a car on its way from London now. She’ll have to go back with them.’
Crouched in front of the iron range — she’d been adding more logs to the fire — she had gazed up at him in sheer disbelief.
‘Surely that won’t be necessary. It means she’ll miss Christmas with us. Freddie will be heartbroken.’
Glancing out of the window at that moment, Madden had seen the young woman outside in the yard with her employer’s son. The snow had abated somewhat and they were making small adjustments to the snowman they must have built earlier, giving him ears in the shape of turnips and slipping an old clay pipe between his lips.
‘I’m sorry, but it can’t be helped.’ He’d forced himself to ignore her plea. ‘ man Eva saw in Paris — the one who killed Rosa — is still at large. In fact, to be on the safe side there are some police officers coming over from Petersfield now. They’ll keep a watch on your house in case he finds his way here. Unless, that is, you’d rather move somewhere else.’
‘Somewhere else …?’ She had put a hand to her head. ‘Oh, no, I couldn’t do that. That’s out of the question.’
‘You’ll be quite safe here,’ he assured her. ‘And there’s every chance the man the police are looking for will be arrested soon. They’re on his trail.’
His efforts to calm her had gone for naught. She’d turned on him.
‘But why should this matter so much now? What have you brought on us, Mr Madden?’ And when he failed to reply. ‘ you trying to frighten me? Is that it?’
Before he could respond, a cry from Freddie’s lips outside had signalled the arrival of Bess and her trap, and he had turned to watch as, pursued by the little boy, she had guided the pony round in a circle before bringing it to a halt on the far side of the yard near the open doors of the barn.
‘Oh, thank heavens.’ Mary Spencer had taken heart from her friend’s arrival. ‘I’m sorry, but I can’t discuss this further until I’ve spoken to Bess.’
Offering no comment — she would find out soon enough that she had little choice in the matter — he had followed her out of the door into the snow-covered yard and then watched as she hastened over to where the trap stood and where Bess was in the process of heaving her heavy body off the seat and down on to the ground. Forgotten by all, Eva Belka had remained where she was, by the snowman, staring off into the distance. Madden had gone over to her.
‘I’ve spoken to the police in London, Eva, to the chief inspector in charge of the case. He’s going to take you into what’s called protective custody until this man has been caught. It’s for your own good.’
She had turned her face towards his and he saw she had barely registered what he had said. Her green eyes were swollen with weeping.
‘I’m sorry …?’
‘The police are going to protect you. A car is on its way from London now. You’ll have to go with them.’
She had nodded dully.
‘Don’t worry about the rest. It’s true, you should have reported this a long time ago. But I think you’ll find them understanding.’
She brushed a wisp of red hair off her forehead.
‘Rosa … how did she die … can you tell me …?’
‘She didn’t suffer,’ Madden had reassured her at once. ‘It was quick, very quick.’ He’d examined her face. ‘You must try to get over this,’ he had said earnestly, laying a hand on her shoulder. He had seen the depth of her feeling in her eyes; the sorrow that weighed on her now. ‘There’s no going back. You have your own life to live.’
She had nodded her thanks, murmuring some words that he didn’t catch, but before he could say more they had been interrupted.
‘Mr Madden …?’
Hearing his name called out he’d turned to see Bess Brigstock striding across the snow towards him. For the past few minutes she and Mary Spencer had been deep in conversation.
‘Could we have a word, do you think?’
‘When did this man appear exactly?’ Madden frowned.
‘Oh, a good three weeks ago.’
‘And he claimed to be a policeman?’
‘That’s what Evie said.’ Bess reinforced her words with a growl. And the MacGregors, too. He went to their farm first. They said he showed them what looked like a warrant card and wrote down their names and the names of their farmworkers. I asked Bob Leonard to find out who he was but he said he couldn’t have been a real policeman. He even spoke to his headquarters in Petersfield to make sure. They’d never heard of him. Bob said he might have been a burglar on the lookout for a place to rob.’ She saw the expression on Madden’s face. ‘I gather you don’t agree.’
‘He was up to no good, all right. But it sounds more like Quill. This private detective. We know he was looking for a Polish girl. That business of taking down names — that was just a front — a way of finding out if they were employing any foreigners. Of course once he’d met Eva he wouldn’t have had to search any further. It’s odds on he was given a description of her.’
‘By the man she saw in Paris that evening? The same one who killed the girl who worked for you.’
Madden nodded again. Bess had come prepared to take up the cudgels on her friend’s behalf, but after the brief explanation Madden had given, her attitude had changed and she had listened to him attentively.
‘The fact that nothing’s happened since may be a good sign,’ Madden went on. There’s some thought on the part of the police that Quill may not have passed the information on to his client. He was trying to extract as much money as he could from him, stringing out the enquiry. If so, he seems to have paid the price. He was murdered himself two nights ago.’