‘Was the inspector able to raise your hopes?’
‘Yes, he was — to some extent.’
‘It’s so maddening to be stuck up here in bed,’ whined Paulina. ‘Nobody tells me a thing. I’m left here alone with my fears.’
‘That will change now that I’m here.’
‘What are you going to do, Cassandra?’
‘I’m going to adopt the policy I use with Dominic,’ said the other. ‘I’m going to state my demands to your husband and keep repeating them until he succumbs. Something must have happened since yesterday.’
‘I daresay that it has.’
‘Then we’re entitled to hear about it.’
‘Please don’t upset Marcus. He’s feeling very sensitive at the moment.’
‘He’s not as sensitive as I felt when I stood on that station yesterday and realised that Imogen was not on the train. It was mortifying. That’s why I took steps to confirm that she’d left Worcester at the time agreed. Imogen definitely got on that train to Oxford.’
‘No, Cassandra,’ said her sister, mournfully. ‘She had a ticket to oblivion.’
‘That’s nonsense!’ protested Cassandra, ‘and if you’d met Inspector Colbeck, you’d have banished such thoughts.’ She pulled the bed sheet over Paulina’s arms. ‘Try to get some rest while I have a frank talk with my brother-in-law.’
Before Paulina could stop her, she bustled out of the room and went along the landing before descending the stairs with purposeful steps. When the butler came into the hall, she summoned him over to her.
‘I wish to see Sir Marcus,’ she said.
‘That won’t be possible, I fear,’ he replied.
‘I’ll make it possible. He won’t be allowed to hide from me. Where is he?’
‘Sir Marcus left some time ago, Mrs Vaughan.’
Cassandra was deflated. ‘Where did he go?’
‘He went to London as a matter of urgency.’
‘Did he say why?’
‘No,’ returned the butler, ‘he merely said that he had to get to Scotland Yard.’
As soon as he reached London, Colbeck took a cab to his house to acquaint his wife with what had happened while he was away. Madeleine was fascinated by the case and wished that he had time to give her the full details but she knew that he had to report to the superintendent.
‘Father kept me company yesterday evening,’ she said.
‘What did he have to say?’
‘Nothing to the credit of the OWWR — he derided it.’
‘Some of his derision was merited,’ said Colbeck, kissing her before putting on his top hat. ‘I’ll tell you more anon.’
‘When shall I expect you?’
‘It’s impossible to say.’
She opened the front door and waved him off. In less than a minute, he’d hailed a cab and climbed inside. Madeleine retreated into the house with a smile of resignation, accepting that there would be some investigations when fleeting moments with him were all that she could enjoy.
Colbeck, meanwhile, was sitting in the cab and rehearsing what he was going to say to Tallis. Since the whereabouts of the two women remained unknown, he knew that he was in for severe criticism from his superior but hoped that he could convince him of the theory that had now hardened into fact in his mind. The cab dropped him off at the Lamb and Flag, the public house close to Scotland Yard. He’d arranged to meet Leeming there so that they could trade information before they were pounced on by Edward Tallis. The sergeant was in a corner, nursing a tankard of beer. He leapt up at the sight of Colbeck.
‘Thank heaven you’re back!’ he said, laughing in gratitude. ‘I’d hate to face him alone again. The superintendent roasted me on a spit yesterday evening.’
‘Leave him to me, Victor.’
‘He’s all yours, sir.’
Colbeck bought himself a drink then joined him at his table.
‘I want to hear what you discovered when you spoke to George Vaughan.’
Leeming winced. ‘I discovered more than I wanted to, sir.’
‘That sounds ominous’
‘An artist’s life would not suit me, sir.’
‘It’s not so daunting, Victor. Ask my wife and she will tell you that it’s a rewarding occupation. Madeleine revels in it.’
‘That’s because she paints locomotives, sir. Mrs Colbeck doesn’t share a room with any of them. Mr Vaughan lives with his model in an attic and she’s … unclothed when he works on his portrait of her.’
‘There’s a long and noble tradition of nude portraiture,’ said Colbeck. ‘Look at the sculpture of the Greeks and the Romans. The human body is celebrated in all its glory.’
‘If it was made out of marble, I might celebrate it. In this case, however, the body was made out of flesh and blood and it was right there in front of me. The young woman had no shame. She actually smiled at me.’ Colbeck laughed. ‘It’s no joke, sir. I daren’t tell my wife about it.’
‘Why not? I’m sure that Estelle would be pleased to know that her husband could not be led astray by a naked woman. But do go on,’ urged Colbeck. ‘Tell me exactly what happened.’
Leeming gave an account of his meeting with George Vaughan, trying his best to keep disapproval out of his voice. He described the artist’s reaction to the news about his cousin and mentioned his attempt to spirit her away on his own accord. Colbeck was not surprised to hear how constrained Imogen felt at Burnhope Manor, believing that it was a critical factor in her disappearance. He was interested to hear that the artist had told the sergeant to look closely at Percy Vaughan.
‘What sort of person was he?’ asked Leeming.
‘He and his brother are opposites, by the sound of it,’ said Colbeck. ‘One is an artist who follows his Muse while the other is committed to God. Each has found his natural habitat. Percy Vaughan is a serious, reserved, somewhat enigmatic young man. He’s a true Christian but not wholly immune to the desires and passions that animate most people. George Vaughan seems to have had a warm friendship with his cousin but it was his brother who cared for her the most. Not to put too fine a point on it, he’s pining for her.’
They discussed the case in detail until they’d finished their drinks, then they crossed the road and entered Scotland Yard. Leeming was delighted when Colbeck went off to confront Tallis on his own. The superintendent was waiting for him. The moment that Colbeck came through the door, Tallis was on his feet with his teeth bared like a guard dog growling at an intruder.
‘Well,’ he began, ‘what have you to say to me?’
‘The sergeant and I have looked more deeply into the state of relations within the family and we’ve come to the conclusion that the missing women were complicit in their own disappearance.’
‘Talk sense, man.’
‘Imogen Burnhope and her maid were running away.’
‘Ah, I see,’ said Tallis, mordantly, ‘we are back in that fairyland known as your sixth sense, are we?’
‘We are reading the facts as they’re presented to us, sir.’
‘Then you are reading them incorrectly.’
‘Do you have a different version of events to offer, Superintendent?’
‘I don’t — but Sir Marcus Burnhope does.’
‘Has he sent another telegraph?’
‘No,’ said Tallis, ‘he took the trouble to come here in person. To put it mildly, he was not happy with your handling of the case. He felt that you and Leeming were not only dragging your feet but looking in the wrong direction altogether.’
‘The evidence points to the fact that his daughter wanted to escape from her family and lead a new life elsewhere.’
‘Balderdash!’
‘Sir Marcus, I regret to say, is part of the reason that she fled.’
‘And what part did the maid, Rhoda Wills, play in this fantasy?’
‘She was also ready to leave Burnhope Manor forever.’
Tallis picked up the hat that stood on his desk behind a pile of documents.