Churchyard and Hawke (25 page)

‘What is it you have to tell me that’s so important it’s going to change both our lives, Shannon.’

‘Well . . . it must have crossed your mind that Alfie doesn’t have the brains to think out all the details of what was meant to happen at the ball we had come from London to attend. I mean the only reason he’s top man in Hoxton is because he has brawn - and the family - to back him up in whatever he gets up to. He could never have thought of something on that sort of scale! No, that took a man who knew what he was talking about . . . an educated man.’

Looking more sure of himself now, Shannon said, ‘I could tell you who he is . . . but I am going to need some guarantees about my future before I do.’

CHAPTER 34

When Amos returned to the Cornwall police headquarters in Bodmin, he found the chief constable waiting in his office with Doctor Sullivan for his arrival. Chief Constable Gilbert was more agitated than Amos had ever seen him and he wasted no time in informing Amos of the cause.

‘You were right about Lady Hogg’s illness.’ he said, ‘Doctor Sullivan has confirmed that Lady Hogg is suffering from arsenic poisoning. Furthermore, having examined all the facts, he believes it to have been deliberately administered. He also believes Lord Hogg’s death can be attributed to the same cause. He wants me to have Lord Hogg’s body removed from the family vault in order that he may carry out an autopsy to ascertain whether arsenic poisoning was the cause of his death . . .’

Shaking his head, Chief Constable Gilbert added, unhappily, ‘It puts me in a very difficult situation, Amos . . . very difficult indeed. If we go ahead with having the body of the late Lord Hogg removed from the family vault we are going to meet with considerable resistance from the family. Should a post mortem show that arsenic is not the cause of death, I will undoubtedly be forced to resign - and you with me, Amos.’

‘On the other hand, if we do nothing and Lady Hogg dies, who is to say the killer will stop there. Before we know it we could have one of the oldest families in Cornwall wiped out!’ Turning his attention to Sullivan, Amos asked, ‘How certain are you that Lady Hogg is suffering from arsenic poisoning, Doctor?’

‘Certain enough to say that if we do nothing she will be dead within a week.’ the young doctor replied bluntly. ‘I never saw Lord Hogg during his illness, but Doctor Hollis attended him and has admitted that his symptoms were identical with those of Lady Hogg. He is so concerned that he has spoken to the present Lord Hogg and arranged for a nurse to be in constant attendant on her. She will supervise all food and drink prepared for her patient and be present when she has a visit from anyone, whether it be family or servants.’

Amos looked at the chief constable without saying anything and after a few moments, Gilbert said, ‘It would seem that Lord Hogg appreciates the seriousness of the situation. Very well, Doctor Sullivan, we will seek permission for a post mortem to be carried out on his late father. Such permission is not really required, but it will make it more pleasant for everyone concerned if we have it. Superintendent Hawke and I will go to Laneglos and speak to Lord Hogg today.’

When the doctor had left his office, Chief Constable Gilbert said to Amos, ‘What do we do if Sullivan’s post mortem does prove Lord Hogg was poisoned, Amos? Will it help us to find who is responsible?’

‘That’s what I wanted to talk to you about before we took any action on having an autopsy on the late Lord Hogg,’ Amos said, ‘There has been a great deal happening in and around Laneglos and I have my suspicions about who is responsible for at least some of what has been going on there. Now we have Alfie Banks in custody I feel I will be able to fill in a few of the gaps in my knowledge . . . and then there is what Conrad Shannon had to say to me this morning . . .‘

Amos repeated the conversation that had taken place with the imprisoned forger and Gilbert listened with great interest. When Amos ended, he asked, ‘Is Shannon telling the truth . . . and even if he is, is it likely to have any bearing on the attempt to poison Lady Hogg and the death of her husband?’

‘I think it most unlikely that the two are not connected.’ Amos replied, ‘and I have my own theories, but theories are not acceptable to a judge and jury. I need to establish facts.’

‘Do you think that anything Shannon has to tell us might do that?’ Chief Constable Gilbert was sceptical.

‘If anything he has to say is sufficient to put pressure on Banks, I think it could . . . but Shannon is going to want an assurance that we are going to drop at least some of the charges against him before he tells me what he knows.’

