Churchyard and Hawke (9 page)

‘The scale of the whole plan is breathtaking,’ Tom commented, thoughtfully, ‘and the more I learn about it, the less inclined I am to believe it’s all been planned by Alfie Banks. He’s a crafty criminal - but not a clever one.’

‘I agree with you . . . I think Dolly does too, but I believe her when she says she doesn’t know who is behind the whole plan - and we certainly won’t get anything from Alfie, even if we succeed in arresting him. At the moment he’s committed no crime in Cornwall - and he’s smart enough to be aware of that!’

‘Do you think we’ll find anything on the boat that might incriminate him.’

‘Perhaps . . . but time is running out for us. We’ll raid the boat as early as can be arranged in the morning and hope we make some kind of breakthrough - but it needs to happen quickly. The ball takes place tomorrow night.’

CHAPTER 12

By the morning of the day of the ball, Amos had succeeded in assembling thirty constables to carry out the raid on the London boat docked at Looe. Among them were a number of recently recruited men who were still undergoing training at the Bodmin police headquarters. Amos hoped enthusiasm would make up for their inexperience.

The constables carried only their regulation batons but he, Tom, Harvey and three inspectors were armed with handguns, Amos warning the policemen that these were only to be used in the most extreme circumstances.

It was mid-morning when three over-crowded carriages carrying the policemen trundled into Looe and headed for the harbour. The tide was in and it was swiftly ascertained that the London paddle-steamer, Mermaid, was moored alongside the quay, riding high in the water at a berth close to the mouth of the tidal river from which the fishing town drew its name.

During the night Amos had sent a constable ahead of the police party with an urgent letter for Looe’s Chief Coastguard officer and he was waiting for them in the yard of the coastguard station with a small party of his officers. He confirmed that a manned coastguard boat was in position on the river, its crew ready to play a part in whatever ensued.

The senior coastguard also reported that since receiving Amos’s message observations had been kept on Mermaid, during which time a number of men had left the vessel. Unfortunately there had been insufficient coastguard officers available to follow any except the last two, both of whom were at present buying fresh provisions in the small fishing town and were being watched by one of his men.

Two constables, accompanied by a coastguard, set off to arrest these two and Amos wasted no time taking the rest of his constables to Mermaid’s berth and boarding the vessel immediately.

The men - and one woman - on board were taken completely by surprise and offered no resistance to the Cornish policemen! Within a matter of minutes they had all been handcuffed and mustered on the upper deck, many loudly demanding to know what they were supposed to have done to warrant such treatment.

There was a brief flurry of excitement when one man attempted to elude the policemen by diving fully clothed into the river. He was promptly hauled on board the coastguard boat and swiftly returned to the Mermaid and handed over to Amos and his men.

He was recognized by Tom as an escaped fraudster from a London prison. His presence on the Mermaid gave the lie to the protests of his fellow passengers that they were respectable men and women who had come from London merely in order to enjoy a brief holiday in Cornwall. Their credibility was further eroded when a search of their possessions revealed a number of forged tickets to the Laneglos Ball.

The raid on the Mermaid had been successful in that most of the men on the list of names given to Amos by Dolly had been accounted for. With the arrest of Dolly and Shannon it removed the threat posed to the Cornish gentry at their Laneglos gathering - but among those not accounted for were the known Hoxton ruffians. In their number were many of the Banks family. The majority were convicted burglars and it was logical to presume these were the villains planning to burgle the homes of gentry attending the ball.

It proved that Dolly had told them the truth . . . but Amos was still deeply concerned. She had been unable to give any details of where the missing men might have gone, or their intended targets. Amos realized his work was far from over.

The disgruntled passengers and crew on board the Mermaid refused to throw any light on the whereabouts of the missing men, the crew members saying only that some passengers had left the vessel, claiming they knew neither their names, nor how many were involved.

As Tom was quick to point out to Amos, the crew members came from the London docklands where many workers and seamen were from the same district of the city as the Banks family. They were unlikely to give any information about them to the police, even if they knew.

