The Haunted Lady (28 page)

‘Meanwhile, Tom Fox became aware that a former agent he had known of during his time in Special Branch might be involved in the murders. Sadly,’ Eve said as she ended her part of the tale, ‘it might have been Adam and I who alerted him to the situation. We are fairly sure that Tom began asking questions and that caused the attack on him.’

I took up where Eve had left off. ‘Before he collapsed, Tom Fox provided a clue as to the identity of his assailant but sadly none of us realised it until too late. As to Lumsden’s murder, we’ll never know whether he threatened to expose the agent as an East German spy or whether he witnessed one of the murders and tried to blackmail the killer. For whatever reason, the killer silenced him.’

‘You still haven’t told us whom you suspect or what the clue was that Tom left,’ Hardy complained.

‘First of all let’s clear up the problem you were wrestling with this morning. When you got here, you told us you’d been trying to work out why a prominent local resident committed suicide. Would you care to give us all the details you can about the event?’

‘I will, but I don’t see how it will help. The dead man was Scott Martin, the solicitor. According to the pathologist’s report, Martin committed suicide at some point during the evening before last. His secretary discovered the body when she opened the offices yesterday morning. Martin had swallowed a lethal dose of cyanide.’

‘In that case, I think it’s safe to reveal that Scott Martin is the man we believe committed the murders. We think he realised that the game was up when he heard that the art treasures had been found and were to be auctioned. Knowing they were out of his reach must have been the last straw. He was also probably aware that his secret life as a double agent was in danger of being exposed and took his life to avoid the disgrace and a possible life sentence for murder.’

As the trio of police officers stared in shock at my allegation, only Hardy seemed capable of speech. ‘Have you any proof to back up that claim?’

‘We do know that Martin was stationed in Germany at the time Andrew Kershaw was active. Martin’s cover was as a legal attaché to the British Embassy, but we do know that wasn’t his real purpose – and crucially we also know that he wasn’t using his real name. At the time, all British intelligence operatives were given what is known as “Trade Names” to shield their identity and to protect their families. Believing, as we do, that Martin was a double agent, his so-called legal role would have put him in prime position to handle, and to embezzle the ransom money. Because Martin was working under a Trade Name, his identity was known to only a few, and one of those was Tom Fox, who acquired that knowledge during his time with Special Branch. If you recall, when Tom was found there was a book nearby. Although we overlooked it at the time, that was a significant clue. The author’s name is Peter Scott. That was what Tom was trying to tell us when he left his fingerprint on the cover, indicating Scott.’

‘What was Martin’s motive?’ Hardy asked.

‘It certainly wasn’t from love of art. We think he wanted to sell the paintings. With Kershaw and others connected to him being long dead, he must have believed he would be safe to do so, having eliminated the two men who could have challenged his right to them, i.e. Bennett and Harfleur. When we attended the reopening of the museum, Johnny said something along the lines of “that guy will do pretty much anything so long as he can see a profit at the end of it”. I don’t think even Johnny anticipated Martin going as far as committing three murders, though.’

‘It’s a fascinating theory but I don’t think we’ll ever be able to prove it one way or the other,’ Hardy responded.

‘You’ll probably get proof, if only of the negative kind, if the murders cease now that Martin is dead,’ Eve commented. ‘And hopefully Tom Fox will confirm it all when he recovers.’

‘Alternatively, you might get more definitive proof if you were to conduct a search of Martin’s offices and home,’ I added. ‘My bet is you find the murder weapon.’

Hardy glanced at his colleagues. Surprisingly, it was Holmes who seemed keenest. ‘I think it would be worth taking a look,’ he urged. ‘If we find the knife we’ll be in position to solve all the murders and the attack in one go and that would do wonders for our clear-up statistics.’

After some discussion Hardy agreed to go along with the plan and promised to keep us in touch with developments.

––––––––

I
t was late the following afternoon when Hardy phoned us. Eve had been plying the vacuum for several hours and was taking a shower when he delivered the news.