The police chief thought for some moments before saying, ‘Well you have far more experience with this sort of thing than I do, Amos, and you know just how much trust we can put in this man Shannon, but if he can offer us anything to put an end to the mayhem involving Laneglos you can promise him the earth . . . and I will help you get it for him.’

Armed with the chief constable’s promise, Amos left the headquarters building to return to Bodmin jail. Before leaving he sent Tom to Laneglos to arrange a meeting between Lord Hogg, Amos and the Chief Constable Gilbert for later that day.

At the grim Cornish prison, Amos arranged for Conrad Shannon to be brought to see him in one of the administration offices. Pen, ink and paper had been provided and when Shannon had been brought to the room and was seated facing Amos across a desk, Amos pointed to them and said, ‘There is the ticket to the rest of your life, Shannon. Pick up the pen and make a true and honest statement and you’ll see life beyond these prison walls once more. Try to lie your way out of trouble and I promise you’ll never see it again.’

‘You mean . . . you’ll drop some of the charges against me.’ Shannon’s pale, haggard expression changed dramatically.

‘If what you tell me enables me to arrest whoever planned the burglary at Laneglos . . . and who is possibly guilty of murder, I might even persuade my chief constable to drop all the charges against you.’

Excited now, Shannon said, ‘Can I have that in writing, Mr Hawke? Give me that and I’ll tell you everything I know.’

‘You are in no position to dictate terms.’ Amos retorted. ‘For all I know what you tell me could turn out to be a pack of lies. Besides, I am not going to promise what might not be possible. All I can do is tell you that if you give me something that proves to be of real help then I, and my chief constable, will do our utmost to help you. I give you my word on that - but you are going to have to take it on trust.’

Some of the animation left Shannon’s face, but after thinking it over, he shrugged, ‘I don’t have very much alternative, do I? All right, but why do you want me to write it down? Why can’t you do it?’

Leaning across the desk towards him, Amos said, ‘Because if what you have to say is true, then you’re likely to have to repeat it in court . . . and I don’t want you getting up in the witness box and saying it isn’t what you told me. You can tell me what you have to say first and then we’ll see whether it’s anything worth putting into writing.’

Amos thought for a moment that Shannon was about to change his mind about telling what he knew. Instead, he shrugged once more and began to talk . . .

‘Dolly came to see me before she went back to London, she told me you had heard about the boat coming from London and so were able to put paid to the plans that had been made for the ball at Laneglos?’

‘That’s right. No doubt you’ve also managed to speak to some of the Hoxton gang who are locked up in here, so you’ll know we also managed to scotch their plans to rob some of the Cornish mansions while their owners were at the ball? We foiled all the gang except Alfie and Jimmy. They managed to burgle Laneglos the night after the ball, but crashed the cart carrying all their loot. Jimmy died of his injuries and Alfie got away and was on his way to Australia when we picked him up.’

‘You were lucky to take him. He’s always sworn he’d die before being taken - and would take a great many of your lot with him.’

‘He didn’t put up much of a fight against my men . . . although he did take a ten year-old girl hostage and threaten to kill her unless we allowed him to get away. Fortunately, Harvey Halloran was there to sort him out. You know Harvey?’

‘I’ve heard of him and I believe I saw him once, but not to speak to. I thought he was still living in Hoxton.’

‘No, he’s a sergeant in my force . . . but you were going to tell me about the man behind the jaunt you and the others made to Cornwall. How is it that you knew when nobody else did?’

‘Because I’m not comfortable working with anyone else unless I know all about them. Alfie came to see me and asked me to do a couple of things he said were for "someone big", then he let me in on what was going to happen here, in Cornwall. I asked him who was setting it all up and when he wouldn’t tell me I decided to find out for myself.’

‘How did you do that?’

Before replying, Shannon said, ‘I’m not writing down everything that I’m going to tell you.’

‘I’ll decide what I want you to write down when I’ve learned how much you know. Carry on talking.’

