11 - Ticket to Oblivion (29 page)

‘I didn’t do so, Imogen,’ he reminded her. ‘It was the sergeant who fired the shot. Mr Tunnadine disobeyed his instructions, you see. He not only had a weapon on him, he brought an accomplice who hid behind the hedge ready to shoot at me. His name was Alban Kee. After he’d knocked the gentleman out, the sergeant relieved him of his business card as well as the two weapons he carried. In other words,’
he argued, ‘Tunnadine had planned to have us killed by his accomplice. We acted in self-defence.’

‘What you did was appalling.’

‘Your memory is letting you down, Imogen.’

‘You both deserve to be hanged.’

‘We’ve escaped the noose before,’ he said with a laugh, ‘and will no doubt do so many times more. But I obviously need to remind you of some of the things you said in your letters. You didn’t love Tunnadine. In fact, you grew to dislike him intensely and feared being married to him. I was a far more acceptable bridegroom.’

‘That was before I knew your true character.’

‘Oh, you still have a lot to learn about me yet, Imogen,’ he warned. ‘We are going to live together in a fine house as man and wife – except that our union will not be blessed by the church. Don’t let that trouble you. “Love is not love which alters when it alteration finds.” You’ll be a wife in reality if not in the eyes of God.’

‘Never!’ she said, recoiling from him. ‘I hate you for what you did.’

He chuckled. ‘Then I’ll have to woo you all over again, won’t I?’

‘I’d die sooner than let you touch me.’

‘That’s not a practical alternative for you at the moment,’ he said, seizing her arm. ‘You’ll do exactly what I want when I want it. At the same time, naturally, your maid will be obliging the sergeant. We were annoyed when you tried to escape from that hotel in Anglesey but we were also rather pleased.’

Imogen was astonished. ‘Pleased?’

‘Yes, it showed that the pair of you had more spirit than
we’d imagined. That was an interesting discovery. I like spirit in a woman. All my previous “wives” have had that, Imogen,’ he told her with a grin. ‘Take heart from the fact that you’ll be keeping up a noble tradition.’

Madeleine Colbeck was not looking forward to the short voyage. While she was delighted to be working alongside her husband, the prospect of sailing across what looked like a turbulent sea was rather forbidding. Her anxieties were negligible compared to those of Victor Leeming. He was squirming in sheer terror. Even though he’d once sailed with Colbeck to New York and back, he was no experienced sailor. In fact, that voyage had made him resolve never to leave dry land again but he had no choice. His only hope was that a mistake had been made and that the fugitives had not, after all, fled to Ireland. He and Madeleine stood on the windswept quay and watched the waves pounding remorselessly away. Gulls wheeled and dipped in the air above them, their piercing cries making conversation difficult for Leeming and Madeleine. They were surrounded by scores of other passengers who’d made the journey to Holyhead.

It was a long time before Colbeck eventually returned. Madeleine was relieved to see him at last and Leeming was praying that he’d tell them their visit to Ireland was unnecessary. In fact, however, he was waving something in his hand.

‘I’ve booked our passages,’ he said. ‘We’ll be sailing within the hour.’

‘The sea is far too rough, sir,’ protested Leeming.

‘You’ll soon get used to that once we’re aboard, Victor.’

‘Are you sure that they went to Ireland?’ asked Madeleine.

‘Yes,’ replied her husband. ‘I’ve just spoken to the booking clerk. It looks as if they’re travelling as two couples. The names of Mr and Mrs Terence Whiteside were in the book alongside those of Mr and Mrs Manus Cullen. From the point of view of the ladies, I fear, they’re very much unholy alliances.’

The wind stiffened and the waves continued to lash the quayside, prompting the apprehensive Leeming into a whole series of protests. Madeleine’s qualms were stilled now that she was holding her husband’s arm. She began to see the voyage as an adventure. When their vessel finally arrived and unloaded its passengers, they joined the long queue that filed aboard. None of them looked over their shoulder to see the last passenger step out of the shadows in order to join the ship.

Alban Kee was determined not to miss out on the chase.

