Whether they saw us or not we didn’t have time to tell. David swung the Bentley out of the farmyard as their tail disappeared round the bend, and we went hell-for-leather back down the track. ‘Nice work!’ I said. David grinned. There was the exultation of speed and fine driving in his eyes. ‘It’ll take them quite a time to stop,’ he said. ‘And by the time they’ve backed to the farmyard to turn, we’ll be well on our way.’
This was true, for it wasn’t until we were actually on the Porthgwarra road again and climbing the hill to Roskestal that Freya reported the car coming through the gate in the stone wall. The rest was easy. We made terrific pace to Penzance and ran up through Redruth and Bodmin to Launceston. There we turned sharp to the north and made for Bideford. At Holsworthy we paused for a late lunch and I phoned Crisham.
My object was to tell him just enough to whet his appetite. Desmond Crisham is one of the bulldog breed. He won’t be driven. But he’ll follow a clue with all the obstinacy of his type. If I had told him the whole story, I knew well enough he wouldn’t have believed me. He’s not the sort to believe in fairy stories, unless he’s worked them out for himself and then they aren’t fairy stories to his way of thinking. I thought that if I could tell him just enough to make him curious he’d make an awful nuisance of himself at the Calboyd Power Boat Yard. But when after nearly half an hour’s wait, for I had made it a personal call, I got through to him, he cut me short and said, ‘I’ve been trying to get you everywhere. Listen, you were perfectly right about that address you gave me. Franz Schmidt lived there for nearly three weeks. Did you know he was supposed to have had an accident? Oh, you did? Well, why the hell couldn’t you have told me? And I suppose you know that his rooms had been searched?’
‘Yes,’ I said. ‘I searched them myself. But there was someone before me. He came to get some clothes for Schmidt, who was supposed to be in some hospital.’
He took me up on that. ‘Supposed to be?’ he cried, and his voice rose almost into a shout. ‘Then I suppose you know that he’s not in hospital, that he’s just vanished?’
‘I expected it,’ I said.
‘Look here, Andrew, you and me have got to have a little talk. Can I come round to your rooms?’
‘No. I’m speaking from a little place in Devon.’
‘What the hell are you doing down there? All right, it doesn’t matter. Let’s get down to business.’
‘Listen,’ I said. ‘I rang you up to tell you something, and this call is costing about two bob a minute.’
‘Well, damn it, you can afford it, can’t you? What were you going to tell me?’
‘Just this. Did you know Evan Llewellin kept a motor-cruiser at Swansea?’
‘Yes, and it’s missing. I’ve been searching all over the place for it.’
‘Well, it has just been requisitioned by the naval authorities. It’s now on its way to the Calboyd Diesel Power Boat Yards at Tilbury. I think it’ll repay investigation. Perhaps I should tell you that Schmidt was a specialist in diesel engines.’
‘I know that.’
‘Did you also know that Calboyds had been after it?’
‘How do you know?’
‘Never mind that now. And look here, Desmond,’ I added, ‘this is entirely between ourselves — about Calboyds, I mean. I’ve no proof yet. But keep your eyes open and for God’s sake don’t let them hold that boat of Llewellin’s for a moment, or your evidence will be gone.’
‘What are you talking about?’ Crisham’s voice sounded exasperated. ‘Listen, Andrew. Where the devil do you stand in this business? What’s your game? Has Schmidt become a client of yours, because, if so, you can set your mind at rest.’
‘You mean you’ve discovered that he didn’t murder Llewellin?’
‘Yes. But it’s no thanks to him. Running off like that, the fool nearly ran his head into a noose. It’s just a stroke of luck that we’ve been able to fix him up with an alibi. Just as I thought the case was as clear as daylight, along comes an old scallywag who has been thieving scraps of metal from Llewellin’s works. He looked in through the open door of the stamping-shop that night just as two men were coming out of Llewellin’s office, and he could see Llewellin’s body bent over the drill. He slipped away and nearly ran into Schmidt crossing from his own shed to the stamping-shop.’
‘Well, that’s fine,’ I said. ‘And who did murder Llewellin?’
‘If I knew, I wouldn’t be wrangling over the phone with you,’ he said angrily. ‘What I want to know is where you come in? What do you know about this business? Where’s Schmidt? Where’s his confounded daughter? And who murdered Llewellin? This case is giving me a pain in the neck and the Commissioner has been leading me a dog’s life because — well, I suppose I oughtn’t to tell you this — because Evan Llewellin was a secret agent. He covered the Swansea area, and since the beginning of the war he had been particularly helpful to the Ministry of Economic Warfare. Now, for God’s sake, tell me what you know.’
‘All I know is in that statement at my bank, and you’ll be able to read it at your leisure when I am no longer of this world. In the meantime, all I can tell you is that Schmidt’s daughter is with me now and that Schmidt was framed. Find Schmidt and I think he’ll be able to clear up the whole business. But understand this, Desmond,’ I added, ‘don’t run away with the idea that this business is as simple as murder. It’s big. Work in with the Intelligence, and remember particularly what I said about getting hold of that boat and keeping an eye on Calboyds.’ I cut short his sudden burst of questions by putting down the receiver.
When, over coffee, I told the others what I had said, David’s comment was, ‘Having gone so far, I should have thought it would have been best to tell him the whole thing.’
‘Listen, David,’ I said. ‘If you were an obstinate bulldog of a policeman, what would you say to that yarn? I’ve told him enough to make him curious. So long as he’s curious, he’ll go ferreting around Calboyds, however much of a howl they kick up. He’s like that. A little knowledge makes him a dangerous man. Give him the whole thing worked out for him and he won’t stir. Don’t forget what we’re up against. Calboyds isn’t some tuppenny-ha’penny little concern. It’s a big and powerful organisation and there’s maybe something even bigger still behind it. If he thought he was on the point of trying to expose Calboyds as a Nazi-controlled company operating in favour of the enemy, he’d fight shy of it. He’d be out of his depth completely. But let him think that he’s just investigating a murder that is linked up in some way with a little industrial swindling, and he knows his duty and will do it.’
Freya, I could see, was not interested in our conversation. She was sitting with clasped hands and a smile on her lovely face. ‘Well, that’s one of your father’s difficulties over,’ I said. ‘Perhaps it’s an omen.’
‘Oh, I hope so,’ she said. Then suddenly she leaned forward and took my hands. ‘You’ve been so kind,’ she said. It was an impulsive gesture, but something within me seemed to shrink from the touch of her smooth fingers. Her big dark eyes were swimming. The boyishness was gone suddenly from her and she was a woman on the verge of tears because she had found friends. She turned to David. The movement was less impulsive and she did not take his hands. ‘Thank you,’ she said. ‘Thank you both. You have given me new heart.’