Blood on the Line (13 page)

‘What if he brings a lot of policemen with him?’ she said.

‘He’s not stupid enough to do that. In any case, we’d see them long before they saw us. We’d have time to vanish into thin air.’

‘Not if the policemen were mounted,’ she argued. ‘They could run us down, Jerry. We’re taking too big a risk.’

‘I know Colbeck – he’ll come alone.’

‘But you’ve never even seen him before.’

‘That’s why I’m so anxious to make his acquaintance, brief as it’s destined to be. This man is the difference between freedom and arrest, Irene. I can’t stress that enough. When he’s been disposed of, we can breathe easily once more.’

‘I can’t breathe at all at the moment,’ she confessed.

‘All you have to do is to stay here and keep quiet.’

They stiffened again as two figures appeared at the end of the road. Oxley took a long, hard look at both of them before making his decision. One of them had to be Colbeck. He had come, after all.

Tallis and Peebles had walked in step side by side. Not long after turning the corner, however, they came to a halt so that they could survey the scene. They were looking along a tree-lined road with houses on both sides. If an ambush had been set, an attacker could be hiding in a variety of places. Yet Tallis sensed no immediate danger. It was unlikely that Oxley had access to any of the houses and, in any case, the trees would impede any shots that were fired. With a steady stride, they walked on, eyes darting from one side of the road to another. They’d gone fifty yards before Tallis spoke.

‘Where the blazes is the fellow?’ he asked.

‘Perhaps he changed his mind, sir.’

‘He nominated this place and this time. Oxley must be here somewhere yet I can see neither hide nor hair of him.’

‘Neither can I, Superintendent,’ said Peebles as they walked on. ‘But I’m starting to get the feeling that we’re being watched.’

Tallis looked around. ‘From which direction?’

‘I’m not sure.’

‘I don’t see anyone.’

‘The feeling is getting stronger. He’s definitely here.’

‘Then why doesn’t he show himself?’

‘Stop there!’ yelled a voice and they came to a dead halt.

‘Is that you, Oxley?’ shouted Tallis. ‘Come out into the open.’

‘Be quiet! I’ll only talk to Inspector Colbeck.’

‘I’m his superior.’

‘I don’t care. Tell the inspector to come forward.’

‘He’s mistaken you for Colbeck,’ whispered Tallis.

‘What am I to do?’ asked Peebles.

‘Pretend that you are. We can’t miss an opportunity like this.’

‘Are you coming or are you not?’ taunted Oxley.

‘He’s coming,’ returned Tallis aloud. Out of the side of his mouth, he spoke to Peebles. ‘Beware of tricks, Constable.’

‘Yes, sir,’ said the other.

Straightening his shoulders, he walked forward towards
the trees at the end of the road, scanning the houses as he did so. Oxley’s voice seemed to have come from ahead of him rather than from either side but he was taking no chances. Tallis was now thirty yards behind him and in no position to offer help. Peebles was entirely alone. Yet he showed no alarm. He did what he imagined Colbeck would do in the same circumstances. He remained alert and moved calmly on. When he got close to the end of the road, he was stopped by a command.

‘That’s far enough!’ yelled Oxley.

‘Show yourself.’

‘I’ll give the orders, Inspector. I’ve come to strike a bargain.’

‘What kind of bargain?’

‘I want to ensure my continued freedom.’

‘That’s something I can’t guarantee, Mr Oxley. You
are
Jeremy Oxley, aren’t you?’ he went on. ‘I’m beginning to have doubts about that, you see. I heard that you were a brave and daring man and not someone too scared to show his face. Come back when you pluck up more courage.’

Turning on his heel, Peebles made as if to walk away.

‘Stay where you are!’ bellowed Oxley, coming into view. Peebles stopped again and turned to face him. ‘I’m afraid of nobody on this earth, Inspector.’

‘Not even the hangman?’

Oxley laughed. ‘He’ll have no appointment with me. My bargain is this. Call off your dogs and I undertake to leave the country. That way you get rid of Jeremy Oxley for good.’

‘That’s quite unacceptable,’ said Peebles, evenly. ‘The
time has come for you to answer for your crimes. I’d advise you to surrender quietly while you still may.’

‘I never surrender,’ said Oxley, moving slowly forward. ‘You should know that by now, Inspector. You’ve chased me long enough.’

