The Excursion Train

'What about you, sir?'

'Oh, I, too, have made a number of discoveries.'

Colbeck went on to describe what he had gleaned from the various people to whom he had talked that morning. In the middle of his account, the first course arrived and they were able to start their meal while the Inspector continued. Leeming seized on one detail.

'Adam Hawkshaw went to Paddock Wood that night?' he said.

'Someone resembling him did.'

'Can't you get the stationmaster to make a positive identification? All we have to do is to take Hawkshaw along to the station.'

'Even if it was him on that train from Ashford, it doesn't mean that he was implicated in the murder. Adam Hawkshaw can barely write. How could someone that illiterate be able to pick out a verse in the Bible to serve his purpose?'

'Was he travelling alone?'

'Yes, Victor, and that's another point in his favour. He had no female companion. Given his surly manner,' said Colbeck, 'I doubt if he ever will have one. I'm certain that he lied to me about being at home that evening but I don't think he's a suspect for the chaplain's murder.'

'Who else travelled from Ashford to Paddock Wood on that train?'

'Several people. Some of the men from the railway works live there and use the line regularly. The only reason that Adam Hawkshaw – or the person who looked like him – stayed in the stationmaster's mind was that he was so irascible.'

'I still think that Hawkshaw needs watching.'

'He'll stay under observation, Victor. Have no fear.'

'What about this other character?' asked Leeming, spooning the last of his soup into his mouth. 'This gypsy that they're looking for?'

'His name is Angel, apparently.'

'He could turn out to be an Angel of Death.'

'If he really exists.'

'Is there any doubt about that, Inspector?'

'I don't know,' said Colbeck, sprinkling more salt on his food. 'I'm not entirely sure how I feel about Gregory Newman. He's very plausible but he's obviously keeping certain things from me. This story about someone called Angel being the potential killer of Dykes might just be a way of misleading us.'

'Why would Newman want to do that?'

'We're policemen, Victor. We represent the law that sent his best friend to the gallows. He could be trying to confuse us out of spite.'

'I'm confused enough already,' admitted Leeming.

'We can soon find out if Newman was telling the truth. You simply have to ask your assistant if he's even heard of this man, Angel.'

'My assistant?'

'Constable Butterkiss,' said Colbeck, 'and while you're at it, show him this petition and ask him where we could find the first ten people on that list, excluding Newman and the Hawkshaw family.'

'Why must I always be landed with George Butterkiss?'

'The two of you clearly have an affinity, Victor.'

'Is that what it's called?' Leeming was disconsolate. 'I can think of a very different word for it, sir.' He sat back while the waiter cleared the plates away. 'What will you be doing this afternoon?'

'Trying to speak to Emily Hawkshaw. There's something about her behaviour that troubles me. I want to find out what it is.'

Emily lay on her bed and stared up at the ceiling. She was so preoccupied that she did not hear the tap on the door. When her mother came into the room, the girl sat up guiltily.

'You startled me,' she said.

'I didn't mean to do that, Emily. I just came to warn you.'

'About what?'

'Inspector Colbeck just called again,' said Winifred Hawkshaw. 'He's very anxious to talk to you.'

Emily was alarmed. 'Me?'

'Yes.'

'Why?'

'It's nothing to be afraid of, dear,' said her mother, sitting on the bed beside her. 'He needs to ask you a few questions, that's all.'

'Is he still here?'

'No, I thought you'd need fair warning so I told him that you were asleep. The Inspector will be back later.'

'What do I say to him?'

'The truth, Emily. He's trying to help us.'

'None of the other policemen did that.'

'Their minds were already made up. They'd decided that your father was guilty and that was that. Inspector Colbeck is different. You'll have to speak to him, dear. He won't go away.'

'What does he want to know?'

'You'll find out when he comes back.'

'Didn't he say?'

'He did wonder why you didn't sign that petition for your father's release,' said her mother, 'and I told him it was because you were too young, but he still felt your name should have been there. So do I, really.' She touched the girl's arm. 'Why wasn't it?'

'I don't know.'

'Gregory asked you to sign but you refused.'

'I had too many things on my mind,' whimpered the girl. 'I just couldn't bring myself to do it somehow. As soon as I saw that list of names, I lost heart. I knew that it would do no good.'

'It showed everyone what we felt, Emily.'

'I felt the same.'

'Then you should have been part of it.'

Emily stifled a cry then began to convulse wildly. Putting her arms around the girl, her mother tried to control the spasms but to no avail. Emily seemed to be in the grip of a seizure.

'What's wrong with you?' asked Winifred, tightening her hold on her daughter. 'Emily, what's wrong?'

Robert Colbeck had been in the town for over twenty-four hours without really exploring it properly. While he waited to speak to Emily Hawkshaw, therefore, he decided to stroll around Ashford and take the measure of the place. It also gave him an opportunity to reflect on what he had learnt earlier and to sift through the evidence that Leeming had obtained from his visit to Canterbury. The solution to the two murders aboard trains, he felt, still lay buried in the case of Nathan Hawkshaw. Until he could unearth the truth about the first killing, he was convinced that he would never catch those responsible for the other crimes. Deep in thought, he ambled gently along.

Industry was encroaching fast but Ashford was still largely a pleasant market town with a paved high street at its heart and an ancient grammar school that, for well over two hundred years, had educated privileged pupils and turned them into useful citizens. Shops dominated the centre of the town. It was in the sidestreets that houses, tenements and artisans' villas abounded. Having stopped to admire the soaring church tower of St Mary's, Colbeck read some of the inscriptions on the gravestones surrounding it, sobered by the thought that Nathan Hawkshaw had been deprived of his right to a last resting place there.

Continuing his walk, he went in a loop around the town so that he could see every aspect of it, his striking appearance causing much interest among the townspeople and more than a few comments. When he finally returned to the high street, he elected to call once more on Emily Hawkshaw but, before he could turn into Middle Row, he saw what at first he took to be some kind of mirage. Walking towards him with purposeful strides was an attractive young woman in a dress that he had seen once before. Colbeck rubbed his eyes to make sure that they were not deceiving him. At that moment, the woman saw him and quickened her step at once. Colbeck was astonished and excited to see her.

It was Madeleine Andrews.

CHAPTER TEN

Robert Colbeck escorted her into the Saracen's Head and indicated some chairs. When they sat opposite each other near the window, he beamed at her, still unable to believe that she had come all the way from London to see him. For her part, Madeleine Andrews was delighted to have found him so quickly and to have been made so welcome. She was amused by the look of complete surprise on his face.

'What's the matter, Robert?'

'Did you really take the train by yourself?' he asked.

'My father's an engine driver,' she reminded him. 'I'm well used to the railway, you know.'

'Young ladies like you don't often travel alone. Except, of course,' he added, gallantly, 'that there's nobody quite like you, Madeleine.' She smiled at the compliment. 'You create your own rules.'