‘I don’t accept that. You lied to us.’
Everett was a portly man in his fifties with a round, red face and a large head decorated by tufts of white hair. He had piggy eyes that lacked any sparkle and were constantly on the move. Gesturing his visitor to a chair, he resumed his seat behind the desk and clasped his hands tightly across his stomach.
‘So…you are not here merely as a friend,’ he observed.
‘I’m here to investigate a terrible crime.’
‘Are you referring to murder or to suicide?’
‘Both are interlinked,’ said Tallis. ‘In finding the killer, I’ll be absolving the colonel of any wrongdoing and bringing to justice the fiend who provoked a blameless man to take his own life.’
‘There are some who think the colonel was far from blameless.’
‘Are you one of them, Mr Everett?’
‘Heavens, no!’ exclaimed the other, hastily. ‘I take no sides in the matter.’
‘Well, you should, sir. As Colonel Tarleton’s lawyer, you should be protecting him from some of the vile accusations that are flying around. He paid you well for your services. Earn your keep.’
‘What am I supposed to do?’
‘To begin with, you can take legal action against those who are whispering vicious lies into the ears of journalists. Libel and slander are abroad, Mr Everett. Strike them down and show no quarter.’
‘Where am I to start, Superintendent? What you call slander is the general opinion. Go into any public house and you’ll find dozens of people convinced that the colonel murdered his wife. It’s the same elsewhere. How am I to take action against such overwhelming odds?’
‘By making an example of the worst offenders,’ said Tallis.
‘I can do nothing until the inquest is over tomorrow.’
‘Why should that delay you?’
‘Because it may throw more light on what actually happened,’ said Everett, raising his voice to hide the sound of subterranean gurgles from his stomach. ‘Evidence of all kinds will be introduced. After his body was discovered on the railway line, certain items were taken from the colonel’s house. They may not only tell us about his state of mind when he set out that day, they may also give us a fuller understanding of why his wife disappeared.’
Tallis was livid. ‘What are you expecting – a signed confession?’
‘It’s not beyond the bounds of possibility.’
‘You should be ashamed even to entertain such thoughts. Do you have no respect for the concept of loyalty to your clients?’
‘Of course I do,’ said Everett, indignantly.
‘When did you last see the colonel?’
‘It was about a week ago.’
‘And what brought him here?’
‘I’m not at liberty to divulge that, Superintendent. All that I can tell you is that our meeting had an elegiac feel to it.’
‘Are you saying that he was…taking his leave of you?’
‘That was how it felt.’
‘Given the way you’ve deserted him,’ said Tallis, hotly, ‘he should have taken his leave of you a lot earlier.’
Everett was on his feet. ‘I won’t have you casting aspersions on my professional competence,’ he said. ‘I served the colonel to the best of my ability for many years and I regret his passing. As a lawyer, I’m in an invidious position because I have his last will and testament in my safe. I promised to fulfil his wishes to the letter but I can hardly do that if the inquest rules that his goods and chattels are forfeit to the Crown. So you see, I have enough on my plate without your coming in here and insulting me.’
Tallis gave a gruff apology and Everett sat down again, only partially mollified. Prompted by Tallis, he gave an account of his dealings with the colonel in recent times and he spoke well of the dead man’s character. Since he also acted for Mrs Tarleton, he was able to talk about her occasional visits to his office in the preceding months.
‘Did they ever come here together?’ asked Tallis.
‘Once or twice,’ answered Everett. ‘Actually, I preferred it when it was a joint visit. The colonel could be a trifle short-tempered. You and he have that in common, Superintendent. When Mrs Tarleton was with him, he was always on his best behaviour.’
After brooding for a while, Tallis rose from his chair.
‘Thank you, Mr Everett,’ he said. ‘I’ll impose on you no longer.’
‘I’m always available to an officer of the law.’
‘Why do you think that Miriam Tarleton went missing?’
‘I prefer to reserve my judgement, sir.’
‘You mean that you’d rather sit on the fence.’
‘Fences are too precarious. I’d rather lurk in the shadows.’
‘It’s the best place for you,’ said Tallis, pointedly, and headed for the door.
‘One moment, Superintendent,’ called the other, opening a drawer in his desk and taking something out. ‘You may find this interesting.’
‘What is it?’
‘I’m afraid that it’s a fairly accurate reflection of what the people of Northallerton – and still more of South Otterington – are thinking and feeling. It’s a broadside entitled Railway to the Grave .’
Tallis wrinkled his nose. ‘What a revolting title!’
‘When I arrived this morning, this was on sale in the street.’
‘I’m surprised you’d bother with anything so tasteless.’
‘I wanted to see what the general mood was.’ He handed it over. ‘Read it for yourself. The poet will never rival Mr Tennyson but he has an earthy directness about his style.’
Gritting his teeth, Tallis read the opening stanzas. Now here’s a murd’rous tale of woe, See a hero misbehave. For it shows a valiant soldier go By railway to the grave. What drives a man to take his life Upon the iron rails? Is it to do with the death of a wife And the guilt that then prevails? Suicide is a fearful crime, Of darkest deeds, none chiller. When he lay crushed upon that line Had he simply killed a killer?
Tallis had seen enough. Spluttering with fury, he screwed the paper up and hurled it to the floor with disgust.
‘If I find the man who’s selling this detestable slime,’ he yelled, ‘I’ll tear him limb from limb!’
Agnes Reader’s account of the fateful day was protracted because she kept breaking down to sob. Colbeck and Leeming listened without ever daring to interrupt. She was a slight woman in her early forties with an attractive face distorted by pain and awash with tears. Having relived a harrowing experience, she ended on a pleading note.
‘Should I have done more?’ she asked. ‘After waiting and waiting for hours on end, should I have gone out to search for her there and then? Had I done so, would I perchance have saved Miriam’s life? Tell me, please, that I did all that I should have done.’
‘You’ve nothing to reproach yourself with, Mrs Reader,’ said Colbeck. ‘The likelihood is that Mrs Tarleton was killed shortly after she parted company with the colonel. Someone must have trailed them and – the moment he saw her unaccompanied – he struck.’
‘I have nightmares when I think about it.’
‘Your husband told us how fond you were of them both.’
Agnes gave a hopeless shrug. ‘They were our best friends.’
It was a sizeable house on the edge of the town with views of the fields over which anyone coming from South Otterington would have walked. The detectives were in the drawing room, seated opposite the vision of sadness that was Agnes Reader. Dressed in black out of respect, she had a black-edged lace handkerchief to wipe away her tears.
‘Mrs Reader,’ said Colbeck, gently, ‘I’m given to understand that Mrs Tarleton always took the same route here from the village.’
‘That’s true, Inspector,’ she replied. ‘It’s a well-worn path and the one that my husband and I have often taken when we’ve walked over there on a summer afternoon. When it’s too cold or rain is in the air, we travelled in the trap.’
‘Could you please show us the precise route?’