Peebles kept his composure and waited for the moment to pounce. The army had taught him how to overpower an assailant and he had every confidence that he could subdue Oxley even if the man pulled a knife on him. He could see a hand hovering to grab something from under his coat. Peebles knew that he had to strike first. When Oxley was only five yards away, therefore, the constable suddenly came to life and flung himself at the man with his arms outstretched. Oxley was ready for him. Whipping out the pistol, he fired it at the detective’s heart from close range. Peebles got hands around him but they had no strength in them now. The wound was fatal. His body shuddered, his eyes were glassy and his mouth was wide open in disbelief. Life slipping away, he slumped to the ground with his waistcoat sodden with blood. His top hat rolled into the gutter. His impersonation of Colbeck was over.

Watching from a distance, Tallis was horror-struck. Torn between rage and grief, he lumbered forward as fast as he could but he was far too slow. By the time he reached the lifeless body of Ian Peebles, he saw that there was nothing he could do. Oxley had disappeared into the trees and, as he bent over his fallen colleague, Tallis heard the distant sound of a cab being driven away. He was in an absolute torment of remorse. In taking Peebles with him, he had effectively signed the young detective’s death warrant.

The shot had reverberated along the road and many curious heads appeared at windows. Once they’d established that the danger was past, a few people came out of their houses to run towards the prostrate figure. Tallis was bent penitently over Peebles, offering up a silent prayer for the salvation of the dead man’s soul. It had been a quick death but that gave the superintendent no solace. By a rash action on his part, he’d lost a brave man with a promising future ahead of him. Ian Peebles was everything he could have asked for in a recruit. Tallis felt an even sharper stab of guilt when he remembered the forthcoming marriage. It would never take place now and it would be his job to inform the prospective bride that her future husband had been murdered in broad daylight. Overwhelmed with the implications of it all, he did not realise that more and more people were coming to view the corpse. When he
finally looked up, therefore, he saw that there was a ring of faces around him. Tallis got angrily to his feet.

‘Stand back!’ he ordered. ‘This is not a peep show.’

‘What happened?’ asked someone.

‘Isn’t it obvious? He’s been shot dead. Show him some respect and stop staring like that.’ Taking off his coat, he used it to cover Peebles’ chest and face. ‘Someone call a cab.’

As a man ran off down the road, a woman stepped forward.

‘It’s a policeman we need to call,’ she suggested.

‘We
are
policemen, madam,’ said Tallis with rasping authority. ‘We are detectives from Scotland Yard in pursuit of a wanted man named Jeremy Oxley. It was he who just fired a gun.’

‘Oh, I read about someone called Oxley in this morning’s newspaper,’ she said.

‘He was standing right here only minutes ago.’ He looked around the faces. ‘Do we have any witnesses? Did anyone see the fellow lurking in the trees? I believe that he had a cab waiting for him. Did any of you happen to notice the way that it drove off?’ When the faces remained blank, he became exasperated. ‘Good God!’ he yelled. ‘Are you all blind? One of you must have seen something.’

There was a long, awkward, embarrassed silence during which they traded sheepish glances. An elderly man eventually spoke.

‘I might have seen them, sir,’ he said, stepping forward.

Tallis glowered at him.
‘Them?’

‘I took my dog for a walk earlier. On my way back, I saw a cab pulling up over there.’ He pointed a skeletal finger. ‘A man in his thirties got out with a young woman. They went towards those trees. I thought nothing of it at the time and went home. Do you think that they could be connected to what happened?’

‘I’m certain that they are,’ said Tallis. ‘I’ll want you to show me the exact place where you saw the cab.’

‘The woman must have been Irene Adnam,’ said another man in hushed tones. ‘I saw that report in the paper as well. She’s the one who shot a policeman on a train. It’s dreadful to think such people are on the loose. We should be protected from such villains.’

‘We were
trying
to protect, sir,’ snapped Tallis, rounding on the man. ‘Constable Peebles was in the act of arresting Oxley when he was shot. The Metropolitan Police Force does all it can to make this city safe for its citizens. Courageous men like the constable are ready to sacrifice their lives in that noble cause. So don’t you dare to criticise us.’ He threw out a challenge. ‘Which of you would tackle an armed man with a record of violence?’

‘Did you
know
beforehand that he was armed?’ asked the elderly man.

‘There was every chance that he would be.’

‘Then why did you let your colleague try to arrest him alone?’

‘Yes,’ said the woman who’d spoken earlier. ‘Why didn’t the two of you go after him?’

‘And if you knew that he might have a gun,’ continued the old man, ‘why didn’t you carry weapons yourselves?’

The woman was accusatory. ‘Why didn’t you bring more men?’

‘Why didn’t you surround him?’

‘How many more will die before you actually catch him?’