Win Eagleton knew how to choose her moment. She busied herself in the kitchen until all her chores had been done, then she went in search of him. Vernon Tolley was leaning against the carriage, pressing tobacco into his clay pipe before he lit it. He puffed hard for a few seconds. The horses stood between the shafts in readiness for instant departure, should they be called upon. Nobody else was about as Win padded across the courtyard. Wrapped up in thought, the coachman was completely unaware of her approach. It was only when she stood directly in front of him that he knew that she was there.

‘I know what you’re thinking,’ she said with a sympathetic smile.

‘Do you?’

‘Yes, Vernon, you’re thinking about that hat in the Mickleton Tunnel.’

‘That wasn’t on my mind at all, Win,’ he said. ‘I was just wondering when Sir Marcus would need me again. I was told to stand by.’

‘Where is he going?’

‘He may not be going anywhere. The situation seems to change by the hour.’

‘You know about Mr Tunnadine, don’t you?’ she said in a whisper. ‘They were overheard talking about it at breakfast. What an awful thing to happen to him! He was shot dead. The wedding will not take place now, but then,’ she added, slyly, ‘I don’t suppose that it would ever have done so.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘Well, they’re not coming back, are they?’

‘Don’t say that, Win!’ he protested.

‘It’s no good pretending.’

‘That’s not what I’m doing.’

‘Both of them disappear, Rhoda’s hat is found in a tunnel and a man is murdered in cold blood. If that doesn’t convince you, what will?’

‘I’m busy,’ he said, moving away. ‘You’ll have to excuse me.’

She followed him across the yard. ‘But you’re only waiting for Sir Marcus.’

‘I’d prefer to do it alone.’

‘Why are you always avoiding me?’

He stopped and faced her. ‘I’m not avoiding you, Win. I just want to be left on my own. I have things to think about.’

‘But that’s why I came, Vernon. I hate to see you moping.’

‘I’m not moping.’

‘Yes, you are and you’ve been doing it for days. I simply want to help you.’

‘You can do that best by letting me get on with my job.’

‘Smoking a pipe and resting against the carriage – what kind of work is that?’

‘I may be needed at any moment.’

‘It’s not only Sir Marcus who needs you,’ she said, softly. ‘We all do, Vernon. Everyone in the kitchen is worried about you. We know what Rhoda meant to you and we’re so sorry that she’ll never …’ Feigning grief, she used the back of her hand to wipe away a tear. ‘I loved her as well. That’s why I’m in mourning, too.’

‘Rhoda is not dead,’ he insisted.

‘No, no, of course not,’ she said, hurriedly. ‘She’s still alive and so is Miss Imogen. They’ll come back very soon and we’ll all be happy. It’s wrong to let the waiting get us down. We must be patient. However,’ she added, ‘we have to be ready just in case anything does go wrong.’ She inhaled deeply. ‘I’ve always loved the smell of your tobacco. Whenever you light that pipe, I like to be near you.’

After a last puff, he tapped the pipe against his heel and the tobacco spilt onto the ground. He put the pipe in his pocket and looked her in the eye.

‘Yes,’ he said with slow deliberation, ‘there
is
a chance that Rhoda may never come back. There is a chance that something bad has happened to them. I accept that. If that’s the way it is, then I know exactly what I’d do.’

‘What’s that, Vernon?’

‘I’d leave Burnhope Manor and look for work elsewhere. I’d move far away, Win. There’s nothing to keep me here.’

Stung by the rebuff, she turned on her heel and scuttled back to the kitchen.

Tolley was glad to have shaken her off. Alone at last, he sighed deeply.

‘Where are you, Rhoda?’ he pleaded. ‘Where
are
you?’

Rhoda Wills took the warning seriously. She’d crossed the Irish Sea with a large number of passengers but she’d been told what would happen if she tried to shout for help. Cullen never left her side. When he sat beside her, she could feel the pistol beneath his coat. It had already accounted for Tunnadine. If she disobeyed orders, Rhoda knew that she could be the next victim. At any other time, a visit to Dublin would have excited her but she left the vessel with dread in her heart. What caused her most anxiety was that she and Imogen were kept apart. Cullen hustled her into a cab and they were taken to a nearby hotel with the luggage. When he booked two rooms, her hopes rose slightly. She was to be reunited with Imogen, after all. They could offer each other solace.

Instead, she was conducted to a room at the top of the hotel and pushed into it by Cullen. The first thing he did was to drag her across to the window.

