Madeleine was beyond fear now. She felt only disgust and anger at her captors. Though no explanation had been given to her, she had soon worked out that she was a pawn in a game against Scotland Yard as personified by Inspector Robert Colbeck. If they had not been worried by the detective’s skills, she believed, they would not have needed to take a hostage. It was firm proof that Colbeck was getting closer all the time. Madeleine just hoped that she would still be unharmed when he finally caught up with her.
Meanwhile, she intended to fight back on her own behalf. Like her father, she had a combative spirit when roused. It was time to issue a challenge, to show her captors that she was no weak and harmless woman. Her first instinct was to smash as many bottles of wine as she could, venting her fury in a bout of destruction. But she saw that a wine bottle was also a formidable weapon. Used in the right way, it might even help her to escape from her dank dungeon. Madeleine picked up a bottle and held it by its neck. She was armed.
It was not long before she had the chance to test her resolve. Heavy feet were heard descending the steps outside then a key turned in the lock. Keeping the bottle behind her, Madeleine backed against a wall, her heart pounding at her own bravado. When the door swung open, the bearded man who had kidnapped her stepped into the cellar. Thomas Sholto was in a playful mood.
‘I wondered how you were getting on,’ he said, grinning at her.
‘Who are you?’ she demanded.
‘A friend, Madeleine. There’s no need to be afraid of me. I’m sorry we have to keep you down here in the cellar, though, in one sense, it may be the appropriate place, for I’m sure that you taste as delicious as any of this wine.’ He took a step closer. ‘A room is being prepared for you even as we speak,’ he told her. ‘It is merely a question of making the windows secure so that you will not take it into your pretty little head to try to get away from us. That would be a very silly thing to do, Madeleine.’
‘How long are you keeping me here?’
‘Until your ardent admirer, Inspector Robert Colbeck, is suitably diverted. I can see why he has been ensnared by your charms.’ Sholto came even closer. ‘In this light, you might even pass for a beauty.’
‘Keep away from me!’ she warned, eyes aflame.
‘A beauty with real spirit – that’s even better.’
‘Where are we?’
‘In a much nicer part of the country than Camden Town,’ he said with a condescending smile. ‘You should be grateful to me. Since we first met, I’ve taken you up in the world. There are not many railwayman’s daughters who have stayed in such a fine house as this. At the very least, I think that I deserve a kiss from you.’
‘Stand off!’
‘But I’m not going to hurt you, Madeleine. Surely you can spare one tiny kiss from those lovely red lips of yours. Come here.’
‘No!’ she cried.
Ignoring her protest, he reached out for her. Madeleine tried to fend him off with one hand, using the other to swing the bottle out from behind her back. Sholto ducked instinctively but it caught him a glancing blow on the side of the head before continuing on its way to smash into the brickwork. Glass went everywhere and red wine sprayed over the both of them. Having come off far worse than her, Sholto was incensed.
‘You little bitch!’ he yelled, his forehead cut and his beard glinting with shards of glass. ‘I’ll make you sorry that you did that.’
Grabbing her by the shoulders, he pushed Madeleine back against the wall and knocked all the breath out of her. Before he could strike her, however, a voice rang out from above.
‘Thomas!’ shouted Gilzean. ‘What are you doing down there?’
The cab was driven as fast as the traffic permitted, the driver using both whip and vocal commands whenever a clear space opened up in front of them. Seated inside the cab, Sergeant Leeming asked for details.
‘Upper Brook Street?’
‘Sir Humphrey Gilzean rents a house there,’ explained Colbeck.
‘Do you expect him to be at home?’
‘That would be too much to ask, Victor.’
‘Does the Superintendent know that we’re going?’
‘Not yet.’
Leeming was worried. ‘He’ll be angry when he finds out.’
‘That depends on what we discover,’ said Colbeck. ‘For reasons that we both know, Mr Tallis is temperamentally unable to accept that a man like Sir Humprey Gilzean – in mourning for his late wife – would ever stoop to such villainy. Our job is to enlighten him.’
‘He does not take kindly to enlightenment.’
‘We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.’
‘You can go first, sir.’
When the cab arrived at its destination, Colbeck paid the driver and sent him on his way. After sizing the house up, he rang the doorbell and waited. There was no response. He rang the doorbell again and brought the brass knocker into action as well.
‘Nobody there,’ concluded Leeming.
‘We need to get inside somehow.’
‘We can’t force our way in, sir.’
‘That would be quite improper,’ agreed Colbeck, slipping a hand into his pocket. ‘So we’ll try to manage it without resorting to force.’
Making sure that nobody in the street was watching, he inserted a picklock into position and jiggled it about. Leeming was scandalised.
‘What on earth are you doing, Inspector?’ he asked.
‘Making use of a little device that I confiscated from a burglar we arrested earlier this year. He called it a betty and swore that it could open any lock and…’ he grinned as he heard a decisive click, ‘it seems that he was right.’
Opening the door, he went swiftly inside. Leeming followed with grave misgivings. As the door shut behind them, he was very unhappy.
‘We are trespassing on private property,’ he said.
‘No, Victor,’ asserted Colbeck. ‘We are taking steps to track down a man who is responsible for a series of crimes that include the kidnap of an innocent young woman. While her life is imperilled, we have no time to discuss the legal niceties of home ownership. Action is required.’
Leeming nodded obediently. ‘Tell me what to do, Inspector.’
‘Search the downstairs rooms. I’ll take those upstairs.’
‘What are we looking for?’
‘Anything that connects Sir Humphrey to those crimes – letters, plans, notes, information about the railways. Be quick about it.’
‘Yes, sir.’
While the Sergeant instituted a rapid search of the ground floor, Colbeck went upstairs and checked room after room in succession. Disappointingly, there was nothing that could be used as evidence against Gilzean. Empty drawers and wardrobes showed that he had quit the premises. In doing so, he had taken great pains to leave nothing incriminating behind him. Colbeck went up to the attic. The bedroom at the rear clearly belonged to a manservant because some of his clothing was still there, but it was the room overlooking Upper Brook Street that really interested him.
The moment that Colbeck went into it, he experienced a strange but compelling sensation. Madeleine Andrews had been there. With no visual confirmation of the fact, he was nevertheless certain that she had been held captive in the room, kept in by the stout lock on the door and the bars on the window. Sitting on the edge of the bed, Colbeck ran his fingers gently over the indentation in the pillow. He doubted if she had had much sleep but he was convinced that Madeleine’s head had lain there. That discovery alone, in his mind, justified the illegal mode of entry. Colbeck hurried downstairs.