‘We found it,’ he announced triumphantly. ‘We found a knife with traces of blood in the hilt. It was in a tool box in the garage at Martin’s house. We haven’t got the blood tests back from the laboratory as yet, but the pathologist has confirmed it is the murder weapon. In addition, we checked with Martin’s secretary and she said he was out of his office when all the attacks took place. That appears pretty conclusive to me. However, because of Martin’s position locally, and as he cannot be brought to trial, the chief constable wants the facts to remain out of the public domain. The chief said he’d been contacted by someone called Cooper from Whitehall who suggested it would be in the national interest for the files to be closed and sealed. That suggests your theory about Martin’s past was correct. A note will be placed in each of the victims’ files but that is all.’ Hardy paused and then added, ‘The chief constable asked me to request your cooperation in this. He seems to be worried that you’ll be phoning Fleet Street the minute this call is over.’

I thought it over quickly. ‘I think Chloe Kershaw and her family should know some of the truth, if not all of it,’ I told him. ‘Apart from that, I’d be happy to oblige, on one condition.’

‘I don’t think it’s unreasonable to tell Miss Kershaw,’ Hardy agreed, ‘but what’s your other condition?’

‘I’d like you to tell me more about Martin’s suicide.’

‘Why do you want to know that?’

‘Call it idle curiosity, linked to a journalistic desire to have all the loose ends tied up. A bit like police officers do.’

‘OK, so what can I tell you?’

‘Did Martin’s secretary say what frame of mind he was in the day he died? Was he acting normally?’

‘He was fine. She said he even had an appointment with a new client which was the reason he stayed behind after she left. Apparently she was usually the last to leave.’

‘Did she say anything about the client? Did she see him – or her?’

Hardy gave me what facts he knew, after which I asked him about the poison. Once I’d gleaned everything I wanted, I reiterated my promise to keep quiet and ended the call. It was ten minutes later when Eve came downstairs. She spoke to me, and when I failed to respond asked me if something was wrong.

‘Sorry, I was deep in thought. I’ve had Hardy on the phone while you were showering.’ I repeated most of what he’d said, omitting only the last part.

‘So what were you pondering so deeply that you went temporarily deaf?’

‘I was debating how much we ought to reveal to Chloe in the light of my promise to Hardy. We obviously can’t give her chapter and verse, but apart from anything else they need to be reassured that they are no longer in any sort of danger. Why not give Chloe a call and arrange for us to go over to the Grange. We might as well get it out of the way and then we can move on with married life.’

Eve’s eyes sparkled, a reflection of her lovely smile. ‘Now that is one of the best ideas I’ve heard for a while.’

The meeting was arranged for the following day, when Chloe, Michael and her aunt and uncle would all be available. We sat in the drawing room, where the first thing I noticed was that the paintings, most of which I guessed were Kershaw family ancestors had now been replaced. Obviously they had taken her promise that all danger had passed to heart.

I mentioned the reappearance, to which Chloe replied, ‘Yes, we spent all morning putting them back.’

We explained that the motive for the murders had been to get hold of the art treasures Andrew had taken such pains to hide. ‘He also secreted some highly sensitive intelligence information he gathered during his career in the secret service,’ I told them. ‘Those papers represented danger to you, because of your connection to him. I am assured that much of what is contained in those papers is still extremely sensitive, and they are now in the safe keeping of MI5.’

‘Is it really true that the danger is finally over?’ The hope in Valerie Kershaw’s face illustrated the stress she and those close to her had been living with for so long.

‘Yes, it is, and there is no longer the slightest element of risk. The man who committed the ghastly murders, has now paid the ultimate price for those crimes. There is nobody left who has the slightest inkling of your family’s involvement in espionage. We have been instructed by the authorities not to reveal any further information we are privy to.’

‘I think it’s safe to say that what you have told us is more than enough to satisfy us. We would probably feel uncomfortable if we were given full chapter and verse. I think it’s a classic case of too much knowledge being a dangerous thing. Ignorance is bliss, that sort of thing,’ David told us.

I turned to Valerie. ‘One thing that still puzzles me,’ I asked a trifle tentatively, ‘is those rumours about your meetings with Bennett.’