‘The most beautiful city in the world is out there, Rhoda,’ he said, beaming, ‘but don’t even think of exploring it by trying to run away again. It’s a very long way down to the ground, as you can see. You’d be dead as soon as you hit the pavement.’

‘Where are the others?’

‘You just worry about yourself.’

‘I want to know where Miss Imogen is.’

‘She disappeared the moment we boarded the vessel,’ he said with a smile. ‘She’s Mrs Whiteside now and she’ll soon be entertaining her husband in the room next door. You’ll stay here until your own husband is ready for you.’ He bared his teeth. ‘Goodbye, Mrs Cullen.’

‘Stay away from me,’ she cried.

‘Now that’s not the way to start our honeymoon, is it?’ he taunted.

After letting himself out, he locked the door behind him. Rhoda could hear his laughter echoing along the corridor. She went back to the window and looked down. Cullen was right. There was no escape. Rhoda was trapped.

Miraculously, the swell seemed to drop, the wind lost its bite and the vessel was able to sail on an even keel. Though the sea was by no means calm, it no longer rocked their steam packet so violently. Even someone as unsettled as Victor Leeming felt the urge to go up on deck and sample the fresh air. Colbeck and Madeleine were already there, standing in the stern and watching the posse of gulls that had trailed them from Holyhead. Momentarily, they felt as if they were setting off on a holiday but the sensation then vanished. They were in pursuit of two dangerous men and that ruled out any possibility of leisure or enjoyment.

‘What are Irish railways like?’ she asked.

‘You may well have the chance to find out, Madeleine.’

‘You travelled on them before, didn’t you?’

‘Yes,’ he said. ‘The system is nowhere near as complex as the one we know but, then again, it’s not so absurdly cluttered. While we have far too many railway companies, Ireland has too few, but that will change in time.’

‘Father thinks that one company should have a complete monopoly.’

‘And would that company happen to be the LNWR?’

Madeleine laughed. ‘How ever did you guess that?’

‘And I daresay that a standard gauge would be compulsory
and your father would have Brunel exiled to the most distant part of the British Empire.’

Chatting happily, they walked arm in arm beside the bulwark until Colbeck saw something out of the corner of his eye. He kept up the same unvarying pace as they walked past the saloon.

‘Wait here,’ he said, drawing her aside.

‘Where are you going, Robert?’

‘I’ll tell you in a moment.’

Doubling back, he used the crowded deck as a means of moving unseen towards the stern, ducking and dodging as he moved along. Dozens of people were standing at the bulwark, gazing out to sea. Leeming was one of them but Colbeck left him where he was. The person who interested him was sauntering along with a cigar in his mouth. When he drew level, Colbeck clamped a hand on his shoulder.

‘I thought I recognised you, Kee.’

‘Good day to you, Inspector,’ said the other, amiably.

‘You followed us.’

‘That’s not true at all. I’ve always wanted to visit Ireland.’

‘Don’t lie to me,’ said Colbeck. ‘You’d never have tracked them on your own so you sneaked after us. You’re not part of this investigation.’

‘I ought to be,’ argued Kee. ‘Tunnadine was not the most pleasant man to work for but he paid me handsomely. I owe it to him to catch his killer.’

‘You owed it to us to give an honest account of his death.’

‘That’s what I gave you, Inspector.’

‘Not quite,’ said Colbeck. ‘I felt that the facts had been doctored slightly and so did Sergeant Dean. If you followed us to Crewe, you’ll know that I went off to the police
station. The sergeant was an astute man. Because you told him exactly where Mr Tunnadine had been shot, he rode out there to examine the site and he noticed a lacuna in your story.’

‘I gave you both a truthful report.’

‘Then you are a poor strategist. You obviously learnt nothing from your time at Scotland Yard. Why hide in a ditch when the hedge on the other side of the field would have served your purpose far better?’

Alban Kee was about to rely on bluff but he knew that it would have no effect.

‘Very well,’ he admitted, ‘perhaps I did make one slight change to the story. I was hiding behind the hedge when someone clubbed me from behind.’ He removed his hat. ‘I had a lump the size of an egg. You can still see it.’

‘Yes, I can,’ said Colbeck. ‘It serves you right for not looking over your shoulder. Count yourself lucky that your attacker didn’t finish you off there and then. Tunnadine didn’t pay you to tell lies.’