‘That’s true, Tom,’ Amos said, ‘but we both know the Banks family and those who work with them are violent men and most are professional burglars, I’m seriously worried about having them at large in Cornwall. The only advantage we have is that they aren’t yet aware that we know what is being planned by them. They will expect to be able to bring the proceeds of their burglaries back to the Mermaid and set sail for London before we realize what has happened.’

‘You don’t think they might come back to the boat before carrying out the burglaries, learn what’s happened and abandon their plans, making their way back to London as best they can?’ Tom asked.

Amos shook his head, ‘I don’t think so. If any of them do come back here we’ll have men waiting on the quay to arrest them, but I believe they’ll have gone off to check out the places they intend burgling tonight and remain close to those houses until nightfall . . . and we have no idea which houses they are!’

When Tom could suggest no answer to the problem Amos said, ‘Well, we’ll just have to do the best we can. We’ve taken the names of everyone on board. We’ll take the escaped prisoner back to Bodmin with us and inform London that he’s here. Then I’ll have someone go through the wanted files to see if anyone else on board is mentioned. Meanwhile the Mermaid can be towed out of Looe and anchored a mile offshore with a coastguard boat remaining nearby to keep an eye on it until the ball is over. That should keep those on board out of mischief. I’ll put constables to watch this berth just in case anyone returns looking for the Mermaid and in the meantime give some thought to what we can do about those we haven’t managed to catch.’

‘Do you think I might get any ideas if I went back to Laneglos and spoke to the housekeeper there?’ Tom put the question to Amos as they rode back to Bodmin in one of the coaches.

Despite the seriousness of the present situation, Amos smiled, ‘I think you’ve already formed a number of ideas as a result of your last visit to Miss Wicks. Keep calling in on her and she’ll be the one to get ideas.’ He was only half-joking. Tom had mentioned the Laneglos housekeeper on more than one occasion since his return from his visit to the great house.

Trying unsuccessfully to hide his embarrassment, Tom said, ‘I’m merely trying to be constructive, Sir. Miss Wicks is a very intelligent woman and well acquainted with the Cornish gentry, she could give us some idea of who might be likely targets for Alfie Banks and the others.’

‘True.’ Amos admitted, ‘It’s clutching at straws but we’ve nothing else to go on. We’ll be passing close to Laneglos, so you can be dropped off and I’ll send someone from Bodmin with a horse for you to get back to headquarters with whatever you learn - but remember, time is not on our side. Ask particularly about those going to Laneglos from houses within, say, twenty to thirty miles of Looe. Concentrate on houses that are close enough to enable our villains to burgle them and get back to where they think the Mermaid is in time to set sail for London at dawn - with special emphasis on any which are likely to be of particular interest to the Banks’s and their friends.’

CHAPTER 13

Laneglos was a hive of activity when Tom arrived at the great house. Tradesmen’s vehicles were much in evidence on the long driveway; gardeners putting final touches to the floral displays at the front of the house and raking and re-raking the granite chippings of paths and carriageways; servants putting a final sparkle on windows and carrying out a hundred other tasks on this, the house’s busiest day of the year.

Flora Wicks was in the impressive entrance hall, directing staff with the authority of a general, while from the great gallery where the ball would be taking place, an unseen orchestra in rehearsal made stop-and-go progress with a Strauss waltz as its conductor imposed his own interpretation upon a piece of music that was essential for any event such as that taking place this evening,

Despite all that was happening around her, the Laneglos housekeeper managed a smile for Tom and greeted him with, ‘Hello, I did not expect to see you before this evening, if then.’

‘I’m sorry to interrupt you when I can see you are very busy, but something has come up that I need to discuss with you. Can we go somewhere a little more private?’

Flora’s glance went to a tall, grandfather clock standing in the hall, ‘It’s time I had something to eat and there will be no time for a proper lunch today, I’ll have some sandwiches made and sent to my sitting-room . . . have you eaten?’

‘There has been no time. I was on my way back to headquarters from Looe when Superintendent Hawke suggested I call on you.’

‘Then I’ll order drinks and sandwiches for two.’

Once in the housekeeper’s sitting-room, Tom sank gratefully into an armchair. The carriage used by the police to travel to and from Looe had not been built with comfort as a high priority, its springing insufficient to counter the state of Cornish roads.