‘Well, Alfie said I’d be given some things to copy - tickets for the Laneglos ball, as it turned out - as well as one or two other things, false identifications mainly - oh, and stock certificates. I also had to write a reference for young Jimmy Banks, but using a different name. I knew Alfie can neither read nor write, but I asked why the man behind the whole idea couldn’t write the reference, himself and Alfie said it was because his handwriting might be recognized and that made me curious. It meant this must be well known to the family the reference was intended for. Alfie himself didn’t give me any of the things that needed copying, they were brought to me by a smart-looking bloke who let it slip when we were talking that he was a valet, working for the man who wanted these things copied. He wouldn’t tell me who employed him, but after one of his visits to me I followed him to a posh house in Kensington and by talking to a maid who came out of the house next door I learned who was living there. She also told me there were always tradesmen calling, trying to get money he owed them. I went back to the house once or twice, hoping to see this man for myself and one day when he came out I followed him to a pub in Liverpool Street where he met up with Alfie. I knew then I’d found the right bloke.’

‘You never told Alfie that you knew who this man was?’

‘Of course not! The less I had to do with the Hoxton crowd the better I liked it. That’s why I didn’t travel down to Cornwall on the boat with them. Alfie wanted me to but I gave the same excuse to him as did Dolly. I said I would never travel on the sea. That’s how it happened he introduced me to Dolly. I don’t think he entirely trusted me and wanted her to keep an eye on me. Why did you never charge her, by the way?’

‘Because it was you who had the forged railway and ball tickets and a conspiracy case against her would never have stood up in court - but now we come to the point of this whole conversation . . . the name of the man who did all the planning for this whole debacle. I think I know who it is, but I want to hear you tell me.’

‘You’ll keep your promise . . . about trying to make things easier for me in court?’

‘As I said earlier, if you give me enough to get him into court - especially if it helps solve the various suspicious deaths we’ve had connected with Laneglos - it’s possible I might be able to have all the charges against you dropped. What is his name?’

Aware that he might be taking a gamble that would never come off, Shannon decided he had no alternative. He had to trust Amos.

‘It’s the son of the Lady of the manor up at Laneglos and stepson to Lord Hogg . . . The Honourable Charles Delville.’

As Amos was leaving the prison a police van pulled into the yard and among three prisoners alighting from the vehicle Amos was surprised to see Connie Dawes, the young ex-Laneglos servant girl who had concealed the birth of her illegitimate baby and had it buried in the North Hill graveyard.

Hurrying across to her he said, ‘Hello, Connie . . . What are you doing here, is it because of what you did with your baby?’

‘You ought to know,’ she replied bitterly, ‘It was you who found out about it.’

‘True, but I was told the inquest decided it had been dead when it was born and that you were being charged only with concealing its birth?’

‘What difference does it make? I’m being locked up in prison now and no doubt when I see the judge next week he’ll send me back here.’

‘He probably will.’ Amos agreed, ‘Unless you can come up with some extenuating circumstances. . . .‘

As soon as he had spoken, Amos realized that Connie would not know what he meant, but the gaoler in charge of the prisoners was becoming impatient and Amos said to him, ‘I’d like to talk to her for a few minutes on a matter of some importance. Take the other prisoners inside. I’ll be responsible for this one until you return.’

When the others had shuffled away, their leg-irons clanking noisily, Amos returned his attention to Connie. ‘I thought the father of your baby was going to look after you. He could have paid for a lawyer to arrange bail which would have meant you could remain at home, at least until the trial.’

‘He promised to look after me, but when ma went to speak to him, he said he didn’t know what she was talking about and, anyway, with the baby dead I had no need for help and could go back to work.’

‘Did you expect any more from him, Connie? You shouldn’t have done, you’d been working at Laneglos long enough to know what he was like.’

Looking at him uncertainly, Connie said, ‘You know who he is?’

‘Unless I’m mistaken it was Lady Hogg’s son, Charles Delville . . . the same man I believe got Enid Merryn pregnant.’

‘That’s who Enid told Peggy and me it was. No doubt he threatened her that if she didn’t do what he wanted he’d have her thrown out of Laneglos and make sure she never worked anywhere again. She’d have believed him, I didn’t. But I did believe him when he said I’d be looked after if he got me in trouble. After all, there are enough girls around Laneglos who don’t have to work anymore because they’ve had his babies. Lord Hogg saw they were taken care of.’