Valerie looked at David, who nodded imperceptibly. She hesitated slightly before telling us, ‘One of the other things Andrew said was that we should keep in touch with Bennett and Harfleur. He didn’t say why, but stressed it was important. He said if there was going to be trouble, they knew something that would help. That was all, but it was enough to ensure I met them occasionally. David usually left it to me to contact them because he was busy running the estate. Recently I had to meet Bennett more often.’ Valerie grimaced as she added, ‘Last year was a disastrous one for the estate. The harvest was poor, and in addition one of David’s investments crashed which lost us more than was comfortable. Mark was in the process of finding buyers for some valuable china ornaments we decided were surplus to our needs. We don’t display them because they’re too fragile to be kept in proximity to a couple of energetic boys like our two.’

We stayed for afternoon tea, a decorous form of celebration, during the course of which Michael revealed that they had advanced their wedding plans. ‘Now that we have the required documents we can go ahead, and as far as we’re concerned, the sooner the better.’

‘Will you come to the wedding?’ Chloe asked. ‘We thought it best to consult you to ensure the date we’ve chosen is convenient for you. After all, if it hadn’t been for your investigation we might never have been able to tie the knot. We owe you so much that we really want you to be there.’

‘Chloe’s right, we’re all deeply indebted to you,’ David added, ‘not only for making Chloe and Michael’s wedding possible, but for everything else you have done.’

It was early evening when we drove back to Laithbrigg. During the journey, Eve asked the question I had expected from Hardy. ‘One thing that puzzles me is why Scott Martin killed himself? You said it yourself – there was no proof, no concrete evidence to point to him as the killer, not unless someone authorised a snap search of his garage, which was highly unlikely because he was seen as a reputable local solicitor. Even if he did fall under suspicion, all he would have to do is get rid of the murder weapon by either throwing it in the river or burying it in the back garden and nobody would have been any the wiser. So why did he commit suicide?’

‘He didn’t.’

My blunt reply stunned Eve into silence, something that is far from easy to achieve, so I basked in the success for several seconds, awaiting her next question.

‘What do you mean by “he didn’t”?’

‘Exactly what you think I meant; that Scott Martin didn’t commit suicide – at least I don’t believe he did.’

‘What made you arrive at that extraordinary conclusion?’

‘It was what Hardy told me on the phone yesterday, the part that I didn’t reveal to you. There were two reasons for that. First of all, I wanted to think over the implications, and second I reckoned that it was better to keep it to myself until after we’d been to Elmfield Grange.’

‘OK, so what was it that Hardy said?’ There was a testy edge to Eve’s voice that told me she was becoming impatient, and perhaps a little annoyed at not having been told earlier.

‘He told me that the pathologist discovered portions of a broken cyanide capsule lodged in Martin’s mouth.’

‘What of it, we already knew he took cyanide?’

‘Where did it come from?’

‘Sorry, I’m not with you.’

‘Right, supposing you decide you’ve had enough of me and you think that rather than having to go through a messy divorce you’ll do me in by poisoning me with cyanide.’

‘Don’t put ideas in my mind,’ Eve muttered. A sideways glance revealed her grin, which reassured me slightly. ‘Given that you’ve made the decision, where would you get the cyanide capsule?’

Eve didn’t need to think about it for too long. ‘I have absolutely no idea, which should comfort you slightly.’

‘Exactly, and that raises the question, where did Scott Martin obtain a cyanide capsule? It isn’t exactly the sort of item a solicitor based in a small market town can acquire easily, and you certainly can’t pop into your local chemist’s shop and buy one.’

‘So tell me, Mr Smart Alec, where did he get it then?’

‘He didn’t, or at least I don’t believe he did. I think his visitor brought it.’

‘What visitor?’

OK, so I was enjoying the suspense, drip-feeding my titbits of information to tease Eve. A man’s got to get his fun somewhere, hasn’t he? ‘Cyanide capsules are the sort of things that were given to spies. Their brief was to bite down on one if they were captured. They were instructed to kill themselves rather than risk giving away vital secrets or betraying fellow agents.’

‘Accepting the fact that you’ve watched too many espionage films, I’ll buy that. Get on with it, because there’s obviously more you’re itching to reveal.’