‘And catch
her
,’ said the man. ‘She’s another killer.’

There was collective agreement that the police were to blame for allowing Oxley and Adnam to remain at liberty. So many questions were hurled at Tallis that he felt as if he were facing a verbal firing squad. There was far worse in store for him. These were simply concerned members of the public airing their opinions. The really searing questions would come from the family of Ian Peebles and from the young woman who was expecting to marry him.

Meeker was so shaken that perspiration was still pouring out of his brow as he gabbled his story. He was a portly man of middle years with a flabby, weather-beaten face. Seated in a chair in Colbeck’s office, he kept glancing over his shoulder as if fearing an attack. The cab driver had arrived at Scotland Yard not long after Colbeck had returned there. Instead of being able to report to the superintendent, Colbeck found himself listening to a grim narrative.

‘Let me stop you there, Mr Meeker,’ he said, taking a bottle of brandy from his desk and pouring some into a glass. ‘You’re talking so fast that we can’t hear much of what you’re saying. Why don’t you drink this and take a few moments to calm down?’ He handed over the glass. ‘There’s no hurry. What you have to tell us is very important
and we’re grateful that you came to us. The sergeant and I want to hear every word.’

He and Leeming waited while their visitor took a first sip of brandy. It seemed to steady him. After a second, longer sip, he felt ready to continue. He spoke more slowly this time.

‘It was like this, Inspector,’ he said, still sweating profusely. ‘I picked up a fare in the Strand. It was a man and woman. They looked very respectable. The man gave me no destination. I was to drive north up Tottenham Court Road until he told me to stop. It took well over twenty minutes but I wasn’t going to complain, was I? He was paying and it was a pleasant enough evening. I kept going until we came to a road with big houses in it. He tells me to pull over and to wait. Then he and the woman went off into this clump of trees for quite a long time. You can imagine what I thought was going on,’ he added, rolling his eyes. ‘Well, it was none of my business. As long as they weren’t trying to do it in my cab, I was ready to let them get on with it. Then, just as I was running out of patience and wondering if they’d simply gone off without paying, this shot rings out and the pair of them comes dashing back to the cab. Before they jumped in, the man – I’ll never forget this as long as I live – puts a gun to my head and tells me to drive off fast. What else could I do, Inspector? He’d have killed me.’

‘Where did you take them?’ asked Colbeck.

‘Euston station, sir.’

‘What did you do then?’

‘To be honest,’ said Meeker, ‘I just sat in my cab and cried. I’m not a weak man as a rule. I’m very strong-willed. You have to be if you drive a cab because you pick up all sorts of odd people. But I’ve never stared down the barrel of a gun before. I thought he was going to blow my skull apart.’

‘I suppose that they didn’t even pay you,’ said Leeming.

‘Not a brass farthing. They hopped out of the cab at Euston and went off into the crowd. The man had warned me not to follow him but I couldn’t have done that even if I’d wanted to. My legs were like jelly.’ He took another sip of brandy. ‘Anyway, I waited until I felt a little better, then I told this policeman who was on duty there what had happened. When I described my two passengers, he said they sounded just like the ones involved in a foul murder up near Wolverhampton way. The policeman told me to come here at once and to ask for you.’

‘He did the right thing,’ said Colbeck. ‘Where exactly were you when you heard the gunshot?’

He unfolded a map of London on his desk and Meeker stood up to study it. After much deliberation, he jabbed a finger. Colbeck knew that he was telling the truth. It would have taken him all of twenty minutes and more to get to that location from the Strand. Leeming confirmed the identity of the two passengers.

‘It must have been them, sir,’ he said. ‘That’s exactly the place that Oxley wanted you to go to. I read his letter.’

Colbeck was annoyed. ‘I wish that
I’d
been allowed to do so.’

‘The superintendent thought it might contain crucial evidence.’

‘I’ll take the matter up with him when he returns. As for you, sir,’ he went on, turning to Meeker, ‘you are to be congratulated. You’ve been through a terrible experience and had the sense to confide in a uniformed officer. Thank you for coming here.’

‘I had to get it off my chest, Inspector,’ said Meeker.

‘I can appreciate that.’

Leeming was sympathetic. ‘I hope you’re feeling better now.’

‘Oh, I am, Sergeant.’ He held up the glass. ‘This is good brandy.’

‘The inspector keeps it for times like this.’

‘It’s exactly what I needed.’

Meeker downed the glass in one noisy gulp then put it on the desk. After thanking them both, he waddled across to the door. Before he left, he remembered something and produced a hopeful smile.