While waiting for food and drink to be brought to them, Tom informed Flora of what had occurred at Looe. She was greatly relieved to learn he and his colleagues had succeeded in removing the threat to the guests attending the ball at Laneglos, but was deeply concerned about the threat posed to the homes of guests by the London criminals who remained at large.

When Tom explained his reason for coming to the house, she frowned thoughtfully, ‘That’s something I would prefer to have time to think about . . . but I realize that isn’t possible and one or two places come to mind immediately as being particularly vulnerable. One is Astell manor, the home of Sir Nicholas and Lady Trethewy. They have fallen on hard times in recent years and reduced their staff to a minimum, those remaining being almost as old as their employers. It is a fairly small manor house but full of treasures of all kinds and despite their circumstance the Trethewys’ will not part with a thing. They never miss a county ball and are particular friends of Viscount Hogg. Their home is no more than ten miles from Looe and close to Lostwithiel . . . in fact there are a number of fine homes in that area . . . .’

Flora went on to tell Tom of all the houses she felt to be at risk from the criminals who had not been accounted for and he entered the details in his pocketbook with growing concern. There were far more than could be adequately guarded against burglars. Any policemen sent out to check on them would need to have a great deal of luck on their side.

Flora was racking her mind to think of more vulnerable houses when the door to the housekeeper’s lounge was flung open and a tall, sharp-featured man entered the room. Scowling at Flora, he demanded, ‘What is the meaning of this? You are meant to be out there supervising the staff, not skulking in your quarters entertaining a man. Does my mother know what you are up to?’

Before Flora could reply, Tom closed his pocketbook and, standing up, said, ‘Miss Wicks has been helping me with details of the security arrangements in place for the ball tonight. You will be entertaining some very important people and we are anxious nothing should go wrong.’

Turning his attention to Tom, the sharp-featured man said, ‘Who are the "we" of whom you talk . . . and what has anything that happens at Laneglos to do with you? You are obviously not a policeman unless the constabulary are now so desperate that they are using invalids to do their work.’

‘The "we" are the Cornish constabulary, sir. I am Sergeant Churchyard and was sent here by Superintendent Hawke of Bodmin police headquarters - but you have the advantage of me, I don’t think we have met before?’

Speaking for the first time since the man had burst into the room, Flora explained, ‘This is the Honourable Charles Delville, Sergeant Churchyard. He is a son of Lady Hogg.’

Turning to speak to the Honourable Delville, she said, ‘When the sergeant arrived and asked to speak to me I was about to take a break to have a sandwich for lunch. I took the opportunity to combine the two.’

‘Why was I not informed about this? Do you usually take it upon yourself to give details of what goes on at Laneglos to strangers?’ Delville addressed Flora, but it was Tom who replied.

‘I have been to the house before, so am not exactly a stranger.’ he said, ‘and I learned on my first visit that Lady Hogg does not wish the family to be troubled by inquiries that can be dealt with by her staff. That is the reason I asked for Miss Wicks when I came to the house. She has been able to satisfy me that the Cornwall constabulary has nothing to worry about, so I trust you will have a splendid ball, sir.’

Delville looked from one to the other of the two people facing him, before saying, ‘Of course there is nothing to concern you or your constabulary, so you may now leave the house - and I suggest you return to your duties, Flora. There is still much to be done before tonight.’

With this he turned and left the room as abruptly as he had entered. When he had gone, Tom apologized to Flora, I’m sorry I brought that on, but . . . is he always like that? If he is it must make working here very difficult for you.’

‘He hasn’t always been like that with me and, to be perfectly honest I prefer him this way.’ she said enigmatically, ‘Anyway, he is an infrequent visitor to Laneglos. He comes visiting if there is a particularly important function, but doesn’t usually involve himself with helping to organise things. I wish he had stayed out of this one, he has been more of a hindrance than a help . . . but you don’t want to listen to the gossip and complaints of household staff. Thank you for putting my mind to rest about what might have happened tonight, Sergeant Churchyard, I wish you success with catching the rest of the London criminals.’