‘No,’ admitted Tallis, ‘but a reason will emerge. The inspector is a man of unorthodox methods. The extraordinary thing is that they almost invariably produce good results.’
‘We’ve seen none so far,’ said Haygarth with a meaningful glance at Cope.
‘No,’ said Cope, taking his cue, ‘we’d hoped for more progress by now but both the inspector and Sergeant Leeming have failed to turn up any decisive evidence. The board meeting for the election of the new chairman will be held at the end of next week. For obvious reasons, we’d like the murder to be solved before that takes place.’
‘I appreciate that,’ said Tallis.
He’d already been given a good description of the two men by Colbeck and, looking at them now, he realised how accurate it had been. Haygarth was plainly a man who gloried in power and Cope was his lickspittle lieutenant. Within the Midland Railway, they were a formidable team and it said much for the character of Vivian Quayle that he would have been able to defeat them in the battle for control of the company.
‘Have you taken charge of the case, Superintendent?’ asked Haygarth.
‘No, I’m simply here to monitor it.’
‘You’ve been given the names of possible suspects, I take it.’
‘Oh, yes, Mr Haygarth. I spoke to one of them early today.’
‘Who might that be?’
‘A fellow by the name of Gerard Burns,’ said Tallis. ‘He’s a stubborn individual and is very defensive when the name of Vivian Quayle is mentioned.’
‘He has every right to be,’ said Cope. ‘I’m told he can be prickly.’
‘You must have formed your own judgement about that, Mr Cope. I hear that you once approached him to leave Mr Quayle’s employment to work for Mr Haygarth instead. Why did the two of you conspire to snare someone else’s gardener? For the life of me, I can’t see why that would help in the running of this railway.’ He shared a bland smile between them. ‘Perhaps one of you can enlighten me.’
Victor Leeming alighted from the train in Spondon. After his visit to Belper, he was delighted to be back in the village. It was where the murder victim had been found and where one of the prime suspects lived. On his way to Hockaday’s shop, he reflected that his conversation with Reuben Wigg had not been entirely a waste of time. He’d learnt something about the character of the pharmacist’s brother, Elijah, which served to keep the superintendent’s name on the list of suspects. The latter had a compulsion to achieve a position of power and would even discard a member of his family if he offered no professional advantage. Reuben Wigg had clearly matched his bewhiskered brother in his capacity to bear a grudge. He’d even talked of committing murder, albeit with a macabre jocularity.
The arrival of Edward Tallis had jangled the sergeant. He hated the feeling that he was being spied on by his superior. Tallis had poured scorn on the notion of going to Belper but Leeming felt that it could now be justified. His assessment of Superintendent Wigg had been ratified. The pharmacist’s brother would have been far too careful to get blood on his hands. Murder would have been assigned to someone else. Leeming wondered if he was about to meet the man who actually did the deed. Before he did so, he had a more enjoyable encounter. He saw Philip Conway coming around a corner. Each was pleased to see the other.
‘It would be easier if you actually lived in Spondon,’ said Leeming. ‘You’ve been here every day so far.’
‘I like the place, Sergeant, and the local people seem to like me.’
‘Why do they have to talk in that weird language?’
‘Derbyshire folk are proud of their dialects,’ said Conway. ‘If they came to London, they wouldn’t be able to understand a word of Cockney slang.’
‘It takes getting used to.’
‘As for staying the night here, this may be my last visit to Spondon. The editor says I won’t be coming again.’
‘But you’ve turned up vital information.’
‘Somebody doesn’t want me here and spoke to my editor — Wigg, probably.’
Since it was Conway who’d told him about Wigg’s brother, Leeming felt obliged to say that he’d been to Belper and to give a short account of what he learnt there. The reporter was not surprised. Elijah Wigg only cultivated people who could be useful to him, such as the editor of the Derby Mercury. A pharmacist brother had no social or political leverage to offer.
‘As it happens, he was here last night,’ said Conway.
‘Superintendent Wigg?’
‘Yes, the stationmaster saw him arrive.’
‘Well, there’s no reason why he shouldn’t be,’ remarked Leeming. ‘He and his men are still supposed to be helping us with our enquiries though they’ve not given us much assistance so far.’
‘They work slowly but surely.’
‘I know. It takes them three years to solve a murder.’
‘The Stone case is still awaiting a solution.’
‘I wonder why,’ said Leeming with irony. ‘If he came here, Wigg would certainly have been in touch with Hockaday. Indeed, that may have been the main reason for his visit.’
‘You could be right, Sergeant — as long as you don’t ask me to confirm it by challenging him. I’m keeping out of Hockaday’s way.’
‘He can’t harm you, Mr Conway. He’d lose his position as a constable, for a start. We’ve had to get rid of a number of our men who are too ready to use their fists to pay off old grudges.’
‘Well, he certainly holds a grudge against me.’
‘It’s because you’re a threat. You might find out the truth about him.’
‘I’ll leave that job to you, Sergeant.’
After exchanging information with him for a few more minutes, Leeming took his leave and made his way to the cobbler’s shop. Hockaday was in the process of serving a customer. When the woman departed, he turned an unfriendly stare towards his visitor. The sergeant fired off his first question immediately.
‘Where did you go by train yesterday, Mr Hockaday?’
‘Why do you want to know?’
‘You don’t deny it, then?’
‘If you’ve been talking to the stationmaster again, he’ll have told you I caught a train. Is that how you spied on me?’
‘No, it isn’t,’ replied Leeming. ‘I happened to be sitting in the window of the Malt Shovel when you strode past. You were so eager to get somewhere that I wanted to know where it was. I followed you.’
The cobbler sounded hurt. ‘I never saw you.’
‘I thought you were going to Duffield to warn the people whose names you’d given that they might get a visit from us. It looked as if you went to concoct an alibi.’
‘I didn’t need to,’ said the other, incensed.
‘I know that now, sir. Mr Verney confirmed your story and he struck me as an honest man. He told me that you did call there on the night of the murder but that it was late and you’d been drinking.’
‘I’m entitled to a pint of beer now and then.’
‘I agree. Where did you go before you visited Mr and Mrs Verney?’
‘That’s no concern of yours, Sergeant.’
‘Was it the same place you went to yesterday when you stayed on the train instead of getting off at Duffield?’
‘Why are you paying so much attention to me when there’s a killer on the loose?’ demanded the cobbler.
‘It’s because you’re concealing things from us, Mr Hockaday. For instance,’ said Leeming, ‘you didn’t tell us that you had family in Duffield. Mr Verney made sure that nobody overheard but he told me that you were his son. Is that true?’
Hockaday’s anger changed immediately to alarm. He suddenly looked very vulnerable. Reaching out, he grabbed Leeming by both arms.
‘Don’t tell anybody that,’ he pleaded. ‘People here don’t need to know it. I beg of you to keep it to yourself, Sergeant.’
Maurice Cope astounded him. Colbeck’s assumption was that the man was there to watch them as much as to conduct them around the works. In fact, Cope turned out to be as fascinated by trains as the inspector. His knowledge of the Midland Railway was almost encyclopaedic and he spoke with a muted passion. Most of the technical information was lost on Edward Tallis, who trailed behind the two men with mounting boredom.