‘Nothing at all.’
‘I hope you’ve taken extra precautions to protect Limerick Lad.’
‘Don’t trouble yourself on that score.’
‘Mr Fido – or your other rivals – might have someone watching these stables and biding their time until they can strike.’
‘We took that into account, Inspector Colbeck.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘As I told you,’ said Dowd, looking him in the eye, ‘racing has been my life. There’s not a dirty trick or a clever ruse I haven’t seen ten times over. On the night before a big race, I’ve often slept on the straw beside one of my horses with a loaded shotgun. Nobody has ever managed to cause serious injury to one of my animals.’
‘They killed one of your former grooms.’
‘John Feeny was an innocent victim – God save his soul!’
‘How can you be sure they won’t strike at Limerick Lad next?’ said Colbeck. ‘You’ve a long journey ahead of you. There’ll be plenty of opportunities to attack him on the way. When do you leave?’
‘Tomorrow.’
‘I’ll be happy to come with you to act as a guard.’
‘Kind of you to offer, Inspector,’ said Dowd, ‘but it won’t be necessary. We’ll travel on our own, if you don’t mind. And don’t worry about my horse. It’s quite impossible for anyone to get at Limerick Lad on the way to England.’
‘Not if someone is desperate enough.’
‘That’d make no difference.’
‘Have you forgotten what happened to John Feeny?’
‘No, I haven’t,’ said Dowd soulfully, ‘and I’ll do everything in my power to help you catch his killer. It’s the least I can do for the boy. But I still have no concerns about Limerick Lad.’
‘Why not?’
‘For reasons of safety, he was taken to England days ago. Until the Derby, he’s being kept in a secret location.’ Dowd grinned broadly. ‘I wouldn’t tell my own mother where we’ve got him hidden.’
CHAPTER FIVE
When he eventually returned to London, it was too late for Victor Leeming to report to the superintendent so he was glad to postpone that unappealing duty until the following day. There was a further delay. Edward Tallis spent all morning at a meeting with the commissioner. It was not until early afternoon that Leeming was able to speak to the superintendent. He approached the office with trepidation. Robert Colbeck enjoyed sparring with Tallis and welcomed their encounters. Leeming viewed them as nerve-racking ordeals. With the inspector beside him, he could put on a brave face at such interviews. When he had to confront the superintendent alone and unaided, he quailed inwardly.
Plucking up his courage, the sergeant knocked on the door. The invitation for him to enter was an angry bellow. Superintendent Tallis, it appeared, was not at his most docile. Leeming went in.
‘I’ve been waiting for you,’ said Tallis irritably. ‘What kept you?’
‘Nothing, sir…that is…I mean…well, you see…’
‘Spare me your excuses, sergeant. I know from past experience that they’ll be embarrassingly weak. What do you have to report?’
‘I went to Cambridge yesterday,’ said Leeming.
‘That much I know. Tell me something I don’t know.’
‘It’s a very pleasant place, Superintendent.’
‘I don’t want a guided tour of the town,’ snapped Tallis. ‘I want to hear what evidence you managed to gather.’
‘Ah, yes.’
‘Take a seat while you give it.’
Leeming sat down. ‘Thank you, sir.’
Consulting his notebook throughout, he gave a halting account of his visit to the Angel Hotel and explained that the hatbox had not been stolen from there. When Leeming passed on a description of the woman who had stayed in Cambridge with Lord Hendry, the superintendent’s eyebrows went up and down like a pair of dancing caterpillars. A note of moral outrage came into his voice.
‘That does not sound like his lawful wife.’
‘She was so much younger than him, sir,’ said Leeming. ‘The inspector was certain that the real Lady Hendry had not been at that hotel. He sensed it from the start.’
‘Let’s forget Inspector Colbeck for a moment, shall we?’ said Tallis with a sniff. ‘All that interests me at this juncture is what you found out about that hatbox.’
‘It must have been stolen elsewhere.’
‘Then why did Lord Hendry lie about it?’
‘I intend to ask him that very question, sir.’
‘No, no – don’t do that. We don’t want Lord Hendry to know that we’ve found him out. That will only throw him on the defensive. Also, of course,’ he went on, stroking his moustache, ‘the fact that he and a certain person spent the night together may have nothing whatsoever to do with the crime we are investigating.’
‘Inspector Colbeck felt that it did.’
‘I told you to keep him out of this.’
‘But he’s usually right about such things, sir.’
‘We have to tread very carefully,’ insisted Tallis, thinking it through. ‘Lord Hendry has misled two officers of the law and I deprecate that but it is not, at this stage, an offence that renders him liable to arrest. It may well be that this so-called “Lady Hendry” told him that the hatbox was stolen from that hotel. What she said to him was thus passed on to you in good faith. Conceivably, he may be the victim of her deception.’
‘His wife is the real victim here,’ noted Leeming.
Tallis nodded. ‘One of the many perils of marriage.’
‘It has its compensations, sir.’
‘How can you compensate for adultery?’
‘That’s not what I meant, Superintendent. Because one man goes astray, it doesn’t mean that marriage itself is at fault. There’s nothing so wonderful as being joined together in holy matrimony. Family life is a joy to me.’
‘We are not talking about you, Leeming.’
‘You seemed to be criticising the whole idea of marriage.’
‘I was,’ said Tallis vehemently, ‘and I’ll continue to do so. Lord Hendry’s case is only one of thousands. All over London, husbands and wives readily forget the vows they took so solemnly at the altar. If adultery were made the crime that it should be, every gaol in the country would be bursting at the seams.’
‘For every bad marriage, there are dozens of good ones.’
‘How do you know?’
‘It stands to reason, sir.’
‘Then why do we have to deal with so much domestic strife? Policemen in some parts of the city seem to spend half their time stopping married couples from trying to kill each other. Wives have been bludgeoned to death. Husbands have been poisoned. Unwanted children have had their throats cut.’
‘We only get to see the worst cases, superintendent.’
‘They show the defects of the institution of marriage.’
Victor Leeming bit back what he was going to say. Arguing with the superintendent was never advisable. He decided that it was better to weather the storm of Tallis’s vituperation in silence. The tirade against holy matrimony went on for a few minutes then came to an abrupt stop.
‘Where were we?’ demanded Tallis.
‘You thought Lord Hendry might be the victim of deception, sir.’
‘It’s a possibility we have to consider.’
‘What we need to find out is who that other Lady Hendry was.’
‘I doubt very much if he would volunteer the information.’
‘Since the hatbox belonged to her,’ said Leeming, ‘it may even be that she was a party to the conspiracy to murder. She only pretended that the item was stolen.’
‘That would implicate Lord Hendry as well.’
‘Not necessarily, sir.’
‘You met him – what manner of man was he?’