‘He paid me to protect him and I failed.’ Kee replaced his hat gingerly. ‘Use me, Inspector. Every investigation needs another pair of hands.’

‘Yours are tainted, Kee. They’ve taken too many bribes.’

‘Never listen to false rumours.’

‘Never defy Superintendent Tallis,’ warned Colbeck. ‘He said categorically that you were not involved in this case. When we reach port, I’m putting you on the first vessel back to North Wales. If you resist, I’ll report you to the superintendent on my return.’

Kee smirked. ‘Two can play at that game.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘If you report me for interfering in an investigation,’ said the other, ‘then I’ll report you for recruiting your wife as a detective. That
is
Mrs Colbeck, isn’t it? You and she seem very close.’ He chortled. ‘What is it to be? Do I stay and help you or does Tallis hear that you’ve dared to employ a woman?’

Colbeck was cornered. He knew only too well what the superintendent would say if he found out the truth. Colbeck’s own position at Scotland Yard would be in doubt. The very notion of a female detective was an abomination to Tallis.

Kee smirked again. ‘It looks as if you have another assistant,’ he said, chirpily. ‘Why don’t you introduce me to Mrs Colbeck? She and I are two of a kind. Officially, neither of us actually exists.’

Imogen Burnhope was panic-stricken. In crossing the Irish Sea, she’d been taken further and further away from the possibility of rescue. She’d also been deprived of the company of her maid. Yet protest had no effect on her captor. Whiteside had her completely under his control and she could do nothing. She was horrified when they reached the hotel and she was taken off to the bedroom booked by Cullen for them. Whiteside had stolen her heart, betrayed her, kidnapped her and tricked her father out of an immense sum of money. Even more alarming was the fact that he’d let Cullen shoot the man to whom she’d been engaged. Imogen had lost almost everything – her freedom, her family, her maid, her friends and her trust in human nature. All that she had left to forfeit was her virginity and the thought petrified her.

The irony was that she’d been more than ready to yield it up in the marriage bed to the man who now led her into the hotel room. But there was no wedding and the person she’d adored was now both hated and feared. Hands on hips, Whiteside studied her with a proprietorial smile.

‘You’re all mine now, Mrs Whiteside.’

‘I’m not your wife and never will be,’ she retorted.

‘That’s not what you said in your letters,’ he reminded her. ‘You wanted to be Juliet to my Romeo, a passionate woman who defies her family to run off with the man she loves and marry in secret. Well, here I am, and unlike Romeo, I won’t be taking poison to give the impression that I’m dead. I’m very much alive, Imogen, as you’ll soon find out.’

‘I want to see Rhoda.’

‘She’s rather preoccupied with Manus.’

‘What’s he doing with her?’

‘I daresay that he’s thinking about consummating the marriage – not that he and your maid are actually married, of course, but he’ll overlook that. Manus is very accommodating in such situations.’ When he stroked her hair, she backed away at once. ‘There’s nowhere to run. Why not surrender graciously?’

‘I don’t want you anywhere near me, Terence.’

‘Your letters told a different story.’

‘That was because I was beguiled. You used Shakespeare to ensnare me.’

‘Yes,’ he said, happily, ‘the Bard was a very useful accomplice. I’ve long admired his work, you see. Before I joined the army, I worked as an actor for a while and took part in some of Shakespeare’s plays. It was an education.
Once you’ve learnt the lines, you never forget them. Once you fall under the spell of the sonnets, you want to pass on their magic, as I did to you.’

‘That was cruel and despicable of you.’

‘It may seem so at the moment, Imogen. When you get to know me properly, you realise that I’m the charming and devoted swain that you took me for at the start. I courted you and conquered you, remember.’ He opened the door. ‘By the time I come back, I expect you to have accepted that.’

Victor Leeming was angry that Kee had followed them and manipulated himself into the investigation. The situation was irremediable, however, so he agreed to work with the private detective. Earlier in their careers, the two men had got on well. It was only when Kee was corrupted that the two fell out. There was professional rivalry at stake. Having been on the track of the kidnappers from the very start, Leeming expected Colbeck and himself to be instrumental in the arrest. They had put in the long, taxing days of pursuit. He didn’t want Kee to steal their thunder.