‘The Exhibition has the stamp of royalty upon it. To threaten it in this way is, in my book, tantamount to an act of treason. Left to me, they would be prosecuted accordingly.’
‘The court will decide their fate, Superintendent.’
‘The gravity of this crime must not be underestimated.’
‘It will not be, I can assure you of that.’
‘If you want my opinion –’
‘Another time,’ said Mayne, interrupting him with a raised hand. ‘Would you mind leaving us alone for a few moments, please?’ he asked. ‘I’d value a few words in private with Inspector Colbeck.’
‘Oh, I see,’ said Tallis, discomfited by the request.
‘Thank you, Superintendent.’
Tallis paused at the door. ‘I’ll want to see you in my office later on, Inspector,’ he warned.
‘Yes, sir,’ said Colbeck.
Tallis went out and closed the door behind him. Mayne sat down behind his desk and waved Colbeck to a chair opposite him. Now that the two men were alone, the mood became less formal.
‘The Superintendent is a typical army man,’ observed Mayne, ‘and I say that in no spirit of criticism. Colonel Rowan was another fine example of the breed. He had a wonderful capacity for organisation.’
‘So does the Superintendent, sir,’ said Colbeck, giving credit where it was due. ‘And unlike Colonel Rowan, he does not insist on retaining his army rank. He chooses to be plain Mister instead of Major Tallis.’
Mayne smiled. ‘He will always be Major Tallis to me,’ he said, wryly. ‘But enough of him, Inspector – tell me a little about yourself.’
‘You have my police record in front of you, sir.’
‘I am more interested in your life before you joined us. Like me, I believe, you trained as a lawyer. Were you called to the bar?’
‘Yes, sir.’
‘Why did you not pursue that career? I should imagine that you cut quite a figure in a courtroom.’
‘Personal circumstances had a bearing on my decision to turn my talents elsewhere,’ explained Colbeck, not wishing to provide any details. ‘In any case, I found the life of a barrister far less fulfilling than I imagined it would be.’
‘I had the same experience, Inspector. Unless one is successful, it can be an impecunious profession.’
‘Money was not that issue in my case, sir. I was disillusioned because I was always dealing with crime after the event, and it seemed to me that, with sensible policing, so much of it could have been prevented from happening in the first place.’
‘Prevention is ever our watchword.’
‘It’s the main reason that I joined the Metropolitan Police Force.’
‘You were far more educated than our average recruit.’
‘Educated in criminal law, perhaps,’ said Colbeck, ‘but I had a lot to learn about the criminal mind. One can only do that by pitting oneself against it on a daily basis.’
‘Judging by your record, you were an apt pupil.’
‘I was fortunate enough to secure an early promotion.’
‘It is we who are fortunate to have you,’ said Mayne, glancing down at the open file on his desk. ‘Though your service record has not been without its minor setbacks.’
‘I prefer to see them as my idiosyncrasies, sir.’
‘That’s not what Superintendent Tallis calls them. He has had to reprimand you more than once. This time, of course,’ he went on, closing the file, ‘he will have nothing but praise for you.’
‘I am not sure about that.’
‘You are the hero of the hour, Inspector Colbeck.’
‘There were three of us involved in that surveillance, sir.’
‘I am well aware of that.’
‘What you may not be aware of is the means by which Brendan Mulryne came to be on the scene. Sergeant Leeming had a perfect right to be there,’ said Colbeck, ‘but there is a slight problem where Mulryne is concerned. To that end, I wonder if I might ask you a favour?’
‘Please do,’ said Mayne, expansively. ‘After your achievements last night, you are in a position to ask anything.’
‘Thank you, sir. The truth is that I need your help.’
After making discreet inquiries, Thomas Sholto repaired immediately to Sir Humphrey Gilzean’s house. He steeled himself to break the bad news. Ashen with cold fury, Gilzean had already anticipated it.
‘They failed,’ he said.
‘Yes, Humphrey.’
‘They let me down again.’
‘Not for want of trying.’
‘With all that gunpowder, they could not even contrive a small explosion. I lay awake in bed, listening – and nothing happened.’
‘That’s not quite true.’
Gilzean stamped a foot. ‘They’ll wish they’d never been born!’
‘You would never get close enough to chastise them,’ said Sholto. ‘The tidings are worse than you feared. Jukes and the Seymour brothers walked into an ambush at the Crystal Palace.’
‘An ambush?’
‘All three are taken, Humphrey.’
‘What!’ exclaimed Gilzean.
‘They are in police custody. From what I can gather, this Inspector Colbeck laid a trap for them and they walked into it.’
‘But how could he possibly know that they would be there?’
‘I think that he is much cleverer than we imagined.’
Gilzean’s fury changed to concern. Dropping into a high-backed leather armchair, he became pensive. The house was in Upper Brook Street, close enough to Hyde Park for him to hear any explosion that occurred in the Crystal Palace. Long before dawn had broken, he realised that the mission had been unsuccessful but it had never crossed his mind that his men had been arrested.
‘We have one comfort,’ said Sholto. ‘They will not betray us.’
‘They have already done so, Thomas.’
‘How?’
‘By getting themselves caught,’ said Gilzean. ‘If this Inspector is clever enough to apprehend them, it will not take him long to find out that all three served in our regiment. That will set him on a trail that leads directly to us.’
‘Perhaps we should quit London and go into hiding.’
‘No, Thomas. There is no danger yet.’
‘But there soon will be.’
‘Only if we let things take their natural course.’
‘What else can we do, Humphrey?’
‘Divert them,’ said Gilzean, getting to his feet. ‘At every stage, we have relied on the slowness and inefficiency of the police. We have out-manoeuvred them with comparative ease. Until now, that is. It seems that we underestimated them, Thomas. They have one man within their ranks who has a keen intelligence.’
‘Inspector Robert Colbeck.’
‘What do we know about him?’
‘Only what we have read in the newspaper.’
‘Find out more,’ said Gilzean. ‘We need to identify his weakness. Is he married? Does he have children? Who are the loved ones in his life? If we have that information in our hands, we can distract him from his investigation and buy ourselves some valuable time.’
‘Supposing that he is a bachelor with no family ties?’
‘Every man has someone he cares about,’ insisted Gilzean, dark eyes gleaming. ‘All you have to do is to find out who it is.’
Madeleine Andrews was pleased when the visitor arrived. Still in his working clothes, Frank Pike had called on his way home from Euston Station and he had brought plenty of gossip to share with his friend. After all this time, the fireman was still blaming himself for the injury to Caleb Andrews and he began with another battery of apologies. Madeleine hoped to leave the two men alone in the bedroom but her father decided to use Pike as a court of appeal.
‘What do you think, Frank?’ he asked.
‘About what?’
‘Gideon Little.’
‘I think he’ll be a driver before I am,’ said Pike, honestly. ‘Gideon may be younger than me but he learns faster. I think that he’s one of the best fireman in the company.’