‘Does this mean that I get the reward?’ he asked.

‘I’m afraid not,’ said Colbeck. ‘It goes to the person who gives us information that leads to the arrest of the two suspects. You’re just another one of their victims, I’m afraid.’

The cab driver gave a resigned shrug before going out. Closing the door after him, Colbeck was able to confide his fears to Leeming.

‘Are you thinking what I’m thinking, Victor?’ he asked.

‘That depends, sir.’

‘Oxley’s letter gave me a specific time and place.’

‘It’s exactly the spot that Mr Meeker went to.’

‘But who else went there? That’s my worry.’ He glanced in the direction of Tallis’s office. ‘When was the last time the superintendent left his desk?’

‘It was last year when he came up to Yorkshire and interfered with our investigation. It must be months and months ago. Since then, he’s spent every day in his office.’ He blinked as he understood the point of the question. ‘You don’t believe that Mr Tallis went in your place, do you?’

‘I believe exactly that.’

‘But the letter particularly asked for you and only you. Simply by looking at him, Oxley would have known that the superintendent couldn’t possibly have been Inspector Colbeck.’

‘Perhaps he took someone with him, someone more akin to me.’

‘Who could that be, I wonder?’

‘And what happened to him?’ said Colbeck. ‘Mr Meeker heard a gun being fired. Does that mean Oxley has shot one of our men?’

‘If he did,’ replied Leeming. ‘I’ll wager that he thinks he shot
you
.’

Outwardly, she had remained calm throughout, but Irene Adnam’s stomach was churning. She had watched Oxley shooting his victim and – even though she believed that it had to be done – she was sickened. During the ride to Euston, she’d been on tenterhooks. After the short train
journey to Willesden, the long walk to the home of their friends gave them time to talk over in detail what had happened. Evening shadows dappled the ground and a stiff breeze blew in their faces. Irene glanced across at his chest.

‘You’ve got blood on your waistcoat,’ she said.

‘Yes, I know, it’s a rather nasty stain. No call for alarm,’ he said, smirking, ‘it’s not
my
blood, Irene. It was his.’

‘I just hope that nobody spotted it on the train.’

‘They were too busy looking at you. That’s the advantage of travelling with a gorgeous woman. She’s a perfect distraction.’

They walked on for a while before she spoke again.

‘What are you going to tell Gordon and Susanna?’

‘I’ll think of something.’

‘What happened today will be reported in the newspapers.’

‘And so I should hope,’ said Oxley. ‘I did everyone in the criminal fraternity a big favour today. I killed Inspector Colbeck.’

‘You don’t
know
that it was him, Jerry.’

‘Who else could it be? He came to the place I told him and was ready to talk. The only mistake he made was to bring that other man with him. I made sure that I separated them.’

‘I didn’t get a close look at him,’ she conceded, ‘but he was younger than I expected. And I wouldn’t call him a dandy.’

‘That was Colbeck,’ he affirmed. ‘I’m certain of it. I’m equally certain that they’ve got no hope of catching us
now. Without him at the helm, the investigation will lose all direction.’ He put an arm around her. ‘I know that it was harrowing for you, Irene, but it had to be done. Colbeck would have been our nemesis.’

‘He was a detective,’ she said, worriedly, ‘so every policeman in London will be looking for us. We’ve disturbed a hornet’s nest.’

‘Policemen have been looking for me for a long time but I usually manage to evade them. On the two occasions when I have been arrested, I’ve contrived to escape.’

Irene turned away so that he wouldn’t see her wince. Mention of his escape on the train revived troubling memories for her and she knew that she’d lie awake that night agonising over the latest murder. She had the conscience for both of them. Oxley behaved as if they’d simply been for a ride in a cab. The brutal way that he’d threatened the driver had upset her. To Oxley, it was a source of amusement.

‘How long will we stay here?’ she asked.

‘As long as I decide, Irene.’

‘What if they find out?’ she asked. ‘Gordon and Susanna are bound to do so in the end.’

‘They won’t say a word.’

‘But we’re putting them in danger, Jerry. If we are caught there, the police will charge them as well.’

‘They
won’t
catch us,’ he assured her. ‘Why do you think I chose to hide there? We’re completely off the beaten track. All that we have to do is to keep our heads down and watch the world go by.’

‘There’ll be a manhunt.’

‘There was a manhunt in the Midlands when I escaped but they still haven’t captured me, have they? Put yourself in their shoes, Irene. That fat fool of a cab driver will have told them that he took us to Euston. What are they going to deduce?’

‘They’ll know that we fled by train.’